Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s visit to the Pacific last week has buttressed some crucial alliances, amid concerns about China’s economic, military and political expansionism,  in our region.

His three days in Vanuatu and Fiji were long overdue. Mr Morrison has candidly confessed Australia has taken the region for granted. This was the first time an Australian prime minister had visited the region other than for a forum of regional leaders since John Howard.

Mr Morrison's visit, which follows a trip to Papua New Guinea last year where he announced a naval base on Manus Island, reflected a new awareness of the need to counterbalance China's growing influence in the region.

The visit was not only diplomatically and symbolically significant. Mr Morrison and his counterparts announced a range of cooperative projects, overwhelmingly funded by Australia, on infrastructure, migration, border protection, military capacity, sport, economics and more.

But while Mr Morrison's gesture in showing the flag was welcome, his trip was marred by a lack of leadership on the region’s biggest issue, global warming – which poses an existential threat through rising sea levels and the increased frequency of catastrophic weather events.