PINA

The University of the South Pacific Pacific-European Union Marine Partnership (PEUMP) Programme signed an agreement today to partner with the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) to deliver a community-based financial literacy programme. The aim is to improve the livelihoods and sustainability of coastal communities in the Pacific-ACP (P-ACP) region. This represents PEUMP’s first private sector partnership and...

The ocean holds the keys to an equitable and sustainable development path for all. This is the premise behind the UN Ocean Decade and it will be in the spotlight during several major international summits this year to promote ocean health, including the UN Ocean Conference, which is set to open soon in Lisbon, Portugal. As a part of this...

Three major parties have emerged as frontrunners to form the next Papua New Guinea government with their party leader’s eager to be next Prime Minister. These are current coalition leader PANGU, headed by incumbent Prime Minister James Marape, Opposition leader Belden Namah’s PNG Party and Peoples National Congress led by former prime minister Peter O’Neill. These leaders and the parties have...

By Nic Maclellan In an unprecedented electoral victory, the independence party Tavini Huira’atira has won all three seats allocated to French Polynesia in the French National Assembly. Voters across French Polynesia turned out on Saturday (Tahiti time) for the second round of elections to the French legislature. The poll saw a significant drop in support for French President Emmanuel Macron,...

Australia must move on from a “crisis mentality” as it seeks to reset its relationship with Pacific island countries, including by rejoining a key UN climate fund, a thinktank says. Australia must do more than simply position itself as a first responder to natural disasters if it is to become “an effective climate ally with the Pacific”, according to a...

Nauru is now battling its first Covid-19 outbreak in the community. 337 people have tested positive for Covid-19 so far on Nauru. Government information office director Joanna Olsson said there have only been 13 other cases detected at the border so far. They were detected in hotel quarantine from incoming travellers on 31 March, but test results came on 01 April. They...

Papua New Guinea Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai says 12 million ballot papers will be distributed in the provinces before polling begins on 04 July. “The distribution of ballot papers will be supervised by the police and the defence force, working with the Australian Defence Force (ADF),” he said. “So we will have teams from each (force) accompanying the papers for safety...

Tongan, Samoan and ni-Vanuatu horticulture workers have been redeployed or flown home, to the disappointment of the country's biggest fishing companies who had asked for help filling hundreds of jobs in their processing plants. Between 200 and 500 workers still had time left on their Recognised Seasonal Employer visas, at the end of fruit-picking season in Nelson and Marlborough. Sealord...

Australia needs to walk the walk on emissions, migration targets and resettlements to make itself a good neighbour. By Peter Hooton The consolidation of Australia’s identity as an Asia-Pacific nation is a work in progress. It is as a consistently attentive and engaged Asia-Pacific nation – rather than as a U.S ally or a European outpost – that Australia will...

The CNMI is number three in the medal count thanks to the outstanding performance of Ray Santos who won three gold medals in the ongoing 2022 Pacific Mini Games, and another in the Oceania Weightlifting Championships on Monday. Santos was nearly unmatched in the 55kg weight class. He set the tone early by starting with 88kg in the snatch portion which...