Kaniva News correspondent Patimiosi Ngūngūtau took this photo of an emotional farewell for a grieving Tongan family at the Tanoa hotel in Nukua’alofa this week.
The family requested that they stop outside the quarantine facility so that her daughter, who was in managed isolation after recently arriving from New Zealand could pay her respects to her mother, Ngūngūtau said.
The daughter can be seen grieving in a quarantine room as family console her from a distance on Tuesday.
Investigators in French Polynesia have reassessed their case against the pro-independence leader Oscar Manutahi Temaru, who has challenged the seizure of his US$100,000 savings.
The money was taken at the behest of the French prosecutor as part of a probe into the community radio station funding of Temaru’s defence in a trial in 2019.
The highest court in France rejected the move and ordered the investigators to again make the case for seizing the funds.
According to Tahiti-infos, a decision is due on March 8.
The probe into the defence funding was launched after the criminal court in Pape’ete had given Temaru a suspended prison sentence and a US$50,000 fine.
He was found to have benefitted from the funding arrangement for Radio Tefana, which the court said amounted to “undue influence”.
Temaru was implicated as the mayor of Faa’a whose administration paid for the community radio station, which in its turn was fined US$1 million.
Defence wanted case thrown out
The defence wanted the case to be thrown out, saying the prosecution failed to cite a single incident of propaganda on behalf of Temaru’s Tavini Huiraatira party.
At the time, Temaru said the real reason for his conviction was that in the eyes of France he had “committed treason” by taking French presidents to the International Criminal Court over the nuclear weapons tests.
Faa’a mayor and nuclear-free campaigner Oscar Manutahi Temaru during a zoom conference at Auckland University of Technology in 2020 … “The two issues are tied – nuclear testing and our freedom.” Image: PMC screenshot
In court, Temaru asked for the appeal case to be heard after the French presidential election, saying he feared there could be political interference in the judicial process.
He suggested as a date for the appeal court sitting June 29, 2022, which he said was the anniversary date of French Polynesia’s annexation by France, but the court rejected his suggestion and set March 22 as the start date for the week-long trial.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
South Seas Healthcare Trust chief executive Lemalu Silao Vaisola says people are tired of covid-19 rather than complacent after two years of the pandemic.
He said he had seen fatigue set in which could explain the low uptake of the booster shot in the Pacific community.
“People are just covid-fatigued where everything is all about self-isolation, traffic lights and the lockdowns.
“I think it is just fatigue, people are just tired. So I don’t know if it is complacency, but it’s been ongoing and two years is a long time to go through changes.”
Lemalu said the South Seas Healthcare team were preparing now for omicron to hit communities just like they had done in the past two years of covid-19.
He said the team intended to use the Manukau Insititute of Technology campus for a booster vaccination drive to get rates up.
“We’ve still got the MIT sites that’s during vaccinations and we’ve got a drive through vaccination for increasing the boosters and five to 11 [year olds] and on top of that we’ve been training our staff in terms of outreach into the homes.”
Front and centre
Lemalu said his organisation was front and centre fighting the delta strain and the experience stood them in good stead.
“We’ve got a good template to respond, but again every variant so far provides its own set of challenges,” he said.
“I’m happy that we’ve sort of almost had two years experience that will position us to hopefully be ready for this, but like I said before it’s different from what we are seeing overseas.
“We plan for the worst and hope for the best.”
He is encouraging Pacific families to get a booster shot.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
There is an overwhelming sense relief in Tonga with people thankful the death toll is low following the Hunga volcanic eruption and tsunami a week ago.
A journalist in Nuku’alofa, Pesi Fonua, has described the event as “apocalyptic”.
He is the father of RNZ Pacific reporter Finau Fonua, and finally managed to speak with his son by phone after a week of being cut off.
“It’s a lot of work, cleaning up and work like that to be done, apart from that I think people are pleased nothing really worse happened. They are just so thankful not many lives lost,” the elder Fonua said.
Pesi Fonua is the editor of Matangi Tonga Online, Tonga’s major news agency.
He said the country was slowly returning to a state of normality with businesses re-opening and landline communications re-established on the main island of Tongatapu.
Debris from the Hunga tsunami on a beach in Nuku’alofa, Tonga. Image: RNZ Pacific/Consulate of the Kingdom of Tonga
Pesi Fonua said that there was an overall sense of relief among the public in spite of the great damage caused.
The western district of Tongatapu suffered catastrophic damage with villages left in ruins.
“They’re having a hard time. Particularly in Kanokupolu but there’s a lot of help going out to them and they’re just so thankful that not many lives were lost,” Fonua said.
Meanwhile, the internet and phone connections remain intermittent and minimal.
Fonua put this down to a 2G service clogged by families overseas desperately trying to contact loved ones.
“They are hoping that ah, remember the cable is broken so it affects the cable so while we are waiting for that I think they are also working on trying to fix the connection between here, Ha’apai and Vava’u,” Pesi Fonua said.
Collection continues at Mt Smart The collection drive for donations to be shipped to Tonga continued yesterday at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland.
Water bottles have been the main donation item, as the kingdom face water shortages after the tsunami.
Ten-year-old Dempsey Taukeiaho helping with donations for the Tonga Tsunami relief effort. Image: Lydia Lewis/RNZ Pacific
Organiser and community leader Teleiai Edwin Puni said there was a greater turnout of Tongans.
“We are here and those who are wanting to donate water in particular, and non-perishible food – that will be the priority items to go to Tonga. At two pm today, we will be presenting all of it to Lord Fakafanua, speaker of Legislative of Tonga and committee,” he said.
The collection drive finished at 8pm today.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.
Tongan communities in New Zealand feel relieved to hear official information from the government of Tonga for the first time since Saturday’s eruption and resulting tsunami.
The Office of Tonga’s Prime Minister was able to send initial detail of search and rescue efforts and early reports of damage to the Australia High Commission in Tonga, which was then shared with the world.
Tongan-born New Zealand MP Jenny Salesa said the first information about what was happening on the ground in Tonga was a relief but also upsetting.
“It is really heartbreaking. Just reading the first official statement as well as seeing the graphic images. Tonga hasn’t yet fully recovered from some of the cyclones. On top of a pandemic, there is now this twin force of natural disaster,” Salesa said.
She had been in touch with many Tongans in Aotearoa since the latest news arrived.
“There is actually a sense of relief that there doesn’t seem to be many more deaths reported. We know as of now, three fatalities have been reported to date. We of course still don’t know the extent of the damages on the ground.
Communication hope soon
“There is some hope though that communication will be up and running pretty soon.”
Salesa said it would take years for the nation to recover.
Evacuation of people on the islands of Mango and Fonoifua to Nomuka — as well as people being evacuated from the west coast of Tongatapu and the island of Atata to Tongatapu — has been underway since Sunday with confirmation there were no houses remaining on Mango and only two houses standing on Fonoifua.
The World Health Organisation confirmed the main hospital in Tongatapu was functioning.
The WHO representative in Tonga has been providing regular updates from Nuku’alofa via satellite phone to his counterpart Sean Casey in Fiji.
“The hospital in Tongatapu is functioning and there has not been an increase in presentations. The Tonga emergency medical assistance team went out on the ship with the navy to the Ha’apai group and are able to provide immediate assistance if required there,” Casey said.
The WHO was lending its only satellite phone to Tongan government officials to use as well, he said.
Church support The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints in Tonga is providing shelter to many residents left homeless by Saturday’s tsunami.
LDS Church officials in New Zealand have maintained contact with their counterparts in Tonga via satellite phone.
Pacific area leader and member support manager Hatu Tiakia said the church was actively assisting people on the ground.
“On the first night, over a thousand people used our church school in liahona, but that’s just liahona. We have probably in excess of a hundred buildings or more that’s being used now by the community for shelter,” Tiakia said.
“They go there during the night to sleep because we have water in general for those facilities, and they return to their home to provide cleanup for their communities during the day.”
Tiakia also told RNZ Pacific that aid packages were being organised to be delivered to Tonga.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The video of the tsunami wave crashing into the gate of the Heilala Tangitangi royal palace in ‘Eua. Video: Kaniva Tonga
By Kalino Latu in Auckland
Tonga’s King Tupou VI is reportedly still on ‘Eua island despite reports yesterday that he had been evacuated to the royal villa at Mataki’eua in Tongatapu.
The latest information about his presence in ‘Eua came last night after terrifying footage was shot of a tsunami wave crashing into the gate of the Heilala Tangitangi royal palace in ‘Eua.
In the video, which was sent to Kaniva News, a man can be heard saying: “It’s now 5.54 pm”.
A vehicle being swept away by the tsunami wave on ‘Eua island in Tonga yesterday. Video: Kaniva News screenshot APR
“There, you see the wave is on its way to ‘Ohonua’,” he said in Tongan.
“Hang on, I will run, otherwise the wave will catch me,” he said.
“Those of you who have already been to ‘Eua look at how the wave breaks on the Matapā Tapu [Taboo Gate of the royal palace].
“Look at it. The wave reached the Matapā Tapu”.
Waves broke electricity poles
The man was also heard in another video saying the waves had broken electricity poles, sunk boats and engulfed the ‘Ovava hotel.
He can also be heard in another video saying in Tongan that the only time he took notice of the wave was when the king told him to assist two vehicles trying to flee the scene.
