The Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery won't cover Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's trip to Nauru for an international forum unless the tiny island nation reverses its ban on the ABC.

Nauru called the ABC an "activist media organisation" and banned a camera operator from getting a visa for the trip,

Mr Turnbull says the tiny country has a right to reject visa applications ahead of the upcoming Pacific Islands Forum.

In a statement, Canberra Press Gallery president David Crowe said Nauru's decision on who can cover the forum is an "appalling restriction on press freedom".

"If the ban is not reversed, the media pool will be disbanded. If one cannot go, none will go," he said on Wednesday.

The Nauru edict also sets a dangerous precedent for other governments banning Australian media from similar events in the future, Mr Crowe said.

Nauru based the decision on what it called the ABC's "blatant interference" in domestic politics before the country's 2016 election and a lack of respect toward President Baron Waqa.

"The Australian media do not decide who enters Nauru," it said in a statement on Tuesday.

An ABC camera operator was to be part of a three-person Australian media pool at the forum in September, alongside a journalist and photographer from AAP.

"AAP fully supports the statement by press gallery president David Crowe," AAP editor Mike Osborne said.

The decision also won support from Labor leader Bill Shorten.

"Good on them," he told reporters.

"I am concerned that Mr Turnbull has surrendered so quickly to the debate."

Mr Turnbull would prefer events like the forum were open to all media but said it "is up to Nauru".

ABC News Director Gaven Morris said Nauru shouldn't be allowed to dictate who fills the Australian media pool for an international event.

"The ABC does not intend to vacate our position in the media pool covering the Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru," he said in a statement earlier in the week.

But Nauru said the ABC's insistence on being part of the pool was "arrogant, disrespectful and a further example of the sense of entitlement shown by this activist media organisation".

The central Pacific nation has a population of about 11,000 people - smaller than Broome, Colac, Port Pirie and Ulverstone.

It will host the annual Pacific Islands Forum between September 1 and 9 for delegates from more than 30 countries, including 18 member states.

Australia's role in the Pacific has also been under intense scrutiny, as China increases its presence in the region.