PINA

New Zealand Prime Minister has told Australian media there is “power in the collective” when dealing with China in the Pacific, calling on all local leaders to be involved in discussing the region's security. Jacinda Ardern is in Sydney for a meeting with new Australian leader Anthony Albanese. The pair are expected to discuss the 501 deportation issue, climate change,...

Tonga's former prime minister, Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa, has lost a second electoral petition for bribing voters ahead of last year's election. He, along with three current cabinet ministers, already has a stay on earlier election petition losses. RNZ Pacific's correspondent in Tonga, Kalafai Moala, said, as with the first petition, this one involved the provision of water tanks to voters, but was...

In the last eight weeks, the Pacific has been a hive of superpower activity. China's recent play for influence and power in the region has resulted in the United States upping its engagement. Mark Lambert, deputy assistant secretary at the U.S State Department, said his nation was trying the Pacific way of sitting down to talk, and doing it in a...

Despite escalating tensions in the Pacific, China's Ambassador to New Zealand says its relationship with New Zealand is going well. Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaolong told Newshub both countries prided themselves on having independent foreign policies. “We support New Zealand continuing doing that and we have an independent foreign policy as well so that's what we'll continue to do. “But I think we...

This week, to coincide with the World Ocean Day (WOD) on 08 June,  Pacific’s experts and stakeholders on the Oceans met in Suva to plan coordinated action at the United Nations Oceans Conference starting in Lisbon on 28 June. Speaking at the event, Fiji’s Fisheries Minister Semi Koroilavesau said that the enormous scale of the challenges facing the oceans today...

Op – Ed by Caleb Jarvis, Australia’s Trade and Investment Commissioner Across the world, we are experiencing an overwhelm of global crises. The continuing implications of the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, international conflicts, heightened climate recovery efforts, and interrelated social and economic tensions, are all placing cascading pressure on the world economy, world leaders, and our international community. Many developing countries,...

It is fitting that Lailanie Burnes will accompany Fiji to Rugby World Cup 2021, playing in 2022, as the Pacific Island nation makes its tournament debut. Burnes founded Fiji’s first women’s rugby club, Nadi Blazers in 2012, went on to captain the country and was part of the team that secured qualification to RWC 2021. The prop has since hung up...

Preparations for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022, the Commonwealth Games 2022 and Rugby World Cup 2021 will intensify in Oceania over the next six weeks. Oceania Rugby revealed details of two tournaments on Tuesday, both to be held in the Auckland region of New Zealand, that will help competing teams fine tune their plans for the global events. Navigation Homes Stadium...

Fiji National Rugby League has confirmed the Kaiviti Silktails is now not part of FNRL. Speaking during a press conference in Suva, FNRL Chair Viliame Naupoto cleared the air on this issue. Naupoto says the Memorandum of Understanding they signed with the Silktails states the FNRL also have a say in the Ron Massey Cup side. However, the FNRL is wondering why...

U. S Senior State Department officials were accused on Thursday of incompetence over China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific, with the United States and Australia blindsided by Beijing’s security pact with the Solomon Islands. Republicans grilled U.S Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu and his deputies during a Congressional hearing, saying the Biden administration’s response to China’s growing influence in the...