Weaker dollar keeping Australians home
Currency fluctuations have heavily deterred Australians from taking overseas holidays over Christmas in the past but this time around travel tour companies do not anticipate a slowdown in visitors to the Pacific islands
Pacific Islands Forum Meeting – of people and power
Every six years Pacific leaders meet at their annual summit to discuss who will win the lottery and get the six figure job of Secretary General of the Forum. It is quite literarily the lottery as the first Secretary
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
Cyberbattle for the region
How does a 10-day birthday celebration happen across the entire Pacific without a single mention? The answer is Kurukuru, the region’s most comprehensive maritime surveillance partnership targeting illegal,
Disasters do happen, but are Pacific countries pointed in the right direction?
Geographically, the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) fall within one of the most disaster-prone regions on earth. And the region’s combined population of almost 10 million people is vulnerable to natural hazards
Elections will bring a return to confidence
With the successful completion of last month’s election process, Fijians have hit the reset button on their polity. They have elected their first democratic government in as many as eight years. International
Reflecting on the Third United Nations Conference on Small Island Developing States
Samoa showcased to the world a people united when they hosted over 4,000 delegates to the Third United Nations Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Hailed as the best United Nations conference ever, UN
Small islands must help themselves
Samoa deserves all the credit for successfully pulling off the third United Nations Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) conference in Apia last month. It was the biggest event of its kind to be ever held in the
Marshalls will showcase power plant energy savings
W hen over a hundred Pacific island power utility officials meet for their annual conference in Majuro next year, they will see new heat recovery generators in action at the capital city’s power plant. Majuro is
Whispers
Pigs can fly: Judging from the number of conspiracy theories that were being bandied about in Samoa last September during the country’s successful hosting of the United Nations Conference for small island
A deportation, a stateless person and unease
Within days of Joe Natuman (pictured) becoming Prime Minister in May following a well-planned and executed takeover of power from Moana Carcasses that many did not see coming, rumblings of a Carcasses-led bounce back
Bainimarama storms home with massive victory
Party wins political fight with rugby campaign-style approach Voting in Fiji’s 2014 General Election signaled overwhelming public support for incumbent Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and gave legitimacy
Bainimarama offers more of the same
If the people of Fiji had expected a smooth, less confrontational political life after the September elections, they will be disappointed. One day after being sworn in as Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama was at his
China lifts freeze to allow flagship PNG port project
Common service facility for region Work on the flagship project of Papua New Guinea’s fisheries industry, the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ) in Madang will start after the China Export and Import (Exim)
Flosse loses power in French Polynesia
Conviction drives veteran politician out After exhausting all avenues of appeal, President Gaston Flosse of French Polynesia has been removed from office following his conviction for misappropriation of public funds.
Pacific voice grows in NZ
Islanders influence election outcome Auckland: Over 330,000 Pacific people living in New Zealand now have a bigger voice in parliament following September’s General Election which saw the National Party re-elected
World Bank leads charge for reform
Plans attempt to lift lifestyle Imagine a region where mobile phones and internet access are as common as public buses. Also for a moment picture a region where words like obesity, poverty, illiteracy and gender
Vulnerable states qualify for special privileges
Assistance packages support lending rates Graduation of least developed countries is no conspiracy by bigger and wealthier developed states to absolve them from helping countries that are in need of special assistance,
