In this bulletin:
1. PACIFIC — Human rights groups urge Tuvalu and Ireland to put rights at centre of fossil fuel transition talks
2. SOL — Solomon Islands shapes first national response to climate Loss and Damage
3. PACIFIC — Foreign influence could quietly weaken Pacific unity, expert warn
4. FIJI — Fiji PM Rabuka refuses to concede Malimali case defeat
5. NZ — China rejects New Zealand spy allegations as false
6. FIJI — Do not play around with sex, University of Fiji students told
7. PACNEWS BIZ — Operation Island Chief identifies 16 vessels of interest in major regional surveillance effort against illegal fishing
8. PACNEWS BIZ — “Robbery decorated in exemptions”: Solomon Isands Finance Minister warns tax abusers
9. PACNEWS BIZ — Pacific communities urged to guard against surging online scams
10. PACNEWS IN FOCUS — Inside Australia’s $150m gamble on the Pacific climate summit
11. PACNEWS DIGEST — Five-year plan endorsed for Pacific seismic network that warns communities
12. PACNEWS DIGEST — Scholar’s full-circle journey celebrates Tongan excellence
13. PACNEWS DIGEST — Early settlement dynamics in the Pacific revealed through ancient DNA
PAC – FOSSIL FUEL: PACNEWS PACNEWS 3: Mon 17 Aug 2026
Human rights groups urge Tuvalu and Ireland to put rights at centre of fossil fuel transition talks
SUVA, 17 AUGUST 2026 (PACNEWS)— Human rights groups are calling on Tuvalu and Ireland to make human rights a core part of the second International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, saying rights must be built into policies and implementation rather than simply recognised.
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and 30 other human rights organisations have written to Tuvalu’s Minister for Home Affairs, Climate Change and Environment, Maina Talia, and Ireland’s Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy, Darragh O’Brien, ahead of the conference.
Tuvalu and Ireland will co-host the second conference, following the first conference held by Colombia and the Netherlands.
The groups said the first conference recognised the need to phase out fossil fuels through policies that advance human rights, promote economic justice and protect environmental defenders.
They welcomed the report from the first conference, particularly its recognition of a rights-based and locally led approach to a just transition.
The organisations said the second conference should now move beyond recognising human rights and establish concrete measures to ensure they are applied throughout the transition process.
They said human rights should not be treated only as a cross-cutting issue, but as legal obligations that must shape decision-making, accountability and implementation.
The organisations are calling for a dedicated human rights workstream as part of the conference process.
They want the workstream to establish a common framework based on existing international human rights principles and safeguards.
These include transparency, access to information, meaningful participation, access to justice, non-discrimination and the duty to protect, respect and fulfil the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
The groups also called for protection of environmental and labour rights defenders and stronger measures for marginalised groups, including children, older people, workers and unions, women, gender-diverse people, Indigenous Peoples and people with disabilities.
They also called for recognition of Free, Prior and Informed Consent and the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The organisations want the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on climate change to provide a legal foundation for the second conference.
They said the Court affirmed that States have duties under international human rights and environmental law to cooperate and prevent significant harm to the environment and climate system.
The groups said grounding the conference in these legal obligations could provide a common framework for stronger action on the transition away from fossil fuels.
They also called on the Scientific Panel for the Global Energy Transition to apply human rights, intergenerational equity and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities in providing technical support for national and regional transition roadmaps.
The organisations said climate action must be consistent with the obligation to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C while ensuring the transition is fair and equitable.
The open letter also calls for participating countries to report on how they are incorporating human rights obligations into their transition strategies, policies, nationally determined contributions and national roadmaps.
The organisations want all rights-holders, including environmental human rights defenders, and government representatives who wish to attend the conference to have access without unnecessary barriers.
They specifically proposed an e-visa system allowing accredited delegates to obtain visas within two weeks of applying.
The groups said the proposed measures would strengthen the legitimacy and effectiveness of the conference and help ensure the transition away from fossil fuels protects human rights.
They also offered to work with Tuvalu and Ireland to make the second conference a global benchmark for a just and equitable transition away from fossil fuels…..PACNEWS
SOL – CLIMATE CHANGE: SPC PACNEWS 3: Mon 17 Aug 2026
Solomon Islands shapes first national response to climate Loss and Damage
HONIARA, 17 AUGUST 2026 (SPC)—Solomon Islands is bringing government, provincial, research and community expertise together to shape its first National Loss and Damage Policy and Investment Roadmap, turning climate evidence into priorities for action and finance.
Honiara- Solomon Islands ministries, provincial leaders, researchers and civil society are shaping the country’s first dedicated policy for responding to climate impacts that can no longer be avoided.
Consultations held from 10 to 13 August are bringing national evidence and practical experience into the draft National Loss and Damage Policy and Investment Roadmap.
The Government of Solomon Islands, through the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology, (MECDM) is developing the documents with the Pacific Community drawing on support from the Regional Pacific NDC Hub and its Climate Change and Sustainability Division.
Once finalised, the policy will guide how responsibilities are shared across government, while the roadmap will identify the financing and investments needed to put national priorities into action.
Loss and Damage refers to climate impacts that occur despite efforts to reduce emissions and adapt. It includes costs that can be measured, such as damage to infrastructure, businesses and livelihoods, as well as losses that are harder to value in monetary terms, including loss of life, health, land, ecosystems, cultural heritage and community ties.
Karl Kuper, Deputy Secretary Corporate MECDM Climate Change Division within the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology, said the policy must be practical for Solomon Islands.
“We need this policy to work in Solomon Islands, not only on paper. That means listening to ministries, provinces and communities about what they are already facing, where the gaps are and what support is needed”.
For Solomon Islands, these impacts carry a significant economic cost. The country’s first Biennial Transparency Report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change cites estimated average annual climate-related losses of US$79 million, equivalent to 8.69 percent of GDP. The report notes that the total could be higher because the estimate does not include losses from floods and droughts.
The consultation programme includes meetings with government officials responsible for climate change, tourism, social services, commerce and labour. Provincial representatives, civil society and faith-based organisations, Solomon Islands National University (SINU) development partners and other national stakeholders are also contributing.
Discussions covered climate impacts and recovery in tourism; the needs of women, young people, children and persons with disabilities; and risks to businesses, jobs and livelihoods, particularly for smaller enterprises.
Provincial representatives raised local financing, planned relocation and implementation through provincial and ward-level structures. Civil society and faith-based organisations shared community experience, while SINU advised on research, climate information, monitoring and the skills needed to support the policy.