“Two vehicles came out there and the king noticed they appeared hesitant to enter so he told me to run and wave to them to come through,” the man said.
‘Alisi Moa Paasi, who shared the videos with Kaniva News last night, said the person speaking in the videos was her father, Tēvita Fau’ese Moa.
She said Tēvita was His Majesty’s Armed Forces’ (HMAF) Superintendent in ‘Eua. He called her in Auckland on Facebook from the palace while the tsunami hit at about 6pm (Tongan time) on Saturday January 15, shortly before Tonga’s internet was knocked out by the eruption.
Kaniva News could not independently confirm the authenticity of the videos.
‘Alisi clarified what her father was talking about in the videos as the background sound of the tsunami heard in the clips she sent intermittently distracted what her father was saying.
‘Alisi said his father was talking about two vehicles who attempted to flee the wave before they realised their only way out was the Matapā Tapu.
While the drivers appeared hesitant to enter the gate, ‘Alisi claimed the king alerted his father to allow the vehicle to drive through.
She said once the vehicles entered safely, the tsunami wave crashed into the gate.
‘Alisi contacted Kaniva News ‘Alisi contacted Kaniva News after the news website reported yesterday that the king had been evacuated to his villa at Mataki’eua in Tongatapu.
‘Alisi denied this and said the king was still in ‘Eua. She said she confirmed this with her father.
She said it may be that it was the Queen who had been escorted to the villa.
The Kaniva News report had been based on information published by Fiji’s Island Business media on its official Facebook page yesterday.
The news item read:
“Tonga’s King Tupou VI has been evacuated from the Royal Palace after a tsunami flooded Nuku’alofa today.
“A convoy of police and troops rushed the King to the villa at Mataki’eua as residents headed for higher ground.
“Earlier, a series of explosions were heard as an undersea volcano erupted, throwing clouds of ash into the sky.
“The explosions were heard on Lakeba, Matuku and in Fiji’s capital, Suva, around 6pm”.
Islands Business report
The Islands Business Facebook administration was contacted for comment.
The news was picked up by New Zealand mainstream media, such as the New Zealand Herald and RNZ Pacific.
The ‘Eua news came after the underwater volcano at the two Hungas had erupted for eight minutes, throwing clouds of ash into the sky yesterday afternoon.
Waves flooded the capital Nuku’alofa, where video footage has shown water engulfing buildings.
“The eruptions have been heard as booms or ‘thumps’ across the Pacific, in Fiji, Niue, Vanuatu, and in New Zealand,” RNZ Pacific reported.
The West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island has been included in a warning about dangerous sea conditions as a result of the eruption.
The New Zealand Defence Force is currently monitoring the situation in Tonga, and said it was standing by to assist if asked to do so by the Tongan government.
Meanwhile, Shane Cronin of the University of Auckland wrote in an analysis article published by The Conversation: “Soon after the eruption started, the sky was blacked out on Tongatapu, with ash beginning to fall.
“All these signs suggest the large Hunga caldera has awoken. Tsunami are generated by coupled atmospheric and ocean shock waves during an explosion, but they are also readily caused by submarine landslides and caldera collapses”.
Kalino Latuis editor of Kaniva Tonga. Asia Pacific Report collaborates with Kaniva Tonga.
Waves associated with the continuous volcanic eruption at Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai in Tonga crashed into Tonga’s largest island Tongatapu and forced residents to evacuate their homes.
A former Fijian journalist, Iliesa Tora, said in his Facebook live video that explosions were heard and black clouds of smoke seen in the sky followed by abnormal tidal movements and large waves.
He said a similar incident had occurred several years ago but was not of the same magnitude.
Former Fiji journalist Iliesa Tora’s Facebook video feed on the tsunami.
“Something similar happened seven years ago, but it wasn’t this bad,” he said.
Tora said his family and others were advised to move to higher ground by local authorities.
“An explosion erupted from underneath the sea near Ha’apai and we were given a tsunami warning,” Tora added.
“All the roads in Nuku’alofa have been busy as authorities try to move us to a safer place.”
Tora said rocks showered through the area while they drove to safety.
“Small rocks from the volcanic eruption started to fall like rain as a result of what had happened.”
Fiji villagers flee tidal waves
In Fiji, villagers of Narikoso on Kadavu fled for safety to elevated areas on the island after huge tidal waves crashed into the village ground yesterday afternoon.
The highest point in the island is understood to be occupied by seven households who were relocated from the old village site in 2020.
“It was shocking and the villagers were terrified,” he said.
Saukitoga said they heard rumbling sounds before the tidal waves crashed through their homes.
“We had to chase the children and everyone in the village to higher grounds for safety. Everyone was terrified of the events that transpired this afternoon [Saturday].
“We understand that this was caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga.”
Luke Naceiis a Fiji Times journalist. Republished with permission.
The village of Narikoso in Kadavu, Fiji, flooded by tidal waves following the volcanic eruption in Tonga on Saturday, 15 January 2022. Image: Fiji Times
“Iron” we called him. And so he was, our iron man at Papua New Guinea’s Post-Courier in Lawes Road, Port Moresby, to the end.
Until Wednesday, Isaac Nicholas was the steely fearless reporter who held us up front, and firmly led us from the front page as chief political reporter.
Wary of his beat
Either way, Isaac Nicholas was always wary of his beat. He played the pollies with a calculated intensity like no-one did.
He was sure fire seeking the truth and quite firm in gaining traction without compromising the essence of fair and unbiased reporting.
He was a friend to all of them but getting under their skins, irritating them, made the Iron a trademark enemy to none.
Some of his best friends, like the MP for Goilala [William Samb], criticised him openly when they could about his reporting but at the end of the day, he would stand up in the newsroom and declare, “the member just called me” and that was it!
This little man from Yangoru, 52, served our newspaper and our country faithfully for the past 15 years, going places where few reporters dare, like the mountains of Goilala and the bush of Telefomin and the crocodile-infested swamps of Kerema.
You can think of many journos from the Sepik and Isaac Nicholas was among the best.
He was friendly, good natured and humorous.
Green iron tins under a mango tree
At the end of a hard day’s news hunt, our Iron would always retire under his mango tree at East Boroko. How ironic it was that his favourite cooling off was always with green iron tins under a green tree.
His notebooks were filled with names and stories.
There’s a box full of them on his table.
That is his life story.
Those of us who knew him, walked with him, talked with him, shared a buai [betel nut], shed our tears for the loss of a close friend.
A protector of junior newshounds, a leader of senior scribes. His leadership and reporting will be missed in Papua New Guinean journalism.
Life is such that we make friends without knowing when that friendship will pass. PNG woke up on Wednesday to the news that our iron man in news-making had breathed his last.
From Yangoru to Manugoro, Dagua to Kagua, Vailala to Goilala, Malalaua to Salamaua, Baniara to Honiara, the name Isaac Nicholas was a trusted forte of political drama and conscience leadership.
Without the generosity of a goodbye, without the curiosity of a farewell, we, his friends at the Post-Courier find it quite hard to fathom losing such a dear brother, news leader and best friend so suddenly.
We remember the late Isaac and comfort Judy Nicholas and their children in this time of sadness.
Vale Isaac, you were truly our IRON MAN!
Tributes flow in for Isaac Nicholas Isaac Nicholas, 52, was a giant in the Papua New Guinean media fraternity, known for his ability to get answers from PNG’s political heavyweights on any given day, report colleagues in the PNG media industry.
Fellow senior journalists, NBC’s Gregory Moses and Sunday Bulletin’s Clifford Faiparik remembered their friend and the light moments they shared while on the beat.
Moses lamented: “Parliament coverage next week will not be the same.
“I fought back tears whole day, and sat down and reminiscing all the fun and jokes we shared as colleagues and brothers.”
Professor David Robie, who was head of the journalism programme at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) in the 1990s, paid tribute to Nicholas as “one of the outstanding journalists in the making of our times on Uni Tavur”, the award-winning student newspaper featured in his 2004 book Mekim Nius.
It means perpetrators of sorcery torture and killings are making a laughing stock out of the country’s laws and they seem to be winning.
The world has been watching Papua New Guinea and is laughing away on how we are handling this issue.
We have gone down this low into the holes.
As recent as two weeks ago, SBS Queensland ran a documentary by a reporter from CNN who visited Papua New Guinea to report on the problem sorcery is causing.
Image of PNG tainted
That is how far this matter has gone.
Yet our lack of response makes it look all that bad.
The image of the country has been tainted by this nonsense.
Sorcery accusation related violence (SARV) killings are nothing more than murder, the way it is happening. Since sorcery cannot be proven, it is being used as an excuse for wanton murder.
Yet no one sees murder except sorcery.
It is an excuse not to do anything to curb the problem because we’re afraid. We’re afraid, not of sorcery but what the perpetrators might do to us.
These people, we say, are terrorist.
They have gained notoriety because of the barbaric way in which the victims have been treated.
— PNG Post-Courier
These people, we say, are terrorist.
They have gained notoriety because of the barbaric way in which the victims have been treated.
That is the root of the fear.
If the sorcery law is vague and ambiguous, what about murder?
What about terrorism?
Murder and terrorism crippling society
Is murder and terrorism crippling society that we blame sorcery as the easy way out and ignore it?
