In this bulletin:
1. SOL — Three Permanent Secretaries sworn in to lead key government ministries
2. VAN — Vanuatu Government reaffirms One-China Policy
3. PACIFIC — Environmental review of seabed mining to come after leases are sold
4. PACIFIC — Vanuatu, PNG prosecutors forge closer ties
5. W|PAPUA — The West Papua National Committee rejects government’s plan to register internally displaced Papuans
6. W|PAPUA — Mare residents struggle with basic services and infrastructure
7. PACNEWS BIZ — Cook Islander Pamela Maru appointed to FFA leadership
8. PACNEWS BIZ — ‘Please come’: Tourism Minister reassures tourists over 5 percent tax
9. PACNEWS BIZ — Fiji Airways fuel shortage nears end
10. PACNEWS BIZ — Labour Department calls on disengaged workers to reconnect
11. PACNEWS BIZ — 67 percent of Fiji exporters struggle for finance
12. PACNEWS BIZ — Israel increases Fiji agriculture internship quota from 14 to 150
13. PACNEWS IN FOCUS — Investigation: A Kidney Transplant, Ignored Advice, and a President’s Surprise Pick to Run a $160 Billion Pacific Island Mine
14. PACNEWS IN FOCUS — Australia’s Pacific energy pledges need a new approach
15. PACNEWS IN FOCUS — Sink or Swim: The Case for Radical Policy Reform in the South Pacific
16. PACNEWS DIGEST — ADB Accelerates Disaster Response and Recovery for Vanuatu
17. PACNEWS DIGEST — Three women awarded SMART-C fellowships to study at World Maritime University
SOL – POLITICS: SOLOMON ISLANDS GOVT PACNEWS 3: Wed 26 Aug 2026
Three Permanent Secretaries sworn in to lead key government ministries
HONIARA, 26 AUGUST 2026 (SOLOMON ISLANDS GOVT) — Solomon Islands Government on Tuesday swore in three new Permanent Secretaries to lead the Ministries of Finance and Treasury, Police, National Security and Correctional Services, and Culture and Tourism.
The swearing-in ceremony was conducted by the Acting Governor-General, Sir Albert Rocky Palmer, at Government House this morning.
The newly appointed Permanent Secretaries are David Teika Dennis – Ministry of Finance and Treasury, Trevor Unusu – Ministry of Police, National Security and Correctional Services and Bunyan Sivoro – Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Re-appointed).
Speaking at the ceremony, the Acting Governor-General congratulated the appointees and urged them to provide strong leadership, uphold the values of public service, and deliver on the Government’s priorities for national development.
Dennis joins the Ministry following almost five years of service as Auditor-General, a role he was appointed to in September 2021.
Before that, he held senior executive positions in the financial sector in Solomon Islands and across the region, including with the ANZ Banking Group in Timor-Leste and the Cook Islands.
With extensive experience in public financial management and accountability, Dennis is expected to strengthen fiscal discipline and transparency within the Ministry.
Unusu is a career public servant and diplomat. He has served with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, with postings as Counsellor to the Solomon Islands High Commissions in Fiji and the United Kingdom.
He has also served as Assistant Secretary for Workforce Planning at the Ministry of Public Service, Director for National Border Security in 2018, and Deputy Secretary for National Security from 2022 to January 2025.
Unusu played a key role in the design of the National Security Strategy and National Border Strategy. He holds a Bachelor of Political Science from the University of Papua New Guinea, a Postgraduate Degree in Development Studies from the University of Auckland, and a Master of National Security Policy from the Australian National University. He has also completed training at the Australian Institute of Management and the Indian Foreign Service Institute.
Sivoro returns to lead the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, having first been appointed Permanent Secretary in June 2022.
A son of Vella La Vella in the Western Province, Sivoro brings over 21 years of experience in the Ministry, including 13 years as Director of Tourism and 8 years as Deputy Director.
He holds a Bachelor of Tourism Management from James Cook University, Australia, and a Master of Business and Management from the University of Waikato, New Zealand.
Speaking after the ceremony, the three PSs said they were “honoured and humbled” by their appointments and pledged to continue serving the people of Solomon Islands to the best of their abilities…. PACNEWS
VAN – DIPLOMACY: VANUATU DAILY POST PACNEWS 3: Wed 26 Aug 2026
Vanuatu Government reaffirms One-China Policy
PORT VILA, 26 AUGUST 2026 (VANUATU DAILY POST) — The Opposition is calling on the Government to publicly reaffirm Vanuatu’s One-China policy ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Palau, but the Government says the policy remains clear, long-standing and unchanged.
In a letter from the Office of the Opposition Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Port Vila, Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau, raised concerns over Vanuatu’s diplomatic position as the Government prepares to attend the Pacific Islands Forum, scheduled to take place in Palau from 30 August to 4 September 2026.
The Opposition noted that Palau, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and said Vanuatu’s foreign policy must remain consistent, principled and aligned with the national interest.
“Vanuatu has, for many years, maintained a One-China policy that has reinforced the recognition of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China,” the letter stated.
The Opposition said this longstanding position has guided Vanuatu’s diplomatic relations and its engagement with regional partners.
It is calling on the Government to take four measures ahead of and during the forum.
First, it is urging the Government to publicly reaffirm Vanuatu’s commitment to the One-China policy without ambiguity.
Second, it wants the Government to provide the public with a clear statement outlining Vanuatu’s diplomatic position and any actions it intends to take at, or in relation to, the Pacific Islands Forum from 30 August to 4 September.
Third, the Opposition is calling for any bilateral meetings or statements made by Ministers at the forum to remain consistent with Vanuatu’s declared foreign policy and to be made public in advance or immediately following such engagements.
Fourth, it is urging the Government to avoid any actions or recognitions at the international forum that could create confusion over Vanuatu’s official diplomatic position.
The Opposition said Vanuatu’s foreign policy should serve the country’s national unity, economic development and security.
It further argued that any change in diplomatic recognition or major shift in foreign policy would be a matter of national consequence and should therefore be openly debated in Parliament and clearly explained to the people.
“The Vanuatu Opposition urges the Government to act transparently and responsibly in the days ahead,” the letter stated.
Responding to the Opposition’s statement, the Government said it required no reminder about Vanuatu’s foreign policy and that its commitment to the One-China policy was “long-standing, clear, and bipartisan”.
The Government said all political parties in Parliament had supported the One-China policy and the recognition of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China.
It also referred to the Union of Moderate Parties (UMP), saying the party had previously considered changing Vanuatu’s longstanding position. The Government criticised the Opposition for raising concerns over consistency and principle given that history.
On Taiwan, the Government said Palau, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu had the sovereign right to determine their own diplomatic relationships, while Vanuatu likewise had the sovereign right to determine its own relationships.
The Government said the PIF was a forum for Pacific unity, climate action, economic resilience and regional security, and that it saw no reason to create tensions over an issue that was not on the agenda.
It said Vanuatu would attend the forum with a clear and consistent message, respecting the sovereignty of all Forum members and conducting bilateral engagements in line with its declared foreign policy.
The Government said it remained focused on representing Ni-Vanuatu interests at the forum rather than what it described as political distractions…. PACNEWS
PAC – DEEPSEA MINING: GUAM DAILY POST PACNEWS 3: Wed 26 Aug 2026
Environmental review of seabed mining to come after leases are sold
HAGATNA, 26 AUGUST 2026 (GUAM DAILY POST) — The federal agency pushing to open the seabed near the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to mineral mining confirmed Saturday that it will not conduct a full environmental study of the actual mining process until after companies already hold leases, a disclosure that has done little to ease objections from Guam senators.
