Moving beyond donor dependency: lessons from PNA
For decades, the Pacific Islands region has been reliant on donor funding to support development, governance, and capacity-building initiatives. While donor support has played a role in strengthening institutions, it
Major parties are promising big on the Pacific this election. What does the region think?
If you walk down a street in Honiara, Port Moresby or Nuku'alofa and ask about the federal election in Australia, you might well draw a polite — but blank —
Pacific Island growth takes a hit as global trade tensions rise: IMF
Rising US tariffs and growing global trade tensions are expected to indirectly drag down economic growth in Pacific Island countries, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns, as ripple effects from larger economies
PARAMETRIC INSURANCE – Addressing the Financial Impact of Disasters
The Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company (PCRIC) is a special-purpose disaster risk insurer created to provide a pathway for nations in the Pacific Islands region to secure financial solutions to the costly impact
Swire Shipping launches first biofuel services to the Pacific Islands
Swire Shipping announced that three of its vessels serving the South Pacific have made the switch to B24 and B30 2nd generation biofuel
US Pacific commander to advocate ‘most strongly’ for USAID to Pacific Islands
The head of US forces for the Indo-Pacific, Admiral Samuel Paparo, said on Wednesday he would be advocating “most strongly” for the continuation of USAID funding to the Pacific Islands region, where US influence is
Confronting geopolitics in Pacific regional diplomacy
In the past two years, concerns about strategic competition and the increasingly uncertain and unpredictable global order have started to take a more central place in the foreign policy and security discourses of the
Australia pivots foreign aid to Pacific to cover U.S. cut
Pacific Island nations will get a larger chunk of Australia’s foreign aid as spending is refocused after the United States slashed its aid agency. Foreign Minister Penny Wong asked her department to compile a
IMO flagged about new register created in tiny uninhabited South Pacific Island
Wily, shady entrepreneurs are scanning world maps to seek ever more distant outposts to establish ship registers to help grease the flows of the dark fleet. France and The Netherlands have submitted a paper to the
Pacific Centre for Border Management and Security opens after 27-year gestation
The Pacific Centre for Border Management and Security (PCBMS) has been officially launched at theFiji National University, marking a significant milestone in the development of regional border management and security
Trump and Pacific Island States: New possibilities
Leaders across the Pacific Island states are ready for the return to Oval Office by President Donald Trump. They are both anxious and hopeful. There is turbulence ahead in the Pacific Island States and the US
Services still out in Vanuatu as second earthquake hits
A second earthquake has hit Vanuatu, a day after a strong 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck off the coast of Port Vila. Yesterday’s quake severely damaged several buildings in the capital, crushing cars, and
Whispers
Priceless fence There’s a fence being built around a Pacific institute of learning. Students and staff raised FJ$170,000 to build the fence two years ago. Only last month did work on this barrier actually begin. News
China returns to Pacific with aid and influence push, report shows
China has regained its place as the second-biggest bilateral donor to the Pacific Islands, displacing the United States and targeting its spending to win influence, a Lowy Institute report on aid to the region found.
Air New Zealand announces a significant increase in their flight capacity to the Pacific Islands
Air New Zealand has announced a significant increase in their flight capacity to the Pacific Islands. From November 2024 to March 2025, adding tens of thousands of seats to the Pacific destinations, marking a 9
The future of deep sea mining hinges on a contentious election
The Pacific island nation of Kiribati is playing an outsize role in an election that will determine whether companies can begin strip-mining the world’s oceans for critical metals. Bloomberg reports that Leticia
Fiji replaces Vanuatu as top PALM sending country
The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme has been transformed over the last five years. In June 2019, there were 5,886 PALM visa holders in Australia. Five years later, in May 2024, there were 32,513, an
Pacific children left behind and vulnerable due to regional labour mobility schemes
Pacific Islands children are being left behind by their parents, who are taking up opportunities presented by regional labour mobility schemes, increasing concerns about child abuse. This was a key issue brought up at
Niue Premier Dalton Tagelagi opens first honorary Consul office in Japan
The Pacific nation of Niue has opened its first honorary consul in Japan. The announcement was made by Niue Premier, Dalton Tagelagi in Tokyo. “I am currently in Japan to attend the PALM 10 meeting and to open
PALM preview: fisheries research vessels and Fukushima
The government plans to provide one fisheries research vessel free of charge to each of the four Pacific Island nations of Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, it has been learned. Prime
‘No place for political violence in the U.S.’
Guam leaders today joined the nation in condemning the shooting at former president Donald Trump at his rally in Pennsylvania. “There is no room for violence in politics–no matter where you stand on the
Shadowy exotic pet trade thrives in Pacific island nation
The Pacific’s Solomon Islands has become a key player in the global live animal trade, with foreign collectors sourcing exotic species including some subject to trade bans, an AFP investigation has found.
Opinion: FestPAC: Protecting Oceania and charting future voyages
It’s the first time the Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture, which starts Thursday, will be held in Hawaii. The Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture is the world’s largest celebration of indigenous Pacific
Opinion: How integrating traditional leadership will impact Pacific Islands governance and diplomacy
Pacific Island nations have declared a campaign to move toward recognition of indigenous and traditional leaders in policy development. While it may appear an unconventional move in the Pacific’s contemporary context