This matter has been raised before.
But no one is changing because lives are being lost or ruined and no one seems to care.
Women especially are being targeted so there must be people who have deep hatred for women.
They could be sick in the head.
We say the perpetrators should not only be locked up when they are rounded up, they should also undergo a check on their mental condition.
If mental health issues are on the rise, you cannot send mentally deranged people to prison; they must be sent to a prison of their own.
Tribal enmity creeping in
It would also appear that tribal enmity is creeping into the so-called sorcery killings and it is a payback in disguise.
Payback killings are well known in PNG so why are we naïve about it?
If they are not payback, slap murder charges on the perpetrators and they go through the process of being innocent until proven guilty.
If there is no evidence of sorcery but the victims are being killed on suspicion, then the same can be said of people who are suspected of being behind the killings.
The way the law is being implied here makes the criminal law and justice system look like a page taken from a primitive tribe’s book of reasoning.
Let’s not bury our head in the sand on this and hope the problem will go away.
It won’t go away by itself so leaders; get your head out of the sand and take action.
We see murder here.
We see terrorism.
What do you see?
If women are not to be protected, the future development and progress of the country will crawl at snail’s pace until we come to our senses.
This PNG Post-Courier editorial was published on 12 January 2022 under the original title “Sorcery issue has gone way out of control”. Republished with permission.
A New Caledonian member of the French National Assembly says a consensus needs to be found on Kanaky New Caledonia’s future statute after last month’s referendum saw a third rejection of independence from France.
The vote formally concluded the decolonisation process provided under the 1998 Noumea Accord.
Philippe Gomes, a former New Caledonian territorial president, was speaking in Paris in the first parliamentary debate after the December vote, which had been marked by the boycott of the pro-independence camp determined not to recognise its outcome.
While 96.5 percent voted against independence, more than 56 percent of the electorate did not take part in the referendum.
Because of the impact of the pandemic on the indigenous Kanak people, the pro-independence parties wanted the vote to be deferred until September this year — after the French presidential election in April, but Paris insisted on the December date.
French National Assembly member for French Polynesia Moetai Brotherson. Image: Fedom
Gomes said that in the Pacific, political decisions build on consensus, and New Caledonia could become a nation without becoming a state.
He said the anti-independence side expected to remain under the protection of the French state while the rival pro-independence parties want a sovereignty which restored their dignity.
Joint approach needed
Gomes said a joint approach needed to be found to sidestep a process such as referendums.
Speaking on behalf of New Caledonia’s Kanaks, French Polynesian member of the National Assembly Moetai Brotherson said the latest referendum was of “no consequence” to them, and likened the vote to a “recolonisation”.
Rejecting the outcome of the plebiscite as illegitimate, the pro-independence parties last month mounted a court challenge in France, and plan to campaign internationally for its annulment.
France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Melenchon … the 1998 Noumea Accord should remain in force for another 10 years to avoid confrontation. Image: RFI
Leader of French left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI – France Unbowed) and candidate for the presidential election Jean-Luc Melenchon said New Caledonia should be maintained for another 10 years under the provisions of the Noumea Accord to avoid any confrontation.
French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu said it would take time to assess the abstention but added that it must be noted that voters had rejected independence three times.
Paris plans to draw up a new statute by June next year and submit it to a vote.
Pro-independence leaders have ruled out any formal negotiations with Paris before this year’s French presidential and legislative elections.
They have also said they would not discuss another statute within the French republic but negotiate independence.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
I spent five years as the lone journalist on the remote Pacific island of Yap. During that time I was harassed, spat at, threatened with assassination and warned that I was being followed.
The tyres on my car were slashed late one night.
There was also pressure on the political level. The chiefs of the traditional Council of Pilung (COP) asked the state legislature to throw me out of the country as a “persona non grata” claiming that my journalism “may be disruptive to the state environment and/or to the safety and security of the state”.
During a public hearing of the Yap state legislature in September 2021, 14 minutes of the 28-minute meeting was spent complaining about an article of mine that reported on the legislature’s initially unsuccessful attempt to impeach the governor.
One politician then posted about me on his Facebook page, under which a member of the public posted a comment saying I should be assassinated.
American Bill Jaynes, editor of the Kaselehlie Press in Pohnpei, one of Yap’s sister states in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), has had his share of death threats over the years, too.
Several death threats
“In the 15 or so years I’ve been at this desk I have had several death threats,” he said.
“Early on in my tenure, some angry individual carved a request for me to perform an act of physical impossibility into the hood of my car which then rusted for posterity. Most of that was during the early days before I came to be trusted to view things from an FSM rather than a foreigner’s point of view and to handle things factually rather than sensationally.”
Freedom of the press is included in both the FSM and the Yap State Constitution, but as Leilani Reklai, publisher and editor of the Island Times newspaper in Palau and president of the Palau Media Council, says: “Freedom of the press in the constitution is pretty on paper but not always a reality.”
These incidents are shocking, but sadly are not isolated. Journalists in the Pacific face imprisonment, loss of employment and banishment from their homes.
“While there might not be assassinations, murders, gagging, torture and ‘disappearances’ of journalists in Pacific island states, threats, censorship and a climate of self-censorship are commonplace,” professor David Robie, founding editor of Pacific Journalism Review, wrote in a 2019 article for The Conversation.
A Fijian journalist, who asked to remain anonymous, said that after he posed questions to a politician during a public forum, the politician replied that he knew where the reporter lived. The following day, the reporter’s car was broken into.
Soon after, the reporter was told that if he didn’t stop being critical, he would be kicked out of his job “and can go bag groceries instead” and he was evicted from his housing. The reporter believes all of these incidents stemmed from the questions he asked of the politician.
“Within one week my life changed completely,” he said. “I do not see a future for me or any other journalist who is curious and questioning to make a career in journalism in Fiji.”
The index highlights the “draconian” Media Industry Development Decree, introduced in 2010 and turned into law in 2018. “Those who violate this law’s vaguely-worded provisions face up to two years in prison. The sedition laws, with penalties of up to seven years in prison, are also used to foster a climate of fear and self-censorship,” said Reporters Without Borders.
In 2018, senior journalist Scott Waide of Papua New Guinea was suspended by EMTV after the airing of his report critical of the government for purchasing 40 luxury Maseratis and three Bentleys to drive attendees during the APEC conference.
Reinstated after a public and media outcry, Waide stated during an interview on ABC’s Pacific Beat programme: “Increasingly, not just EMTV, but nearly every other media organisation in Papua New Guinea has been interfered with by their boards or with politicians, or various other players in society.
“They’re doing it with impunity. It’s a trend that’s very dangerous for democracy.”
Daniel Bastard, Asia-Pacific director of Reporters Without Borders, said the situation is complicated by how small and connected many Pacific nations are.
“The fact is that political leaders are also economic bosses so there’s a nexus. It’s symptomatic of the small journalistic communities in the Pacific islands that need to deal with the political community to get access to information. They have to be careful when they criticise knowing the government can cut advertising, publicity, etc. There’s still a strong level of intimidation.”
While there are particular dangers faced by local journalists, foreign reporters living in the Pacific are not safe either.
Denied renewal of work permit
Canadian Dan McGarry, former media director of the Vanuatu Daily Post and a resident of the island nation for nearly 20 years, was denied renewal of his work permit in 2019. The reason given was that his job should be held by a local citizen.
But McGarry said he believed it was politically motivated due to his reporting on “Chinese influence” in the small nation. He was then denied re-entry to Vanuatu after ironically attending a forum on press freedom in Brisbane.
Regional and international news organisations came to his defence and the court granted McGarry re-entry, but the newspaper’s appeal to have his work permit renewed is ongoing.
I have written about some sensitive and difficult topics and like to think of myself as pretty fearless. In 2018 I wrote about illegal fishing by Chinese commercial fishing boats around the Outer Island of Fedrai. That coverage resulted in the expulsion of the fishing vessel and significant political consequences.
I’ve written about issues in the customs and immigration processes in FSM, that were potentially jeopardising tourism to Yap, which is so important to so many people’s livelihoods, and also about a huge and controversial proposed resort that would have seen thousands and thousands of Chinese tourists flown in to that tiny island on charter flights.
These stories matter and just because some Pacific nations are small and remote does not mean that they do not need or deserve the scrutiny of a free press.
But eventually, the threats to my safety were too much to handle. I spent too much time looking over my shoulder, living behind locked doors and never going out alone after dark.
In mid-2021, I moved to Guam for greater peace of mind where I am continuing to write about this largely invisible, but crucial part of the world.
Joyce McClure is a freelance journalist based in Guam. This article was first published by The Guardian’s Pacific Project and has been republished with permission.
The Papuan People’s Petition — “Petisi Rakyat Papua” — has called on the Indonesian government to release detained human rights advocate Victor Yeimo and to revoke the special autonomy law (version 2).
Yeimo, international spokesperson of the National Committee of West Papua (KNPB), was arrested by the Indonesian police in Tanah Hitam, Abupura-Jayapura. He was serving as spokesperson of the Papuan People’s Petition.
Yeimo is a prisoner of the Papua High Prosecutor’s Office and is currently being treated at the Jayapura Regional General Hospital Dok II.
