Fiji has been praised for hosting the fourth South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting in Nadi.

This also underlines Fiji’s status as a leader for smaller island states.

Secretary of Australia’s Department of Defence Greg Moriarty says it’s commendable to see Fiji a key player, especially since we only joined the South Pacific Defence Ministers two years ago.

“Very impressed already for what I’ve seen from the strong leadership of Fiji in terms of the arrangements of this meeting but also the agenda and strong contributions from the Fiji Minister and now the Chiefs of Defence I’m meeting. Again Fiji has a lot of relevant lessons to share with all of the partners.”

Moriarty says that Fiji will always continue to be an important Pacific partner for Australia as well as other countries in the region.

He says Australia will continue to support Fiji in maintaining that strong role in the Pacific.