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Newly appointed foreign minister Penny Wong has told leaders in Fiji that Australia is an open and willing security partner as concerns grow over the influence of China in the region.

Wong underlined that Australia understood climate change was "real" for the island nations, who would be among the first to be impacted by rising sea levels.

In the wake of nearby nation Solomon Islands signing a security pact with China, Wong said she wishes for Pacific nations to choose Australia as a security partner willingly.

READ MORE: Texas gunman was inside the school for more than an hour

"Our message to the Pacific is clear. We are listening and we have heard you," Wong said in Fiji. 

"I'm very pleased that so many Australians voted for stronger action on climate. And I recognise that that has been something Fiji and other Pacific Islander nations have been saying for many years.

"For you, climate change is not abstract. It is not a political argument. It is real."

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The implications of greater Chinese influence in the Pacific is not lost on other Western powers.

Following Fiji's decision to join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) today, the White House issued a statement supporting an "open" Indo-Pacific region.

"A close partner to the United States and a leader in the region, Fiji will add vital value and perspective to IPEF, including on our efforts to tackle the climate crisis and build a clean economy that creates good, paying jobs," the US government said in a statement. 

"The future of the 21st century economy is going to be largely written in the Indo-Pacific, and IPEF will help to drive sustainable growth for all our economies. 

"The United States thanks Prime Minister Bainimarama, and we look forward to deepening our partnership for the benefit of our countries, the Pacific Islands, and the Indo-Pacific."

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The timing of Wong's visit to Fiji – and the nation's entry into IPEF – has curiously come at the same time that Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi is in the area to sign the China-Solomon Islands framework agreement.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China released a tersely written statement about the visit, effectively arguing that any agreement between China and the Solomon Islands was the business of those two countries, and nobody else.

"Wang Yi stressed that Pacific Island Countries are sovereign and independent states and are not anyone's 'backyard'; both countries have the right to make their own choices, not being subordinate to others," the statement reads. 

"Any smears and attacks on China-Solomon Islands normal security cooperation will be a dead end and any interference and sabotage will be doomed to failure."

Med aide Angel Garza rushed to Robb Elementary School on Tuesday and arrived as officials started escorting shell-shocked children from the classrooms.

"One little girl was just covered in blood head to toe. I thought she was injured, I asked her what was wrong. She said she was OK – she was hysterical, saying that they shot her best friend, that they killed her best friend, she was not breathing," Garza told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday.

"I asked the little girl the name, and … she said Amerie," he said, dropping his head and weeping.

READ MORE: Texas gunman was inside the school for more than an hour

That's how Garza found out that his daughter, Amerie Jo Garza, 10, was fatally shot at the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school – the deadliest US school shooting in almost a decade.

A gunman barricaded himself inside a fourth-grade classroom, killing 19 children and two teachers.

Garza was fearful as he rushed to the school but didn't know his daughter's whereabouts.

READ MORE: Husband of teacher killed in Texas school shooting 'dies of grief'

Amerie had turned 10 about two weeks before the attack. Her family celebrated her birthday with a dinner and gave her a cell phone – her first. Her classmates told Garza that she was trying to call 911 on the phone during the attack.

"She's been wanting a phone for so long and we finally got it for her. She was just trying to call authorities, and I guess he just shot her," Garza said, cradling a photo of Amerie taken when she made the honour roll at school.

Garza recounted his agonising story between sobs as Cooper listened and put his left hand on his shoulder.

READ MORE: Ray Liotta, Goodfellas and Field of Dreams star, dies aged 67

"How do you look at this girl and just shoot her?" Garza continued, hugging the photo.

"Oh my baby. How do you shoot my baby?"

Her baby brother keeps asking where she is.

Garza described his daughter as a sweet, creative child who listened to her parents and never got in trouble in school.

Amerie was scared of strangers – and would hurry to lock the door when her father stepped out to pump gas.

"This is literally her worst fear," Garza said.

She was a big sister to a three-year-old brother who's been asking for her every morning and does not fully understand why he'll never see her again.

"We've informed him that his sister is now with God. And that she will no longer be with us," Garza said.

"He just cried … he's three years old. This is emotional for him to even process."

Hours after the shooting, Garza posted a Facebook message for his little girl.

"My little love is now flying high with the angels above. Please don't take a second for granted. Hug your family. Tell them you love them," he wrote.

"I love you Amerie Jo. Watch over your baby brother for me."

Garza wants people to remember his daughter as a sweet kid

Robb Elementary students were celebrating the last week of school with themed dress-up days.

