Australia will go into bat for cyclone-prone Pacific Island nations to ensure they get sufficient cash to cope with climate change, says Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
Ms Bishop hosted a "night at the museum"-themed reception on Thursday evening to kick off a Pacific Island Forum foreign ministers meeting in Sydney.
She said Australia has committed $200 million to the Green Climate Fund and had made its first payment of $70 million this week.
Australia has a seat on the board of the fund and would use that position to ensure the Pacific gets its "fair share" of assistance, Ms Bishop told the ministers.
The democratic and legal woes of Nauru are expected to be raised when Pacific Island Forum foreign ministers meet in Sydney this week.
Pacific Island Forum: NZ and Nauru set for a showdown
Ministers from Pacific Island Forum nations are expected to reflect on lessons learnt from Vanuatu's recovery from Cyclone Pam and discuss funding for disaster management during talks on Thursday and Friday.
Also on the agenda will be ways Pacific island countries can amplify their collective voice on the international stage, ahead of major climate change talks in Paris later in the year.
On the sidelines, New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully will take Nauru's President Baron Waqa to task over a breakdown in democratic principles and the rule of law on the island.
Three Nauru opposition MPs were arrested last month for attending protests; two are still in custody and the other one has had his passport seized.
They had been previously suspended from parliament for talking to foreign media.
The Nauru government has also blocked citizens from accessing Facebook.
New Zealand devotes $NZ1.2 million ($A1.07 million), about half its Nauru aid budget, to the island's justice system and has not ruled out changes to the funding arrangement.
Nauru Justice Minister David Adeang has hit back accusing Kiwi officials of "making rash statements without understanding the facts".
He added that there was majority support for the government's stance in preventing violence and mob rioting.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop had a "positive" discussion with Mr Waqa by phone, earlier this week, Mr Adeang said.
Fiji Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola is expected to attend the Sydney meeting, which marks the first time a Fijian minister participates in an overseas regional gathering since the country's election last September.
Fiji was suspended from the forum in 2009, for failing to return to democracy after a military coup in 2006.
That's still proving a bit of a a sour point for Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who has vowed to boycott the leaders' summit in Port Moresby this September, and is unhappy with what he claims is Australia and New Zealand's undue influence in the forum.
