By Colin Packham
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia is to send humanitarian aid to Fiji after a tropical cyclone caused widespread destruction across the Pacific, Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne said on Thursday.
Cyclone Harold, a category five storm, lashed several island nations in the Pacific last week, killing dozens of people, flooding towns and leaving many homeless.
In Fiji, thousands of people remain without electricity, aid agencies say, and many need immediate assistance.
Australia will send shelter kits and tents, kitchen utensils, water containers and personal hygiene items to Fiji and increase aid to the Fiji Red Cross and other agencies to help.
“Just as Fijian personnel supported Australian communities during our recent bushfires, Australia stands with Fiji as family, as vuvale, in its time of need,” Payne said in an emailed statement, using a Fijian word for family.
Australia’s aid pledge comes as Canberra seeks to fend-off a growing Chinese presence in the Pacific.
Australia has long enjoyed nearly unchecked influence in the Pacific but its position has been challenged by China in recent years as it increases aid to the sparsely populated region that controls vast swathes of resource-rich ocean.
China denies it is seeking a sphere of influence in the Pacific, saying its aid is to help with economic development.
An Australian plane carrying aid to cyclone-struck Vanuatu turned around and returned home on Sunday as a Chinese plane with medical equipment was already on the airport’s tarmac, Vanuatu airport officials said.
An Australian Defence spokeswoman said the aircraft had been unable to land safely.
(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Robert Birsel)
