Diplomats set for Pacific Island posts
Australia is planning to open diplomatic posts in several tiny Pacific Island nations, including one that is home to just 1500 people.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is working to establish new posts in the Cook Islands, Niue, French Polynesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands.
The move will further improve relationships across the Pacific and bolster a diplomatic network that is already the largest in the region, the department says in its 2018/19 annual report.
During the past financial year, DFAT opened three new posts - in Tuvalu, the Indian city of Kolkata, and Shenyang in China's northeast.
However, department head Frances Adamson warns the nation's diplomats are stretched and will have to become even more efficient in the face of "a challenging budget environment".
"The capability of our workforce and our systems has at times been under strain as we face growing and emerging challenges," she writes.
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