PINA

Pacific Island and Timor-Leste nationals will be able to register for Australia's new Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV) programme from 03 June 2024, providing new opportunities for Pacific and Timorese nationals to live, work and study in Australia. The programme will enable up to 3,000 citizens of Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste to migrate to Australia as permanent residents each year. This...

The plastics treaty needs to include legally binding obligations that cover the full lifecycle of plastics including addressing legacy plastic already in the marine environment. The point was raised by Samoa, as the Chair of AOSIS, during contact group discussions on the revised zero draft of the plastics treaty on Day 4 of the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating...

The Pacific Islands Climate Outlook Forum (PICOF) provides a platform for the review of recent climate, while also looking ahead, detailing information on likely temperature, rainfall and oceanic conditions for the upcoming three to six months in the Pacific region. The exchange and use of climate information developed during the fourteenth session of the PICOF can be used by National...

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Office in Fiji and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen collaboration between the two parties. Grounded in key regional blueprints – UNDP Pacific’s Multi-Country Programme Document 2023-2027, the Forum Secretariat’s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, and its Implementation Plan (2023-2030) – the agreement...

The NSW Waratahs have claimed their fifth Super Rugby Women's title with a 50-14 win over the Fijian Drua at Ballymore. Winger Desiree Miller finished the game with a hat-trick as they built an early lead in the first half. The defending champion Drua kept themselves in the game with tries on either side of the break before the class of...

Fijian Drua women’s coach Moses Rauluni believes missed opportunities and indiscipline cost them the Super Rugby Women’s final in Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane. Three yellow cards and a red card for the Drua paved the way for New South Wales Waratahs to claim their fifth title with a 50-14 win. The Waratahs scored three tries in seven minutes in the second...

The Fijian Drua have hung on for a 24-17 win over Moana Pasifika in Lautoka. It was a pair of returning stars for Mick Byrne’s side that proved the difference and Taniela Rakuro and Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula secured their place in the top eight. Rakuro opened the scoring in the first 90 seconds of the game after backing up a break from...

Beijing has been dangling lures in a bid to convince Palau to sever ties with Taiwan and switch to China, President Surangel Whipps Jr said. “That's a constant,” the Palau president said. “The messaging that comes to us is very clear: ‘We have the largest economy or soon to be the largest economy in the world. The sky is the...

Neither advocates nor opponents of a security pact with Beijing won a majority in the Solomon Islands' parliamentary elections, results announced Wednesday for the last of the legislature's 50 seats show. With Australia, the U.S and China looking on, last week's election was the first since incumbent Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019...

Top UN officials launched a fresh global campaign to tackle the climate emergency on Tuesday, with social media influencers, Indigenous leaders and corporate giants showing what they’ve done and what’s to come. The Climate Promise 2025 aims to accelerate efforts from local to international levels to take more ambitious steps to ensure the global temperature does not heat up beyond...