The opposition will announce on Tuesday its proposal to win back the support and trust of Australia's Pacific neighbours, following reports of a newly-inked security pact between China and Solomon Islands.

Labor's promise, if elected to government in May, would combine defence and diplomacy, including offering additional funding for the ABC to expand its programming and training opportunities in the region.

A defence school would also be established to provide training programs for defence and security force members from the island nations.

Funding for aerial surveillance in the South Pacific will also be increased and extended for the future to assist with intercepting transnational criminal activities and stamping out illegal fishing, which cost the Pacific Island nations millions in revenue each year.

The party's foreign affairs spokesperson Senator Penny Wong said the support boost was crucial, blaming Prime Minister Scott Morrison for failing to maintain strong relations with the island nations, leading some to turn to China for support.

"Scott Morrison has dropped the ball in the Pacific, and as a result Australia is less secure," she said.

"The vacuum Scott Morrison has created is being filled by others - who do not share our interests and values."

The pledge by Labor follows its focus on highlighting the Coalition's failure to stop the security deal being signed, despite its strong national security rhetoric.

Senator Wong last Wednesday described the news as one of Australia's worst foreign policy failures in the Pacific region since World War II.

The ongoing saga is fast dominating the federal election, with Defence Minister Peter Dutton using an Anzac Day media appearance to dial up warnings about possible imminent conflicts.

"The only way that you can preserve peace is to prepare for war and to be strong as a country, not to cower, not to be on bended knee and be weak," Mr Dutton said on Monday.

READ MORE:

Mr Morrison on Sunday said a "red line" would be crossed if China were to establish a military presence in the Solomons following the deal.

But he added the archipelago's leader Manasseh Sogavare had told him that wouldn't happen.

Senior figures in Labor agreed in principle with Mr Dutton's comments on Monday but said they had been left out of the loop.

Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles and defence spokesperson Brendan O'Connor said security agencies hadn't yet briefed them on the threat severity of the deal despite the government being in caretaker mode.

Mr Marles used it as an opportunity to continue the party's attack on the Coalition over the national security issue.

"Words are one thing, action is another," he said.

"This is a government, which beats its chest, but when it comes to actually delivering and doing what needs to be done, this is a government, which repeatedly fails."