Frank Bainimarama's journey from coup leader to climate change crusader

Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama is on his first official visit to Australia despite having led the Pacific Island country for more than a decade — first as the leader of a military coup, and later as an elected politician.

Former commodore Frank Bainimarama
 seized power almost 13 years ago — two
elections later, he's still in charge.

Former Commodore Bainimarama seized power in Fiji back in 2006, leading to a series of events that would eventually see Australia and New Zealand slap sanctions on him and other senior officials.

But two democratic elections later, Mr Bainimarama is still leading Fiji — and his international reputation has made a fairly miraculous recovery.

Australia and New Zealand have normalised relations with Fiji, and both are trying to up their engagement with the nation and the broader region, in the face of diplomatic overtures from China.

Mr Bainimarama has also become a prominent climate change advocate on the global stage: Fiji was the first country to ratify the Paris Agreement, and he was the President of the COP23 climate change conference in Bonn in 2017.

Read the ABC News story by Michael Walsh - “Frank Bainimarama's journey from coup leader to climate change crusader.”