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Woven fans painted with the image of a flower.

A smiling woman stands between two racks of clothes bearing traditional Pacific Island colours.
Nancy Waffi is the owner of Island Friends shop in Townsville.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)

A large woven fan with some strands coloured with purple, green, red, orange, and yellow.
Shop owners find Pacific Island goods in the region and import them to Australia.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)

Flower earrings on display, coloured with blue and white, black and yellow, and green and white.
Earrings made in the Pacific for sale at Island Friends.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)
A bright yellow floral necklace on display in a shop.
Shop owners are bringing their home countries' fashions to Australia.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)
Shell earrings on display in a shop.
Pasifika communities use natural materials to make the products, such as these shell earrings.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)

A woman wearing a traditional headdress, necklaces and earrings, and a red and white island dress.
Renik Normeng sources goods from remote parts of Papua New Guinea for her shop in Western Australia. (ABC News: Aran Hart)

PASIFIKA SHOPS Baskets
Woven bags from Papua New Guinea imported for sale in Australia.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)

A woven purse with rows of green, purple and yellow colours.
Pasifika communities make much-needed income from the goods.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)

Colourful woven bags hung on display on a wall in a shop.
Bilums are used widely in Papua New Guinea.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)
A woven bag painted with the image of a flowering hibiscus plant.
Bags are carefully woven and painted in the Pacific before the long journey to Australia. (ABC News: Lucy Cooper)
Woven bags painted with pink flowers or woven with purple and pink strands, and shell necklaces, hanging on a shop wall.
There is increasing demand for Pasifika goods as Australia's Pacific Islander diaspora grows.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)

A yellow, red, and black striped beanie.
A beanie made with the national colours of Papua New Guinea. (ABC News: Lucy Cooper)
A red and yellow bucket hat with pictures of the Papua New Guinea flag.
The clothing provides a link to home for members of Australia's Pasifika community.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)
Red, black and yellow dresses hanging on a rack.
Island dresses, a popular fashion in the Pacific, are harder to find in Australia.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)

A man wearing thick black rimmed glasses and a bucket hat in vibrant yellow, red and black colours.
Gabriel Wamamie is a customer of Island Friends.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)

A woman with glasses, and wearing a purple and white island dress.
Joyce Kambu, originally from Papua New Guinea, says Island Friends provides an important link to her home.(ABC News: Lucy Cooper)

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