Australian forces quell Solomons unrest

Australia has sent 66 defence force officers, 70 Australian Federal Police and eight foreign affairs department personnel after the Solomon Islands prime minister requested help following riots in the capital Honiara.

The HMAS Armidale patrol boat is due to arrive with further support on Tuesday.

Senator Payne said all Australian mission staff and their families were safe.

"Australia continues to call for calm, an end to violence and for tensions to be resolved peacefully," she told parliament on Monday.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said AFP officers were working closely with local police to investigate the criminal conduct of rioters.

"We have made it very clear our role ... is not to involve ourselves in domestic and political situations that are arising in the Solomon Islands," she said.

"We are there to work with the Royal Solomon Islands police force to do all that we can to restore stability in the region and to protect people and critical infrastructure."

Almost 1300 rapid COVID-19 testing kits have been brought along to ensure Australian troops and personnel do not increase the risk of the virus tearing through the largely unvaccinated Pacific island nation.

Clean-up operations began in earnest on Sunday in the hardest hit areas of the city, including the Chinatown district where three charred bodies were discovered in a store on Friday.

The precinct has been targeted by protesters still resentful the Solomons Islands government ended diplomatic ties with Taiwan to establish formal links with China in 2019.

Australian Associated Press