Sea of Western flags in Oceania?

In his recently published article “Sea of many flags”, the Head of the ANU National Security College Rory Medcalf makes the case for why Pacific Island states should regard the deep regional involvement of a Western

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Forum reunited, now to work

The next Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Baron Waqa says, “The Forum is still developing in its form, regionalism and all these plans to strengthen and unite members and I think what’s going on at

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Whispers

China Centre curiousity Questions are being asked about the mandate and work of the newly-launched China-Pacific Island Countries Center for Disaster Risk Reduction and Cooperation. Hosted in Jiangmen City, Guangdong

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Can Washington fund its Pacific pledges?

“We have not been sufficiently engaged at a critical time in the Pacific islands. Not only do the Pacific islands face existential threats like climate change and economic dislocation, but clearly they’re being

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Briefs

American SamoaAmerican Samoa’s criminal justice planning agency has been awarded US$431,794 in federal funds for crisis intervention and drug control efforts. Earlier this month, Deputy Secretary of Samoan Affairs,

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Movers and Shakers

The Oceania Customs Organisation has appointed Nancy Tati Oraka-Pomoso to be its Head of Secretariat, who becomes the first female Papua New Guinean to lead the organisation in its 24-year history. She replaces Richard

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New Pacific air route lands in Palau

There is excitement in the air in Palau as the first flight of a weekly service from Australia kicks off. Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr said flights connecting Brisbane to Palau through PNG began on

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Micronesian nations join UN’s demand for Russia to leave Ukraine

Micronesian nations have joined the international community in demanding Russia’s immediate retreat from Ukraine, one year after Moscow’s invasion which resulted in a protracted war that left tens of

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New Zealand Deputy PM to join Pacific leaders’ special retreat

New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs Carmel Sepuloni will travel to Fiji for the Pacific Islands Forum Special Leaders’ retreat this week. It will be her first opportunity in

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We hope to co-host 3rd India Pacific Cooperation Forum: Jaishankar

India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Thursday said India hopes to co-host the third summit of the Forum for India Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) in the coming months. “We hope to

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Marine protected areas don’t help tuna, new paper shows

A new study published in Frontiers in Marine Science has found that Kiribati’s Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), which banned all fishing in 2015, has not had a significant impact on the skipjack and bigeye tuna

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Australia announces 3,000 visas for Pacific workers

A new visa will allow up to 3,000 people from the Pacific region to migrate to Australia as permanent residents each year, under a scheme modelled on a New Zealand immigration programme. The Pacific Engagement Visa has

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