PM announces Pacific disaster cash

The federal government has announced an extra $80 million in new money to help Pacific island neighbours deal with natural disasters and climate change.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull

Australia will give $80 million in disaster relief for Pacific nations vulnerable to climate change. (AAP)

Australia will chip in an extra $80 million in disaster relief for Pacific island nations vulnerable to climate change.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced a $300 million package over four years at the Pacific Island Forum at Pohnpei in Micronesia on Friday.

Mr Turnbull said the cash will be used on engineering projects to protect against flooding from cyclones, early warning systems and rain water catchment tanks.

"Adaptation and resilience is very much a local issue," Mr Turnbull said.

"You've got to be able to make sure that a particular island, a particular location, a particular city is protected against the consequences of more storms, higher sea levels and higher temperatures and so forth."

Aid group Oxfam said despite the announcement, Australia had a long way to go to meet its responsibilities, and needed to do more to increase the scale and accessibility of funding.

"Oxfam maintains that climate finance should be in addition to existing aid commitments and part of a growing aid budget," spokesman Simon Bradshaw said in a statement.


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Source: AAP



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