PINA

The top United States military chief for the Pacific region has visited New Zealand against a backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions with China increasingly asserting its might. Aquilino arrived in Wellington on Saturday after visiting Australia with a much larger contingent, including top general Mark Milley who there warned China was “noticeably and statistically more aggressive” and seeking to “bully...

Cook Islanders go to the polls on 01 August to choose a new 24 member parliament. Voters will have four parties, and a movement calling for a collegial approach to government, to choose from. Cook Islands politics has been dominated for years by the Cook Islands Party led by the current Prime Minister Mark Brown - a man who is very...

Samoa reopen to international tourists again on Monday, 865 days after closing borders due to COVID-19. For Western Australian Tuitaga Nathan Bucknall, the manager of the Taumeasina Island Resort near Apia, it's day that's been a long time coming. “We were the first to close and the last to open,” he told AAP. “But it's here. And we're ready. It's time.” It seems...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved US$13 million to expand lending for businesses in five Pacific countries. The five-year support will help government-owned banks in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu to increase the number and volume of loans to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). It will also support business development services to help MSMEs become more...

Any extension beyond the fifth anniversary of the date fixed for the return of the writs for the previous general election would be in violation of section 105 of the Papua New Guinea Constitution. A four-man Supreme Court in 2017 (SC1814) recognised this limitation to a certain extent, in that they all unanimously in answering question seven which reads “Whether...

Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet has ordered Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) to do self-censorship on its news and programmes. This means SIBC is not allowed to broadcast any news and paid programmes that are against the government. Acting Chairman of SIBC Board, Dr William Parairato met with staff of SIBC last Thursday and informed them that any news or...

By Jo Chandler When she first tried for a seat in the Papua New Guinea parliament in 2017, Rufina Peter was a political novice who’d had a gutful. While many candidates solicit votes with lavish feasts and hollow promises, her shoestring campaign – handing out copies of her CV – struck a chord. She won the highest vote of any...

The former two-time coup leader hoping to return as Fiji’s prime minister has ruled out a security pact with China if he wins government, saying it was time his country returned to its “comfortable niche” with Australia. Sitiveni Rabuka has also flagged he will be asking Canberra for greater freedoms for Fijians working in Australia. Rabuka made the comments in a...

A Chinese state-owned company is negotiating to buy a deep-water port and World War II airstrip in Solomon Islands, as new documents detail how money from Beijing has helped keep the Pacific nation's controversial leader in power. As a battle for influence plays out in the region, an investigation by Four Corners has found China is aggressively pursuing economic opportunities...

A bipartisan group of senators will introduce legislation to establish three new embassies in the Pacific Islands region to strengthen America’s relationships there and counter China’s growing influence. The “Pacific Islands Embassy Act,” co-led by Senatorss. JON OSSOFF (D-Ga.) and TODD YOUNG (R-Ind.), would establish new U.S missions in Vanuatu, Kiribati and Tonga. As of today, America has a Fiji-based...