The first draft draws on national and international research, existing climate policies and legislation, institutional arrangements, financing mechanisms and initial stakeholder discussions. The current consultations are testing its proposed vision, objectives, responsibilities and priorities, identifying gaps and assessing what can be implemented. Participants are also reviewing the Investment Roadmap’s financing options and investment concepts to connect the policy with practical opportunities that government and its partners can develop and finance.
Michelle DeFreese, Loss and Damage Funding Coordinator at SPC’s Climate Change and Sustainability Division said the consultations were connecting national evidence with the investment priorities identified by Solomon Islands.
“This event is an important step in the process and will help to ensure that the final policy reflects the reality being experienced by communities affected by climate change and incorporates a variety of perspectives. from academia, civil society and community-based organisations. This multi-stakeholder consultative process will help to strengthen the policy so that it is ultimately more effective for responding to loss and damage.”
Feedback from the consultations will inform revisions to the policy and roadmap before both documents are reviewed by the Ministry and SPC, formally validated and submitted for government approval.
The timing extends beyond the national process. As Pacific countries prepare for Pre-COP31 in Fiji and COP31 in Türkiye, Solomon Islands will have stronger evidence of what Loss and Damage means nationally, where investment is required and how international finance can respond to country and community priorities….PACNEWS
PAC – DIPLOMACY: PMN PACNEWS 3: Mon 17 Aug 2026
Foreign influence could quietly weaken Pacific unity, expert warn
WELLINGTON, 17 AUGUST 2026 (PMN)–Pacific countries may need to look beyond the obvious signs of foreign interference with an international law expert warning that the bigger threat could be the slow erosion of regional unity.
Al Gillespie says foreign interference does not always look like espionage or the theft of sensitive information.
He says it can be much harder to spot when outside influence begins shaping how Pacific countries make decisions.
“It’s more about influence,” Gillespie tells Pacific Mornings.
“People, when they hear the word espionage, think of James Bond in 007. It’s not that type of thing.”
Instead, he says information gathered by foreign actors can range from commercial and political information to details about geography, technology or other areas that could have wider uses.
But Gillespie says the Pacific should be particularly alert to attempts to weaken the region’s ability to act together.
“One of the things that they were talking about was sometimes it’s not about a direct theft as much as it’s using the influence to undermine cohesion in the Pacific,” he says.
For a region where consensus has traditionally been central to Pacific Islands Forum decision-making, Gillespie says a warning sign could be countries beginning to take positions that break from the wider group.
“Non-consensus in traditional gatherings where consensus was the rule,” he says.
“And so you would get one country or two countries just stepping out and making decisions which don’t necessarily reflect the overall collective good of the Pacific.”
That balancing act is already playing out across the region.
Dr Anna Powles, Associate Professor at Massey University’s Centre for Defence and Security Studies, says Pacific governments are increasingly having to manage competing relationships.
“It is a reset,” she told PMN. “It’s not a pivot away from China… Across the region, governments are balancing economic ties with China against growing security partnerships with Australia, New Zealand and the United States.”
Gillespie says this does not mean every disagreement between Pacific governments should be treated as evidence of foreign interference.
In fact, he warns that doing so could create another problem by making Pacific countries suspicious of one another.
That is particularly relevant as Pacific leaders prepare to meet in Palau later this month, with regional security and the growing competition between major powers expected to feature heavily on the agenda.
Gillespie says the region needs greater transparency rather than allowing suspicion to take hold.
“I hope we can get to the most basic common sense that it’s in no one’s interest to have missiles from any country shot into the Pacific,” he says.
Pacific governments are already pushing for a more collective response. At their recent meeting in Suva, Forum foreign ministers agreed to take a unified position to leaders in Palau on missile testing and Pacific security.
“Ministers called for transparency and reassurance… emphasising the importance of all States conducting ICBM tests consistently with the Blue Pacific Ocean of Peace Declaration, the Treaty of Rarotonga, and respecting the sovereignty of Forum Members,” their statement read.
He says the recent debate over China’s missile test shows how quickly questions about foreign influence can become attached to Pacific governments’ decisions.
“The problem with this kind of allegation from the SIS is that as soon as a country objects, you instantly think, well, maybe they’ve been influenced by China or some other country,” Gillespie says.
“That may not be the case. It may be the case, but it creates suspicion.”
The issue is already playing out in Pacific capitals. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale is reviewing the country’s 2022 security agreement with China, with regional security analysts describing the move as a diplomatic reset rather than a break with Beijing.
The review reflects the wider challenge facing Pacific governments as they maintain economic relationships with China while strengthening security ties with Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
For Pacific governments, he says the first line of defence is greater openness about who they are dealing with and why.
“Your first step is transparency and democracy,” Gillespie says. “Your second step is non-disclosure.”
He says politicians should be open about who they are engaging with, the reasons they are dealing with them and the benefits involved.
“And so as much light that is shown on to a situation will help defeat these problems,” he says.
Gillespie says many Pacific governments are only beginning to understand the scale of foreign interference and will need support from Australia and New Zealand.
But he says Pacific countries also need to make sure outside powers do not end up defining the region’s security choices for them.
With Pacific leaders preparing for the Forum meeting, the challenge may be less about choosing sides and more about protecting the region’s ability to make collective decisions on its own terms.
The 2026 Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting will be held in Palau from 30 August to 04 September….PACNEWS
FIJI – COURTS: FIJI SUN PACNEWS 3: Mon 17 Aug 2026
Fiji PM Rabuka refuses to concede Malimali case defeat
SUVA, 17 AUGUST 2026 (FIJI SUN)—Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is leaving the Government’s next move in the Barbara Malimali case to his legal advisers, while refusing to concede that the latest court ruling means the former Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) Commissioner has won.
Rabuka said he had yet to form a final view on High Court judge Justice Dane Tuiqereqere’s 153-page ruling, which declared the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) report null and void and quashed adverse findings against the applicants.
“I have not made up my opinion. I’m waiting for my counsel to read the 153 pages,” he said when asked whether the Government would appeal.
The ruling also found that President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu and Mr Rabuka had failed to afford the applicants natural justice.
The Prime Minister’s comments come amid renewed questions over remarks he made earlier in February, when he said he was considering resigning if the appeal process in the earlier Malimali case failed.
That statement was made after the High Court ruled that Malimali’s removal as FICAC Commissioner was unlawful, amid calls for Rabuka to step down.
Asked whether he would still resign following last Friday’s ruling, Rabuka challenged the suggestion that Malimali and the other applicants had won the case.
“Have they won the case?” he asked.
When told they had, he replied: “No, they have not.
Read the report again.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has rejected claims that the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) was a waste of public funds after the High Court last week declared its report “null and void”.
Rabuka said the 153-page judgment should be read in full before conclusions were made about the inquiry.