The Marine Minerals Administration, formerly the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, responded to questions from The Guam Daily Post about its decision to publish a proposed leasing notice for the Marianas sale, known as PACM-2, three months ahead of the schedule the agency had previously given Congress.
Asked why it moved up the notice, the agency said the release “reflects the agency’s response to executive orders that prioritise the development and secure supply of critical minerals.” The agency apologised for the delay in responding to the Post but did not elaborate further on the shift in timing.
On environmental review, the agency confirmed that the leasing stage only grants companies the right to hold a lease and conduct preliminary work such as bathymetric, geological and geophysical surveys, which it maintains carry no significant environmental impact. A full environmental impact statement, the agency said, will wait until “a lessee submits detailed plans with more precise details regarding the location, equipment size, scale, and specific methodologies for developing the seabed resources.”
The agency gave a similar answer on protections for endangered species. It said it has already completed an initial round of consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service and set measures such as speed limits, acoustic monitoring and buffer zones for the survey phase. But formal, site-specific consultations and biological opinions, the kind that would examine actual mining equipment and methods, are deferred “until a lessee submits a concrete plan for activities to develop the seabed resources later in the process.”
On consultation with local governments, the agency pointed to an extended comment period on its initial request for information, a completed area identification process and cultural resource consultations under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Those steps, the agency said, shaped lease terms limiting survey activity near sensitive marine and navigation zones and requiring lessees to hire CNMI businesses and use CNMI ports.
Asked how it responded to the more than 60,000 public comments submitted on the Marianas proposal, most of them in opposition, the agency said it “addressed public opposition by adding strict lease stipulations to protect cultural navigation routes and seafloor habitats during preliminary surveys.” It did not say whether the volume or substance of that opposition affected whether the sale itself would proceed.
Separately, the agency’s Pacific Regional Office notified Guam’s coastal management programme last month that it had reached a “negative determination” on the proposal, meaning it found the lease sale would not affect Guam’s coastal zone. In a 16 July letter to Bureau of Statistics and Plans Director Lola Leon Guerrero, Regional Director Douglas Boren wrote that the finding fulfills a federal consistency review requirement and concluded the lease areas, which sit dozens of miles from Guam’s shoreline, fall outside the scope of activity that would trigger further coastal review.
The pushback in the Marianas is unfolding alongside a related fight over deep-sea mining nationally. Oceana, the ocean conservation group, condemned a decision last week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to accept a complete mining application from The Metals Company for an area of the Pacific between Hawaii and Mexico, the first application filed under a new federal rule that combines exploration and commercial recovery into a single review process. “Deep-sea mining risks destroying an environment we are only now just beginning to understand,” Oceana campaign manager Julia Singer said in a statement, calling on regulators to reject the application.
The Marine Minerals Administration has set 16 December as the proposed date for the Marianas sale, though a required final leasing notice, which must be published at least 30 days ahead of any auction, has not yet been issued…. PACNEWS
PAC – DIPLOMACY: VANUATU DAILY POST PACNEWS 3: Wed 26 Aug 2026
Vanuatu, PNG prosecutors forge closer ties
PORT VILA, 26 AUGUST 2026 (VANUATU DAILY POST) — The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Vanuatu and its Papua New Guinea (PNG) counterpart have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen cooperation, build capacity and share knowledge and experience between the two prosecution agencies.
The agreement aims to develop closer professional ties between prosecutors in the two Melanesian countries, which share geographical, cultural and historical connections and face similar challenges in administering justice.
Vanuatu’s Public Prosecutor, Simcha Blessing Boe, said the agreement was an important step in strengthening the relationship between the two offices.
“We share geography, we share cultural ties and traditions, and many of the same realities of administering justice across our institutions. We operate within similar environments and confront many of the same challenges,” he said.
He said prosecutors in both countries shared the same fundamental responsibility to uphold justice independently and without fear, favour or ill will.
Boe said the similarities between the two offices created opportunities for prosecutors to learn from each other, while differences in their approaches, practices and solutions could provide valuable opportunities for exchanging experiences.
He said the MOU should result in a practical and meaningful partnership rather than simply being an agreement that remains on paper.
“We want a meaningful partnership. A partnership that works, not just something we sign, but something we can use,” Boe said.
He said the agreement should facilitate exchanges of knowledge and experience and stronger communication between the two prosecution agencies.
Boe said the ultimate beneficiaries of the partnership should be the people of Vanuatu and PNG.
“It’s not for us or for our own benefit. It’s for the people that we serve,” he said.
He said he hoped the agreement would mark the beginning of a lasting relationship in which prosecutors from both countries could work together and provide mutual support.
Public Prosecutor of PNG Helen Roalakona welcomed the agreement and congratulated Boe on his appointment.
Roalakona said discussions leading to the agreement were driven by the shared history, culture and connections between the two countries.
She said partnerships between Pacific countries were becoming increasingly important as they faced challenges that crossed national borders.
“As the world grows smaller, we all need each other. And especially as Melanesians, when we already share a common cultural heritage, it is easier for us to share common problems and also find common solutions,” Roalakona said.
She said the agreement marked the first time the two prosecution agencies had formally come together to support each other through capacity building.
Roalakona said the partnership represented a move towards Melanesian countries working together to address their own challenges rather than relying primarily on developed countries for assistance.
“Most times we look at other developed countries to come and develop us. But today we are looking within ourselves to find solutions for our problems,” she said.
She said the initiative demonstrated leadership and ownership in addressing law and order issues within the region.
Roalakona said PNG was committed to sharing its knowledge and experience with Vanuatu while also learning from Vanuatu’s experience.
“We don’t have all the answers in PNG, and we don’t do everything right in PNG as well. This is an opportunity for us to learn from being here in Vanuatu, and vice versa,” she said.
She said cooperation between prosecution and law enforcement agencies was particularly important in addressing transnational crime.
“When we build strong prosecution agencies, when we build strong law enforcement agencies, we build a safer and more secure community,” she said.
Roalakona said the agreement would also strengthen professional relationships between prosecutors in the two countries and allow both sides to share their experiences, challenges and successes.
She said the partnership marked the beginning of a longer-term relationship between the two offices, with prosecutors on both sides expected to continue working together to strengthen justice systems in the two Melanesian countries…. PACNEWS
W|PAPUA – DISPLACEMENT: WEST PAPUA DAILY PACNEWS 3: Wed 26 Aug 2026
The West Papua National Committee rejects government’s plan to register internally displaced Papuans
JUBI, 26 AUGUST 2026 (WEST PAPUA DAILY) — The West Papua National Committee (KNPB) has rejected the Indonesian government’s plan to conduct a new registration of internally displaced people across conflict-affected areas of Papua, saying it fears the data collection will serve political interests rather than address the root causes of displacement.
The concern was raised by KNPB chair Agus Kossay in a written statement on Monday.
Kossay said the proposed registration, announced by Indonesia’s Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai during a recent visit to Nabire, was aimed at strengthening Jakarta’s political position through a narrative of development and welfare in Papua.
“The KNPB firmly rejects the state’s plan to register internally displaced people through government institutions as comparative data on displacement in Papua, because it is intended to strengthen the Jakarta government’s position under the pretext of development and improving the welfare of Papuans,” Kossay said.
He said the KNPB based its position on data compiled by churches and human rights workers, which estimate that 125,931 people have been internally displaced by the armed conflict in Papua.
The organisation also rejected the involvement of individuals claiming to represent KNPB in any cooperation with the Ministry of Human Rights or the Executive Committee for the Acceleration of Papua’s Development (KEP2OKP) on the issue of internal displacement.
Kossay referred to previous statements by Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai and KEP2OKP chair Velix Wanggai, who said the government intended to open dialogue with strategic organisations, including the KNPB, to discuss internally displaced people, ending violence and achieving lasting peace in Papua.