The Petisi Rakyak Papua (PRP) is aimed to call upon the central government of Indonesia in Jakarta to revoke the special autonomy law (Otsus) that was passed prematurely by Jakarta in November 2021 without public hearings and considering the voices and demands of the Papuan people brought by 113 organisations.
The call of rejecting the extension of the special autonomy law which expired last year was echoed a few years ago.
No benefit for Papuans
The petition says that since the central government granted the special autonomy law, the indigenous people of West Papua have not benefited. The law itself has become controversial.
The national spokesperson for the petition, Jefry Wenda, said that apart from the 113 organisations making submissions, 718,179 votes of grassroots people opposed support for extension of the special autonomy law. However, the central government of Indonesia has refused to listen.
Before the widespread rejection of the law from the grassroots level, the provincial government of Papua had tried to negotiate with the central government many times, but Jakarta has been reluctant to consider the provincial government’s aspirations.
This year, the Papuan People’s Petition reaffirms the call by stating:
1. PRP is a manifestation of the political stance of the West Papuan people who reject the existence and sustainability of Otsus in West Papua;
2. The PRP will oversee the attitude of the people of West Papua in fighting for the right to self-determination peacefully and democratically;
3. PRP rejected Otsus and agreed to continue raising the Papuan People’s Petition (PRP) for the third stage;
4. The PRP rejects all forms of compromise and political representation outside of the attitude of the West Papuan people;
5. The PRP is committed to promoting democratic unity in the struggle for the national liberation of West Papua; and
6. PRP urges the release of international spokesman Victor Yeimo and all West Papuan political prisoners without conditions!
In all of the meandering years in the life of Papua New Guinea, 2021, which ended on Friday has to be it.
The colours were there, the love and laughter were there, the sadness, emotions, losses, highs and lows, the bleakness of our long-suffering population and blackness of ethereal poor governance were all intertwined with making 2021 standout.
In a nutshell, 2021 will be remembered as the year that shook PNG to the core.
The biggest and most enduring life changer was covid-19. Like a thief in the night, it descended on our lives. It robbed our children of their innocence. It stopped our businesses dead in their tracks. It stole our bread. It stole the breath of our nation builders.
This year, we will still be waking, walking and wandering with covid-19. It was and is the most tumultuous health issue ever, hovering over the gardener in a remote valley to a bush driver in a town to a business executive in the city.
Big or small, rich or poor, we all face the same anxiety.
Covid-19 was on everyone’s lips and in everyone’s ears. It is a global event that is still unraveling and we cannot predict what it holds for us in 2022.
The Kumul will fly
Now you can’t go anywhere without a face mask. But we must rise to the occasion. We must be resilient like our forefathers. We must face it. The Kumul will fly.
So many of our fathers and forefathers left us over the past year. Men, who walked and talked with giants, whose dreams and aspirations – covid-19 or not – we must carry in our hearts and move forward. That is the challenge that awaits our bones in 2022.
Sir Mekere Morauata (2020), Sir Pita Lus, Sir Philip Bouraga, Sir Paulias Matane, Sir Ramon Thurecht, Sir Ronald Tovue and the Chief of Chiefs, GC Sir Michael Thomas Somare.
One could only wonder as we wandered, tearfully from “haus krai” to the next mourning house. Why?
In one swoop, 2021 took our history book and shook the knights of our realm out of its pages.
Men whose colourful and storied existence led to the birth of our nation. How said indeed it is that a country loses its foundation so suddenly. Shaken to the core.
While mainland PNG mourned the loss of Sir Mekere, Kerema MP Richard Mendani, Middle Fly MP Roy Biyama and recently Middle Ramu MP Johnny Alonk, Bougainville was not spared.
The island is reeling from losing its Regional MP Joe Lera and just two weeks ago, Central Bougainville MP Sam Akoitai. Our leadership shaken to the core!
Historic year for PNG
This is also a historic year for PNG. Sixty-four years after Sir Michael shook his fist at Australia and demanded: “Let my people go,” Bougainville has done the same, voting overwhelmingly to secede from PNG in a referendum.
Two weeks ago, its president declared: “Let my people go!” Shaken to the core!
Ethnic violence — 1000 tribes in distress with violence becoming an everyday happening, Tari vs Kerema, Kange vs Apo, Kaimo vs Igiri, Goi vs Tari, threatening the very fabric of our unity. Our knights in their freshly dug tombs would be turning in their graves.
Family and Sexual Violence against women and children and the ugly head of sorcery related violence.
I mean, how dare we call ourselves a Christian nation and tolerate such evil? How dare you men accuse our women, mothers, sisters and daughters, and murder them in cold blood?
What more can we, as a newspaper say? We have spent copious amounts of sheet and ink, more than enough on these issues, we have raised our anger, we have commiserated with those in power about these issues. The message is not getting through to the men of this nation. Where have all the good men gone?
Spectre of ‘pirate’ Tommy Baker
Law and order wise, the name Tommy Baker raises the spectre of piracy, armed robbery, shootouts with law enforcement and a million kina manhunt that has failed to corner Baker.
Until he was shot dead by police, the self-styled pirate was still out there in Milne Bay, hiding, abiding in time, waiting to strike again.
The Nankina cult group on the Rai Coast and its murderous rampage also shocks us, as a reminder of the Black Jisas uprising gone wrong, two decades before.
Add the consistent and constant power blackouts in the major cities and towns. This is hardly a sign of progress, especially when the management of the major power company PNG Pawa Ltd has been changed three times!
However, yes, we need to remember this too. In our topsy turvy perennial spin, some of the major positive developments need to be mentioned.
The giant Porgera Mine was shut down and promised to be reopened, Ok Tedi, Kumul, BSP and IRC all handed the government a gold card standard in millions of kina dividends.
And the government has signed for a gold refinery in PNG for the first time.
22 billion kina budget
The passing of a 22 billion kina (about NZ$9.2 billion) budget. That is, in the finest words of my best friend Lousy, preposterous. Never before has the budget being built around such a humongous money plan.
Spending is easy but raising it sounds very challenging. Therein lies the challenge.
The most important part is to ensure this money plan reaches the unreached, that service delivery will go where the ballot boxes, somehow manage to reach on election days.
One noticeable explosion of knowledge is the awareness of social communications platforms. For better or worse, Facebook has taken a stranglehold of the lives of ordinary Papua New Guineans.
Communication around the country has changed overnight at the touch of a button or dial of a mobile phone.
In sport – the heart of the nation missed a beat when star Justin Olam was overlooked in the Dally M awards. A major uproar in PNG and popularly support down under forced the organisers to realign the stars. Justin easily pocked the Dally M Centre of the Year.
The good book the Holy Bible, says there is a season for everything. Maybe we are in a judgement season, being tried and tested and refined. Only we can come out of that judgement refined and define the course of our country – from Land of the Unexpected to the Land of the Respected!
We will remember the 365 days of you, as the jingle fiddles our imagination, we were “all shook up!”
Patrick Levois a senior PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.
Rights advocate Shamima Ali, coordinator of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre, said that while the region mourned Professor Lal’s death, people should not forget the injustice meted out to him and his wife.
Ali said the government disrespected academia and the contributions academics made to Fiji’s development.
In the case of the Lals, Ali said there had been a “miscarriage of justice and a gross violation of their basic human rights — the right to nationality and citizenship and to a fair trial”.
Ali said Lal’s “writings and utterances irked the government” so they banned him from Fiji.
‘Smacks of sexism’
“And Dr Padma Lal, along with her husband, was also banned from Fiji.
“This smacks of sexism and once again disregards Dr Lal’s illustrious career as an ecological economist and her work on the sugar industry and environment.
“I urge the Fiji Human Rights and Anti Discrimination Commission to step up and challenge this draconian decision of arbitrarily banning citizens and taking away their birthright.”
Professor Brij Lal … deported from Fiji in 2009, but tributes have been flowing since his death on Christmas Day. Image: RNZ
Lal’s legacy would live on as an upstanding human being and citizen of our country, Ali said.
“Shame on you, Fiji. Those who violated his and Padma’s rights will surely live in ignominy and infamy.
“There is still time for a change, to amend the wrongs, too late for Brij but not for his family.”
Sad day for Fiji, says Sodelpa Fiji’s main opposition party said the death of Professor Lal in exile was a sad time for Fiji.
The Social Democratic Liberal Party said Lal had hoped that he would one day return to his homeland.
Fiji claimed to have democracy but it still has a very long way to go, said Sodelpa leader Viliame Gavoka.
“The news of Professor Brij Lal’s passing fills me with great pain,” he said.
“We all know about him, a favourite son of Fiji who was refused permission to return home.
“He lived and hoped that he would one day come home and many of us pleaded for his case.”
But Gavoka said now he had died in a foreign land, away from his people and loved ones.
“How can our hearts be so hardened that we denied someone the right to his homeland and all because he expressed views different from those at the helm of leadership.
“Professor Brij Lal was loved by many and his legacy will live on in Fiji.”
Fiji poorer with loss of academic, says NFP Among historians and scholars, Professor Lal stood tall around the world, said the National Federation Party.
From a poor farming family in Tabia, Vanua Levu, NFP leader Professor Biman Prasad said Professor Lal rose to be an emeritus professor of Pacific and Asian history at the Australian National University, one of the world’s highest-ranked places of learning.
“He was an acknowledged expert on the Indian diaspora around the world.