“No, it was not a waste of money,” Mr Rabuka said.
He questioned whether those criticising the inquiry had examined the court’s findings on former FICAC Commissioner Barbara Malimali and other matters addressed in the judgment.
Justice Dane Tuiqereqere ruled that the CoI report was null and void and quashed adverse findings after finding them irrational.
The court also found that President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu and Prime Minister Rabuka had failed to provide the applicants with natural justice.
The CoI was established to examine issues surrounding the appointment of Malimali as FICAC Commissioner and subsequent events linked to her appointment and removal.
Its findings became the subject of legal challenges, culminating in last week’s High Court ruling.
The case has also carried political consequences for Rabuka.
In another development, Opposition Leader Inia Seruiratu has expressed his frustration and concerns following the High Court ruling that nullified the Commission of Inquiry report.
Seruiratu said a significant amount of public money was spent on the Commission and noted that those affected by the findings may pursue the matter through the judicial system.
On 03 February Rabuka said he was considering resigning if the appeal process in the Malimali case failed. This followed an earlier court ruling that found Malimali’s removal as FICAC Commissioner was unlawful
The latest ruling has placed fresh political and legal pressure on the Government, particularly over the process followed in dealing with Malimali and the subsequent Commission of Inquiry…..PACNEWS
NZ – DIPLOMACY: REUTERS PACNEWS 3: Mon 17 Aug 2026
China rejects New Zealand spy allegations as false
WELLINGTON,14 AUGUST 2026 (REUTERS)—- China has rejected allegations that it is conducting widespread espionage on New Zealand, saying the claim in the country’s latest security assessment stemmed from a Cold War mentality.
The Chinese embassy in Wellington said the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service’s annual threat report “fabricates and hypes” claims of Chinese interference and threat, and accused unnamed domestic and foreign forces of trying to damage ties between the two countries.
The allegation appeared in the agency’s Security Threat Environment 2026 assessment, released last Thursday, which said China was the only country New Zealand had detected conducting espionage “at scale.”
“False allegations against China either smear normal exchanges and cooperation as so-called espionage or interference, or are entirely groundless and fabricated out of thin air,” the embassy said in a statement.
The intelligence agency’s Security Threat Environment 2026 assessment, which is released annually, said China remained the most active foreign-interference actor in New Zealand, while warning that espionage and covert efforts by foreign states to acquire sensitive technology, influence policy and gather information were becoming more common.
China rejected that assessment, saying bilateral ties were based on “mutual benefit and win-win cooperation” and had delivered trade, jobs and people-to-people exchanges.
The embassy said the timing of the report was “no coincidence” and suggested it could itself be the product of foreign interference. It urged New Zealand to work with Beijing to deepen political trust and practical cooperation.
China is New Zealand’s largest trading partner, with two-way trade reaching record levels in recent years….PACNEWS
FIJI – HIV/AIDS/HEALTH: FIJI SUN PACNEWS 3: Mon 17 Aug 2026
Do not play around with sex, University of Fiji students told
LAUTOKA, 17 AUGUST 2026 (FIJI SUN)—“Do not play around with sex. Be faithful only to one partner, please.”
This was the advice from Dr Vasitia Cati to University of Fiji students as she warned them about risky sexual behaviour amid Fiji’s rising HIV cases.
“But if you would like to go and fish in the pond, condomize,” she said.
Dr Cati, head of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department and consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Aspen Medical-managed Lautoka Hospital, delivered the message during an awareness session at the UniFiji campus in Saweni, Lautoka, last Friday.
She spoke on women’s health, HIV and preventing mother-to-child transmission as part of the Fiji HIV Prevention Campaign.
Dr Cati said Fiji’s HIV epidemic had escalated over the past decade, with young people accounting for a significant proportion of new infections.
“Last year, in 2025, Fiji recorded the highest annual number of newly diagnosed cases at 2,016. This represents a 27% increase from 1,583 in 2024. The cumulative number of cases from 1989 to last year was 5,676 cases,” she said.
“UNAIDS estimated that this year we will have a cumulative total of 9,000 HIV cases.”
She said people aged 20 to 24 accounted for the largest proportion of newly diagnosed infections last year, at 32 percent.
“Last year’s data showed that there were 117 HIV-related deaths. Sadly, only 56% of people living with HIV accessed antiretroviral therapy,” she said.
Dr Cati also highlighted the impact of HIV on children.
She said 67 paediatric cases were recorded, with 59 attributed to mother-to-child transmission.
Last year, 332 pregnant women were diagnosed with HIV, she said.
Dr Cati said Fiji had an 18 percent vertical transmission rate.
“Fiji is third with 18 percent. The number of children infected through mother-to-child transmission has increased over the years,” she said.
“In 2023, there were only eight cases; in 2024, 32 cases; and last year, 59 cases. This is a seven-fold increase over these two years, from 2023 to 2025.”
She said a national HIV-related mortality audit in children was conducted in March this year.
“There were 18 HIV deaths,” she said.
“Seventeen of these 18 deaths were related to late or missed linkages to vertical transmission preventive services, and one was confirmed HIV-positive, which was found post-mortem.”
Dr Cati said the case fatality rate for HIV deaths in children was 30 percent.
“Basically, this means that when a child is diagnosed, 30% of these new diagnoses will result in death within one year of the diagnosis,” she said.
She then returned to her message of prevention, particularly for students who could become Fiji’s future parents.
“So, to you, the future parents of tomorrow, please don’t get infected,” Dr Cati said.
“Refrain from risky behaviours.
“If you are not thinking of having children, don’t play around with sex. Be faithful only to one partner, please.
“But if you would like to go and fish in the pond, condomise,” she said…..PACNEWS
PACNEWS BIZ
PACIFIC – FISHERIES: FFA PACNEWS BIZ: Mon 17 Aug 2026
Operation Island Chief identifies 16 vessels of interest in major regional surveillance effort against illegal fishing
HONIARA, 17 AUGUST 2026 (FFA)—Sixteen vessels of interest (VOIs) were identified during Operation Island Chief 2026 (OPIC26), one of the higher numbers recorded in recent FFA coordinated regional surveillance operations, as Members and partners stepped up fisheries monitoring activities across the region.
The two-week long operation, coordinated by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) from 03 – 14 August, also resulted in four vessels being apprehended.
OPIC26 covered approximately 27.5 million square kilometres of Pacific waters, monitoring the activities of more than 3,000 fishing vessels operating within the Area of Operation.
