PINA

About 60,000 Tongan voters are able to vote in a new government today. They will be electing 17 People's Representatives for the 26-member legislature. The 33 noble families will elect their nine representatives from within their own ranks. There are 72 candidates standing, including 12 women. RNZ Pacific's correspondent in Tonga, Kalafi Moala, said a high voter turnout is expected. “There has been leading...

Survey of more than 6,000 people by Transparency International is the most comprehensive look at corruption in the Pacific region to date One in three people across the Pacific Islands region have paid a bribe when using a public service in the last year, while a quarter of people have been offered a bribe for their vote in the last...

By Iliesa Tora Tongan Supervisor of Elections Pita Viki has two simple message for all 62,253 eligible voters who are going to vote around Tonga from 9am on Thursday, November 18 – go to vote and make it count. Vuki, who has been the man in the middle of voting in Tonga over the last three general elections and local town...

The Fijian Drua, Super Rugby’s newest franchise, today welcomed aboard the Australian Government’s PacificAus Sports programme as a sponsor of the Club. The three-year sponsorship deal is a continuation of new sports partnerships between Australia and Fiji exemplifying the heart and spirit of vuvale between the two countries. Senator Zed Seselja, Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific, was in...

The Fijian Drua embark on their historic Super Rugby journey with an away match in Auckland against the Blues on 19 February 2022. The Super Rugby Pacific draw, which sees the inclusion of the Drua and fellow competition newcomers Moana Pasifika, was announced today by joint venture partners New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and Rugby Australia (RA). The 2022 fixtures see 14...

The Fijian Drua could yet play on home soil in the inaugural campaign in Super Rugby Pacific. The team was slated to play all their home games in Australia because of Covid-19 travel restrictions, while they bulk of the squad has already assembled at their base in Lennox Head in New South Wales for pre-season. The Drua will make their Super...

With just 10 days to go until the hotly anticipated kick off of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2022, the pools and match schedule have been announced for the Emirates Dubai 7s on 26-27 November. The 12 team men’s competition will follow the Olympic format with three pools of four teams each, while the 10 team women’s event sees...

A report released today by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is the first step towards assessing the risk of extinction of sea turtles in the region and developing appropriate management plans for their effective conservation. The Review of the status of sea turtles in the Pacific Ocean 2021 brings together the most recent and relevant literature...

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) address delivered by the foreign minister of Tuvalu, Simon Kofe, went viral. But his creative thinking doesn’t stop there. The foreign minister of Tuvalu, an atoll nation of 11,000 whose highest point is just over four metres above sea level, is seeing the impacts of climate change in real-time. For Simon Kofe, the...