Twenty-six evacuees from the riot-torn Solomon Islands have arrived in Australia on an air-force flight from Honiara.
Among the people who arrived at Brisbane airport were shop owner Peter Sand, his wife Debbie and their four-year-old son.
A shaken Mr Sand says he was forced to pack up and leave behind his general store after looters tried to break into his shop.
"We were inside, and people were trying to break into the shop. And the building next to me had already been burned down."
"The whole building had been looted and gutted, and there was no fire engine and no rescuers and no nothing." He says.
"The police tried to come and rescue us. They came once before, and they were turned back. And then the second time round, we needed four patrol cars to escort us out."
Debbie Sand says she believes two children died in the burned-out building.
The riots erupted this week after Snyder Rini's election as prime minister.