Australia's government says hundreds of thousands of jobs in the country rely on economic growth in the Pacific.
The Minister for International Development and the Pacific Zed Seselja told parliament this was one of the reasons why assistance to the Pacific remains critical.
He said on pandemic response, Australia had fronted up with Covid-19 vaccines.
"We have now gifted over 2.1 million life-saving vaccines to our neighbourhood. Because until everyone is safe from Covid, nobody is safe.
"And similarly, hundreds of thousands of Australian jobs depend on strong economic growth across our region."
Doses of AstraZeneca-developed Covid-19 vaccines sent by Australia to Papua New Guinea. Photo: Australian High Commission in PNG
Seselja said in 2021 Australia has delivered US$1.2 billion in support to the Pacific
He said beyond the aid programme, Australia delivered over US$146-million US dollars in emergency economic support to the Pacific.
"In Fiji this funding is supporting social protection payments to the most vulnerable, benefitting more than 100-thousand Fijians.
"In Timor-Leste we are supporting new infrastructure projects in more than half the nation's 450 villages, directly benefitting communities and economic recovery.
"In Solomon Islands, we're improving water supply for more than 4000 housholds, and sanitation facilities for over 2000 households.
Work being conducted on the Coral Sea Cable project in 2019. The 4,700km cable connects Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to Sydney, Australia Photo: PNG Dataco
Seselja said Australia's efforts to roll out critical infrastructure support in the form of telecommunications, ports, roads, airports, energy generation and tramsmission, were projects that would unlock jobs and opportunities.
