Opinion: The Pacific Islands News Association at 50: part 2
A perspective on the history and future of the Pacific Islands News Association from incoming President Kalafi
Features
Opinion: Two ideas from Fiji for PNG’s upcoming budget
With the 2025 budget due to be delivered next month (November 2024), PNG should look to Fiji to see what else it could do to help the country’s
Opinion: Samoa rolls out red carpet for post-colonial family function
When Commonwealth heads of government gather in Samoa next week it will be their first in the Pacific islands region and the first time with a British
Opinion: Reflections on Pacific regionalism
The Pacific Islands Forum and its secretariat is a complex bureaucracy that will take any individual at least a year to understand.
Opinion: A CHOGM Rorschach Test
Heads of state and senior representatives from all 56 Commonwealth countries will converge in Apia, Samoa next week for the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, known as CHOGM. According to the
Opinion: Harris and the Pacific Islands: Delivering on a Pacific vision
In the whirlwind of speeches to cement Kamala Harris’ presidential credentials, the Pacific Islands have hardly rated a
Opinion: Pacific initiatives need transparency and ground rules to reduce harmful competition
It’s time for the Pacific to talk about ground rules in the security sector, write Blake Johnson and Adam
Opinion: It’s not just police who police
Captured on camera chatting with American diplomat Kurt Campbell in Tonga last month, Anthony Albanese described Pacific leaders’ support for a new Australian-led policing initiative as a big win. “We had a
Opinion: World’s biggest deforestation project gets underway in Papua for sugarcane
Excavators have begun clearing land in the Indonesian region of Papua in what’s been described as the largest deforestation undertaking in the world. A total of 2 million hectares (5 million acres) of forests,
Opinion: Tribute to John Paska: A remarkable trade union leader
I am honoured to write about John Paska’s passing on 9 August 2024 after a short illness. He was 76 years old. Until recently, he was the President of the Papua New Guinea Trade Union Congress (PNGTUC), an elevation
Opinion: Cables under the sea: Pacific island countries need integrated electricity grids
Australia should supercharge the development of Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and contribute to their lasting economic security by investing in inter-island electricity grids and diversified energy sources. A green
Opinion: Samoa rolls out a red-carpet welcome fit for a king
‘Leave your suits at home.’ That’s the travel advisory message from Samoa’s prime minister ahead of her tiny Pacific nation hosting one of the world’s most prestigious meeting of world leaders next month, in
Opinion: Not merely ‘exploration’: PNG deep-sea mining riles critics & surprises officials
A deep-sea mining operation that recently took place off the coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has raised alarm bells for environmentalists and called into question the validity of the country’s moratorium on such
Opinion: Albanese government’s Pacific policing deal is a masterstroke of diplomacy
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese may be attempting to backpedal from a “hot mic” moment at the Pacific Islands Forum this week in which he joked the United States “go halvies” on a new regional
Opinion: Travel recovery in the Pacific: worrying signs
As the pandemic recedes and gradually fades from people’s memories, travel in the Pacific is rebounding. However, the Pacific’s travel recovery is highly variable. Comparing visitor arrivals in 2023 with those in
Opinion: As Western banks leave the Pacific, a new player emerges
Australian banks are gradually withdrawing from the Pacific Islands, leaving the region at risk of being totally disconnected from the global banking system. Bendigo Bank is exiting Nauru, while Westpac has floated
Opinion: Bougainville in Transition
It is now 35 years since the Bougainville crisis erupted and 23 years after it officially ended through the signing of the Bougainville Peace Agreement in August 2001. Children in Primary school in 1989 are now in their
Opinion: Free(r) movement at the Forum
The annual Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers Meeting (FEMM) always has a wide-ranging agenda. This year the FEMM, which was held at the start of August in Suva, endorsed the now-finalised but yet-to-be-released
Opinion: Is the time ripe for constitutional change in Fiji?
The liquidation of the former governing party, FijiFirst, has opened up debate about an amendment to the 2013 constitution or its complete replacement. FijiFirst was the party led by former military commander and 2006
Economic diplomacy: Banking on the Pacific
Rebuilding regional banking is unlikely to pay dividends without an underlying business revival. Australia’s oldest bank changed its name from the Bank of New South Wales to Westpac in 1982, reflecting apparent
Opinion: Fiji’s emigration boom: will it last?
The spike in migration out of Fiji since the end of COVID has been widely commented on. It is certainly real. Prior to 2018 there were on average about 9,000 more departures than arrivals of Fijian residents every year.
Opinion: The fifth-child rule: Marshall Islands’ maternity leave policy affronts local customs and tradition
Now that we have the most women (four) in the history of the Marshall Islands in the Nitijela (parliament), including a woman president, Hilda C. Heine, I believe it is time to address and change the archaic Marshall
Opinion: Mixing oil and water
As protests erupt across New Caledonia, a leading Loyalist politician claims indigenous Kanak and the West are like ‘oil and water’ Sonia Backès, the leading conservative anti-independence politician of her