Tuesday's theme was "Footloose and Fancy", and teachers encouraged the children to come dressed in nice outfits and show off fun footwear.

But what began as a day of fun abruptly turned into terrifying carnage.

The 18-year-old shooter was in a standoff with authorities for about a half-hour before officers breached the classroom and killed him, said US Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose district includes Uvalde.

It was the deadliest shooting at a K-12 school in the United States since 2012, when 26 children and adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut.

Garza said he wants people to remember Amerie as a good kid who tried to do the right thing to the end.

"She was just trying to call the cops, that's all," he said.

"I just want people to know she died trying to save her classmates. She just wanted to save everyone."

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The new federal government has launched an investigation into whether a Border Force statement about a Sri Lankan asylum seeker boat, which was followed by an election-day text from the Liberal Party, was requested by the then-prime minister's office.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles confirmed this afternoon the secretary of the Department of Home Affairs has been asked to look into the matter.

The message, sent to thousands of voters on the afternoon of May 21 read: "BREAKING – Aust Border Force has intercepted an illegal boat trying to reach Aus. Keep our borders secure by voting Liberal today" with a link to the party's website.

READ MORE: Locals raise concerns about Andrew O'Keefe rehab facility

Following earlier reports the statement was requested by Scott Morrison's office, Marles accused the Coalition government of politicising national security and said the reports, if true, "represents the final desperate acts of a dying government".

"The former government sought to inject politics into a matter of national security. This is a matter that should have been above politics," the deputy prime minister said.

"This is a matter where actually when it came to border security there was a national consensus, that this government sought to undermine and sought to create division where none existed and it sought to make this a matter of politics and this is really serious.

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"It's serious in the sense that it did make our borders less secure. It's serious in that it risked lives, it risked lives, and it undermined the national consensus that does exist around border security."

The statement about the boat was a departure from the previous government's refusal to comment on "on-water matters", a protocol introduced when Morrison was immigration minister.

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At least 12 tourists have been taken to hospital after a boating accident at a popular tourist attraction on the coast of Western Australia.

The people are being to flown to hospitals in Perth and Broome after being injured at Horizontal Falls, 250 kilometres from Broome.

One group of patients have been taken to Broome Hospital, while another group with more serious injuries will be taken to Broome or Perth for further tests.

LIVE COVERAGE: Magnitude 6.4 earthquake hits the Timor region

The remaining 13 passengers have been accounted for and have non-life-threatening injuries.

Four Royal Flying Doctor Service aircrafts with six doctors and six flight nurses have been deployed for the response.

An additional two aircrafts and crews are already on the scene.

Clinicians are assessing and treating patients on the boat.

Horizontal Falls is an iconic tourist destination where a fast-moving tidal current squeezes through two narrow gorges of the McLarty Range at Talbot Bay.

A 6.2 magnitude earthquake has been felt by people in the Northern Territory this afternoon.

Geoscience Australia confirmed the earthquake, originating off the coast of Timor Leste, struck at around 12.06 this afternoon. 550 people in the Territory reported they noticed the quake.

The Bureau of Meteorology said there is currently no threat of a tsunami as a result of the quake, which was felt in Darwin and surrounding regions.

READ MORE: Texas gunman was inside the school for more than an hour

"The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre has detected an earthquake that has been reported as being felt near Darwin, NT," the BoM said.

"There is no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories."

Residents in Darwin reported feeling their "house rocking" temporarily and tremors in their offices and homes.

"Wow, I just felt the earth move here in Darwin," one resident said.

"An earthquake just shook our office building here in Casuarina."

Senior Seismologist Trevor Allen from Geoscience Australia said people from Darwin to Katherine and Kununurra in Western Australia reported feeling the earthquake.

READ MORE: Locals raise concerns about Andrew O'Keefe rehab facility

"I would generally expect people might have felt the shaking for about 30 seconds in the Darwin region," Allen said.

"We haven't received any reports of damage the reports have generally shown the shaking felt to be minor.

"As yet we haven't detected any aftershocks."

He said people in high-rise buildings typically feel the shaking effects more due to the natural frequency and design of the buildings.

"A magnitude 6.2 is quite a strong earthquake and initial reports from Timor Leste suggest it was quite strongly felt on the island.

"In terms of what to do if you do feel an earthquake, the best advice we have is to drop under a sturdy object or table, cover yourself, particularly your head and wait for the shaking to stop."

READ MORE: Ray Liotta, Goodfellas and Field of Dreams star, dies aged 67

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