A landmark $500 million deal between Australia and Vanuatu has stalled and remained unsigned during Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's trip to the Pacific nation.

Albanese arrived in the capital of Port Vila today for talks on the Nakamal Agreement with local counterpart Jothan Napat, with both leaders confirming to the media that it is yet to be inked.

That comes amid reports China is proving to be a sticking point in negotiations.

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The agreement would see Canberra pour $500 million into Vanuatu for economic, security, and climate resilience plans, but would also cement Australia as the Pacific nation's security partner of choice.

That's despite China playing an increasing role in Vanuatu – Beijing is the country's largest external creditor, having funded a string of construction projects including a new president's office last year.

When asked whether the limit on Chinese influence was behind the agreement stalling, Napat confirmed this afternoon that there were concerns from within his coalition government about preventing Vanuatu from getting critical infrastructure funding from outside Australia.

"Some of my ministers and my MPs, they feel it requires more discussions, particularly on some of the specific wordings in the agreement," he said.

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The Nakamal Agreement was initialed by senior ministers from both nations – including Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong – last month, and a signing ceremony today seemed a mere formality after Napat had praised the deal as "win-win".

Despite the setback, Albanese said he was confident of the agreement still being signed off.

"There is agreement on the principles that have been agreed and initialled in the Nakamal Agreement, it's a matter of processes going through," he said. 

"I respect the processes that Prime Minister Napat needs to go through. 

"Both sides will go through our processes but we're very confident that the agreement can be reached, and I'm reassured by the discussion that I have had with the prime minister."

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Albanese and Napat will now fly to the Solomon Islands for the Pacific Islands Forum, where China's influence will continue to loom.

The Solomons, under previous prime minister Manasseh Sogavare, inked a security pact with Beijing in 2022 in a major diplomatic blow to Australian influence in the Pacific.

Current Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele decided to bar Taiwan, as well as China, the United States and other partner nations, from this year's forum, limiting it to the 18 members including Australia and New Zealand.

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Dramatic vision has captured the moment police officers rescued an elderly couple, one of whom was in a wheelchair, and their grandson from flames that engulfed their home on the Gold Coast.

Officers were conducting routine patrols when they saw smoke billowing from Golden Four Drive in Tugun about 12.40am on Sunday.

When they got closer, they noticed a fire on the balcony of an upstairs unit.

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Police body-cam footage showed an officer grabbing an extinguisher from the car to put out the flames.

But when they opened the front door, they saw thick clouds of black smoke inside that one officer said had "completely engulfed" the home.

The officers, who were coughing from the smoke inhalation, grabbed some nearby towels and doused them in water before entering the home and locating the couple.

"There's a fire in your house. The washing machine is on fire," one officer could be heard saying.

"You jump into your wheelchair and I'll take you out."

The vision shows two officers helping 77-year-old Glenda Maskelyne in a wheelchair out of the home and carrying her down the stairs to safety.

"I've never gone down those steps so fast in my life," Maskelyne said.

"I honestly believe that somebody put that police car at the bottom of our steps at that particular time."

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Her 76-year-old husband, Ian, and their 14-year-old grandson also escaped safely. 

It was a startling way to kick off Ian's birthday. 

"Half past one, we're out there, and I said, 'by the way, happy birthday, darling,'" Maskelyne said.

"He says, 'I'm not gonna forget this one, am I?"

The officers were seen using small fire extinguishers to try to calm down the fire while they waited for firefighters to arrive.

"It's too big for fire extinguishers now. We've used three," one officer could be heard saying.

Firefighters contained the fire to the kitchen and extinguished it. Many of the couple's belongings have been saved.

The fire is not being treated as suspicious and is believed to have been caused by electrical equipment.

Paramedics were also called to the scene and assessed the officers, couple and their grandson for smoke inhalation.

No one was seriously injured.

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged Liberal Senator Jacinta Price to apologise to the Indian community, as more of her colleagues distance themselves from her remarks about migration.

Price accused the federal government of allowing more migrants in from "particular countries over others" to skew votes and singled out the Indian community during an interview with the ABC last week.

She later walked back her statement and said: "Australia maintains a longstanding and bipartisan non-discriminatory migration policy. Suggestions otherwise are a mistake."

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But her refusal to apologise has caused internal dissent and put pressure on Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, who promised to rebuild relationships with multicultural communities and women after the party's historic defeat at the federal election in May.

The remarks came days after anti-immigration rallies, some of which targeted Indian Australians, were held across the country on August 31. 

Albanese called on Price to apologise for the hurt her comments have caused and threw his support behind the community that he said has "made our nation stronger".

"The comments are not true that the senator made, and of course she should apologise for the hurt that has been caused, and her own colleagues are saying that, but even more importantly, leaders in the community are asking for that as well," he told the ABC today.

Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie has also urged Price to apologise, while Liberal MP Julian Leeser apologised on her behalf during an event at a Hindi language school in his north-west Sydney electorate of Berowra.

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"I wanted just to say something, and it pains me to say it, but I feel I have to say it," he said in a video posted to social media yesterday.

"My colleague, Jacinta Price, said something this week that I want to apologise unreservedly for.

"As my leader, Sussan Ley, said, she was wrong to say it, and she has walked back those remarks, and I am pleased that she has.

"Let me say very clearly, the contribution of Indian Australians to this country is fantastic. The Indian community is fantastic. India, like Australia, is a democracy.

"There are Indians that vote Labor, there are Indians that vote Liberal, there are Indians that vote Greens. I don't care how you vote. I care about the contribution you make to this country, and I know it is a fantastic contribution, and I want you to keep making it."

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Senior Liberal and manager of opposition business Alex Hawke has also publicly said he had advised Price to apologise.

But that account was rejected by Price, who accused Hawke of "cowardly and inappropriate conduct" by berating her staff and threatening her position within the Liberal Party.

"If people want to talk about a so-called 'woman problem' in the Liberal Party, then it's this: we don't stand up for women when they are mistreated by our own colleagues," she wrote in a fiery statement on Sunday.

Price has defied calls to apologise as recently as last night, when she instead urged Ley to make Hawke say sorry for his actions.

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"I have asked our leader if she would ask Alex Hawke to apologise to me for his conduct," she told Sky News.

"I'm a Liberal woman, and Liberal women need to be able to feel like they're being supported wholeheartedly."

Over the weekend, Ley toured Little India, also known as Harris Park in Sydney, alongside Leeser, shadow immigration minister Paul Scarr and NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman as she worked to restore the party's relationship with the community.

She said Price was wrong to say those remarks, but remained tight-lipped on whether she spoke to Price or asked her to apologise.

She has also refused to apologise on her behalf.

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