Across the Pacific less than 5 per cent of parliamentarians are women.
While that figure is much higher in Australa, around 30 per cent, Ms Stott-Despoja says the difficulties faced by women elsewhere in the region are much greater … such as discrimination and corruption.
She recently led a delegation to Tonga to meet women in politics from around the region and told Karen Barlow it was a big sucess.
Reporter: Karen Barlow
Speaker: Natasha Stott-Despoja, Australian Ambassador for Women and Girls
Listen to the interview on ABC Radio Australia