Doubts over PACER Plus
Trade adviser defends agreement “THERE is no reason to doubt the sincerity of Australia and New Zealand in relation to the commitments they have undertaken” PACER Plus, when it comes into force, does not
Samisoni Pareti
Reviving the coffee industry on Tanna Island
Coffee is one of the main sources of livelihood for the people of Tanna Island. Home to one of the Pacific’s few active volcanoes, Yasur, its rich soils, abundant sunshine and rainfall, makes Tanna one of the best
MINING High risk, controversial business
On Viti Levu, the areas marked with shaded red are all prospective mining areas where 55 companies are currently carrying out works to see what minerals or metals can be found. The major player in the Namosi area is
Scars of Bougainville
WITH the looming referendum and the future of the Bougainville copper mine hanging in the loop, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s recent appointment of himself as Minister for Bougainville Affairs in a recent
TREATY CRISIS
Boats, payments in limbo THE U.S. government officially announced in mid-January that it is pulling out of the U.S. Pacific islands fisheries treaty, a move that starts a 12-month clock ticking to terminate the nearly
De Brum’s coalition a ‘show’
TWO months after the Pacific joined the world in adopting a new agreement on climate change, news are just emerging that all was not well within the Pacific Island Counties. Finally responding to questions submitted to
Vunibobo: A man of many seasons
A TREASURED document amongst war and modern history aficionados is an old sepia programme entitled “Official Programme of the VICTORY CELEBRATIONS 8th June 1946,” commemorating victory in Europe Day in
Time for regional fuel plans
LAST month the price of crude fell below the $USD30 a barrel mark for the first time since the beginning of the global economic recession. It took but a few days for petrol prices to fall by up to 21 cents in Tonga. But
BACK IN TIME
Former Fiji politician KC Ramrakha, ran foul of the Indian-dominated National Federation Party during the faction fighting of 1977. He speaks to Islands Business about politics, sugar and life. AS a student from Fiji
Focus on tourist arrivals
WITH visitor arrivals up 6.1 per cent in the first three quarters of 2015, Samoa will increase momentum in the tourism industry this year. A series of roadshows in the middle of 2015 to Australia and New Zealand were
Headaches as Aussie rebuilds relations
THE rise and rise of Australia’s new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has revived relations with the Pacific Islands. While there is continuity with many of the core policies promoted by former conservative leader
SAVING SUGAR
Action for change WHEN the Fijian Prime Minister recently stood up at the recent International Sugar Organisations meeting in London and declared “we do not intend to give up on sugar cane in Fiji,” he was
CYBER FRAUD A crime without borders
FIJI, as one of the South Pacific’s most developed economies, is fast becoming a prime target for “cyber thieves” across the Globe. According to the Fiji Intelligence Unit (FIU), in just two years,
Tuna woes
FIJIAN operators are uncertain whether a recent proposal by the Forum Fisheries Agency to reduce Southern Pacific Albacore Tuna fishing by 40 per cent will actually happen. Pacific fishing countries want the reduction
COMPROMISED COP21 deal
TWENTY years of negotiations culminating in intense and physically as well as emotionally draining deliberations in which negotiators burnt the midnight oil right over the wee hours of the next day for 13 days in Paris
New smoke, old mirrors
IN Paris last month, Australian Prime Minister Turnbull announced that “Australia will contribute at least $1 billion over the next five years from our existing aid budget, both to build climate resilience and
PARIS AGREEMENT: What it means for the Pacific
“I SEE the room. I see the reaction is positive, I hear no objection. The Paris Climate Accord is adopted.” As the French Foreign Minister and President of COP21, Laurent Fabius, gaveled the decision, the
Stop the bias
Shameem: Comprehensive training will assist judges, magistrates to eliminate or minimise male bias A PACIFIC-WIDE robust policy was necessary to eliminate or minimise not only gender prejudice but all forms of
Open skies: A threat to island economies
THE Fijian government has adopted a cautious approach to entering into Air Services Agreements (ASAs) which could result in local airspace being liberalised and opened to multiple airlines. ASAs are agreements between
Open skies: A threat to island economies
THE Fijian government has adopted a cautious approach to entering into Air Services Agreements (ASAs) which could result in local airspace being liberalised and opened to multiple airlines. ASAs are agreements between
Vanuatu – standing above the rest
ONE of the Pacific’s smaller island states, Vanuatu stands taller than the larger nations with its consistent, principled stand on social justice, parliamentary democracy and corruption. Where other countries have
A leader’s LEGACY
THERE is a rousing story that still now, inspires me. As with many other Fijians of my generation and older, the narrative of Rusiate Nayacakalou – the first indigenous Fijian to obtain a doctoral degree or Phd – is