New NZ fund to help Pacific nations recover from covid-19
The New Zealand government is setting up a new investment fund to help Pacific nations recover from covid-19.
InvestPacific is the first partly private investment fund established that exclusively targets the Pacific.
New Zealand is putting NZ$17 million(US$11.4 million) into the Invest Pacific fund and is expecting the fund to attract another NZ$40 million(US$26.9 million) via private investment.
The Foreign Affairs Minister...
New Zealand Government eyes ‘Pacific preference’ in immigration to boost region
By Sam Sachdeva
The Government has marked the first anniversary of a polarising Pacific trade deal with talk of expanding a seasonal worker scheme into a more sweeping ‘preference’ in our immigration settings
For those in need of a reminder about the precarious state of the Pacific’s Covid-hit economies, on Monday came the news of a $100 million(US$67 million)-plus financial injection...
Two People’s reps nominated for Tonga PM
Two People's representatives Siaosi Sovaleni and Dr 'Aisake Eke have been nominated for Tonga's Prime Minister designate.
Their names will be announced during a meeting today, when elected representatives to the Tonga Legislative Assembly will choose one of them as the new leader.
At the close of nominations at 4.30pm Tuesday, two nominations had been received at the Office of the...
France’s New Caledonia policy labelled a ‘catastrophe’
A leftwing candidate in the French presidential race Jean-Luc Melenchon says the outcome of New Caledonia's independence referendum is a catastrophe.
He held a news conference after several leading French politicians welcomed Sunday's overwhelming rejection of independence, with just 3.5 percent voting for it.
Melenchon said the government destroyed the consensus process of the 1998 Noumea Accord by imposing a referendum...
Rainbo Paita steps aside as PNG National Planning Minister
Papua New Guinea National Planning and Monitoring Minister and Finchafen MP Rainbo Paita, has announced that he is stepping aside from his Ministerial portfolio indefinitely, as of Tuesday.
Paita in a statement said that he is stepping aside to allow for an investigation to be carried out, after a video he was featured in and firing a shot from a...
Solomon police arrest opposition party figure
Police in the restive Solomon Islands said Tuesday they had arrested a leading member of the opposition in connection with deadly riots that rocked the country last month.
United Party president John Kwaita was reportedly arrested by armed police at his home late Monday on unspecified charges.
“We can confirm that a prominent Solomon Islander has been arrested yesterday evening in...
Blinken vows more U.S military might in Indo-Pacific
The United States will expand its military and economic relationships with partners in Asia to push back against China’s increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.
Blinken said the Biden administration is committed to maintaining peace and prosperity in the region and will do that by boosting U.S alliances, forging new relationships and ensuring...
Fiji and Australia expand cooperation post-pandemic
Fiji's Attorney-General and Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum Tuesday signed an additional $85 million (FJD$ 129.5 million) Funding Arrangement with the Australian Government under the Fiji Sustainable and Resilient Budget Support Programme.
The programme is co-financed with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with the overall goal to support the Fijian Government in achieving an agreed set of economic and fiscal...
Fiji can become billion dollar industry again, says tourism chief
Tourism Fiji says if the booking numbers continue to come through, then the Pacific island nation is well on its way to becoming a billion-dollar industry again.
Tourism Fiji has confirmed 75,000 bookings for hotels and resorts until the end of next month.
Hill said there had been a 'massive increase' in hits on the Tourism Fiji website since the Pacific...
Who will pay for the damage caused by climate change?
By Isabelle Gerretsen
Talking about who is responsible for climate change is a fraught debate – even more so when it comes to who ought to pay for the damage it causes.
In September 2017, John Mussington was forced to evacuate his home and leave behind his animals when the small Caribbean island of Barbuda was hit by category 5 Hurricane...