However, Kossay said the KNPB, both as an organisation and on behalf of the Papuan people, rejected the proposal because it did not address what it considers the root cause of the Papua conflict, which has resulted in civilian casualties and mass displacement.
According to Kossay, the conflict stems from the 1962 New York Agreement and Indonesia’s Trikora military operation, which he said undermined the United Nations mechanism for the 1969 Act of Free Choice and the Papuan people’s right to self-determination.
“This has been the main source of conflict in Papua for the past 65 years. The central government’s offer of development and welfare is not a framework for resolving the root causes of the Papua conflict. It is a framework for maintaining Indonesia’s illegal occupation of Papua,” he said.
Kossay argued that the Indonesian government and the Papuan people should instead agree on a conflict resolution process mediated by a neutral international party.
He said the KNPB continued to advocate for a review of what it described as legal and political violations surrounding the Papuan people’s right to self-determination under the 1962 New York Agreement.
The KNPB also called on political leaders from Pacific, African and Caribbean countries to urge Indonesia to grant access to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross to assess the situation of internally displaced people in conflict areas and investigate alleged human rights abuses and militarisation in Papua.
Kossay said the KNPB fully supported the classification of the situation in Papua as a non-international armed conflict involving the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) and the Indonesian state.
He said the Indonesian government should formally recognise that status so that all parties would be obliged to comply with international humanitarian law and human rights standards, while allowing independent international humanitarian organisations to assist internally displaced communities in conflict-affected areas…. PACNEWS
W|PAPUA – SERVICE: WEST PAPUA DAILY PACNEWS 3: Wed 26 Aug 2026
Mare residents struggle with basic services and infrastructure
JUBI, 26 AUGUST 2026 (WEST PAPUA DAILY) — Residents of Mare district in Maybrat regency, Southwest Papua province, are facing a range of challenges in accessing basic services, including clean water, teachers and healthcare workers, roads, telecommunications and health facilities.
Mare district comprises nine villages: Mahos, Suswa, Kombif, Bakrabi, Waban, Sawo, Narasi, Seya and Rufases.
The concerns were raised during a community consultation with Selly Kareth, a member of the Papuan People’s Council (MRP) in Southwest Papua, on Monday.
The meeting focused on planning, budgeting and the use of special autonomy funds, with the aim of ensuring they address the needs of communities in remote areas.
Kareth said the issues raised by residents should guide the government when setting development priorities and deciding how special autonomy funds are spent.
“These are basic needs that should be a priority. The government must take all of the concerns raised by residents seriously,” she said.
She urged the Southwest Papua provincial government and Maybrat regency government to follow up on the community’s concerns through concrete policies, planning, funding and development programmes.
“These are not excessive demands. They are basic needs that the government must address,” Kareth said.
Residents said poor road access was making it difficult to reach education and healthcare services and transport produce from their gardens to market.
They called on the government to ensure development reaches remote villages rather than being concentrated in urban areas.
“If roads are not properly developed, people will continue to face difficulties. Children will struggle to access education, sick people will struggle to reach healthcare, and local economic activity will be affected,” Kareth said.
Residents also called for more teachers to be assigned to the area so children in remote villages could receive adequate education.
“We will take these concerns forward. The Southwest Papua provincial government and Maybrat regency government must take these issues seriously,” Kareth said.
Meanwhile, Mare customary leader Leonardus Baru urged the provincial and regency governments to visit the nine villages and see first-hand the difficulties residents face in accessing basic services.
“For too long, Indigenous communities have raised the same concerns. The government comes, listens and takes notes, but people are left waiting without certainty. We need concrete action, clear funding and development that reaches our villages,” Baru said.
He said Mare residents had the same rights as other Indonesians to access transport, education, healthcare and government services.
Without adequate roads, he asked, how could residents access government services, teachers reach schools, healthcare workers reach their posts, sick people get treatment or farmers transport their produce to market?
“Government development plans should not be made from the city alone. Come and see for yourselves how people are living in Mare,” he said.
Baru urged the Southwest Papua governor and Maybrat regent to respond to the community’s concerns with concrete programmes and clear implementation timelines.
“We are not rejecting the government. We are reminding the government that Indigenous communities are still here and need the state’s attention,” he said…. PACNEWS
PACNEWS BIZ
COOKS – FISHERIES: COOK ISLANDS FISHERIES PACNEWS BIZ: Wed 26 Aug 2026
Cook Islander Pamela Maru appointed to FFA leadership
RAROTONGA, 26 AUGUST 2026 (COOK ISLANDS FISHERIES) — Ministry of Marine Resources Secretary Pamela Maru has become the first Cook Islander appointed to an executive role at the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA).
Maru will join the FFA as Deputy Director-General in January 2027, after completing her seven-year, two-term tenure at the helm of Cook Islands Marine Resources in December.
A former Fisheries Management Adviser at the FFA in Honiara, Maru will support FFA Director-General Noan Pakop of Papua New Guinea.
Former FFA deputy directors-general have included Dr Pio Manoa of Fiji, Matthew Hooper of New Zealand, Dr Transform Aqorau of Solomon Islands, and Wez Norris of Australia. The two executive roles, as with other senior leadership positions in Pacific regional organisations, are advertised globally. Candidates are then shortlisted and interviewed before Pacific leaders from FFA member countries make the final selection.
“I am humbled by this appointment and the vote of confidence shown by FFA members. While I leave home my service to the Cook Islands as part of the Pacific Forum Fisheries family will continue—just with an expanded regional focus,” Maru said.
“It has been a highlight of my career to work alongside MMR staff and help drive memorable milestones for fisheries and our nation. I leave with a grateful heart and look forward to the next steps for marine resources and the sustainable management of our oceanic heritage.”
In an official statement released over the weekend, Cook Islands Public Service Commissioner Carl Hunter praised Maru’s professionalism and contribution as head of the Ministry of Marine Resources. He described her leadership as focused on strengthening the ministry and supporting staff, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hunter said Maru had also helped shape fisheries governance regionally and globally and had cemented the Cook Islands’ leadership in key oceanic fisheries forums—especially through negotiations at the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and the Cook Islands’ successful hosting of the 20th WCPFC Tuna Commission meeting in Rarotonga in 2023.
In her final months in the role, Maru will focus on completing change management work within the ministry and launching forward-looking strategic documents for MMR.
“One of the key memories I will treasure from my time with MMR has been the work of our people across the different sections. It has been fantastic to see how much raw talent and dedication we have, and to serve alongside those committed to serving our people and our ipukarea,” she said.
“It is also clear that, while much of our science and compliance work happens away from the public eye, the benefits of MMR’s work will continue to be felt in the years ahead. Cook Islands people want to feed their families and sustain their livelihoods from the resources we have. Wherever this work takes me, I will always keep that focus on people. It is what matters most,” she said…. PACNEWS
FIJI – TOURISM: FIJI SUN PACNEWS BIZ: Wed 26 Aug 2026
‘Please come’: Tourism Minister reassures tourists over 5 percent tax
SUVA, 26 AUGUST 2026 (FIJI SUN) — Fiji’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism Viliame Gavoka has urged visitors not to cancel their Fiji holidays after tourists raised concerns online over hotel notices about the five per cent Tourism Services Tax (TST).
“Please come. You have made a booking. The commitment is there from us to honour your booking,” Gavoka said Tuesday.
He confirmed the TST will apply only to new bookings made from 01 September 2026 to 31 August 2027, and not to existing reservations.
The Ministry of Finance confirmed the same on Tuesday, saying bookings made before 01 September would not attract the tax, even if the holiday takes place afterwards.
