PINA

One of the Australian government's biggest diplomatic efforts to develop closer relations with the Pacific starts today with the opening of the Pacific Engagement Visa(PEV). The visa allows 3000 Pacific Islanders to permanently settle in Australia every year and it's got many across the region excited, but there are concerns by some that it won't be a level playing field. Most...

Former Solomon Islands Prime Minister Sir Francis Billy Hilly has expressed disappointment in regional leaders keeping silent over what is happening in Noumea, New Caledonia. “Every day you turn on the TV, the rioting, burning and unrest there is worse than the day before,” Sir Francis told Solomon Star. “Why is everyone so quiet about what is happening in New Caledonia?...

For the first time, rich nations in 2022 delivered on a longstanding pledge to channel US$100 billion a year in climate finance to developing nations – two years later than originally promised, official figures showed last Wednesday. Their failure to meet the goal on time has been a sore point in the UN climate talks, fuelling distrust between wealthy governments...

Australia is offering Timor-Leste a multi-billion-dollar lifeline to fast-track the Greater Sunrise offshore gas project, which promises generational wealth for the fledgling nation while keeping Beijing at bay. Australia has offered Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao’s government a sizable package of incentives that would effectively give Timor-Leste 90 percent of revenue from the project. Senior diplomatic and government sources say ensuring the...

The Fourth United Nations Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) wrapped up last week in Antigua and Barbuda with unanimous support for a bold new 10-year plan of action that will deliver meaningful change for this group of vulnerable countries. Small island developing States (SIDS) remain a special case for sustainable development because of their unique challenges, from their...

Countries on Saturday agreed to a set of key actions to better guide and coordinate international efforts in preventing, detecting, and responding to public health risks, while also committing to finalise negotiations on a global pandemic agreement within a year at the latest. Member countries of the UN World Health Organisation (WHO), on the final day of the seventy-seventh World...

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will travel to Niue and Fiji this week (04-07 June), as New Zealand continues to sharpen its focus and engagement in the Pacific. It will be Luxon’s first visit to the region as Prime Minister. “Niue and Fiji are two of New Zealand’s closest friends in the Pacific. The Government is committed to deeper and more comprehensive...

FijiFirst President Ratu Joji Satakala maintains that its 16 members of parliament who voted for the salaries and allowances raised for MPs, and Alvick Maharaj, who was part of the Emolument Committee but did not vote, no longer hold seats in Parliament. The party reiterates its stance, although it has yet to hear from Speaker of Parliament Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu. Ratu...

By Barbara Dreaver Mexican drug cartels are using Fiji as a storage hub of vast amounts of meth aimed at the New Zealand and Australian markets. Transnational organised crime specialist Jose Sousa-Santos tells 1News Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver how the massive operation is made possible by a 'huge indigenous criminal network', which only grows as the nation's drug crisis worsens. Tucked away...

Fiji became the ninth team to qualify for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 after winning the Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship 2024 with a 27-13 victory over reigning champions Samoa in the final match of the tournament in Brisbane on Sunday. In winning their fourth title, Fiji avenged last year’s heart-breaking 19-18 defeat at the same stage of the competition and...