Scott Morrison has touched down in the Solomon Islands, becoming the first Australian prime minister to do so in a decade.
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The prime minister and his wife Jenny arrived in Honiara on Sunday, ahead of travelling to the UK and Singapore over the next week with a packed agenda.
His focus will be renewing ties with old friends on his first trip overseas since being re-elected after the coalition's unexpected May 18 election win.
Mr Morrison is likely to face questions over his approach to tackling climate change during talks in the Solomon Islands.
Solomon Islands MP Peter Kenilorea Jr wants Australia to show "stronger leadership" on climate change, SBS News reports.
Mr Morrison's trip to the Pacific comes weeks after leaders in the region met to try to increase international efforts towards climate change.
The prime minister will be keen to show Australia's promise of greater engagement within the Pacific region is more than just words when he meets Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare - who was elected for his fourth stint as leader in April.
The pair have spoken before but this is their first meeting in person.
It is the first visit by an Australian prime minister since 2008 and events will mark the long co-operation between the nations during the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), which formally ended in 2017, and celebrate connections between people including through sport and education.
Mr Morrison is expected to make announcements building on the themes of the Pacific step-up: economic development, infrastructure, labour mobility and tackling shared security challenges.
Announcements are expected to come from the $2 billion fund which the Morrison government created last year to loan money towards infrastructure projects in the Pacific.
Moving on to London, the prime minister will meet British economic and security officials before representing Australia at the 75th anniversary commemorations of the D-Day landings in Portsmouth on June 5.
It will give Mr Morrison the opportunity to talk with world leaders including outgoing UK Prime Minister Theresa May, US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
He will be hoping to build support for his proposed G20 initiative to stop terrorists exploiting social media, along with discussions on other topics including Iran, Syria, the global economy and world trade.
While in the UK, Mr Morrison will also address the Australia-UK Chamber of Commerce, underlining his government's commitment to the economic partnership with Britain and plans to move quickly on a free trade agreement once Brexit is resolved.
In Singapore, he will join his counterpart Lee Hsien Loong for the annual leaders meeting, joined by Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne and Trade Minister Simon Birmingham.
At a lunch with some 400 businesspeople, Mr Morrison plans to highlight Australia's commitments to deepening economic and security ties with Southeast Asia.
Australian Associated Press