The operation involved extensive aerial and surface surveillance across the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of 11 FFA Members and adjacent high seas areas. Participating Members were Australia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Naoero, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
The operation was supported by members of the Pacific Quadrilateral Defence Coordination Group (Pacific QUADs) and Fisheries Analysts – Australia, France, New Zealand and the United States – through the provision of surveillance assets and other operational support. The Operation was supported by FFA Monitor, Control and Surveillance tools plus additional input from partners; Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, Pacific Community (SPC), Joint Analytical Cell, Global Fishing Watch, Hawkeye 360, Starboard and Canadian Dark Vessel Detection.
The outcome reflects the increasingly targeted nature of regional surveillance operations, combining intelligence analysis, satellite and remote-sensing technology, aerial surveillance, surface patrols and vessel inspections to identify activities requiring further investigation by Members.
“Operation Island Chief has again demonstrated the value of our collective efforts to detect and respond to IUU [illegal, unreported and unregulated] fishing, which remains a serious threat to the sustainability of our region’s valuable tuna resources,” FFA Director-General Noan David Pakop acknowledged following the close briefing of OPIC26 at the FFA Headquarters in Honiara last Friday.
“The identification of 16 vessels of interest is a significant outcome from this operation and demonstrates the strength of our increasingly targeted approach to regional surveillance. These results reflect the growing capability of our Members, supported by intelligence, technology and strong partnerships, to identify activities of concern and protect our vast ocean areas.”
A key highlight of OPIC26 was the use of Pacific QUAD surface and air capabilities to enable national Shiprider arrangements for the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
National officers from the Marshall Islands embarked aboard United States Coast Guard vessels, allowing them to conduct fisheries patrols and boarding activities under their respective national authorities. This was complimented by Solomon Island officials joining the Royal Australian C-27J Spartan crews for aerial surveillance within the Solomon Island EEZ.
Operation Island Chief 2026 by the numbers
Operation Island Chief covered approximately 27.5 million square kilometres of Pacific waters monitoring over 3,000 vessels operating the Area of Operation.
During the operation:
*10,884 satellite detections were analysed
*92 vessel sightings
*133 vessels were boarded and inspected
*45 vessel contacts with high risk IUU assessments
*16 vessels of interest (VOI) were identified
*4 vessels were detained or apprehended
Information relating to vessels identified during the operation has been referred to the relevant national authorities for assessment and any follow-up action in accordance with their respective national processes.
Operation Island Chief also provided an opportunity to strengthen the skills and operational experience of fisheries and maritime personnel from across FFA Members.
Twenty-five secondees from participating Members were deployed to FFA’s Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre (RFSC) in Honiara, which served as the main regional coordination centre for the operation.
Operation Island Chief 2026 coordination team based at the FFA Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre in Honiara. Photo: FFA
The secondees included personnel from national fisheries agencies, maritime units, navies and police services, working alongside FFA specialists to monitor the regional surveillance picture, analyse information and support national surveillance activities.
The group brought together experienced surveillance personnel and officers participating in a regional operation for the first time, allowing knowledge and operational experience to be shared between Members.
FFA provides ongoing technical support and capacity development to its Members in monitoring, control and surveillance, alongside the regional systems and coordination arrangements that support collective fisheries surveillance operations.
Operation Island Chief is part of FFA’s programme of regional monitoring, control and surveillance operations, bringing together Members and partners to support compliance with fisheries rules and strengthen the protection of the Pacific region’s fisheries resources….PACNEWS
SOL – TAX EXEMPTION: SOL GOVT PACNEWS BIZ: Mon 17 Aug 2026
“Robbery decorated in exemptions”: Solomon Isands Finance Minister warns tax abusers
HONIARA, 17 AUGUST 2026 (SOL GOVT)—Solomon Islands GREAT Coalition is taking a clear and decisive position on one of the country’s most important economic issues: protecting public revenue and ensuring everyone pays their fair share.
For too long, tax exemptions, weak administration and opportunities for tax avoidance have placed pressure on the Government’s ability to collect the revenue it needs to deliver essential services to our people.
The Government will not accept a system where revenue that should rightfully belong to the people of Solomon Islands is unnecessarily forfeited.
The Minister of Finance and Treasury Gordon Darcy Lilo in his speech in Parliament last week said what good does it bring to the Government when all the revenue it is supposed to receive is forfeited.
“This is robbery decorated in exemptions,” he said.
Minister Lilo said the Government believes in tax relief where it is justified, transparent and beneficial to the national economy.
“But tax relief must never become a licence for tax abuse,” he added.
Lilo said businesses that invest, create employment and contribute to the economy will continue to be supported.
But, he adds businesses and individuals deliberately avoiding their tax obligations must understand that the Government is strengthening the system to close those loopholes.
“The Tax Administration Act is an important first step in this reform agenda. It strengthens tax administration, improves compliance and provides a stronger foundation for fair and effective revenue collection,” he said.
Minister Lilo said the Government is now progressing further reforms, including the introduction of Value Added Tax legislation, reform of the Income Tax Act and reviews of excise and resource rent taxation.
He said these reforms are not about burdening the people.
“They are about building a fairer system where the tax burden is shared properly and where Solomon Islands receives a fair return from the economic activity taking place in this country,” he said.
He said the GREAT Coalition is committed to ending revenue leakages, strengthening accountability and ensuring that public money is protected.
“Our position is firm: no more abuse of the tax system, no more unnecessary revenue leakages and no more putting private interests ahead of the national interest.
“Every dollar protected and properly collected is a dollar that can be invested back into our people, our services and our country’s future,” Lilo said….PACNEWS
PAC – SCAMS: CYBER SECURITY PACNEWS BIZ: Mon 17 Aug 2026
Pacific communities urged to guard against surging online scams
AUCKLAND, 17 AUGUST 2026 (PMN)—As online scams become increasingly sophisticated, cybersecurity experts are urging Pasifika and Māori whānau across the moana to slow down and protect themselves online.
The call comes alongside the launch of the Fearless Planet Index (FPI), a new real-time intelligence hub tracking digital threats globally.
Speaking 531’s Pacific Days, cybersecurity company Norton New Zealand’s spokesperson Luke Makutu says in this country alone, security systems have identified over 90,000 e-shop scams in a single 30-day period.
He says the surge represents an 87 percent increase in local online shopping fraud, as scammers aggressively target everyday consumers.
Makutu is highlighting how the current cost-of-living crisis makes Pacific families particularly vulnerable.
“We’re living in a cost-of-living crisis where people are struggling to pay bills or buy petrol.
“A $50 (US$29.95) scam here and there can mean the difference between feeding our kids each week. It’s a big deal.”
According to Makutu, the rapid rise of AI has given cybercriminals tools to generate highly convincing fake e-commerce websites, social media pop-ups, text messages, and phishing emails in seconds – mimicking trusted global consumer brands and government agencies to trick everyday internet users.