This follows the ministry’s statement on Sunday accusing the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association (FHTA) of “delaying tactics”, while the FHTA warned on Saturday that confusion over the tax was damaging Fiji’s reputation in Australia and New Zealand…. PACNEWS
FIJI – AIRLINE: FBC NEWS PACNEWS BIZ: Wed 26 Aug 2026
Fiji Airways fuel shortage nears end
SUVA, 26 AUGUST 2026 (FBC NEWS) — Tourism Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Viliame Gavoka has confirmed that the fuel shortage at Nadi International Airport will be resolved within days, following the arrival of a new shipment of jet fuel.
Gavoka explained that the airline had been issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) advising them to refuel before arriving in Nadi, as the airport could not guarantee surplus supply and Virgin Australia was among carriers forced to divert flights to Noumea last week due the restrictions.
“We told them, look, don’t refuel in Nadi. Fill up before you come to Nadi because we knew the supply was limited. We wanted our Fiji Airways to be protected and all the medivac services to be protected.”
The Minister reassured that the situation is temporary, with the new shipment expected to stabilise fuel availability by the end of the month.
“It’s still in force, but in two days’ time, a new shipment arrives, confirmed, delivered, and it’ll be over.”
The shortage emerged as demand for aviation fuel surged with airlines returning to full schedules following the fuel crisis in the Middle East.
Gavoka further emphasised that Fiji Airways’ operations were safeguarded throughout the restrictions, ensuring continuity of national and emergency services…. PACNEWS
VAN – LABOUR SCHEME: VANUATU DAILY POST PACNEWS BIZ: Wed 26 Aug 2026
Labour Department calls on disengaged workers to reconnect
PORT VILA, 26 AUGUST 2026 (VANUATU DAILY POST) — The Vanuatu Department of Labour (DOL) is urging Ni-Vanuatu workers who have disengaged from overseas labour mobility programmes to come forward and discuss their individual circumstances with the department rather than remain disconnected from the system.
Commissioner of Labour (COL) James Willie said disengaged workers should not assume they have no opportunity to work again, either in Vanuatu or through future overseas employment.
His comments come as the government continues to consider how to respond to Ni-Vanuatu workers who have left their contracted employment in Australia.
“In terms of disengage, is to come forward so we can talk,” Willie said.
The COL said workers who return to Vanuatu retain the right to seek employment domestically, although the conditions and wage levels may be different from those available overseas.
“The department does not discriminate against anyone, especially on the right to work domestically,” he said.
Willie also encouraged disengaged workers to make contact with the DOL or the department’s liaison officers so their individual situations can be discussed.
He said the government does not want to underestimate the employment opportunities available within Vanuatu, particularly as efforts continue to strengthen micro, small and medium enterprises and other domestic industries.
“We don’t underestimate the opportunities that are in the country domestically,” Willie said.
The Commissioner acknowledged that some disengaged workers may be reluctant to come forward because they fear they could lose future opportunities to participate in overseas labour mobility programmes.
He said workers who disengage may currently face a three-year preference period before they can return to an overseas programme, although he stressed that individual cases need to be discussed before a proper solution can be determined.
“Currently there is a preference for three years then you can go back, I think, if you disengage,” Willie said.
However, he said the department wants to consider cases individually and understand the circumstances behind each worker’s decision to disengage.
“We cannot come up with a good solution unless we talk and come up with a good solution for workers that are disengaged,” he said.
Willie said reintegration is also an important part of the process, particularly for workers returning to their families after spending time overseas.
He said the department is also considering the impact of labour mobility on children and families when assessing workers’ situations.
The COL’s message comes as Vanuatu continues to examine its labour mobility system and prepares further discussions on proposed changes to the country’s labour mobility legislation.
He encouraged disengaged workers to contact the DOL or liaison officers rather than remain outside the system.
The department, he said, wants to hear their circumstances and work towards appropriate solutions on a case-by-case basis…. PACNEWS
FIJI – INVESTMENT: FIJI SUN PACNEWS BIZ: Wed 26 Aug 2026
67 percent of Fiji exporters struggle for finance
SUVA, 26 AUGUST 2026 (FIJI SUN) — Access to finance is emerging as the biggest challenge for Fijian exporters, with 67 per cent reporting difficulty securing funding despite strong confidence in their international growth prospects.
The Pacific Islands Export Survey 2026 – Fiji Spotlight, jointly published by Pacific Trade Invest Australia and Investment Fiji, found financing difficulties had risen sharply from 49 per cent in 2024.
The pressure comes despite 72 per cent of Fijian exporters expecting their export revenue to increase over the next 12 months.
Pacific Trade Invest Australia Trade Commissioner Tim Martin said the results showed Fiji’s export sector had strong foundations and significant potential for further growth.
“Fijian exporters continue to show confidence in their international prospects, with 72 per cent expecting export revenue to increase over the coming year. What is particularly encouraging is the way businesses are using trade agreements and new technologies to compete internationally,” Martin said.
“But the sharp increase in exporters reporting difficulty accessing finance is a concern. Addressing that constraint will be important if businesses are to invest, expand production and take full advantage of opportunities in existing and new markets.”
The survey found Fijian exporters recorded a net export revenue growth balance of +22 over the past year, slightly above the Pacific average.
Nearly two-thirds of businesses surveyed have also been exporting for more than four years.
Fiji stood out regionally in its use of trade agreements and artificial intelligence.
Forty-seven per cent of exporters already use AI, compared with the Pacific average of 38 per cent. A further 38 per cent intend to adopt AI within the next year.
Among non-tourism exporters, 97 per cent are eligible under at least one free trade agreement, while 46 per cent report receiving commercial benefits — almost double the Pacific average.
The Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement, Melanesian Spearhead Group Trade Agreement and South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement were identified as providing the greatest reported value.
Australia and New Zealand remain Fiji’s main export markets, while the United States has emerged as the leading target for future expansion.
Investment Fiji chief executive officer Kamal Chetty said the findings highlighted both the resilience of exporters and the pressure they faced.
“The findings provide an invaluable snapshot of where Fiji’s export sector stands, and where it needs to go. We see immense resilience and opportunity, but also clear pressure points, especially around financing.,” Chetty said.
“Fiji’s businesses have proven they can compete on the world stage. Now they need the backing to match their ambition.
“With that knowledge, Investment Fiji will sharpen our support, strengthen our advocacy, and ensure our policies match the needs of our exporters. We will use these insights to design targeted programmes, unlock new financing pathways, and connect our businesses to high-growth markets like Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.”
High operating costs were identified as the leading barrier to export growth.
Exporters ranked grants, introductions to overseas buyers and freight and logistics support as the forms of assistance most likely to help them expand internationally.
The Fiji Spotlight forms part of the wider Pacific Islands Export Survey 2026 series, which includes regional, country and sector reports covering agriculture, tourism and manufacturing…. PACNEWS
FIJI – AGRICULTURE/EDUCATION: FIJI SUN PACNEWS BIZ: Wed 26 Aug 2026
Israel increases Fiji agriculture internship quota from 14 to 150
SUVA, 26 AUGUST 2026 (FIJI SUN) — Israel has increased Fiji’s annual quota for agricultural interns from 14 to 150, significantly expanding opportunities for young Fijians to receive practical training in advanced agricultural practices.
The increase will take effect from the 2026–2027 cycle and comes as the first batch of 10 students from the Navuso Agricultural Technical Institute (NATI) arrived in Israel for an 11-month agricultural internship.
Fiji’s Ambassador to Israel Jesoni Vitusagavulu and embassy officials welcomed the students at Ben Gurion International Airport.
A total of 20 NATI interns are expected to participate in the new cohort, joining 14 Fijian interns who are currently completing their 11-month programme in Israel.
The Fiji Embassy in Israel said the expansion followed negotiations aimed at giving more Fijian youths exposure to advanced agricultural innovation.
