PINA

Fiji Cabinet has given the green light to assess the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the ten Sectoral Minimum Wage Regulations. This review will also entail suggestions for new job classifications within the existing WRs. According to a statement released by the government, local consultants have been appointed for the task with their findings to be presented to the Cabinet for...

Next week, voters will determine not only political leadership but the future of democratic processes. By Meg Keen, Oliver Nobetau With a week to go before voters take to the polls on 17 April, election campaigns in Solomon Islands are in full swing with 334 candidates vying for 50 seats (only 21 candidates are women, so they will be under-represented again)....

Fiji Warriors begin the defence of their World Rugby Pacific Challenge title on Wednesday when they take on Tonga A at Apia Park in Samoa, kick-off 12:30 local time. Fiji’s development team has monopolised the tournament, winning it 10 times including five of the last six with Junior Japan the only team to deny them in that time. Last year Fiji...

Managers and stakeholders from the disaster and emergency management sectors in 15 Pacific Island countries convened in Nadi, Fiji, to review progress, obstacles, and prospects in regional cooperation to enhance disaster preparedness and response. The Pacific Regional Disaster and Emergency Managers Meeting (PRDEMM), convened by the Pacific Community (SPC), includes participants from the directors of National Disaster Management Offices (NDMO),...

Vice-Admiral David Johnston will become the new chief of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). He will succeed the present chief General Angus Campbell in July, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced today. “Vice-Admiral Johnston is a proven leader with the experience, intellect and resolve to lead the ADF in a complex and rapidly changing global strategic environment,” Albanese said. “Vice-Admiral Johnston joined the...

A leaked document from Tonga's Foreign Affairs Ministry shows that officials in the Pacific Island country sharply criticised Australia and New Zealand's response to the security pact signed by China and Solomon Islands, while declaring that Pacific diplomacy from Western nations was “failing”. In 2022, the Morrison and Ardern governments tried to rally Pacific nations to press Solomon Islands not...

Papua New Guinea Government will soon offer visa-on-arrival for Philippine passport holders. Foreign Affairs Minister Justin Tkatchenko made this announcement at a joint press conference with Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo in Manila recently. Papua New Guineans traveling to Philippines currently access visa on arrival. Philippines have a large diaspora in PNG numbering nearly 30,000 Filipino workers, permanent residents and naturalised...

The opening of the Pacific Regional Vessel Boarding and Searching Training facility will boost and strengthen the Maritime surveillance and Protections of the Blue Pacific region. This was highlighted by the Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration, Pio Tikoduadua while delivering his address at the opening ceremony held at the Republic of Fiji Naval base on Monday. Minister Tikoduadua highlighted that...

The new Ambassador of Japan to Fiji Rokuichiro Michii says over four tons of methamphetamine seized in Nadi are enough to make every Fijian citizen intoxicated more than 4,000 times. Speaking at the RFNF Viti base in Togalevu outside of Suva, Ambassador Michii said evidence suggests that 0.001 to 0.005 grams of meth is enough to make a person intoxicated. He...

An Australian project which “all but eliminated dengue fever” in Far North Queensland has been successfully extended to Fiji, Kiribati and Vanuatu. The programme uses a naturally occurring bacteria called Wolbachia that modifies the ability of mosquitoes to carry the dengue virus. If the mosquitoes can’t carry the dengue virus, then they can’t transmit it between susceptible humans. Wolbachia-carrying mosquitoes were...