Audit report reveals worst kept secret
After eight years of autocratic rule, Fiji finally has a Parliament which has received a backlog of reports from the Office of the Auditor General. Economist Professor Wadan Narsey studies the report and discusses its
Crime restricts PNG’s economic growth
Businesses operate at half potential: Report Crime is costing Papua New Guinea severely despite its rapid economic growth – due to reach 20 per cent next year- according to a series of new World Bank reports. The
Tonga’s Freedom Fighter aims for election victory
Pohiva’s last swan song For veteran Tongan freedom fighter ‘Akilisi Pohiva, the election this month will be the final roll of the dice in a political career which started 40-odd years ago as a student at
Women candidates impact on election line-up
Husband and wife bid for parliament seats A record number of women candidates are expected to contest the Solomon Islands national election on November 19. Lisa Horiwapu of Vois Blong Mere Solomons (VBMS) expects around
Forum allows Fiji back into regional group
But Fiji wants Australia, New Zealand out Moments after the magazine posted on its Facebook page the announcement by the Pacific Islands Forum that Fiji’s suspension from it has been lifted, an avid reader posted
What does a regional seat at the top table bring?
New Zealand’s long campaign to get itself a seat on the coveted United Nations Security Council came to fruition last month, when it quite comfortably won votes from 145 of 193 UN member states. It needed just 129
States must help pay for insurance
It’s that time of the year, again, when much of the Pacific Islands region braces for what everyone calls the ‘cyclone season.’ Over the next several months, weathermen and weatherwomen across the
Everything they do seems like a kneejerk reaction
More recently in our globalised world, the word contagion has increasingly come to be used in the contexts of terrorism or financial crises – or for that matter anything that spreads fast and with little control,
Democracy is relatively new and unique
Aspate of successful elections in the South Pacific in the latter half of this year spells a resounding win for democracy in the region and for Pacific peoples. There is no such thing as a perfect democracy, just as
Whispers
Drama in the royal court … The benign reign of Tonga’s newest monarch hit the newspaper headlines recently when King Tupou VI (pictured) reportedly intervene in the desire by one of his sons, fourth in line
War leaves a lasting legacy of unexploded bombs
I n September 1944, US Marines stormed ashore the beaches of Peleliu Island in Palau. The assault was preceded by a massive naval bombardment and air strike, to weaken the Japanese forces which were hidden in caves or