PINA

The Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police network says one of the biggest challenges countries in the region face with drugs washing up on their shores is geography and that Covid-19 could be making recruitment easier for drug traffickers. In July, an estimated 14kgs of cocaine washed up on beaches in Vava'u. Tongan police seized the haul and an ongoing investigation has...

Telstra chief executive Andy Penn has visited Papua New Guinea to discuss with the country’s political leaders the company’s planned purchase of telco Digicel Pacific. Penn’s three-day visit to PNG last month suggests Telstra has stepped up its due diligence to potentially partner with the Australian government to acquire Digicel and support the government’s goal of preventing the Pacific telco...

Federated States of Micronesia is seeking to expand its foreign engagement beyond the United States, and it is in Australia’s interests to answer the call, Gonzaga Puas writes. Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is situated in a strategically significant area in an increasingly contested oceanic space. The United States has a major presence in FSM and throughout the western...

Federated States of Micronesia(FSM) President David Panuelo says Micronesian leaders remain committed to leaving Pacific Island Forum (PIF) despite attempts to reconcile with other Pacific leaders. “The commitment is the same.: Leaders from Nauru, Palau, Kiribati, Marshal Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia met virtually last week for their annual summit. The Micronesian countries make up a third of the Forum's...

The recognised seasonal employment one-way quarantine-free travel bubble between New Zealand and three Pacific nations has been put on hold as Delta cases continue to emerge in the Covid-19 outbreak. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced in August that Cabinet had agreed in principle for seasonal workers from Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu to travel to New Zealand without undergoing a two-week...

Peter Stewart has been appointed CEO of the 2023 Pacific Games Organising Committee, with just over 800 days until the opening ceremony in Honiara. The Australian-based administrator was CEO of the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby and has held several other positions in Papua New Guinea and at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. He replaces Shalom Akao...

Eight Pacific island nations of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) have adopted a regional communique with a set of 16 recommendations to address the regions' most urgent climate change policy priorities at the conclusion of the CVF Pacific regional dialogue, held virtually from 01-3 September. The dialogue was the third in a series of regional to global conversations that aims...

The Human Rights Protection Party leader and former Samoa Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has written to the Speaker asking that they wish to be sworn in by the Head of State when parliament convenes on 14 September. Tuilaepa also suggested that such swearing in should be part of the official opening of the 17th Parliament of Samoa by the...

Four commercially-fished tuna species are on the path to recovery thanks to the enforcement of regional fishing quotas over the last decade, according to Saturday's update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species released at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille. However, the recovery comes in the midst of growing pressures on marine species, with 37 percent of...

An ambitious proposal for a new sports diplomacy mission dubbed ‘Team AusPac’ was tabled in the Australian Federal Parliament last Wednesday, aimed at deepening ties between Australia and Pacific island countries. Chair of the Australian Parliament’s Trade Sub-Committee, MP Ted O’Brien, announced the proposal which forms part of a Parliamentary Inquiry report entitled ‘One Region, One Family, One Future’. “Australia and...