Australia's foreign minister, Stephen Smith, has restated his government's call for Fiji to hold elections as promised by next March.
Mr Smith made the call in a statement ahead of his visit to Suva where he will be joining the Pacific Islands Forum contact group which is to meet the Fiji interim leaders.
His visit marks the first visit by an Australian minister since the 2006 military coup which ousted the elected government and closed parliament.
Mr Smith says the recent appointment of a general elections supervisor is a small albeit definite step in the right direction.
He says Australia has welcomed the positive outcome of the recent visit of Commonwealth Secretariat envoy Sir Paul Reeves who will now prepare draft terms of reference for an all-inclusive political forum to discuss electoral reforms the interim administration is adamant must happen before any elections.
