Papua New Guinea's prime minister has become the first Pacific Island leader to address the Australian Parliament. James Marape's historic speech comes as Australia and China jostle for influence in the Pacific.

The PNG leader told lawmakers, "In a world of many relations with many nations, nothing will come in between our two countries because we are family."

Australia is the biggest donor of aid to PNG and its closest economic and defense partner.

On Thursday, Marape held talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Marape welcomed Canberra's decision to scale up its aid for PNG's policing.

This comes after the two countries signed a security pact in December under which Australia pledged 130 million US dollars for a wide range of fields.

China is also seeking to strike a security agreement with PNG. Beijing offered policing and defense support in September. It's said to have approached PNG again in January after police and public servants, angered by a pay cut, rioted in the capital of Port Moresby. That move was seen as Beijing's latest attempt to gain clout.

PNG's foreign minister said in a statement last week his country is in talks with China over a policing deal, but stressed it won't jeopardize PNG's ties with Australia and the United States.