The practical knowledge, technical skills and experience gained by the interns are expected to support efforts to improve agricultural productivity, innovation and food security in Fiji.
With 150 places expected to become available annually, the Fiji Mission in Israel is working with stakeholders to broaden participation beyond NATI.
This includes exploring greater participation by students from the Fiji National University’s College of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry at Koronivia and the Tutu Rural Training Centre in Taveuni.
Discussions are also underway on potentially extending opportunities to rural youth centres.
The programme forms part of Fiji and Israel’s bilateral relationship and is designed to provide Fijian youths with practical exposure to Israel’s agricultural practices.
It also facilitates the transfer of agricultural knowledge and technology while strengthening people-to-people links between the two countries.
The Fiji Embassy said it would support the interns throughout their stay and hoped the skills and experience they gained would contribute to Fiji’s agricultural sector when they returned home.
The programme is supported by the Israeli Government through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ramat Negev International Training Center for Advanced Agriculture.
NATI officials and Fiji Airways are also supporting the initiative…. PACNEWS
PACNEWS In Focus
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Investigation: A Kidney Transplant, Ignored Advice, and a President’s Surprise Pick to Run a $160 Billion Pacific Island Mine
A Pacific island’s president bypassed an official selection process when he chose an Indian company to reopen a multi-billion dollar mine. He told OCCRP the firm’s managing director offered to pay for his wife’s kidney transplant but insisted it had “nothing to do” with the deal.
By Michael E. Miller and Carmel N. Pilotti, OCCRP
BUKA, 26 AUGUST 2026 (OCCRP) — Almost 40 years after it descended into a devastating civil war, the autonomous region of Bougainville is on the cusp of achieving independence from Papua New Guinea. At its heart sits Panguna, a long-shuttered gold and copper mine worth an estimated $160 billion.
To relaunch the Panguna mine and generate the type of economic development that could support the impoverished region’s bid for full sovereignty, Bougainville’s majority state-owned mining company spent around 10 months on a public search for an international partner, speaking to some of the world’s largest and most experienced mining companies.
But last November, Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama made a shock announcement: he had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to redevelop the mine with Lloyds Metals and Energy Ltd, a publicly traded Indian company with no background in major copper and gold extraction.
The president’s surprise move followed a monthslong campaign by Lloyds and its managing director, Balasubramanian Prabhakaran, that completely bypassed the official process to select a partner on the project, an investigation by OCCRP has found.
This charm offensive included Toroama accepting an extraordinary favor. The president told OCCRP that, last October, Prabhakaran offered to fly his wife to India for a life-saving kidney transplant at no apparent cost, which Toroama accepted. Toroama did not publicly disclose his acceptance of the apparent gift.
Just a few weeks later, the two men inked the MoU putting Lloyds in line for mining rights potentially worth billions of dollars.
Toroama told OCCRP that his wife’s operation was a “personal arrangement” that he only agreed to after Prabhakaran had offered it three times. Although Toroama said it was his understanding that the cost of the first lady’s treatment was handled by the executive, he said it did not influence his decision to choose Lloyds.
Kabilan Natarajan, an administrator at the kidney centre in India that performed the operation, told OCCRP that Lloyds had covered the costs of the transplant, and a follow-up visit months later.
Prabhakaran and Lloyds did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Documents obtained by OCCRP also show that Toroama — who wields significant power as both president and minister for mineral and energy resources — chose Lloyds despite warnings from the majority Bougainville government-owned company that was tasked with finding an international mining partner, Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL).
The Indian company lacked the money and expertise to reopen the mine, BCL cautioned.
In a confidential letter sent 10 days before the MoU was signed, BCL’s chairman at the time, Melchior Togolo, told Toroama that signing the agreement with Lloyds would “discredit BCL with all other parties … leaving only Lloyds Metals as the potential future developer of Panguna.”
“Selection of the wrong partner could have lasting detrimental impacts for Bougainville through continued stagnation of the Project or, even worse, the Project could be developed to poor standards with potential environmental and social impacts,” Togolo warned Toroama in the letter obtained by OCCRP.
A chart accompanying his letter compared Lloyds to the five companies BCL was considering. It assessed Lloyds as having a far lower “technical” and “financial” capacity than rival bidders.
In another letter to Toroama in December 2025, BCL recommended the Chinese mining giant CMOC as the best choice to redevelop the mine. But in late January the president ignored the advice and announced Lloyds as his government’s official mining partner for Panguna.
Rather than form a joint venture with BCL and take an ownership stake in the mine, Lloyds would operate Panguna as a contractor without taking equity, according to Prabhakaran’s public statements and Toroama’s recollections.
In June, BCL was cut out completely when the Bougainville parliament amended the mining act to create a “special and exceptional pathway” for the accelerated redevelopment of Panguna. The next day a government-owned company called Bougainville Minerals Ltd was granted a mining license for Panguna, sidelining BCL.
In a speech last month at the mine, Toroama defended the legal maneuver, saying it meant the project could advance while BCL could focus on dealing with “legacy issues” including environmental damage from the old mine. During the same speech, the president said the new licensee, Bougainville Minerals, would be owned by the “government and people,” without providing details. Bougainville Minerals is now working with Lloyds on feasibility studies and preparatory works for the mine.
Controversy over Panguna’s operation comes at a pivotal time for Bougainville. The region voted overwhelmingly for independence in 2019, and Papua New Guinea’s parliament is set to start debating granting that sovereignty at the end of this month.
If independence is granted, Bougainville could become the world’s newest nation by as soon as 2030.
Experts warn, however, that this dream hinges on the success of Panguna. The mine is the region’s only potential major money earner. Problems with its reopening could lead to instability.
“The whole thing is fraught with hazard,” said Paul Barker, executive director of the Institute of National Affairs, a think tank in Papua New Guinea, and expert on foreign investment and transparency. While Lloyds is “not a shrimp,” he said the company’s relatively smaller size and lower level of experience compared to competitors heighten the chance that things could go wrong. “Suddenly you’ve got a new player on the board that doesn’t really have a copper and gold background, it does add to the risks.”
Toroama’s decision to go with Lloyds has already been opposed by some locals, including prominent members of the community.
“The president does not own Bougainville,” said John Momis, a former president who has publicly questioned Betty Toroama’s medical treatment. “He wants to save his wife … but he should not then use it as an excuse to sell Bougainville.”
‘Outside of the Strategic Partnering Process’
Toroama told OCCRP he and Prabhakaran discussed Lloyds reopening Panguna during a helicopter trip to the mine in June 2025. As the chopper crested the Crown Prince mountain range, the mine’s mile-wide pit appeared in the jungle below. At its centre stood a pool stained a brilliant turquoise by leached copper.
Once one of the world’s biggest mines, Panguna had funded Papua New Guinea’s split from Australian colonial rule in 1975 by providing around 44 percent of export revenue until civil war forced its closure over a decade later.
The license to the mine was held at the time of the helicopter visit by BCL, a former subsidiary of British-Australian miner Rio Tinto that has since become majority-owned by Bougainville’s autonomous government.
BCL’s official search for an international partner to help reopen the mine had drawn expressions of interest from some of the world’s biggest mining companies, including CMOC and fellow Chinese firm Zijin Mining, both of which have experience mining gold or copper.
Lloyds was a fraction of the size of the Chinese firms and lacked experience in mining precious metal, having been primarily an iron ore miner.
It initially participated in BCL’s official search process, signing a nondisclosure agreement in April 2025 that granted it access to confidential information about Panguna, according to letters between BCL, Lloyds, and Toroama obtained by reporters. But within days, Lloyds stopped communicating and never sent an official expression of interest, the letters show.
