CANBERRA, Oct. 31-- Australia and the United States have lifted sanctions against Fiji that were first imposed in 2006, following the Pacific island nation's democratic elections last month.

On Friday, Australia's foreign minister Julie Bishop began a two-day visit to Fiji, and expressed hope the two countries could begin a new and improved relationship together.

Both Australia and the United States imposed several sanctions on Fiji, mainly relating to visa restrictions, following former military ruler Frank Bainimarama's bloodless coup eight years ago.

Australia also withheld the sale of military equipment and military cooperation to Fiji, but will now hope to restore those ties following last month's elections.

After Bainimarama transformed himself from military strongman to civilian leader and this year declared the country's first democratic elections in eight years, both Australia and the United States lifted their respective sanctions.

Bainimarama's Fiji First party won September's general election by a landslide.

"Today marks the start of a new era in the relationship between Australia and Fiji," Bishop said on Friday.

"We have a range of political, defense, economic and people-to- people linkages and it's important that our relationship be returned to normal as soon as possible.

"Just an election does not make a country a democracy, there also has to be a commitment to democratic values and democratic institutions.

"That's why we will be working with Fiji to support the restoration of a number of democratic values, such as freedom of speech."

Fiji was restored to the Pacific Islands Forum last week following a six-year suspension from its regional body.

However, Bainimarama has refused to rejoin the forum while Australia and New Zealand remain as members, highlighting the difficult process in renewing a stable relationship.

Despite Bishop's efforts to normalize relations, Bainimarama has not publicly announced any measure to restore ties.

But the foreign minister believes ongoing talks will soon normalize relations between the two countries: "Prime Minister Bainimarama has been quite stringent about certain matters, but I have also found him to be very engaged on the resuming of the bilateral relationship with Australia.

"I expect to have a fruitful and productive discussion with Prime Minister Bainimarama this weekend on any remaining issues, including entry to the Pacific Islands Forum and re-entry to the Commonwealth."