He was recognised as the pre-eminent historian on the history of indenture and Girmitiya.”
In his obituary to Professor Lal, Dr Prasad said Fiji was poorer with the passing of the academic.
“Professor Brij Lal banished from the land of his birth by the Bainimarama government in November 2009 for championing democracy and barred from entering Fiji upon the orders of the prime minister, has died, 12 years after the draconian act of a heartless government,” Dr Prasad said.
“The sudden and shocking death of Professor Brij Lal at the age of 69 should create a moment for all Fiji citizens to pause and reflect, even while we are distracted by our many personal challenges brought on by the pandemic and our other deep national problems.”
Dr Prasad said Lal was “a giant on the international academic stage” who was banned by the Bainimarama and FijiFirst government from returning to the place of his birth.
“But the pettiness of our leaders will not take away Prof Lal’s towering achievements and scholarship, for which he will one day be fully recognised in the place he was born.
“All of us in Fiji are the poorer for his irreplaceable loss.”
Dr Prasad said the NFP had organised a condolence gathering to remember Professor Lal.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Brij Vilash Lal, banished from the land of his birth by the Bainimarama government in November 2009 for championing democracy and barred from entering Fiji upon the orders of the Prime Minister, has died in Brisbane, 12 years after the draconian act of a heartless government.
The sudden and shocking death of Professor Brij Lal at the age of 69 should create a moment for all Fiji citizens to pause and reflect, even while we are distracted by our many personal challenges brought on by the pandemic and our other deep national problems.
Professor Lal was a giant on the international academic stage. But for the last 12 years of his life he was banned by the Bainimarama and FijiFirst governments from returning to the place of his birth.
Some of Fiji’s most outstanding people, with international reputations, are sporting figures, business people or international diplomats. But among historians and scholars, Professor Lal stood tall around the world.
From a poor farming family in Tabia, Vanua Levu, Professor Lal rose to be an emeritus professor of Pacific and Asian history at the Australian National University, one of the world’s highest-ranked places of learning.
He was an acknowledged expert on the Indian diaspora around the world. He was recognised as the pre-eminent historian on the history of indenture and Girmitiya.
Among his many books, he wrote authoritative biographies on A D Patel and Jai Ram Reddy, two of Fiji’s most influential political leaders.
1997 Fiji Constitution architect Professor Lal will be remembered as one of the architects of the 1997 Fiji Constitution. His membership of the three-man Reeves Commission, with former Parliamentary Speaker Tomasi Vakatora, ushered in multiparty government and a national governing law strongly protective of good governance, human rights and multiracialism.
It is this constitution that current Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, as Army Commander, twice abrogated in May 2000, only for it to be restored by the Fiji Court of Appeal in March 2001, and again in April 2009, bringing in a new legal order.
However, Professor Lal may be best remembered in Fiji as the target of a small-minded two-man government of Voreqe Bainimarama and Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, which banned him and his wife Dr Padma Lal indefinitely from returning to Fiji.
This was because Professor Lal spoke up for democracy and rule of law at a time the Bainimarama government did not want to be criticised. Professor Lal remained excluded from Fiji to the day of his death because Fiji’s insecure political leaders could never say they were wrong.
And they repeatedly refused to reconsider their reprehensible act despite resumption of parliamentary democracy 7 years ago in October 2014.
Pettiness of Fiji leaders
The pettiness of Fiji’s leaders will not take away Professor Lal’s towering achievements and scholarship, for which he will one day be fully recognised in the place he was born. All of us in Fiji are the poorer for his irreplaceable loss.
The opposition National Federation Party will be organising a condolence gathering to remember Professor Lal and details on this will be announced soon.
The party offers its deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to Dr Padma Narsey Lal, children Yogi and Niraj and the Lal and Narsey families in Fiji and abroad.
“I do not know whether I will ever be able to understand the mystery that is Fiji, and whether I will ever be allowed to return to again embrace the land of my birth. But I know one unalterable truth whatever happens, the green undulating hills of Tabia will always be a special place for me. Home is where the heart is.”
– Professor Brij Vilash Lal, October 2020
Professor Biman Prasadis leader of the Fiji opposition National Federation Party (NFP) and a former colleague of Professor Brij Lal at the University of the South Pacific.
He has worked as an academic in five different countries and now Dr Steven Ratuva has been made a distinguished professor – the first Pacific person to ever hold this highest professorial title.
The Fiji-born University of Canterbury political sociologist and director of the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies has been recognised for his pioneering research in a range of fields, including ethnicity, security and politics.
Dr Ratuva has been promoted to the highest role in academia and wants to inspire other Pacific students and scholars to break down the “political and cultural” hurdles that often stand in their way.
“I want to show them that nothing is impossible, you can reach the top,” he said.
“There is always the perception that Pacific people are not as smart, just good in rugby and not so much academia.
“It’s a myth that we need to break through.”
Dr Ratuva said he was honoured to receive the appointment.
First time for a Pacific scholar
“It’s the first time a Pacific scholar has received the title, anywhere in the world,” he said.
“There’s a lot of research around the world about how minorities internalise the perception about them. It’s about breaking through those psychological and cultural perceptions.”
Dr Ratuva joined the University of Canterbury in 2015 but has also worked at universities in Fiji, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.
“I grew up in an environment where education was very much encouraged and promoted. In my family alone, there are about 15 degrees altogether.”
Dr Ratuva worked for the Suva-based University of the South Pacific (USP) before joining highly respected think tank the Institute of Development Studies, based at the University of Sussex, in southern England.
“It’s the leading development institute in the world. It’s ranked above Oxford and Harvard, they compete for second position,” he said.
The father of two is a prolific author and in the last two years alone he has written and edited five books, including a three-volume global project on ethnicity, the largest and most comprehensive on the subject.
Connecting the boxes
“A lot of those issues are interconnected; politics, economics, culture,” he said.
“Often in academia we break them up into little boxes. In my work, I try to connect those boxes.”
Last year, Dr Ratuva was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi and has won the society’s Mertge Medal for New Zealand social science research excellence.
He is currently co-leading a University of Canterbury and USP joint project on climate crisis, covering 16 Pacific countries.
Dr Ratuva is one of four Canterbury academics recently awarded the role of distinguished professors. The others are Maggie Lee Huckabee, Charles Semple and Michael Hall.
This article was first published by Stuff and is republished with permission.
He has worked as an academic in five different countries and now Dr Steven Ratuva has been made a distinguished professor – the first Pacific person to ever hold this highest professorial title.
The Fiji-born University of Canterbury political sociologist and director of the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies has been recognised for his pioneering research in a range of fields, including ethnicity, security and politics.
Dr Ratuva has been promoted to the highest role in academia and wants to inspire other Pacific students and scholars to break down the “political and cultural” hurdles that often stand in their way.
“I want to show them that nothing is impossible, you can reach the top,” he said.
“There is always the perception that Pacific people are not as smart, just good in rugby and not so much academia.
“It’s a myth that we need to break through.”
Dr Ratuva said he was honoured to receive the appointment.
First time for a Pacific scholar
“It’s the first time a Pacific scholar has received the title, anywhere in the world,” he said.
“There’s a lot of research around the world about how minorities internalise the perception about them. It’s about breaking through those psychological and cultural perceptions.”
Dr Ratuva joined the University of Canterbury in 2015 but has also worked at universities in Fiji, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.
“I grew up in an environment where education was very much encouraged and promoted. In my family alone, there are about 15 degrees altogether.”
Dr Ratuva worked for the Suva-based University of the South Pacific (USP) before joining highly respected think tank the Institute of Development Studies, based at the University of Sussex, in southern England.
“It’s the leading development institute in the world. It’s ranked above Oxford and Harvard, they compete for second position,” he said.
The father of two is a prolific author and in the last two years alone he has written and edited five books, including a three-volume global project on ethnicity, the largest and most comprehensive on the subject.
Connecting the boxes
“A lot of those issues are interconnected; politics, economics, culture,” he said.
“Often in academia we break them up into little boxes. In my work, I try to connect those boxes.”
Last year, Dr Ratuva was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi and has won the society’s Mertge Medal for New Zealand social science research excellence.
He is currently co-leading a University of Canterbury and USP joint project on climate crisis, covering 16 Pacific countries.
Dr Ratuva is one of four Canterbury academics recently awarded the role of distinguished professors. The others are Maggie Lee Huckabee, Charles Semple and Michael Hall.
This article was first published by Stuff and is republished with permission.
Aile Tikoure, an activist from the pro-independence Palika Party, says many Kanaks boycotted the referendum because France refused to postpone it until next year, despite the covid pandemic.
“No, no I haven’t voted. Instructions were clear from the party, I didn’t vote,” he says.
“I don’t consider this as an act of war. The government didn’t speak to the Kanaks — that is no respect for our fight.
“They still haven’t understood us after 30 years of dialogue that this country would be nothing without us. They want to do this without us. It’s an insult. We feel left out from any political discussion.”
Boycott was ‘a victory’
Another pro-independence activist, Florenda Nirikani, says the boycott was a victory.
“I would say it’s a victory from the performance of our Kanak community and a good performance — the word has been followed at 56 percent,” she says.
“Now that victory is over we are at a stage where people are asking what do we do now?
