‘A little bit of maybe’ on easier Australian terms for infrastructure debt and new aid
Australia’s Assistant Treasurer says in the post-COVID environment Canberra is willing to re-examine its policies including loan concessionality, debt consolidation and aid allocations to Pacific Islands nations but
The triple challenges of the Blue Pacific: battling a health, economic and climate crisis through regional solidarity
Current global forecasts envision a 5.2% contraction of the global economy in 2020 – the deepest global recession in decades. Triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, this recession will have long term impacts on economies
Remember Hiroshima…and the Pacific
In Japan, they’re called hibakusha – the survivors of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, and the bombing of Nagasaki three days later. Seventy-five years on, the survivors remember those days, and
Hope on labour mobility
There’s good news for Vanuatu’s seasonal workers this week with the announcement that 170 workers will be able to go to Australia for the mango season. The workers will go to the Northern Territory in a pilot
5-way race for Forum leadership
Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Dame Meg Taylor has declined to comment on the negotiations over her successor as head of the regional organisation, saying only “I have a job to do and I’m going to do it
French nuclear tests: ‘I bury people nearly every day, what was our sin?’
The day began with a video, showing a disparate collection of arresting images – the drowned Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira, camera in hand and a huge smile on his face. Mugshots of two captured French DGSE
COVID-19, geopolitics and the Pacific Way – Dame Meg Taylor on the path out of our current crisis
The Pacific today faces three crises: a health crisis, an economic crisis and the ongoing climate crisis, and Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers will discuss all three when they meet (virtually) next week. As the
ADB releases loans, grants for Pacific
The Asian Development Bank has announced a series of grants to Pacific nations. US$13.3million has been made available to 10 nations—Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau,
Yachtie calls on Aust, NZ to set up Blue Lanes
The skipper of a yacht that has just been cleared under Fiji’s ‘Blue Lane’ program says Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific island nations should follow Fiji’s lead and create an easy pathway for yachts to
F$25m price tag for Beachcomber Island Resort
One of Fiji’s oldest island resorts is now on the market. Beachcomber Island Resort in the Mamanuca islands in Western Viti Levu was chalked onto the “For Sale” list by Bayleys Real Estate this week with a price
PNG: COVID cases up, POM locks down
PNG’s Acting Health Secretary has announced another suspected death from COVID-19 in the Nation’s Capital. Dr Paison Dakulala said a 35-year-old health worker died due to respiratory illness as a result of
Fiji budget ‘lacks compassion’ says NGOs
As the 2020-21 Fiji Budget debate has commenced in parliament, a number of community organisations have expressed their concern about what they describe as the lack of compassion in the Budget. “It’s not only
Pacific Funds want to invest in island infrastructure
The Pacific Islands Investment Forum says economic conditions caused by the coronavirus pandemic are an opportunity for the region’s superannuation, pension and provident funds to accelerate plans to pool their
Adapting remittances to the new normal—the case of Fiji
Remittance flow falling victim to the COVID-19 pandemic was anybody’s guess. It was only a matter of time before this realisation would hit global economies, and drastically, in most cases. It was not
Mixed response to Fiji budget
Responses to the Fiji budget have been mixed. A summary follows. The Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association has welcomed the budget and its move to reduce overheads, calling it “bold and innovative.”
Fiji Budget wrap
Fiji’s 2020-21 National Budget will see the Government attempt to spend its way out of the COVID-19 induced recession. “Barring drastic intervention, our economy may never fully recover; not this year, not next
Fiji budget preview: expansionary budget anticipated to stimulate spending
Fiji’s Minister for Economy will deliver the government’s 2020-21 budget today, just 4 months after an emergency F$1 billion ‘Covid mini-budget’. It comes as the Reserve Bank of Fiji has projected a contraction
Fiji resilience: Chef Shain
Seeing Shain hold and play with her daughter, and you can tell that 4-year-old Sarah is her world. Her job was another important part of her life at one time, until three months ago when that world came crashing around
Fiji Resilience: Losana
Sitting in the hot sun, Losana does not seem to mind the humidity and the busy carpark beside her as she stacks heaps of wild lemons and cucumbers. What do you do when it rains, we ask her. “Au dau vakaruru ikea
Fiji resilience: Shree Ram the Volunteer Cook
Volunteers like Shree Ram are ensuring 2,000 school children in Nadi are eating well in schools. He is one of about 20 men and women who are volunteering their time to provide vegetarian meals for children who attend
Fiji resilience: Sigatoka’s Masi Lady
From the masi (tapa) making island of Vatulele is Anareta Ketenilagi, pictured here at her stall inside Sigatoka’s main food market. She specialises in masi costumes for brides and bridegrooms. “Before the
Pacific fisheries observers finally home
Solomon Island, Fijian and Papua New Guinean fisheries observers are now home after being repatriated from American Samoa this week. Some of them had been away from home since December last year. The nine Pacific
Maclellan wins Sean Dorney Pacific journalism grant
Islands Business correspondent Nic Maclellan has been awarded the Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific journalism for 2020. Established by the Walkley Foundation, the Sean Dorney Grant for Pacific Journalism aims to