PINA

Bougainville's political aspirations on independence must never be compromised, says ABG president Ishmael Toroama. He said this while speaking at the launching of the Bougainville Constitutional Planning Commission Awareness and Consultations in North, Central and South Bougainville. Toroama said if Bougainvilleans wish to fulfill the choice by 97.7 percent of the people who opted for independence from Papua New Guinea in...

There are over 1200 potentially polluting shipwrecks (PPW) in the Pacific Ocean, many from World War II. Chuuk Lagoon in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) contains the largest concentration of potentially polluting wrecks in the Pacific Ocean, 19 of which have been identified as posing significant environmental risks due to the volumes of toxic fuel oil and unexploded ordnance...

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu has warned Australia must pay more attention to China’s increasing presence in the Indo-Pacific, describing Beijing's new security pact with Solomon Islands as a threat to peace and stability in the region. In an exclusive interview with SBS News, Wu said his self-governed island was on the frontline of China’s expanding “authoritarianism”, but this threat...

The impacts of climate change drive people from their homes, what happens to their relationship with their home country? A new report, co-authored by Scientia Professor Jane McAdam AO, Director of UNSW’s Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, recommends steps to safeguard nationality rights and to future-proof the legal connection between Pacific Islanders and their homes. The Future of Nationality in...

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...