Marching into Fiji’s ‘Frank’ new political order

In 1965, buoyed by the outcomes of the constitutional conference in London, the Leader of Government Business in Fiji’s colonial government, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara sent a cable home: ‘Ni yalovinaka ni kakua ni

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Fiji @ 50: Sugar’s bittersweet future

Growers like Gyan Deo may be the reason why Fiji’s sugar industry will still have a future in the next half a century. Like the bulk of the country’s 12,000 sugarcane growers, Deo works his 12-acre farm in rural

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Fiji making amends in Pacific regionalism

From the zenith of Pacific regionalism (the Forum) from the early 1970s, Fiji’s standing in the group and amongst its regional neighbours stooped to unprecedented ignominy in 2009. Fiji was the first member country

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Fiji @ 50: ATH flexes its regional muscle

Fiji’s Amalgamated Telecom Holdings’ (ATH) recent US$25 million investment from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to finance a greenfield 4G mobile network in Papua New Guinea, is a vote of confidence in the regional

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Fiji @ 50: A view from the future

In my family, October 10 marks the day that my grandparents started their life together. Some 61 years ago, on a little island seemingly in the middle of nowhere, a young man and woman made promises to love and support

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Fiji @ 50: Death of a regional giant

Slowly but surely the once mighty Fiji Television Limited has started to crumble, taken apart from within by a combination of government pressure, acquiescent board members and questionable divestments. Last month the

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Fiji @ 50: Losing the arts is to lose our soul

The arts have clearly shaped Fiji’s trajectory these last 50 years but have the arts and our creative industries been afforded agency to flourish and continue their critical role in nation-building and nurturing? Have

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One year to go: A game of hope for people in the Blue Pacific

Four years ago, the tiny Pacific island country of Fiji won its very first Olympic medal, a gold, when it stormed its way through rugby’s debut year at the XXVI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was a win for

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“I am hopeful that we will increase our score”: New Caledonia’s referendum

On 4 October, New Caledonians will vote in a referendum on self-determination, to determine the political status of the French Pacific dependency. This is the second referendum to be held under the Noumea Accord, an

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Who will welcome Bougainville?

The results of the historic Bougainville elections are now known.  In electoral processes setting benchmarks for emulation in the Pacific, former Bougainville Revolutionary Army Commander, Ishmael Toroama, was

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Food Revolutionaries

The founder of the Pacific Island Food Revolution says the campaign’s work on changing food choices in the Pacific region is “super relevant” in the current global coronavirus pandemic. “Our project is about

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Palau to choose leader to inherit COVID-19 woes

The  outcome of this November’s election  will be crucial to Palau’s response to the economic crisis, as whoever will win the polls will be confronted by the impacts of COVID-19 well beyond 2020. At the

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