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Tonga's strict quarantine measures designed to keep COVID-19 out of the country may complicate relief efforts following the tsunami and volcanic eruption in the Pacific island nation.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Tonga had not requested an Australian medical assistance team following the natural disaster.

She said Tonga's strict border measures implemented due to COVID could make it more difficult for international assistance to get on the ground.

"It is a COVID-free country as far as I'm aware and that does complicate the movement of people as well," Senator Payne told reporters on Monday.

"If we do need to send a (medical assistance) team to Tonga for any reason, I have no doubt there would be there same level of positive volunteering I have seen right throughout COVID as well."

Since the start of the pandemic, there has been just one confirmed case of COVID-19 in Tonga.

It comes as Australia sent a P-8 plane to assess the damage following the natural disaster on Saturday.

The flight arrived in Tonga on Monday morning, with crews checking for damage to critical infrastructure.

Communications to the country have largely been disrupted following the tsunami.

The tsunami was caused by an underwater volcanic eruption, with the volcanic ash cloud also leading to flight disruptions in Australia.

An Aircalin flight from Narita in Japan to La Tontouta in New Caledonia was diverted to Brisbane overnight due to the volcanic disruption.

All passengers and crew from the flight spent the night in quarantine hotels, with a new flight time yet to be set.

Two Fiji Airways flights from Brisbane to Nadi were also cancelled on Monday due to the volcanic cloud.

It also also led to delays for flights to Townsville from both Brisbane and Sydney.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the communication disruption and ash clouds made the situation challenging.

"We're working to get as much support to Tonga as we possibly can," he told 2GB on Monday.

"They're part of our Pacific family, and ... like all of those island nations, we're always there to support and we certainly will be on this occasion."

All Australians and other officials in Tonga have been accounted for.

Senator Payne said the government was in contact with the high commissioner in Tonga, but communication was limited.

"This is a very challenging time. Communications are deeply, deeply affected by the events of the volcanic eruption. It has been felt in other parts of the region," she told reporters on Monday.

"We're seeking further information about the extent of the damage outside of (the capital) Nuku'alofa."

Defence forces and foreign affairs officials will be working with other countries in the region to provide support.

Pacific Minister Zed Seselja said while there were reports of significant property damage in Tonga, there have been no reports of mass casualties.

"There is still very limited, if any, information coming from the outer islands, and so that will be the focus in coming hours," Senator Seselja told ABC TV.

"We hope that in the next several hours, we'll have a much better assessment of the damage in those outer islands where communications continue to be cut off."

Senator Seselja said other support measures were being prepared and ready to go, including a C-130 plane with humanitarian supplies.

HMAS Adelaide, currently in Sydney, is being deployed to Brisbane where it will be loaded with supplies for Tonga.

He said there were some predeployed emergency supplies in Tonga.

© AAP 2022

While millions of Australians struggle to make ends meet during the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation's billionaires have pocketed $205 million a day.

Anti-poverty charity Oxfam has run the numbers and found Australia's 47 billionaires doubled their collective net worth to $255 billion over the first two years of the crisis.

Those men and women, who count business magnates Gina Rinehart, James Packer and Frank Lowy among them, now hold more wealth than the poorest 30 per cent of Australians, which equates to about 7.7 million people.

The findings from the Oxfam report, released on Monday, were mirrored on a global scale, with the world's ten richest men also more than doubling their fortunes to $1.9 trillion.

Broader still, the 2755 billionaires across the globe have grown their fortunes more in the past two years than the previous 14 in total.

"This is the biggest annual increase in billionaire wealth since records began. It is taking place on every continent," the Inequality Kills report reads.

Their soaring wealth has been attributed to skyrocketing stock market prices, a boom in unregulated entities, rising monopoly power and privatisation, on top of the erosion of individual corporate tax rates and regulations as well as workers' rights and wages.

Oxfam Australia chief executive Lyn Morgain said billionaires have enjoyed a "terrific pandemic".

