Fiji, July 22 -- Australia's Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy has defended the cost of hosting the pre-COP climate meeting in Fiji, saying the event is essential to supporting Pacific countries and that most accommodation costs will be recovered from participating foreign delegations.

Speaking on Australia's Today Show, Conroy rejected criticism over the reported AUD$4.2 million (US$2.93 million) allocated for accommodation at the October meeting.

"This story is a bit of a media beat-up by The Australian to be honest because most of the cost will be recovered from foreign leaders and their delegations coming to those hotels and paying for their rooms. We've just reserved them as you do when you organise these conferences,"...