When Prabhakaran and Toroama visited the pit in June last year, they did not have the required permission from BCL to land the helicopter, according to two people with direct knowledge of the event who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of a backlash from the government.
None of Lloyds, Prabhakaran, Toroama, or BCL responded to requests for comment.
On 7 October 2025, the day after Toroama was sworn in to a second presidential term, BCL wrote to Lloyds to complain about the company’s direct contact with officials, visits to Bougainville — including Panguna — and an offer from Lloyds to build a high-tech hospital in Arawa, the town near Panguna. Lloyds “appears to be operating outside of the strategic partnering process” agreed to by Toroama’s government, BCL warned.
According to Toroama, it was around this time that Prabhakaran offered to take his wife to India for her kidney transplant operation.
Betty Toroama had been suffering from kidney disease for some time. Toroama told OCCRP that, by last October, he believed she only had a month to live.
Fearing that her mother wouldn’t live to see Bougainville become independent, Toroama’s daughter offered to donate a kidney, the president recalled.
Toroama said he “struggled” for two weeks over how to save his wife before accepting Prabhakaran’s third offer to help her.
“He said, ‘Can I take Betty?’” the president recalled. “I said, ‘Is it a generous offer? Because I don’t like you charging me.’”
The president recalled telling Prabhakaran his acceptance of the offer had “nothing to do with the [MoU] agreement…It has nothing to do with Panguna. It is totally nothing.”
Within a few weeks of agreeing, Toroama traveled to India to visit Lloyds facilities, he told OCCRP. A video that appears to be from that trip shows him being welcomed by a procession of musicians and dancers wearing headdresses with peacock feathers.
Shortly afterwards, Lloyds organised for around a half-dozen Bougainvilleans — many of them officials or people close to the president — to go on an all-expenses-paid trip to India, according to interviews with three people who went on the trip as well as photos, videos, and itineraries from their journey.
Back in Bougainville’s capital Buka, Toroama signed the MoU with Prabhakaran on 20 November, before the delegation had even returned from India. The publicised ceremony was likely the first time most Bougainvilleans had heard of the company.
In the document, Toroama’s government agreed to “partner” with Lloyds for the mine’s redevelopment. Lloyds, meanwhile, said in the MoU it would like “to immediately construct, develop and commission” the hospital in Arawa as “a goodwill gesture.” The company also agreed to help with other projects including tourism, a technical college, a special economic zone, a bank, a new office for the president and a “pilot training club.”
The MoU was drafted in advance by Lloyds and provided to Toroama’s office, the president told OCCRP.
About two weeks after the MoU was signed, Betty Toroama underwent her surgery in the southern Indian city of Coimbatore. Natarajan, the administrator at the Coimbatore Kidney Centre, confirmed the operation took place on 05 December 2025, and said it was “paid by Prabhakaran’s company…Lloyds.” Reporters also obtained photos of Toroama and his daughter, who he said donated the kidney, in the city during the same period.
On 29 January, Toroama confirmed he was choosing Lloyds as his government’s official mining partner for Panguna, rejecting BCL’s choice of CMOC and putting the Indian company firmly in line to reopen the mine.
The next day, he and Prabhakaran led a groundbreaking ceremony in Arawa for the hospital, which will be named after the Indian businessman’s grandmother.
The Indian miner’s apparent role in the kidney operation arrangement is an open secret in Bougainville, an island of about 300,000 people who are divided over Lloyds’ arrival.
For some locals, the first lady’s operation is, along with the new hospital, a sign of the Indian miner’s goodwill. Francis Nasia, a local government official and landowner who was taken to India by Lloyds, said her recovery was proof of the company’s ability to help Bougainville.
“She was very sick,” Nasia said of the first lady, who has returned to Buka and no longer needs dialysis, according to the president. “People who have been dying because of no hospital, they will know that when this hospital is here, we will survive.”
‘Toxic Issue’
Panguna was a key catalyst of Bougainville’s civil war, with local anger over profit-sharing and environmental damage in the 1980s leading rebels including Toroama to launch an uprising in late 1988.
The decade-long conflict that followed forced the closure of the mine in 1989, led to as many as 15,000 deaths, and left the island deeply scarred. Years of tense negotiations concluded in a peace process, a degree of autonomy, and laws that required indigenous landowners to consent to mining projects.
Barker from Papua New Guinea’s Institute of National Affairs described the community tensions over the mine in the 1980s as a “toxic issue that…tore the island apart,” and warned that the situation could again “turn sour reasonably quickly” if the new project did not deliver tangible benefits for the local population.
Toroama said he chose Lloyds partly due to its claims to have delivered jobs and infrastructure to formerly conflict-ridden communities in India.
Lloyds has rapidly grown its operations in Arawa, the town near Panguna, since January. When reporters visited in late May, they saw scores of employees from Lloyds preparing to do sample drilling.
The company had by then already spent more than $11 million on civic projects including the new hospital that is under construction, according to Toroama.
While some Panguna landowners support the president’s plan for the mine and independence, others oppose the way the deal with Lloyds has been pushed through.
Moses Pipiro, one of the most vocal Panguna landowners opposed to the president’s plan, said he physically blocked Lloyds from bringing a drill into the mine pit in May.
Tensions have sparked protests by some traditional landowners and fears of renewed violence. To secure the site, Toroama told OCCRP the company had hired former rebels who fought alongside Toroama in the civil war to guard the mine, in line with a proposal by the Bougainville ministry of veteran affairs.
Pipiro, who is himself a former rebel commander, said he warned Toroama that discontent could flare into violence.
“I don’t want bloodshed,” Pipiro recalled saying.
Beverly Ittamari, another indigenous landowner from the Panguna pit area, criticised Toroama for signing the MoU with Lloyds without proper consultation. She said she was stunned when Toroama signed the agreement in November 2025.
“It did not go right when the president and some of the landowners went to India and then they signed this MoU with Lloyds Metals … without the knowledge of the [other] landowners,” she said.
Her concerns were underscored by Toroama’s speech at the mine pit in early July, when he appeared to suggest that those opposed to mining would not receive the benefits.
“You have to come and work with us on this,” the president said. He had previously told OCCRP that all indigenous landowners would be given a combined 20 percent of the government’s stake in the mine.
Ittamari also expressed concerns over the potential impact of relaunching the mine. Two mountains had been destroyed to create the original mine, she said, and now she worries more of her traditional land and sacred places will be dynamited without her consent — and without compensation.
“When they know the gold is here, nothing is going to stop them,” she said…. PACNEWS
PACNEWS In Focus
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Australia’s Pacific energy pledges need a new approach
By Edward Cavanough
CANBERRA, 26 AUGUST 2026 (THE INTERPRETER) — In 2018, Australia joined a consortium of foreign countries (Opens in new window) making an extraordinary commitment: by 2030, Papua New Guinea would achieve 70 percent electrification. By 2050, everyone would be connected.
It’s a bold vision for a country with an unknown total population (Opens in new window), where only around one in five households currently have electricity.
The ambition and the focus on electrification is admirable. But the mechanisms Australia is deploying to deliver this ambition leave much to be desired.
And, as the Pacific continues to reel (Opens in new window) from the oil shocks associated with ongoing strife in the Middle East, the shortcomings of Australia’s approach to this critical development initiative risk becoming a running sore.
I am a supporter of Renew Pacific, (Opens in new window) the signature small-scale electrification scheme for the region established under the Albanese government. In fact, I advocated for its establishment. However, its approach is based on supporting individual projects, one at a time, via grants. This method can deliver good outcomes in isolation, but at a glacial pace given the scale of the challenge.
It is now certain that by 2030 Australia will fall well short of reaching its pledges on electrification rates in PNG.