“We are at a stage of questioning. Two days after the referendum there a lot of people that ask me well what do we do now. We were prepared for the 97 percent that said no.
“We are here to say we Kanaks are proud that the level of absence in the referendum was a good victory.”
Florenda Nirikani does not expect to see violence as a result of the referendum result.
However, pro-independence activists have made it clear that there will be no negotiating with the current Macron government. The French presidential elections are due in April.
Pro-independence activist Florenda Nirikani … “No, things have stayed calm and I don’t think we will see violence.” Image: RNZ
No talking to French officials
“No, things have stayed calm and I don’t think we will see violence. However, in the days or the weeks to come there will be some questioning from the activists.
“There has been a word out not to talk to a single French government official so negotiations will not happen between Kanaks and the current French government.
“[French Overseas Minister Sebastien] Lecornu [has been] here in New Caledonia last week. The customary Senate has refused to meet with him and some customary officials have boycotted meetings.
“The position expressed is that no Kanak represententatives will meet with the current government,” Nirikani says.
Negotiations between the Kanaks and French state are not expected to resume before next year’s French presidential election.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Distinguished Professor Steven Ratuva is the first Pacific person ever to be promoted to the highest professorial status of distinguished professor.
The award-winning Fiji-born University of Canterbury political sociologist was recognised for his global leadership and pioneering interdisciplinary research in a range of fields including ethnicity, security, politics, affirmative action, development, and social protection.
Director of UC’s Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, he is a prolific author. In the last two years alone he has authored and edited five books, including a three-volume global project on ethnicity — the largest and most comprehensive on the subject.
Professor Steven Ratuva … speaking at a Pacific Media Centre seminar. Image: Del Abcede/APR
Among his academic leadership roles, he has led pioneering projects on global security in collaboration with international agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as chair of the International Political Science Association research committee on security, conflict and democratisation.
Dr Ratuva currently leads projects worth several million dollars and is co-leading a UC and University of the South Pacific joint project on climate crisis and resilience, covering 16 Pacific countries. The climate project is funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He is also leading a New Zealand Health Research Council-funded health and social protection project.
Last year, distinguished professor Ratuva was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi and won the society’s Mertge Medal for New Zealand social science research excellence.
In 2019, he won the University of Canterbury Research Medal and received a Senior Fulbright Fellowship in 2018 to conduct research on ethnicity and affirmative action with leading experts in the field at University of California, Duke University and Georgetown University.
Following the publication of the book Toxic some 9 months ago and President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to French Polynesia last July, the response from the French administration has been to send French nuclear experts to Tahiti.
Their mission was to give clear and transparent answers about the state of former nuclear test sites among other topics. It was a way to counter the book’s anti-official version of the CEA’s (Centre d’Experimentation Atomique) claim of “clean and non-contaminating radioactivity” on both atolls.
The Commission of information created for those former sites of nuclear tests of the Pacific, was made up of 3 French civil servants involved in the controversial Paris roundtable — also called Reko Tika — organised by President Macron last July.
French nuclear experts … “proving” their case of an independent and transparent study. Image: Tahiti Infos
In a media conference, they talked about radiological and geo-mechanical surveillance of the Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls. They came with more scientific expertise and data that seemed to dispel the original idea of “clear and transparent answers”.
As far as the environment was concerned around those former nuclear sites, the conclusion was that the sites were much safer now after the presence of caesium-137 (a radioactive isotope of caesium formed as one of the more common products of nuclear fission) was noticed to be less year by year in all parts of the environment.
To “prove” their case of an independent and transparent study, they took samples of beef meat, whole milk or coconut juice from both atolls and are readily available to the population and analysed those samples.
Their results showed that the levels of radioactive concentration were far less than the “maximum levels admissible” — or whatever that means for the Ma’ohi who are not versed in the scientific jargon.
Artificial radioactive fallout level ‘low’
As for the health of the population, they reassured the people from the atolls that the level of toxicity of artificial radioactive fallout measured from 2019 to 2020 was extremely low, according to the data collected by the Institute of Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRNS).
They established that the overall efficient dose (external exposition, internal exposition by ingestion and inhalation) of radioactivity was evaluated at 1,4 mSv (the measure of radiation exposure) in Mā’ohi Nui — which is two times lower than in France.
An even stronger reassurance was offered to the media when the question of a possible collapse of the northern part of the atoll of Moruroa was mentioned. The French experts replied that such a disastrous scenario was extremely unlikely, because the geo-mechanical system Telsite 2 put in place in 2000, would detect signs of unusual activities weeks beforehand.
Notwithstanding their initial answer, they added that even in the worst-case scenario, preventative measures would be taken to evacuate the population of Moruroa, and Tureia would not be hit by this improbable landslide.
A reassurance that clearly leaves doubt on whether Moruroa is at all safe.
When asked by one of the local journalists, Vaite Pambrun, why the atolls were not “retroceded” (ceded back) to their people now that it is “safe”, the delegate to Nuclear Safety M. Bugault was at pains to explain that it was not possible because plutonium was not buried deep enough under the coral layer, and for safety reasons the French state still needed to monitor the atolls.
A somehow contradictory response that does not surprise the people who are used to the rhetoric used by the French state for the last 50 years.
France seems to offer very reassuring measures and answers, but the populations have learnt in the past that the word of the French state must be taken with a lot of mistrust and scepticism especially when it comes to nuclear matters.
France trying to wipe out nuclear traces from Polynesian memory
Mayor of Fa’aa Oscar Temaru … criticised the conclusions reached by the French nuclear experts. Image: Tahiti Infos
Independence leader Oscar Temaru, and former president of Tahiti, was quick to organise a press conference where he criticised the conclusions reached by the nuclear experts who seemed to contradict their findings about the safety of the atolls that still needed more monitoring, hence the refusal to retrocede.
After the last Paris roundtable, Temaru accused the French state and the local government — which he calls the local “collabos” (alluding to the French who collaborated with the Germans during the Second World War) to try “to wipe out the last evidence and vestiges that constitute the history of nuclear colonisation by the army and the money”.
According to Temaru, there is a trust crisis against the local government of territorial President Eduard Fritch and the French state that is going to last for a long time.
Those strong words also came after the decision was taken to completely destroy the last nuclear concrete shelter on the atoll of Tureia, wiping out for ever any traces of nuclear presence.
This decision is reminiscent of the one taken by the same French state to raze to the ground the two nuclear shelters used by the army on Mangareva.
By the same occasion, the hangar with the flimsy protection of corrugated iron used for the local population during the nuclear tests was also demolished. All those structures were pulled down in the early 2000s.
Father Auguste Ube Carlson, president of the anti-nuclear lobby Association 193, has also denounced the rhetoric used by the French state which “pretends’ to bring some new answers that have a “sound of deja-vu and that do not fool any of the populations who have suffered through the nuclear era”.
According to one of the Association 193 spokespeople, France is telling local populations that all is well in the best of worlds and there is nothing to worry about.
A more mitigated reaction
Local historian Jean-Marc Regnault … dedicated to writing the history of the nuclear era. Image: Tahiti Infos
Local historian Jean-Marc Regnault conceded that it has been a struggle to get the French state to give access to files that at one point were declassified and then re-classified to now be reopened to the public which he considers a victory.
He does not share the same stance taken by Oscar Temaru regarding the wiping out of the last atomic shelter in Tureia. According to the historian, the shelter is a hazard to the population of Tureia as it contains asbestos and therefore needs to be destroyed.
Regnault positions himself as a researcher who, like any other member of the public, will be able to write the history of the nuclear era thanks to all those thousands of documents now available to be consulted, unless classified as state secrets.
He sees the history of a nation not in terms of buildings but in terms of what can be written and taught to the younger generations. The destruction of the building does not equal the wiping-out of a nation’s memory.
He finds it remarkable that teachers will have the material to teach the history of the atomic tests in Mā’ohi Nui, which was one the tenants of the Tavini party when they were at the helm of the country in 2004.
It is up to the women and men of Ma’ohi Nui to realise their dreams of writing the history of their islands by consulting those archives, especially the military ones and not be forced to only hear one narrative, that of the French state.
There is a movement toward more transparency, according to Regnault.
What about the conclusions drawn by the book Toxic?
The Delegate to Nuclear Safety M. Bugault, has been particularly dismissive of the book Toxic. He says that it is clear that the calculations based on the simulations are wrong and he rejected the deductions made by the book that the French state have played down the impacts of nuclear tests fallout on the Polynesians.
However, he admitted that 6 nuclear tests did not have favourable weather forecasts and generated radioactive fallout that led to doses “below the limit accepted by those working on the nuclear sites” but “higher than the doses accepted by the public”.
This is the reason why it is absolutely legitimate for people who have been contaminated to seek compensation.
He tells the press that the calculations and the investigation by Disclose wrongly contradict those made by the CEA in 2006 where the data and the mode of calculations were extremely technical and scientific and 450 pages long.
He suggested that those who were involved in the research and the publishing of Toxic were not versed enough in the technical jargon of the final document released by the CEA.
It is not enough to tell the truth but it must be accessible to the public, according to Bugault.
The book Toxic fails to explain in a clear and simple way how its calculations were carried out and achieved. He promised that in April 2022 the anti-Toxic book will be published by the CEA on Tahiti.
