PINA

Three months after signing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with China, Cook Islands Foreign Affairs Minister Tingika Elikana confirmed that no progress had been made in implementing the potential projects under the agreements signed between the two countries. Cook Islands signed the Action Plan for Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) 2025-2030 and three memorandums of understanding with China during Prime Minister Mark...

Pacific countries that send seasonal workers to Australia can now breathe a sigh of relief following Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s emphatic victory at the recent federal election. If Albanese had lost last week's poll, the nine Pacific countries participating in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme were likely to face major setbacks in sending workers. Fortunately for regional labourers, Albanese...

Fisheries officials and delegates from the 17 Members of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), are gathering this week at the Millenium Hall in Alofi, Niue, for the 138th Forum Fisheries Committee (FFC) Annual Officials Meeting. The five-day meeting offers an important opportunity for Members to shape the direction of sustainable tuna fisheries management in the Pacific region. Delegates...

Tongan Prime Minister Dr 'Aisake Valu Eke is optimistic about this year's election and says his government is focused on doing its best, leaving the rest up to the Tongan people. Dr Eke came to power last December after his predecessor Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni resigned in the face of a no-confidence vote brought against him by the current prime minister. Tongans...

Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr has signed Executive Order No. 491 creating a new national working group to better protect Palau’s waters, calling it a “whole government approach in securing Palau’s waters.” The Coordinated Maritime Management (CMM) Working Group brings together top officials from over a dozen government agencies to respond more quickly and effectively to ocean-related threats — such...

Geoff Turner has officially taken office as Tonga’s new Police Commissioner, marking yet another important leadership transition. The swearing-in ceremony occurred Monday at Tonga Police Headquarters in Nuku’alofa. Chief Magistrate Loupua Pahulu-Kuli administered the oath, with Deputy Commissioners and the Chief Legal Officer in attendance. Commissioner Turner, an Australian national, brings extensive experience from his tenure with the Queensland Police Service and...

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has proposed reforms to the process of moving motions of no confidence in Parliament. This comes after the withdrawal of two motions of no confidence against his Government for National Unity and Transformation (GNUT) within a year in office with the second one just a week ago. Manele told parliament on Monday that while he...

Solomon Islands Leader of Opposition Matthew Wale has described the Government’s 100-day policy programme as ‘sorrowful,’ lacking new ideas or strategic vision. Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Wale said 99 percent of what was in the Government of National Unity (GNUT) 100-day programme merely were inherited from DCGA. The Opposition Leader said, the excessively high number of policies announced in the...

Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says the trust and spirit of cooperation that existed within the coalition prior to 24 December 2022 is now gone. This comes in response to recent actions by the General Secretary of one of the ruling coalition partners, the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), Viliame Takayawa, who criticised the government delegation in Tonga. Rabuka confirmed that...

Tanya Plibersek has been moved out of the environment portfolio and into social services as part of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s reshaped cabinet, replaced by Queenslander Murray Watt as Labor pursues a new model for its stalled “nature positive” laws. Revealing his refreshed lineup following Labor’s emphatic election victory, Albanese on Monday named Michelle Rowland as the new attorney...