Another illustration of the mismatch between Australia’s ambitions and its impact on the ground is its marquee electrification project in Papua New Guinea, Pawarim Komuniti (Opens in new window). Many of its projects are life-changing. But its village-by-village approach just can’t scale quickly enough. The central bureaucracy doesn’t have the capacity to evaluate tens of thousands of individual applications – the scale required to meet the targets.
It is now certain that by 2030 Australia will fall well short of reaching its pledges on electrification rates in PNG. And elsewhere, Renew Pacific cannot meet demand.
Accepting this reality, Canberra should pivot, investing more in replicable commercial models for energy delivery that can be organically adopted in villages, rather than just individual, centrally administered grant-funded projects.
Pacific Island economies are low-income. But low-income isn’t the same as no-income. In effectively all villages, a basic exchange of goods and services does occur, facilitated by local shopkeepers.
Once, these shopkeepers sold just noodles, rice and tinned fish. Today, they sell petrol, electronics, even boom boxes.
Importantly, they sell mobile phone plans in partnership with the region’s telecommunications providers. In all my travels around the region, I’ve never seen a village without a local partner of their country’s major telco, even if they’re housed in a makeshift tin shed.
This network of local shopkeepers is a vital, underutilised resource. These individuals, often women, are natural allies for delivery – nodes of competency scattered across a region cynically viewed as lacking such skills.
It is this network that must be leveraged to help realise Australia’s electrification goals.
In the same way that telco services are sold at the village level across the Pacific, energy can be too. Modern technology enables internet-enabled renewable kit to be installed at a fraction of the cost of other hardware. And it lessens the amount Pacific communities are spending on diesel and kerosene to keep the lights on.
Some might say this is impossible, or that the failure rate would be too high. But any such cynics would need to explain why this network could be leveraged to provide near universal telecommunications access in countries such as Solomon Islands but not towards other development ends.
On Savo, in Solomon Islands, a project I helped conceived has tested this idea. Its early success offers a tantalising glimpse into what might be possible at scale. The Savo project sees shopkeepers in villages act effectively as local energy retailers, backed up by a remote team that can address any tech issues as they arise.
The project (Opens in new window) – launched by Australia’s High Commissioner to the Solomons – has seen dozens of households receive electrification for the first time, at a cost much lower than they would be paying if they self-sourced diesel, kerosene, or their own solar kits from town.
It creates jobs in each village, ensures more money is retained locally rather than siphoned off into the diesel supply chain, and provides immediate access to a village-based technician – the trained shopkeeper – to ensure any technical mishaps are immediately rectified. The provision of energy has also allowed complementary infrastructure, such as freezers, to be installed, enabling a local fish-trading business to flourish.
The Savo initiative demonstrates that working with local agency, rather than trying to supplant it, is a cheaper and, importantly, much quicker way of delivering energy to remote, scale-limited village economies than individual, centrally managed projects installed and operated by city-based experts.
At the COP31 climate summit in Türkiye in November, Australia’s existing initiatives on energy and climate in the Pacific will be up in lights. My concern is that, under intense scrutiny, some of Australia’s most ambitious Pacific pledges risk being exposed as well-intentioned veneers rather than game-changing interventions.
To truly be the partner of choice in the Pacific, Australia needs to work intimately not just with governments but with people and communities across the islands. Its energy pledge is the ideal place to start…. PACNEWS
Ed Cavanough is a think tank analyst, journalist and pro-bono adviser to Archipelago Energy, a firm delivering developing innovative models of energy provision to island economies.
PACNEWS In Focus
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Sink or Swim: The Case for Radical Policy Reform in the South Pacific
By Krisshaa Kannan
CANBERRA, 26 AUGUST 2026 (AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS) — Treaties and donor institutions have repeatedly failed to secure Pacific sovereignty, at times even eroding it, as they seek to address vulnerabilities posed to these Island nations. A more radical response may lie not in new agreements, but in the guidance of sacred texts and the ethical order they can prescribe.
South Pacific Island nations face many vulnerabilities, which often impede on their ability to protect their sovereignty and existence. In line with the Strategy for the 2050 Blue Pacific Continent, all Pacific Island nations seek to keep their autonomy and culture. International agreements have frequently failed to secure these nations’ autonomy. I will argue for a more radical approach, one that involves centring indigenous cultural values and sacred spiritual frameworks to protect regional identity and resilience.
Vulnerabilities Facing South Pacific Nations
The vulnerabilities experienced by South Pacific Nations stem from various sources. Exploitative resource extraction, including China’s sourcing of tropical logs from the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, have stripped these nations of basically irreplaceable wealth. Geographically, islands nations like Vanuatu, Tonga, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea all rank among the top ten nations most at risk of natural disasters worldwide. This physical exposure, compounded by climate change and low socioeconomic status, increasingly threatens territorial security and causes mass displacement.
Beyond physical vulnerabilities lies an ever-pressing vulnerability regarding national autonomy and human security. For example, as climate change causes land loss in the Pacific it also poses acute cultural losses, encapsulated by the old proverb which states “the Polynesian is not a place, it’s a people.” While Pacific communities maintain clear identities and strong ties to their communities and these lands, oftentimes their governments do not. Pacific Island leaders prioritise climate change as an international security tool to unite them with developed nations. However, it also enables leaders to inadvertently deflect financial, economic and social crises, consequently undermining their legitimacy.
Thus, urgent domestic reforms are required to bridge these institutional gaps, safeguard human security and go beyond foreign agreements that might invite new vulnerabilities.
The Trap of Compliant Cooperation: The Issue of Sovereignty
On paper, the agreements South Pacific nations sign with wealthier, more powerful partners look mutually beneficial. Pacific nations receive resourcing to combat their vulnerabilities and security and prosperity in their region is upheld. In practice, however, they tend to invite exactly the kind of influence these smaller nations can least afford.
Maintaining a positive global reputation often comes at the price of ceded sovereignty, narrowing what a government can legislate on in the interests of its own citizens. It can also come at the price of the rule of law itself; many of these agreements are negotiated in settings with no strict separation of powers between the party setting the terms and the party accepting them, leaving little institutional check on whether the process is transparent or fair. It is also unclear whether the current architecture actually serves Pacific nations’ interests. More specifically, it is difficult to ascertain whether these states can meaningfully pursue their aspirations and address vulnerabilities without indirectly compromising their autonomy, even where sovereignty is not formally surrendered.
There have been a variety of agreements signed by South Pacific Island nations with more developed countries, such as America, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the European Union. Some agreements bring tangible gains, for example Chinese development financing of public infrastructure in Kiribati and the Solomon Islands, or multilateral fisheries-surveillance arrangements allowing Pacific states to pool technical and financial support from partner nations while retaining full control over their own maritime borders and resource management. Bodies including the Pacific Islands Forum and the World Health Organisation exist expressly to help. These collective mechanisms allow Pacific states to secure technical and financial support from international agencies while retaining full control over their maritime borders and resource management, avoiding total reliance on bilateral handouts.
However, the integrity of these institutions deserves scrutiny. International health bodies like the World Health Organisation rely heavily on conditional and voluntary contributions from institutional donors, including major philanthropic foundations and wealthy member-state governments. This enables wealthy member states to redirect resources toward narrower priorities. Furthermore, international bodies like the UN Human Rights Committee impose obligations that clash with domestic parliamentary sovereignty and carry no direct enforcement power. These unelected committees thus ‘wield significant power over national democracies without being directly accountable to the people of those nations’, binding elected governments to external standards their citizens never endorsed.
Is There a Need for Reformative Approaches?