Ena Manuireva, born in Mangareva (Gambier islands) in Ma’ohi Nui (French Polynesia), is a language revitalisation researcher at Auckland University of Technology and is currently completing his doctorate on the Mangarevan language. He is also a campaigner for nuclear reparations justice from France over the 193 tests staged in Polynesia over three decades and a contributor to Asia Pacific Report.
Made up of present and retired police officers, former school teachers, village headmen, community leaders and representatives from the District Council of Social Services (DCOSS), 25 male advocates in Fiji have made a commitment to change themselves and their perception of women and honour their roles in society.
This was the outcome of a one-day Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) dialogue with male advocates from the Western Division in Lautoka on Monday.
The advocates who were part of a dialogue on engaging men to end violence against women and girls have committed themselves to be agents of change in their communities.
At the conclusion of the dialogue, the advocates made commitments to be agents of change and work towards ending violence against women and girls in their respective communities.
“When we leave this room and return to our communities, we will ensure that we get our house in order first before calling for change in the communities,” the male advocates declared.
“In our own homes, we need to bring up our boys in a manner that they learn to respect their own sisters, mothers, and other women in the community.
“We should teach our sons to respect women and girls and live with high moral standards.”
Rohit Deois a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.
After a day of political showdown that at times involved shouting battles and personal clashes, the much anticipated motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare was defeated by 32 votes to 15 with two abstentions.
With the capital city Honiara virtually closed for business yesterday, attention turned to Vavaya Ridge where Parliament was debating the motion.
The motion came on the back of social unrest that saw the looting and burning of some 56 buildings across the city and the re-engagement of foreign forces in Honiara to arrest the situation two weeks ago and restore law and order.
In moving the motion, opposition leader Matthew Wale admitted that he had been conflicted by the need for this motion at this hour in “our history”.
“On the one hand we are dealing with it today because there is need for a political solution to the causes of the tragic events of two weeks ago,” he said.
“On the other, I am conscious that what we say in ventilating this motion may further add to what are already high levels of anger in certain quarters of our society.”
Wale said that as a result of the tragic events that caused so much loss and destruction and even cost lives he had called on the Prime Minister to resign.
‘Eruption of anger’
“I did not make that call out of malice toward him personally. I made that call in recognition of the fact that the tragic events were not isolated events, nor were they purely criminal, but were the eruption of anger based on political issues and decisions for which the PM must bear the primary responsibility,” he said.
“It is democratic for a Prime Minister to be called upon to resign, there is nothing undemocratic about the call. And if he chose to resign that too would be democratic.
Opposition leader Matthew Wale speaking to the no-confidence motion … “The tragic events were not isolated events, nor were they purely criminal, but were the eruption of anger based on political issues and decisions for which the PM must bear the primary responsibility.” Image: APR screenshot
“As is the case, the Prime Minister refused to resign, and therefore has necessitated this motion,” he said while moving the motion.
“Although [the people] are resource rich, yet they are cash poor. They have hopes that their children will have access to better opportunities than they did.”
— Opposition leader Matthew Wale
In arguing his case, Wale stated several issues.
On the economy, the MP for Aoke/Langalana said the vast majority of “our people live on the margins of our economy”.
“Although they are resource rich, yet they are cash poor. They have hopes that their children will have access to better opportunities than they did.
“They work hard to afford the high cost of education, though many children leave school because of lack of school fees. Our people are angry that education is so expensive, and that only those that can afford it are able to educate all their kids to a high level of education,” Wale said.
Access to healthcare challenging
“On health, Wale said the vast majority of our people lived where access to healthcare was challenging at best.
He said basic medicines and supplies are often not adequate to meet their health care needs adding that the state of the hospitals are perpetually in crisis management.
The opposition leader pointed out that at the National Referral Hospital Emergency Department patients were sleeping on the floor.
“Why is this the case? Who is responsible? Our people are angry about this,” he asked in Parliament.
Wale also highlighted logging companies disregard of tribal and community concerns, that drive conflict and disputes within tribes and communities. He said the government stood with the logging companies.
He also accused Sogavare of the use of the People’s Republic of China’s National Development Fund (NDF) money to prop up the Prime Minister as another of those issues that was undermining and compromising the sovereignty of the country.
He said the PM was dependent on that money to maintain his political strength.
Chinese funding influence
“How is he then supposed to make decisions that are wholly only in the interests of Solomon Islands untainted or undiluted by considerations for the PRC funds,” he asked.
“You see public anger has been built up over many years by all this bad governance. No serious efforts have been taken to address these serious issues. Provincial governments have increasingly over the past several years repeated their desire that they be given the constitutional mandate to manage their own affairs. Honiara has been consuming almost all the wealth that has been generated from resources exploited from the provinces,” Wale said.
He stated that the provinces had lost trust in Honiara.
“Erratic, poor, mercenary, and politically expedient decision making makes what is already a bad situation worse.
Wale said this was the situation specifically with Malaita.
“Malaita has stood on principle that a PM that lies to the country and Parliament does not have moral authority and legitimacy. Malaita would not accept it.
“Because of that principled position, this PM has not ceased to scheme and plot the consistent and persistent persecution of Malaita.
Malaita sought peaceful protest
“Malaitans have sought to petition the PM, twice, but were ignored and brushed aside in a rather juvenile manner. Malaita asked to stage peaceful protests, but these were denied.
“Malaitans sought an audience with the PM, but they were summarily dismissed. So what are they then supposed to do to get the PM’s attention? The PM consistently refused to visit Auki,” Wale said.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare speaking in Parliament yesterday … “We never received any formal log of issues from [Malaita].” Image: APR screenshotIn his response, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare strongly rejected the claims stating that he had never received any issues of concerns from Malaita province.
“We never received any formal log of issues from them so that the government sits with them and dialogue over it,” he said.
He stressed that the government runs on rules and protocols on how they deal with each other.
Regarding the motion, Sogavare said it should never be brought to the floor of Parliament.
He accused Wale and his cohorts for driving the interests of a few people.
Willing to face justice
Sogavare said the majority of peace loving Malaitans condemned with utter disgust what had happened.
On corruption allegations, that the foreign forces were helping to protect his government, Sogavare said he was willing to face justice.
“I am very willing and if the leader of opposition can prove the allegations he has against me. This is the easiest way to remove the Prime Minister—that is to send him to jail,” he said.
On the lack of government support in terms of development on Malaita, Sogavare argued that despite the current economic environment his government had performed very well.
In that regard, he said the government did not fail the people of the country, including Malaita province, in the implementation of the twin objective of his government’s policy re-direction.
He said that the government had done so much for Malaita — as a matter of fact more than what some provinces that contributed so much to the country’s economy were getting.
Eight MPs including the PM spoke on the motion.
Robert Iroga is editor of SBM Online. Republished with permission.
Did you notice anything different about the news coverage of the recent unrest in Honiara?
Those fast-breaking stories on Australia’s television, radio and online networks were not presented by Australian journalists but by Solomon Islanders professionally reporting from the frontlines of the riots.
There wasn’t a journalist on the ground from Australia, New Zealand or anywhere else except the Solomon Islands.
International journalists, known in the industry as “parachuting” journalists, are the ones who normally drop in for a few days at the height of a breaking disaster or catastrophe.
Often with little knowledge or background of the story. (Foreign correspondents are different — they’re experts in their field).
Parachute journalists arrive off the streets of the nearest major city in a developed country and hire a local journalist as a fixer. The parachute journalist uses all the local’s expertise and knowledge to file reports, getting the credit while the local fixer receives none.
The fixer probably doesn’t get paid much either.
Covid-19 border restrictions
What happened in Honiara was different because covid-19 border restrictions meant foreign journalists couldn’t get into the Solomon Islands.
The local media stepped forward and did a brilliant job. They were fast and highly skilled.
The situation on social media was a master class in how to cover a major international breaking story.
As the looters rampaged through Honiara over three days, the local media team worked together pooling resources, videos, and facts, often running from danger as they were stoned and chased from the front line by angry looters.
The ABC’s locally engaged journalist Evan Wasuka’s television story for ABC News, complete with stand-up in the streets of ravaged Honiara, led the 7pm bulletin across Australia. His live crosses kept ABC audience informed over several days.
Veteran freelance journalist Gina Kekea filed for outlets all over the world, including Al Jazeera and the BBC. She was quoted by major news outlets, including CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
Sports journalist Elizabeth Osifelo pitched in as a breaking news reporter to cover the fastmoving destruction. You might have heard her excellent discussion with Geraldine Doogue on ABC Saturday Extra.
Media pack freelancers
Many of the media pack were freelancers who worked together to cover the story, some had covered previous unrest.
But for young journalists like Job Rongo’au filling for Z FM Radio station, it was their first experience in covering a riot and a scary one.
Rongo’au said the protesters tried to grab his mobile phone, but he managed to run away to safety to file his extraordinary photos and videos that were shared on Facebook by thousands.
He said his work went viral on social media and was used by Al Jazeera, Reuters, ABC, and many others — and on ZFM Facebook
The ABC’s former Pacific correspondent, veteran Sean Dorney told me he thought Evan Wasuka’s 7pm television story was “terrific”.
Dorney said he was impressed by the stories from the Solomon Islands media. He said he thought that all the Australian news media could learn a lesson from this about the talent that exists in the Pacific media.