He says no one is immune to AI, regardless of background, age, or tech experience.
“Technology is moving faster than we can keep up with,” he says, invoking a traditional Pacific legend to illustrate the community’s needed response.
“I like to think of Māui, how he slowed down the sun. Cybercriminals are using AI at a pace we can’t keep up with. I just want to throw a net over the sun and slow it down so we’ve got more time to take a breath and ease our way through this digital world.”
While digital security tools such as secure browsers, antivirus protection, and parental controls provide crucial technical barriers, Makutu is stressing that community and family connection remain the strongest defence for Pasifika households.
He says that for families navigating multi-generational internet users, from young tamariki on mobile devices to elders keeping in touch with whānau across the Pacific, open dialogue and caution are vital.
“We need to be connected to real people in the real world in order to navigate the digital world. Talk with your children.
The newly launched Fearless Planet Index aggregates data from over 500 million users across 245 countries and territories.
“I would really encourage parents to, you know, do their best before they hand that device over to have some guidelines in place, to have a kōrero and some tools on those devices….software that actually knows what threats are out there and is blocking them so your kids are safe online.”
The newly launched Fearless Planet Index aggregates data from over 500 million users across 245 countries and territories.
New Zealand authorities have issued numerous warnings about online scams, and a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report has put the spotlight on Pacific communities.
It says they are increasingly in the sights of global scam networks through the use of technology largely involving artificial intelligence and social media.
The latest assessment across the region estimates scam operators have stolen somewhere between US$150 billion and US$194 billion last year alone through the exploitation of vulnerable people…..PACNEWS
PACNEWS In Focus
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Inside Australia’s $150m gamble on the Pacific climate summit
The government says its plan to host a climate summit in Fiji will direct global eyes on the Pacific’s fight against rising seas. But will anyone show up?
By Ryan Cropp, Nicola Smith
CANBERRA, 17 AUGUST 2026 (AFR)—In 2019, during then-prime minister Scott Morrison’s visit to Tuvalu, a low-lying nation on the front lines of climate change-induced sea level rises, his deputy, Michael McCormack, rather indelicately summed up Australia’s general response to the Pacific Islands’ existential concerns.
“I … get a little bit annoyed when we have people in those sorts of countries pointing the finger at Australia and say we should be shutting down all our resources sector,” he said. “They’ll continue to survive because many of their workers come here and pick our fruit.”
The remarks were of little use to Morrison, who was attempting to placate criticism of Australia’s fossil fuel economy – and hold back the region’s potential drift towards China – with a $500 million(US$354.43 million) grant for adaptation measures. According to Tuvalu’s former prime minister Enele Sopoaga, the message was “take the money … then shut up about climate change”.
Seven years later, those hostilities have been turned down a notch, though the risk of another rupture has not gone away. In October, Australia – one of the world’s top coal and gas producers – will host a climate summit in Fiji and Tuvalu, at a cost to taxpayers of $50 million (US$35.45 million), in what Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen says is an effort to bring global attention to the Pacific’s plight.
The summit, which is the centrepiece of a broader $150 million(US$106.32 million) Pacific package, is the result of the Albanese government’s shift in approach to Pacific relations, which is built on a conspicuous public embrace of the region’s climate prodding, and a bet that the green transition can be an economic and diplomatic boon for Australia.
The risk for the government is in the gap between what the Pacific wants and what can reasonably be delivered. Among the region’s key demands, for example, are an end to new fossil fuel expansion and a non-negotiable global commitment to limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
The Fiji event will deliver neither. It is effectively a consolation prize – a minor bureaucratic curtain raiser to the United Nations’ huge annual climate jamboree, known as COP, which Australia had hoped to host before its increasingly half-hearted bid was scuppered by an intransigent Turkish counterbid last November.
In exchange for standing down, Australia secured the Pacific pre-summit, and Bowen a top negotiating role. Worryingly for the government, though, it has so far been unable to convince any heads of state from outside the Pacific to commit to attend, despite Bowen’s declared intention to upgrade the pre-COP to a leader-level event.
The difficulties are partly to do with inter-governmental disputes between the climate change and foreign affairs departments, which have dogged the bid since the beginning. Bowen’s department is understandably the most enthusiastic about COP, but it’s DFAT that is responsible for wrangling leaders to the event.
The Turks, too, have proven to be a roadblock after they announced they would host their own leaders event before the full COP summit in Antalya in November. In the midst of a packed conference calendar, the chances of getting key world leaders to show up to two climate events on opposite sides of the globe are not great.
The government hopes some may still show up, but it is unlikely they will be from G7 countries. Either way, it is threatening to be a major diplomatic embarrassment for Australia, whose promises to the Pacific on COP have effectively muffled the region’s criticism of Australia’s fossil fuel expansions in recent years.
A New Zealand foreign affairs department spokeswoman said the government had yet to confirm who it would send. According to diplomatic sources speaking on condition of anonymity, there is a strong chance that even some Pacific leaders will skip the event if no world leaders show up.
Wesley Morgan, a research associate with the Institute for Climate Risk and Response at UNSW, said there had been real disappointment in the Pacific to see the full COP summit conceded to Turkey, but the precursor event would still encourage a “convergence of interest” between Australia and the region.
“It is well short of the sort of global influence that we could have expected if Australia and the Pacific had hosted COP31 in the region. So this is something of a consolation prize in lieu of not hosting the UN climate talks in Australia and the Pacific,” he said.
“[But] this is a crisis that is impacting Australia as much as it is impacting Tuvalu, and so that huge gap between Australia’s interests and the Pacific’s interests really is starting to close.”
The domestic politics are even thornier for Bowen. The country’s conservative political parties have abandoned any interest in climate policy, and since Australia secured the summit, have repeatedly demanded – cynically, if not unfairly – that Bowen explain how Australia’s interests are being served by its $150 million(US$106.32 million) price tag.
His answer, it seems, is that it is basically a more effective version of Morrison’s 2019 bribe. Speaking at the National Press Club last week, Bowen said the Albanese government’s advocacy on climate change had turned around Australia’s relationship with the region, where the impacts of sea level rises were “the number one, two and three issue”.
“They look to Australia for leadership, and under this government, we reciprocate with action,” he said. “I’ve been to several COPs. The issues of the Pacific have not been front and centre. That’s the unvarnished truth. We think at least at this COP they should be and they will be.”
But with very little domestic interest in the plan, a political climate not amenable to an increase in climate policy ambition, and a prospect of Pacific disappointment with the outcome, the real risk is that geopolitically, Australia eventually ends up right back where it started.
