PINA

A former president of the Pacific nation of Kiribati has blasted the influence of the fossil fuel lobby in Australia and the “politicisation” of climate policy, issuing a plea for leaders to adopt a “more moral” stance to cut emissions. In a forthright speech five days before the Australian election, Anote Tong called for a proper understanding of what the...

A former Australian envoy to the Solomons Islands has accused Australia’s government of losing the trust of South Pacific island countries and of ushering in greater Chinese influence. Retired career diplomat Trevor Sofield told a security summit on Monday he found it” inconceivable” that the Solomons government did not trust Australia enough to consult when a bilateral security pact with...

Samoa’s first woman to be appointed the Minister of Finance, Mulipola Anarosa Ale-Molioo says the set ten percent quota for women representatives in parliament is discriminatory against women and more so against aspiring women politicians. Mulipola stated that instituting the current 10 percent quota for women members in parliament is discriminatory especially against those women who battled and won their...

The former president of New Caledonia Philippe Gomes has been fined US$17,000 for exerting undue influence in a ruling released by the criminal court in Noumea. The case relates to Gomes being the board chair of an energy company while serving in both the French National Assembly and New Caledonia's Congress. The combination of these roles was deemed unlawful by France's...

The European Union (EU) and the Pacific Community (SPC) today launched a FJD$1.6 million project, Supporting the Pacific Close the Digital Divides in Response to COVID-19 (SPC DDR-COVID-19). This project forms part of a bigger programme, Digital Response Connecting Citizens (DIRECCT), which is funded by the EU in collaboration with the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and...

Two Samoa players will debut in the upcoming legs of the HSBC Sevens in Toulouse and London at the end of this month. The players are Ati Junior Ati and Neueli Molesi Leitufia both of the Laulii Club. Twenty year old Ati was one of two players called by the Head Coach, Muliagatele Brian Lima to join the training squad...

One of the areas the Fijian Drua will work on is the breakdown. Going up against a team that’s very effective at the breakdown like Crusaders, Head Coach Mick Byrne believes if they’re not careful, the 10 time champions will take full advantage. Byrne said they know which players are supposed to be first at a breakdown and he’ll sit down...

Unity Fiji Party leader Savenaca Narube says a coup is a coup. Narube said Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum in Parliament last week tried to explain that the 2006 coup was different from the 1987 and 2000 coups. In a statement, he said there is no difference, coups illegally overthrow a democratically elected government. “What a load of bananas. The question is does...

By Sheenal Sharma A little over two years ago, countries were announcing border closures and lockdowns as COVID-19 cases started surging around the globe. In the Pacific, one of the most remote regions in the world, there was just one country that had recorded community transmission: Fiji, and even then, there were very few cases. While the rest of the world...

“My son, my son, who is going to take care of me now, where will I get help, who is going to take care of me,” wails Cathy Basil, mother of Bulolo MP and Deputy Prime Minister Sam Basil as his casket was taken into the Jackson’s airport in Port Moresby last night from Lae. A few metres away, Basil’s...