Fiji's Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama said Australia has been embarrassed in the eyes of other Pacific nations over its failure to derail the Pacific meeting being hosted by Fiji from today.

According to The Australian, Commodore Bainimarama said his "Engagement with the Pacific" summit is a meeting of the Melanesian Spearhead Group plus other nations, the summit he originally sought.

He said Australia's diplomatic effort to prevent it had backfired and more Pacific nations are gathering under his Chairmanship to express solidarity with Fiji.

With Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare arriving later today and Solomon Islands Prime Minister Doctor Derek Sikua already in the country, Permanent Secretary for Information, Sharon Smith-Johns said Canberra now has "egg on its face" because so many Pacific nations had chosen to defy its appeals not to attend the Fiji summit.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Dr Derek Sikua, Kiribati President Anote Tong, Prime Minister for Tuvalu Apisai Ilemia are already in Natadola.

Other country representatives are from Tonga, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Tokelau, East Timor and Wallis and Futuna.