Pacific nations are culturally diverse, and any credible reform must start by recognising that heterogeneity. One option has been to draw on the region’s own indigenous spiritual heritage. However, given that these traditions tend to be localised and geographically bounded, they are harder to translate into a single, unifying legal standard that works to relieve region-wide vulnerabilities. Regional bodies and Pacific Island leaders have tried to anchor public policy within Indigenous customary and spiritual frameworks. The aim has been to assimilate and integrate community governance models as well as traditional resource management into formal, codified, state legal architectures so as to incorporate grassroots stewardship. However, due to the deeply embedded, fragmented and localised nature of these traditions across the variety of island communities, there is a scarcity of a unified legal lexicon. Consequently, this inhibits the ability for them to be scaled and incorporated into a unified, cohesive regional standard which is capable of countering transnational threats; for example, cross-border crime and illegal commercial exploitation.
This is where the Vaishnava scriptures of Hinduism (centred around the teachings of Lord Vishnu) texts may offer a helpful, and potentially practical, path for Pacific Island nations in combatting their shared vulnerabilities collectively. Hinduism is among the oldest and most extensively documented religious traditions in the world, and its ‘Vaishnava’ texts, in particular, the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata Purana ( versions translated by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness), set out a single, coherent ethical code centred on ‘dharma’, or righteous duty and steadfast resilience in times of crisis. Two teachings speak directly to the current predicaments South Pacific Islands find themselves in. First, the scriptures hold that unchecked industrial enterprise and capitalism obstruct the spiritual advancement of civilisation, a notion that seeks to replace greed and materialist concerns with selflessness, in direct critique of the extractive economic models that have driven resource insecurity across the Pacific region. Second, the text affirms that leaders, lawmakers among them, must pursue just and equitable action that their people will naturally choose to follow, and that all living beings are entitled to equal treatment; principles that speak directly to the governance and human-security gaps described in previous sections.
These scriptures provide a robust framework particularly for South Pacific nations, who incur geopolitical pressures as well as existential climate threats. The scriptures cumulatively explain the importance of absolute devotion to higher principles, the preservation of cosmic and earthly order as well as community duty. Notably, these reformative approaches should be viewed as complimentary to the rich, indigenous spiritual heritage native to the South Pacific Island nations. This is because they share a similar thread with common ancestral covenants throughout the region regarding the sacred stewardship of the land and ocean, duty to their community, customary laws as well as traditional creation stories. Thus, sacred texts offer a foundation that conventional treaties and donor-driven institutions have so far failed to provide; one these nations’ own citizens, not external powerbrokers, can be heard through and exercise their autonomy, and perhaps reach common ground through which they can address vulnerabilities through collective action…. PACNEWS
Krisshnaa Kannan is a 4th year Bachelor of Laws (Honours) / Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy major) student at Monash University. Alongside litigation and advocacy, he has a strong interest in both law and philosophy (with this, his interest in diplomacy drastically increased), with an aim of pursuing future postgraduate study in law alongside philosophical research and publication. This works alongside his naturally empathetic nature, where he aims to immerse himself in many volunteer and justice-based initiatives.
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
ADB Accelerates Disaster Response and Recovery for Vanuatu
PORT VILA, 26 AUGUST 2026 (ADB) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today approved the first project under its region-wide crisis financing mechanism, giving Vanuatu faster access to financing after disasters and other major emergencies. The financing can be used to support families, deliver essential supplies and equipment, and repair damaged public services and infrastructure.
“The economic shocks hitting the region from the conflict in the Middle East are the latest crisis, but they won’t be the last,” said ADB President Masato Kanda. “Vanuatu will face any crises in the future with a financing route open and ready to move money where it is needed most. This project is designed to get help to families and restore essential services before a shock becomes a prolonged emergency.”
The Vanuatu Rapid Response Contingent Project is the first approved under the Rapid Resource Reprogramming and Deployment Option (3RDO), ADB’s region-wide crisis financing mechanism. It will allow Vanuatu to redirect part of its undisbursed ADB financing to emergency response and early recovery when a qualifying crisis occurs.
Since 2006, Vanuatu has lost an average of $35.7 million annually due to disasters. Weather-related events such as tropical cyclones, droughts, and floods account for 86 percent of these losses. In a country with dispersed islands, limited infrastructure, and underlying social and economic vulnerabilities, disasters have complex impacts across local industries, particularly agriculture, fisheries, tourism, health, education, and housing.
The project can support relief and recovery actions following shocks such as earthquakes, tsunamis, tropical cyclones, severe drought, and El Niño impacts; food, health, and biological emergencies; emergencies triggered by pollution or contamination, and economic crises such as the impacts of the conflict in the Middle East, external price shocks, physical disruption to connectivity, and prolonged disruption to utilities.
Under 3RDO, small island developing states like Vanuatu may reallocate up to 25 percent of their undisbursed and uncommitted public sector portfolio through a pre-arranged rapid response contingent project. The project will be integrated into Vanuatu’s national disaster risk management system, complement existing disaster risk financing instruments, and strengthen institutional readiness.
ADB is a leading multilateral development bank supporting sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth across Asia and the Pacific. Working with its members and partners to solve complex challenges together, ADB harnesses innovative financial tools and strategic partnerships to transform lives, build quality infrastructure, and safeguard our planet. Founded in 1966, ADB is owned by 69 members—50 from the region…. PACNEWS
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Three women awarded SMART-C fellowships to study at World Maritime University
LONDON, 26 AUGUST 2026 (IMO) — Three maritime professionals from Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Vanuatu have been awarded fully funded fellowships under the IMO–Republic of Korea SMART-C Women Project to begin Master of Science programmes at the World Maritime University (WMU) in Malmö, Sweden, in September 2026.
The fellowship recipients are:
– Esther Ken, Marine Pollution Officer, Vanuatu Maritime Safety Authority;
– Mary Lenorah Kalebo, Ship Registration Officer, National Maritime Safety Authority, Papua New Guinea; and
– Lurence Villacorta Carace, Officer-in-Charge, Financial Services Division, STCW Office, Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), Philippines.
All three women previously completed the SMART-C Women Training Programme, which combined online learning with in-person training in Busan, Republic of Korea. The programme covered maritime digitalisation, decarbonisation and gender equality.
From training to action
For Ken, the training highlighted the potential of digital technologies to support Small Island Developing States.
“The programme strengthened my awareness of how digital technologies can improve maritime safety, pollution monitoring, regulatory compliance and operational efficiency, particularly for Small Island Developing States such as Vanuatu,” she said.
“My long-term goal is to strengthen Vanuatu’s maritime policies and promote sustainable operations, while encouraging more women and young professionals to enter the field.”
Kalebo has already applied the training at the National Maritime Safety Authority, strengthening governance of data in the Papua New Guinea Ships Register, standardising ship registration procedures and supporting the Maritime Single Window Gap Analysis.
“My ambition is to help position Papua New Guinea as a respected and digitally enabled maritime administration that delivers safe, secure, environmentally sustainable and customer-focused maritime services,” she said.
At WMU, Kalebo intends to deepen her expertise in maritime law, digital governance, and environmental sustainability. She aims to advance a paperless Ship Registry and establish a structured mentorship programme for future maritime leaders.
Carace will pursue the MSc in Maritime Affairs, specialising in Maritime Education and Training. She said the programme had reshaped her understanding of digital transformation “as a strategic enabler of transparency, regulatory compliance, safety and evidence-based decision-making.”
Following graduation, she hopes to contribute to the modernisation of the Philippine maritime education and training system and, through Women in Maritime Philippines (WIMAPHIL), to mentor future professionals and promote inclusive leadership.
“I see the WMU Fellowship not simply as an academic achievement, but as a responsibility – an opportunity to return with renewed knowledge and a stronger commitment to a more innovative, sustainable and inclusive maritime sector,” Carace said…. PACNEWS