In 2022, when Albanese’s Labor opposition announced its intention to bid for the COP31 summit, the politics of climate were markedly different. Joe Biden was in the White House pushing for a global green industrial transformation, and his government was putting the squeeze on allies to increase their ambition on emissions cuts.
In Australia, the Morrison government followed suit, securing an expensive commitment from the conservative wing of the Coalition to back a target of net zero emissions by 2050, which the prime minister then took to the Glasgow COP summit in 2021 – the high-water mark of modern global climate politics.
In the Pacific, meanwhile, China had become more assertive in its diplomatic efforts to curry favour with Australia’s strategic partners, including the Solomon Islands, which signed a security cooperation agreement with China in April 2022.
In that environment, Labor’s case to use COP as a means to push a more assertive posture on climate policy in the region seemed like a no-brainer, both as a geopolitical tool and a wedge against a conservative government that appeared increasingly out of touch with global trends.
In a speech to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Fiji just four days after becoming foreign minister, Penny Wong presented the proposal to co-host a future UN Conference of the Parties with Pacific Island countries as an imperative to fighting an “existential threat”.
“I understand that – under past governments – Australia has neglected its responsibility to act on climate change. Ignoring the calls of our Pacific family to act,” she said. “I want to assure you that we have heard you.”
George Carter, the head of the Department of Pacific Affairs at the ANU Pacific Institute and a vocal supporter of the COP bid, said that regardless of the outcome of the bid, the process had improved relations between Australia and the Pacific on climate questions.
“We now have a situation where cabinet ministers from Australia and the Pacific WhatsApp each other. Our officials are connected. We’ve never had this level of communication,” he said. “More importantly, our societies, the community here in Australia and in the Pacific, they’re naturally now talking about and working on climate solutions,” he said.
“If we don’t get the hosting, don’t worry about it. We’ve already attained what we wanted.”
Others are more circumspect. Since the re-election of U.S President Donald Trump in 2024, the direction of travel in global climate politics has become increasingly bifurcated, with the world now effectively split into two clear camps based on their level of enthusiasm towards the green transition. Australia, a fossil fuel economy with a stated goal to decarbonise, seemingly straddles both.
Lachlan Strahan, a former senior diplomat who served as high commissioner to the Solomon Islands from 2020 to 2022, said that while it made sense to send “a signal to the Pacific that we are going to put our shoulder to the wheel”, there were serious questions about the wisdom of the timing of such a major financial and logistical commitment when the US was “disengaged and hostile”.
“Hosting a COP is incredibly expensive, and the organisational financial load is enormous. And so, if you’re going to host a COP, you better be damn sure you really want to do it. Secondly, you’ve got to be sure you’ve actually really got the resources. And then thirdly, you’ve got to think, if we do host, where is it going to land?
“Even if some of the broader settings are difficult on climate change, you can still make some progress on technical issues, but there’s no doubt it’s much harder work if you’ve got a country as important as the United States who … it’s not just that they’ve stepped aside; they’re actually playing a kind of spoiling, destructive role.”
Strahan said it did matter to the Pacific that Australia was pressing ahead with the COP, but it always had an eye on more direct efforts to limit climate change, such as a ban on new coal and gas projects.
“Of course, the Pacific would say [the COP] is only part of the story. Australia, we want to see you taking real action to curb your own emissions,” he said. “There’s no doubt when Australia approves new hydrocarbon projects, especially new coal mines, that is not well received in the Pacific because it looks like we are not taking enough action.
“I think the current government policies, where they are trying to drive change, is appreciated in the Pacific. But there’s no doubt when we do things like approving the extension at the North West Shelf [gas project in the Pilbara], people then kind of arc up.”
And while it is true that Australia is partly leveraging the COP process to lock in its role as the primary economic and security partner to the Pacific, in Strahan’s view, the China dimension was only a “backstory.”
“The frontline story is still driven by climate change,” he said. “One thing that I would always say to people: we shouldn’t see the Pacific as a China story. It’s a Pacific story with a Chinese subplot.”
The uncertain outcomes of the summit have naturally increased scrutiny of its overall cost to Australian taxpayers, particularly from the conservative parties, which have recently committed themselves to dismantling almost all the ad hoc climate policy architecture Australia has put in place since the late Morrison era.
The government has put the overall cost of hosting around 2000 climate bureaucrats in Fiji at $147.8 million(US$104.80 million) (set aside in a budget measure titled “Standing with our partners in the Pacific”), which includes the costs of guest accommodation at Fijian resorts, a smaller but more logistically complex side trip to Tuvalu to see one of the world’s most at-risk countries up close, and 70 full-time equivalent staff (28 of which will work in the newly established “Office of the Presidency”).
The federal government has locked in several island resorts for summit guests.
The $150 million(US$106.32 million) is unlikely to be the limit of Australia’s financial contributions to Pacific climate responses. In January, the government announced it would spend $50 million (US$35.45 million) helping individual nations transition away from fossil fuels. Australia is also likely to contribute to a new global climate adaptation fund for the Pacific, slated to be discussed at the pre-COP itself.
Bowen has defended the cost of the summit and his international travel as head of COP negotiations as a necessary investment in Australia-Pacific relations, one that gives it outsized influence over global climate policy.
To be fair to Bowen, it’s also not the largest sum of taxpayer money that has been thrown at the issue. Morrison took $500 million with him to the Pacific Islands Forum in 2019 as part of what he called the “Pacific step up”, a broad regional finance package to rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
At the 2016 PIF, his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull announced a four-year, $300 million (US$212 million) Pacific climate change support package. Two years earlier, even Tony Abbott, a well-established critic of the green revolution, committed $200 million(US$141.76 million) to a global climate fund. That followed a $150 million (US$106.36 million) Pacific climate package announced by Kevin Rudd at the 2009 PIF.
Coalition foreign affairs spokesman Ted O’Brien said that while climate change mattered a lot to the region, Pacific leaders had told him they had more pressing concerns with drug and health issues.
“For governments confronting an emerging HIV crisis, violent crime and gaps in basic services due to an emerging drug problem, I understand why the issue of drugs is of most immediate concern,” he said.
“Climate change was discussed during my visit, raised by me or on occasion by others. No one raised net zero, specifically. While climate change was not the number-one issue raised, it is nevertheless an issue of significant importance to the region.
“I explained the Coalition’s practical approach to reducing emissions, evidenced by our own track record in government. This was well received.”
Strahan said regardless of the outcome, Australia needed to show the Pacific that it had a “strong, coherent climate policy” that would not shift depending on who was in government.
“Australia has been unable to sit on a strong, coherent climate policy, and depending on which side of politics has been in power, will jump back and forth. So, of course, the Pacific have watched that, and that’s been aggravating, demoralising,” he said.
