PINA

Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Foreign Ministers will meet in their annual convening today in Suva, Fiji to consider key regional issues that will be discussed by Forum Leaders when they meet in Tonga at the end of the month. Regional peace and security, progress on the 2050 Strategy, the Review of the Regional Architecture and considerations on the Forum's partnership...

France will reveal today whether it will allow Pacific leaders to visit New Caledonia ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga later this month. The decision from French President Emmanuel Macron will be delivered by French Ambassador to New Caledonia Véronique Roger-Lacan during the Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting in Suva. Roger-Lacan teased the announcement on social media, stating she’s on...

Pacific governments say an official UN report shows their push for a levy on all shipping emissions – with the revenues redistributed to poorer nations – is fairer, cheaper and more effective than other green options under consideration. The report, overseen by a steering committee of 32 governments and published by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), found that a levy...

Paul Coffa fondly remembers a conversation at the Los Angeles Olympics, when he was casually asked what Dean Lukin would do the next day. “Win gold,” was the long-time Australian coach's blunt reply. Forty years after Lukin won Australia's only weightlifing gold medal at the Games, Coffa has the same enthusiasm about Eileen Cikamatana. The 24-year-old will make her Olympic debut from...

With the community of nations deadlocked in international negotiations to conclude a global instrument to end plastic pollution by the end of 2024, a first-of-its-kind Plastic Dialogue was convened in Funafuti, Tuvalu, midway through the Fourth Clean Pacific Roundtable. The Plastic Dialogue was organised by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) through the Pacific Ocean Litter Project...

Pacific voices are uniting to demand a stronger Global Plastic Treaty to address the escalating plastic pollution crisis, emphasising the need for binding international regulations. Alfred Ralifo, Senior Policy and Government Affairs Manager at World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Pacific made a powerful case for the treaty’s necessity. “The growing plastic pollution crisis demands policy measures that go beyond the...

France is “checking” whether a high-level mission to New Caledonia will be possible prior to or after the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' Summit in Tonga at the end of the month. Forum leaders have written to French President Emmanuel Macron requesting to send a Forum Ministerial Committee to Nouméa to gather information from all sides involved in the ongoing crisis. The...

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong will travel today to Fiji to attend the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Foreign Ministers Meeting. “This is my fifth visit to Fiji as Foreign Minister, demonstrating the importance the Australian Government places on our deep and enduring relationship with Fiji and the broader Pacific family. “Attending the PIF Foreign Ministers Meeting is an opportunity to exchange...

Palau Presidential candidate Tommy Esang Remengesau, Jr has officially declared his candidacy at the Palau Election Commission. With support from families and friends, the grassroots candidate filed his candidacy after over 5,000 petition signatures urged him to run. In response to personal claims that his candidacy is unconstitutional, he reiterated, “We have always adhered to the rules and the constitution, and...

Australia’s nearest neighbour could be about to sell its power grid to China in a move that would hand Beijing unprecedented influence in the South Pacific and a presence right on our doorstep. Management from Papua New Guinea’s state-owned electricity provider PNG Power Limited have travelled to China and are open to investment. Speaking exclusively to 7NEWS, PNG Power director Marlen...