PINA

The Australian Government and Football Australia are partnering to support the development of elite football throughout the Pacific in a renewed partnership. Delivered through PacificAus Sports, the four-year investment will facilitate regular international fixtures between Australian and Pacific national teams, in addition to capacity-building initiatives aimed at supporting the development of players, match officials and administrators from throughout the region. Set...

Australia and New Zealand are doubling down on their commitment to a united Pacific. Following a meeting in Canberra, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon emphasised that the success of their nations is tied to the region's strength. “The Pacific is strongest when it works together,” the leaders said, pledging to support the Pacific Islands...

Australian and New Zealand Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese and Christopher Luxon acknowledged Australia’s and New Zealand’s future success is inextricably tied to that of the region, and the Pacific is strongest when it works together. Australia and New Zealand share a vision for a peaceful, prosperous and resilient Pacific, with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) at the heart of Pacific...

There is increasing pressure on regional institutions such as the Pacific Islands Forum to deliver for the communities they're representing, a foreign policy expert says. Mihai Sora's comments come ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Tonga in just over a week. Sora, director of the Pacific programme at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, said with the region facing...

By Lord Fakafanua, Speaker of the Parliament of Tonga, Munkhtuya Altangerel, Resident Representative, UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji The vast Pacific Ocean binds our island nations, shaping our identity and sustaining countless communities. But the challenges we face, from climate change to economic disparity, and the continual erosion of faith and trust in our democratic institutions, transcend borders. If we cast...

Kiribati's pro-China president retained his parliamentary seat in a landslide, according to the first results on Thursday of an election that hinged on worries about the cost of living, rising sea levels and closer ties with Beijing. Results posted by the Pacific nation's Ministry of Culture and Internal Affairs showed Taneti Maamau won his Onotoa seat with almost 83 percent...

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, has been invited to attend the 53rd Pacific Island Leaders Meeting, scheduled from 26-30 August, 2024. The invitation reportedly comes from the Tongan government, acknowledging Musk’s previous assistance to the island nation following the Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai eruption and tsunami in February 2022. In the aftermath of the disaster, Musk’s SpaceX and Starlink...

Christopher Luxon says he wants New Zealand to be a “force multiplier” for Australia, which could include partnering through AUKUS pillar two. The New Zealand prime minister gave a foreign policy address at the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Thursday night as part of a two-day visit to Australia. The two countries are already formal defence allies, with a closeness comparable...

The outgoing commander of the French Pacific fleet, Commodore Geoffroy d'Andigné, is warning of rising tensions in the Pacific Ocean and of the need to prepare. Looking back on his past two years at the helm of the French Pacific fleet from his Pape'ete headquarters, departing Commodore d'Andigné said he has been busy reinforcing the protection of French Polynesia's huge...

By Dr Naihuwo Ahai PhD, Governance and Development Specialist, Buka It is now 35 years since the Bougainville crisis erupted and 23 years after it officially ended through the signing of the Bougainville Peace Agreement in August 2001. Children in Primary school in 1989 are now in their late 40s or early 50s babysitting grandchildren. While most physical evidence of...