Pacific Aviation Safety Office to focus on Pacific regional cooperation and operational stability
Fostering Pacific regional cooperation and organisational operational stability are the focus for the Pacific Aviation Safety Office (PASO) over the next twelve months to enable continued delivery of aviation safety and security Member services agreed the PASO Council of Directors at their Annual General Meeting.
The PASO Annual General Meeting on Thursday, 11 March 2021 was attended virtually by representatives...
The EU and the Pacific: global tax governance
Written by Sujiro Seam
The European Union (EU) “tax list” is the primary instrument of a more ambitious agenda to promote the principles of tax good governance around the world, to curb tax fraud, tax evasion, tax avoidance and to ensure a level playing field for all taxpayers.
In this respect, the EU’s first focus has been to put its own...
Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne found guilty of sexual assault
NRL superstar Jarryd Hayne has been told by a judge a jail sentence is “inevitable” after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman at her Newcastle home two-and-a-half years ago.
After three days of deliberating a jury on Monday afternoon found Hayne, 33, guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent.
He was found not guilty of the...
Fiji explores quarantine free regional travel
-Fiji is meeting with regional countries to explore potential quarantine-free travel.
Minister for Tourism Faiyaz Koya said hey have had some discussion with New Caledonia and Tuvalu on this possibility.
“We have had an introductory meeting with New Caledonia and Tuvalu’s health officials to try and explore some quarantine-free travel and of course there are a number of variables to consider...
New forest portal to shine a light on PNG’s logging industry
For more than twenty-five years, deep in the remote and inaccessible tropical forests of Papua New Guinea, a huge industrial complex has been operating; foreign owned companies have been bulldozing tracks, felling huge trees, cutting logs and dragging them to the coast to be loaded onto ships and sent overseas.
According to official records, since 1993, at least 78 million...
ANZ extends fee waiver for money transfers to Pacific
ANZ will extend its fee waiver until September 2021 for online foreign currency payments made from Australia and New Zealand into 10 Pacific countries.
Latest figures show the value and volume of transfers made by ANZ customers to the Pacific has increased substantially on the same period last year.
In February 2021 ANZ Australia and New Zealand customers sent a combined...
Fiji Parliament urged to ratify PIF 2005 Establishing Agreement
The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence in Fiji has recommended to Parliament to ratify the 2005 Agreement establishing the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
“Fiji is the only country that has yet to ratify the 2005 Agreement and since it will be hosting and chairing the PIF Leaders Summit in 2021, it would be timely for Fiji to ratify...
PNG Health facilities need staff as COVID-19 cases continue to rise
Health facilities in the capital city of Papua New Guinea are facing manpower crises as a direct consequence of the exponential increase in the Covid-19 cases.
National Capital District (NCD) health authority acting chief executive officer Ken Wai said the Gerehu Hospital, which was the only major hospital apart from the Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH), was closed because many...
Bougainville Speaker infected with Covid-19
The Speaker of the Bougainville parliament, Simon Pentanu, has confirmed that he has Covid-19.
Pentanu said he was now into day 5 of 14 days in isolation.
His infection comes as part of a surge in Papua New Guinea of Covid-19 infections, where there were now over 3,000 cases and at least 36 deaths.
In the autonomous region of Bougainville, the number...
Vanuatu’s religious call for climate justice
Around the world, people of faith are calling on their leaders to close the massive gap between what is required to limit global temperature rise and actual climate change commitments by governments and financial institutions.
Most religions hold core to their beliefs the sacredness of the earth and God’s creation, and so they are calling for world leaders to address...