PINA

Could the decision to award the 2026 Commonwealth Games to the Australian state of Victoria have opened up a future pathway for the Pacific to host the multi-sports event? If a group of Victorian cities can come together to stage the games, then why not a group of Pacific island countries? The Pacific has flirted with the idea in the past,...

The Fijiana Drua have claimed the Super W title in a thrilling 32-26 victory over the NSW Waratahs at AAMI Park. The game went down to the wire as the Waratahs staged a comeback, with NZ import Natalie Delamare crossing for a hat-trick. However, the Drua refused to give up and backed by a strong Fijian crowd, hit the front with...

Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton has suggested the Solomon Islands government signed a security pact with China after being bribed. As the fallout from the national security scare continued to ricochet through the election campaign, Dutton also indicated that Australia’s much-criticised low-level diplomatic response to try to stop the pact being signed was based on advice by the national security...

Former Solomon Islands prime minister Gordon Darcy Lilo says the country needs an economic solution to its instability problems, not a security solution. Lilo said he could not understand how current Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare could justify signing a security cooperation agreement with China to quell public discontent in his government's handling of national affairs. Earlier this week Honiara and Beijing...

Japan will send a vice foreign minister to the Solomon Islands possibly later this month due to concerns that a security pact between the southwest Pacific nation and China will increase Beijing's military influence in the region, government sources said Thursday. The visit by Shingo Miyake, a parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs, comes as China and the Solomon Islands...

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) announced two senior appointments to the Directors for its Environmental Monitoring and Governance (EMG) Programme and the Waste Management and Pollution Control (WMPC) Programme. Jope Davetanivalu is appointed the Director of the EMG while Faumuina Anthony Talouli is the Director of WMPC. The appointments followed a rigorous, competitive, and merit-based selection...

Maritime transport infrastructure in Tuvalu's outer islands will get a major upgrade over the coming years, with the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approving an AUD$62.6 million (US$46.5 million) grant to support Tuvalu's efforts to upgrade and increase the resilience of its maritime infrastructure. Set to be the largest-ever World Bank project in Tuvalu, the Maritime Investment in Climate...

Samoa Supreme Court has reserved its decision on applications to declare void the appointments of Aliimalemanu Alofa Tuuau and Faagasealii Sapoa Feagiai as the additional women parliamentarians following last Aprils general elections. The applicants were the Faatuatua I le Atua Samoa ua Tasi – FAST party, and election candidates To’omata Nora Leota and Lolomatauama Eseta Faalata. The respondents Aliimalemanu and Faagasealii...

By Samisoni Pareti Dialogue is key to ensuring the durability and sustainability of marine conservation parks, was the consensus of a panel of experts at the second day of the Fiji Seascape Symposium. Providing space for civic actors to meet and talk with their partners in government has worked in the past, said Alifereti Tawake, head of the Pacific’s Locally...

Australia knew about a secret draft security pact between China and Solomon Islands weeks before it mysteriously surfaced on the internet, with several government sources claiming the nation’s intelligence agencies played a role in orchestrating the leak. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne are under increasing pressure to reveal what they knew about the proposed agreement before...