“The Pacific has just been crying out for Australia to do something domestically and to play a leadership role,” he said. “We need to be able to say to the Pacific that we really get it,” he said…PACNEWS
Ryan CroppEnergy and climate reporterRyan Cropp is an energy and climate reporter at The Australian Financial Review based in the Canberra bureau.
Nicola SmithCanberra bureau chiefNicola Smith is The Australian Financial Review’s Canberra bureau chief. She was formerly a foreign correspondent covering Asia and the European Union and joined the Financial Review in 2025. Reach Nicola securely on Signal @niccijsmith.03.
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Five-year plan endorsed for Pacific seismic network that warns communities
HONIARA, 17 AUGUST 2026 (SPC)— Pacific geoscientists and disaster managers met in Honiara this week to map out their needs and put the region’s shared earthquake monitoring network onto funding that does not run out with the donor project cycle, an arrangement its chair says is now the main constraint on getting warnings to communities.
That network, the Oceania Regional Seismic Network (ORSNET), links more than 50 seismic stations owned and operated by Pacific Island countries and territories, and underpins earthquake monitoring, tsunami early warning and technical cooperation across the southwest Pacific.
The meetings, which ran from 10 to 14 August brought together 40 participants and combined the Annual Meeting of ORSNET, the 11th Meeting of the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System’s Working Group for Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PTWS WG-PICT), and the Third Regional Geohazards Meeting.
The meetings were hosted by the Government of Solomon Islands, a member of ORSNET, and supported by the Pacific Community (SPC), with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO/IOC), the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Over five days, participants from seven ORSNET member countries and territories – Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu – reviewed national monitoring capacities, identified shared technical and institutional gaps, and worked toward endorsing a regional roadmap for 2026–2030. Discussions also centred on financing ORSNET’s own maintenance, the interoperability of national systems and peer learning.
The meetings also produced formal recommendations to be fed into the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System and considered how regional efforts align with global initiatives such as the United Nations’ Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative, which aims to protect everyone on Earth with an early warning system by the end of 2027.
In his keynote address, Solomon Islands Minister of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification Derrick Rawcliff Manu’ari said Pacific Island nations occupy one of the most geologically dynamic regions in the world, with earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and landslides posing threats to communities, livelihoods, critical infrastructure, public services, national economies and development aspirations.
“ORSNET has developed into a principal regional mechanism for seismic data sharing and cooperation in the Southwest Pacific. Through this network, member countries have strengthened earthquake monitoring, tsunami early warning, technical collaboration and knowledge exchange. Its progress demonstrates the practical value of regional solidarity: countries sharing expertise, data and resources in pursuit of the common objective of protecting our people,” Manu’ari said.
SPC’s support was made possible through the European Union (EU)-funded Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific Phase II (BSRP II) project. Addressing participants by video link from Suva, Jose Legarra, Programme Manager, Global Gateway – Enabling Environment at the Delegation of the European Union to the Pacific, reiterated the EU’s support for work in this area which had real impacts on the lives of Pacific people.
“Effective disaster risk management depends on reliable monitoring networks, robust data-sharing arrangements, strong scientific partnerships, and coordinated warning systems,” Legarra said.
“These foundations enable countries and communities to better understand risks, issue timely warnings, and strengthen preparedness and response capacities and capabilities. The EU is proud to support this effort through our partnership with SPC through the Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific project.
“To date, we have been supporting Oceania Regional Seismic Network countries in strengthening monitoring stations, analysis capabilities through the procuring of equipment and specialised software and supporting technical capacity buildings.
“We view the investments in ORSNET not only as investments in technology and infrastructure, but fundamentally as investments in protecting lives, livelihoods, and sustainable development in the Pacific,” Legarra said.
A station in one country can protect communities in another, the Chair of ORSNET, Rennie Vaimounga of Tonga’s Ministry of Lands, Survey, Spatial Planning and Natural Resources, said in his opening remarks. The network, he said, is a commitment by Pacific countries and territories to share date, expertise and responsibility.
“We saw the importance of regional cooperation in Tonga, when the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai eruption and tsunami damaged critical infrastructure and disrupted communications. We saw it again following the 2024 Vanuatu earthquake, when communication outages affected the flow of information during the initial response,” Mr Vaiomounga said.
Monitoring and alert systems have improved across the region. Keeping them running is the harder problem, because the financing for maintenance arrives project by project.
“Our science must lead to community action. Warnings must reach everyone. Achieving this requires sustained financing. Geological hazards do not operate according to project cycles,” Mr Vaiomounga said.
By the close on Friday, participants had endorsed priority actions and governance arrangements for ORSNET, and for the region’s seismic, volcano, landslide and tsunami monitoring networks, along with recommendations linking that work to the Regional Geohazards Strategy and global early-warning frameworks.
The Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific (BSRP) Phase II project (2022–2027) is a EUR 14 m ACP–EU Disaster Risk Reduction Programme initiative funded by the European Union and implemented by SPC in 14 countries across the Pacific and Timor-Leste…..PACNEWS
For more information: Ricardo Morris, Communications Coordinator, Pacific Community (SPC) | ricardom@spc.int
PACNEWS DIGEST
The views expressed in PACNEWS are those of agencies contributing articles and do not necessarily those of PINA and/or PACNEWS
Scholar’s full-circle journey celebrates Tongan excellence
AUCKLAND, 17 AUGUST 2026 (UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND)—As Aotearoa celebrates Tonga Language Week, Dr Sione Faletau is reflecting on a journey that began in South Auckland and has come full circle at the University of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts.
His recent appointment as a permanent lecturer marks a significant milestone, not only in his own career, but also in the continuing growth and visibility of Pacific knowledge, creativity and leadership within tertiary education.
A Tongan artist, researcher and Elam alumnus with connections to the villages of Taunga and Lakepa, the appointment for Dr Faletau carries both professional and personal significance. Having completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours (First Class), Master of Fine Arts (First Class Honours) and Doctor of Fine Arts at Elam, he now finds himself teaching in the very institution that shaped him as an artist.
“It’s a privilege to come back and contribute to a place that played such an important role in my own development as an artist,” says Faletau.
“As a Pacific person, I understand the importance of seeing yourself reflected in teaching spaces. Representation matters because it helps students imagine what is possible for their own futures.”
Yet his pathway to this point has been far from straightforward.
Looking back, Faletau says he never imagined he would one day be standing at the front of an Elam class.
“Thinking back to the first year, I never thought in a million years I’d be on this side,” he says. “It still feels surreal.”
Before university, he faced significant challenges during his schooling. After being excluded from one school, he recalls visiting another where assumptions were quickly made about him and his brother because they came from Ōtara.
