Australia is being urged to establish a regional intelligence sharing alliance with New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji to counter mounting threats in the Pacific.

The status quo of patchwork agreements had failed to tackle transnational crime, illegal fishing, disaster response, climate-related security, and cybersecurity issues, according to Lowy Institute's Pacific islands program director Mihai Sora.

"These vulnerabilities create space for external actors, above all China, to gain leverage in the Pacific Islands," he said said in a policy brief released on Wednesday.

The intelligence-sharing arrangement would mirror the Five Eyes partnership between Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

This would patch gaps in the system "and provide regional

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