"Central banks have pumped trillions of dollars into financial markets to save the economy, yet much of that has ended up lining the pockets of billionaires riding a stock market boom," she said.

The stark inequality has real-world consequences, with the report conservatively estimating it is contributing to at least 21,300 deaths each day, or one person every four seconds.

In Australia and the United Kingdom, specifically, poor people and those from low-socio economic areas were nearly 2.6 to four times more likely to die from COVID-19 than the richest members of society.

The charity describes the trends as "alarming" and lays blame at the feet of governments for allowing the "conditions for the COVID-19 virus to dangerously mutate".

"At the same time, they have also created the conditions for an entirely new variant of billionaire wealth. This variant, the billionaire variant, is profoundly dangerous for our world," it said.

The rapid spread of the Omicron strain across the globe after first being detected in South Africa has also shown the deadly consequences of lingering inequality, Ms Morgain argues.

Oxfam has called for all governments to immediately tax gains made by the super-rich during the pandemic, invest in evidence-based policies to save lives, and rewrite the rules within their economies.

"It's time for the Australian government to take this issue seriously and take action to close the gap between the rich and poor," Ms Morgain said.

© AAP 2022

Multiple flights have been cancelled or diverted to Australia following the impact of the tsunami in Tonga, as the prime minister pledged support to the Pacific island nation.

The tsunami, which was sparked by an underwater volcano eruption on Saturday, led to volcanic ash being strewn into the air and causing flight delays.

An Aircalin flight from Narita in Japan to La Tontouta in New Caledonia was diverted to Brisbane overnight due to the volcanic disruption.

All passengers and crew from the flight spent the night in quarantine hotels, with a new flight time yet to be set.

Two Fiji Airways flights from Brisbane to Nadi were also cancelled on Monday due to the volcanic cloud.

It also also led to delays for flights to Townsville from both Brisbane and Sydney.

It comes as an Australian P-8 plane arrived in Tonga on Monday morning to assess the damage from the volcanic eruption and tsunami.

The flight arrived just after 9am AEDT, and will determine how critical infrastructure has fared following the disaster.

Communication in the country has been disrupted with essential equipment heavily damaged.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the communication disruption and ash clouds made the situation challenging.

"We're working to get as much support to Tonga as we possibly can," he told 2GB on Monday.

"They're part of our Pacific family, and ... like all of those island nations, we're always there to support and we certainly will be on this occasion."

All Australians and other officials in Tonga have been accounted for.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the government was in contact with the high commissioner in Tonga, but communication was limited.

"This is a very challenging time. Communications are deeply, deeply affected by the events of the volcanic eruption. It has been felt in other parts of the region," she told reporters on Monday.

"We're seeking further information about the extent of the damage outside of (the capital) Nuku'alofa."

Defence forces and foreign affairs officials will be working with other countries in the region to provide support.

Mr Morrison has also spoken with his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern.

Pacific Minister Zed Seselja said while there were reports of significant property damage in Tonga, there have been no reports of mass casualties.

"There is still very limited, if any, information coming from the outer islands, and so that will be the focus in coming hours," Senator Seselja told ABC TV.

"We hope that in the next several hours, we'll have a much better assessment of the damage in those outer islands where communications continue to be cut off."

Senator Seselja said other support measures were being prepared and ready to go, including a C-130 plane with humanitarian supplies.

HMAS Adelaide, currently in Sydney, is being deployed to Brisbane where it will be loaded with supplies for Tonga.

"We've been chatting to our US, New Zealand and French partners and others about how we can get a coordinated response going," Senator Seselja said.

"There will be further discussions with the Tongan government to determine how we can support the people of Tonga at this very difficult time, but we stand by to do much more."

A Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman said there were early reports of substantial ash coverage through Nuku'alofa along with coastal inundation and damage to infrastructure.

A tsunami warning was issued for parts of Australia's east coast, but was cancelled on Sunday night.

However, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned of unusual sea level changes along the Queensland, Victorian and Tasmanian coasts.

© AAP 2022