“They had already made up their minds about us,” he says.
It was Ōtāhuhu College that ultimately offered the brothers an opportunity.
“They gave us a chance. That’s when it clicked for me. I thought, okay, they’ve given me a chance, let’s make the most of it.”
That experience continues to inform the way he approaches teaching today.
Faletau understands what it means to enter unfamiliar spaces and question whether you belong. When he arrived at Elam as a student in 2010, many of his classmates came from schools where they had already been exposed to wider artistic disciplines and cultural experiences.
“I remember sitting in lectures and thinking, I’ve got a lot to catch up on,” he says.
“Coming from South Auckland, we’d only really been exposed to traditional forms of art – painting and drawing. Then suddenly there was sculpture, photography, installation, sound and all these other possibilities.”
Rather than being discouraged, he embraced the challenge.
Over the next decade and a half, Faletau developed an acclaimed multidisciplinary practice spanning performance, sculpture, installation, sound and digital media. His work draws on Tongan knowledge systems and often explores questions of identity, cultural memory, masculinity and Indigenous ways of knowing.
His doctoral research examined Tongan masculinity through Indigenous methodologies and talanoa with more than 140 participants across Tonga, contributing important new knowledge about culture, belonging and contemporary Pacific identity.
The influence of family has also been central to his journey.
Faletau credits his parents in particular his mother Vasilini with laying the foundations for education in his family. He remembers watching his mother graduate from the University of Auckland when he was still a child.
“I think that’s how it all started for us,” he says. “Then my sister Julienne went through University of Auckland first, followed by myself and then my younger siblings ‘Ea and Daniel Faletau. It became something our family did – my older brother Manase took a different path and became a mechanic and became successful in that space – education is everywhere you never stop learning.”
As Tonga Language Week highlights the importance of language, identity and cultural continuity, Faletau says his Tongan heritage remains at the heart of his work. His creative practice draws inspiration from concepts such as ongo (sound, feeling and presence) alongside the visual language of kupesi patterns, creating work that bridges ancestral knowledge and contemporary artistic expression.
For Pacific students entering university today, he hopes his journey demonstrates that there is no single path to success.
Pacific learners, he says, bring valuable lived experience, cultural knowledge and perspectives that enrich classrooms, studios and communities alike. His own experiences navigating education, family responsibilities and questions of belonging have helped shape a distinctive approach to teaching and mentoring.
“Pacific artists have always contributed to the cultural landscape of Aotearoa,” says Faletau.
“This appointment acknowledges that Pacific knowledge, histories and creative practices belong within the academy. I hope it encourages Pacific students to pursue their ambitions and know their stories and perspectives are valued.”
Now, as he settles into his new role, Faletau sees teaching as an opportunity to give back to the communities and institutions that helped him along the way.
“Education transformed my life,” he says. “If I can help students find confidence in their own voices, cultures and creative practices, then that’s something really meaningful.”
Faletau’s story stands as a celebration of the power of language, culture, family and perseverance, and of the many Pacific pathways that continue to shape the future of Aotearoa’s creative and academic landscape.
Early settlement dynamics in the Pacific revealed through ancient DNA
TUBINGEN, 17 AUGUST 2026 (PHYS.ORG)—New genetic analyses of ancient human skeletons from western Remote Oceania are shedding light on the complex history of settlement in this vast Pacific region over the past 3,000 years.
With island nations such as Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga, the region is home to societies with a remarkably high degree of linguistic and cultural diversity.
An international research team led by professor Cosimo Posth of the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen, in collaboration with interdisciplinary research groups from the Southwest Pacific and Europe, traced the major human migrations that helped shape the diversity of the western Remote Oceanian islands. The team was able to date the chronology of the migration waves more precisely than ever before. The new study has been published in the journal Cell.
Remote Oceania encompasses the major island groups of Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji and Polynesia. The island region forms an almost triangular shape on the map, stretching between New Zealand in the south, Hawaii in the north and Easter Island in the east—Remote Oceania altogether spans more than 30 million square kilometers (12 million square miles) of the Pacific Ocean.
With more than 200 spoken languages, Remote Oceania is home to island societies shaped by past encounters between highly divergent groups, making it one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse maritime areas on Earth.
“People first reached this region during one of the greatest human expansions into the open ocean, which began in Southeast Asia around 5,000 years ago, reaching the previously uninhabited archipelagos of Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga as early as 3,000 years ago,” reports the study’s first author, Dr Michal Feldman of Posth’s research group.
First ancient human genomes from Fiji
“While the first Remote Oceanians were primarily derived from a Southeast Asian source population, most present-day inhabitants of the region have ancestry from both Southeast Asian- and Papuan-related groups, due to later movements from Near Oceania,” says Feldman.
“The geographic extent of the Papuan-related dispersals and their timing have not been well understood, mainly because we were missing information from key regions along the expansion routes, such as Fiji.”
To better understand these processes, the research team generated new genomic data from human skeletal remains of 72 individuals spanning the past three millennia.
Difference in the pace of migration waves
The researchers found differences in the pace of the two migration waves: “Based on genetic admixture dating, we were able to determine that the Southeast Asian-related early dispersal spread faster than the Papuan-related wave,” says Posth. “While we date the presence of Papuan-related ancestry in Vanuatu to as early as 2,700 years ago, another 500 years or so passed before this ancestry is detected farther east in Fiji.”
In contrast, archaeological evidence shows that the early Southeast Asian wave traveled along this route much more rapidly. “Later, a second wave of Papuan ancestry reached Fiji,” Posth adds. This second wave likely came from neighboring archipelagos, such as Vanuatu, showing previously unknown genetic connections between islands in western Remote Oceania.
The study also investigated the genetic history of the enigmatic “Polynesian outlier” communities in Vanuatu. These contemporary communities maintain Polynesian cultural and linguistic features, despite being located outside the Polynesian Triangle. “Polynesians who traveled across the sea gave rise to the Polynesian outlier communities in southern Vanuatu. We find direct evidence of this migration around 1,000 years ago,” Posth explains.
A glimpse into early social structures
In Fiji, the research team conducted a detailed study of a community dating back some 1,500 years, based on burial findings and genomic kinship analyses, including the reconstruction of a family tree spanning five generations.
“This community experienced recent Papuan-related admixture, but this ancestry was unevenly distributed within the community,” Feldman says. “We identified a biological kin group that was distinct in its ancestry profile and followed social practices possibly aimed at maintaining wealth or social status within the family.”
“Overall, the new study outlines the major migrations involved in the settlement of western Remote Oceania,” says Posth. “It also provides new insights into the complex interactions between human migration and social structures in early island societies.”….PACNEWS
