PINA

Australia will lose respect among its Pacific neighbours in the “inconceivable” scenario that the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum fails, according to a Vanuatu MP. “Respect for Australia in the Pacific will be elevated by a positive Yes vote,” former Vanuatu Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu wrote on X. “It is almost inconceivable to us that this may not happen, but that...

Fiji is leading the fight to ensure that the World Trade Organisation’s Fisheries Subsidies Agreement is successfully implemented. This agreement is the first WTO agreement to focus on sustainability and the environment by prohibiting harmful fisheries subsidies and was adopted during the Ministerial Conference in June 2022. Under this agreement, members agree to consider the legality and sustainability of the fishing...

Can Australia rebuild a strategic military partnership with France at the same time as independence movements claim Pacific support? By Nic Maclellan On 28 September, the Assembly of French Polynesia unanimously passed a resolution endorsing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), the nuclear ban treaty that entered into force in 2021. Even though France refuses to sign the...

Governments also must strengthen the agreement to better guard against overfishing and other ills By Megan Jungwiwattanaporn An agreement secured last year that could help end overfishing around the world is awaiting completion within the World Trade Organisation, and WTO members should act quickly to ratify and improve that deal. The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, which the WTO adopted in June...

Climate action has been recognised as the most significant opportunity in the 21st century to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which guide the global, regional and national development efforts of governments worldwide. By Dr Deepa Pullanikkatil, Commonwealth National Climate Finance Adviser for Fiji and Keshav Dash, Commonwealth National Climate Finance Adviser for Tuvalu. The SDGs, outlined in the 2030 Agenda...

Samoa wing Ben Lam will miss their final Rugby World Cup pool game against England after receiving a three-game ban on Monday for his red card against Japan. Lam shoulder-tackled the head of Pieter Labuschagne last Thursday in Toulouse. His yellow card for the dangerous tackle was upgraded to red by the bunker. Samoa played the last 33 minutes a...

Portugal coach Patrice Lagisquet said his team continued to surprise him with the standard of their play but he feared that Fijian physicality might be too much for them in their final World Cup match next weekend. Portugal gave Wales and Australia scares in their Pool C matches with what Lagisquet calls their “Total Rugby” style and came within a...

Fiji have insisted they will block out the “outside noise” surrounding the prospect of a World Cup quarter-final showdown against England, with the scrum-half Frank Lomani adamant the Pacific Islanders’ historic win at Twickenham last month would count for nothing. Fiji stumbled to the cusp of what would be only a third appearance in the last eight with a jittery...

Marcus Smith will be a marked man if he lines up at full-back again against Samoa next week with the Pacific islanders wary of the threat posed by England’s attacking livewire. Samoa go into Saturday’s match without any realistic hopes of reaching the knockout stages but can seal third spot in the pool to guarantee qualification for the 2027 World...

Japan will begin releasing a second batch of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant from this week, its operator has said, an exercise that angered China and others when it began in August. On 24 August, Japan began discharging into the Pacific some of the 1.34m tonnes of wastewater that has collected since a tsunami crippled the facility in...