In the developing world, the trend of local staff stepping forward is known as “localisation”.
Local staff step forward
It’s an unexpected result of the closure of international borders because of covid-19. For the past 18 months Australian advisers and consultant have been unable to travel to the Pacific to work on humanitarian projects.
Local staff have successfully stepped forward to manage projects in their place. There are many who hope this will continue after international borders reopen.
Dorney said he is sure Australian training and support delivered to Pacific journalists over the past 20 years by journalists including himself, Jemima Garrett, and me contributed to the high-level skills displayed in Honiara.
Sue Ahearn is a journalist and media consultant specialising in the Pacific and Asia. She is the creator of The Pacific Newsroom, and co-convenor of the industry group Australia Asia Pacific Media Initiative. She worked for the ABC’s international service for 20 years and is currently studying Pacific development at the Australian National University (ANU). Republished with permission.
Facing angry rioters threatening them with physical attacks, Solomon Islands mainstream and freelance journalists and photographers were confronted with an unsettling reality during last week’s three days of rioting in Honiara.
Local journalists in the country equipped with their cameras and limited protection were working solo on assignments for their newsrooms when the riots happened.
A freelance and multimedia woman journalist, Georgina Kekea tells of the threats to attack her and her news crew by the crowd as they marched down to Vavaya Ridge road, next to City Motel in Central Honiara.
“They threatened to shoot us with stones and swore obscenities at us. They shouted, ‘Go away with your cameras!’
“Those that knew me personally didn’t say anything. Those that did, I assume they knew of me but do not know me personally; some might not know me at all,” says Kekea, who is president of the Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI).
“I don’t think any call for respect for journalists at this point would make a difference,” she told Sunday Isles.
“Except that I am surprised that people who spoke highly of culture do not have any respect at all for culture.
‘Women doing our job’
“We are women doing our job just like any other, and if that’s the way Solomon Islands men treat women in general, I am sorry for our country.
“We are lost. Nothing will and can change unless we the people change ourselves. We will not make a difference.”
Kekea pleads for people to simply allow the media to do their job.
Freelance journalist Gina Kekea doing a “piece to camera” during the aftermath of the riots in Chinatown. Image: Lisa Osifelo/Freelance/SundayIsles
“MASI condemned the recent riots that happened and called on the authorities too to respect the work of the media,” she said.
In a media statement from the Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF), chair Bernadette Carreon also urged the authorities to protect local journalists who are delivering crucial news to the public about the protests:
“The media should be allowed to do their job unharmed.
“PFF is urging authorities and protesters to respect the media who are working to inform the public about the unfortunate events taking place in the city.
“Journalists on location were attacked with tear gas, rubber bullets, and stones while protestors advanced towards the Solomon Islands Parliament house.
“While we understand this was done to disperse protesters, said journalists were merely in the line of fire due to the nature of their job as frontliners.
“The assault on members of the media is an assault on democracy.”
Freelance journalist Georgina Kekea and her freelance news crew cameraman … threatened by rioters while covering the mayhem in Honiara. Image: Lisa Osifelo/Freelance/Sunday Isles
Rioters smashed reporter’s phone
Sunday Isles online newspaper multimedia journalist Alex Dadamu also faced harassment and his phone was smashed by rioters while covering the insurrection in and around the Mokolo Building near the Mataniko Bridge, Chinatown.
“I would say they used many hurtful abusive words towards me in the Malaita language and were too aggressive,” he says.
“I was standing in front of Mokolo Building near the Mataniko Bridge taking pictures secretly because the crowd does not want anyone to take pictures and videos. They announced it in the first place before and during the march down to Chinatown.
“At one point, I took a picture and then put my phone back in my pocket. Unfortunately, a member of the crowd saw me take the picture.
“He approached me aggressively, threatening to hit me. By that time, more members of the crowd were starting to join that guy to threaten me for taking the pictures.
“They demanded that I hand over the phone to them. I humbly said, ‘sorry,’ and handed over the phone because already my life was in danger of them beating me up.
“I feared for my safety and I humbly handed over the phone from my pocket and they smashed in on the tarseal road.
“There goes my phone,” says Dadamu.
He says he and a colleague journalist from Sunday Isles (environment reporter John Houanihau) who were covering the unrest on November 24 were also affected by the tear gas targeted at the rioters.
Many lessons learned
When asked if he was wearing press credentials (identification card) issued by Sunday Isles, he says: “I showed them my Sunday Isles media ID card which identified me as a politics and development reporter.”
Dadamu says he learned many lessons from the incident and hopes this will make a difference in the future.
“Lesson learned and I don’t blame them. It is our job as reporters to assess the situation and take note of the dangers which might happen,” he says.
“Additionally, more awareness needs to be than so that people may know and understand more about the role of media in a situation such as these.”
In another related incident, a woman journalist from Island Sun newspaper, Mavis Nishimura Podokolo, says that when covering the scene at the Town Ground area, west of Honiara, demonstrators verbally harassed and chased her, forcing her to get out of the area.
Mavis appealed to the public to respect the work of local media practitioners and journalists in the country — especially in times of crisis.
“The role of journalists is to inform the public and during the ongoing crisis or riot it is pivotal,” she says.
“The work of the journalist is very important in a democracy.”
Mike Tua is a journalist at Sunday Isles. Republished with permission.
SIBC radio and television journalist Simon Tavake patrolling the streets in the aftermath of the rioting in the Honiara’s Chinatown. Image: Simon Tavake/SIBC/SundayIsles
Incoming new vice-chancellor for Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Toelesulusulu Dr Damon Ieremia Salesa is keenly aware that he has broken through another glass ceiling.
The son of a factory worker made New Zealand history last week, as the first Pacific person to be appointed to the eminent leadership position in academia at a New Zealand university.
“I’m really excited to be the AUT vice-chancellor and with that excitement comes a sense of its significance with the sector which I work in and have given much of my life to, actually looking like the people it serves. So I’m really excited to be part of that story,” Toelesulusulu told Asia-Pacific Report.
“AUT is a place where talent can find opportunity and I would hope that lots of other people would want to express that excitement by wanting to come to AUT,” he says.
“What matters more is the work of the whole institution, that the university itself embraces its many different communities, its Māori students, its Pacific students and already AUT is a little bit known for that and what we can do is to build even more deeply on that.”
Professor Steven Ratuva, director of the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies at the University of Canterbury, says Dr Salesa’s appointment is a significant milestone for the Pacific.
“It is something he richly deserves, and he has been working hard for and it is a good career choice, it is good for the Pacific academic community, and I congratulate him for his contribution to Pacific education.”
South Auckland priority
Currently pro-vice-chancellor Pacific at the University of Auckland (UOA), Dr Salesa takes up his new role as vice-chancellor at AUT in March.
From just up the hill at UOA, he has observed AUT, and likes what he saw.
“I’ve really admired the way AUT prioritised and served its students, particularly the students of South Auckland and mature students, and that is one of reasons I was really interested in the job,” he says.
“Just because those communities of learners for whom education really matters, AUT has really embraced them and that is part of what is exciting about AUT — that is why I wanted to come across and join AUT.
“There is no question that the campus down south and campus on the shore bring universities into the communities that they serve and as well as being global institutions they are local institutions.
“If you have heart to service and you keep the students at the very centre of the decisions you make, you get great results like you see AUT deliver in South Auckland and the North Shore,” he says.
Strengthening Māori and Pacific research
Pacific and Māori research is one area he wants to strengthen as well as build relationships with other institutions in the Pacific.
“Certainly, one of the things I have as a priority is to make sure that AUT is in all of the partnerships that it needs to be in, that we are serving our communities and our partners as well in a reciprocal relationship from which everyone grows.
“That will mean we have to be a little bit selective, but it will also mean that Pacific partnerships and other partnerships are critical to the very centre of the university, and they are not seen as being marginal because we’re a university in the middle of the South Pacific.
“We need to honour that and be connected to our whanau around the Pacific.
Toeolesulusulu Dr Damon Salesa … ““We need to honour … and be connected to our whanau around the Pacific.” Image: RNZ
“It is absolutely important that we are having those conversations, we need to understand how we can support the University of the South Pacific (USP) and their work, how we can find benefit and value for New Zealand and AUT students and staff from those relationships, so certainly we will be taking that seriously.
“But certainly, USP is a special institution in our region, so we need to be strategic in how we support and partner with them.”
Associate Professor Shailendra Singh, head of journalism at USP, says “as many have pointed out, the appointment is well deserved. He was not given any preference as a Pacific Islander. He was picked on merit.
A Pacific ‘trailblazer’
“As a trailblazer, he will inspire many Pacific Islanders and Pacific people beyond New Zealand as the vice-chancellor of one of the finest universities in our region.
“Through my association with the Pacific Media Centre (PMC), I have participated in AUT journalism-related workshops, seminars, and conferences.
“I have a high regard for the AUT and the PMC, long a flagship of the university for its cutting-edge research and publications in Pacific journalism.
“I hope the PMC is revived as journalism in the region has been struggling due to economic and political factors. Pacific journalism needs support and leadership and AUT can become the beacon it was,” Associate Professor Singh says.
Dr Salesa was in the dark about the PMC which has now been in hiatus for almost a year for unknown reasons.
“I’d have to learn more about that, I don’t know the ins and outs of that situation, but these are things that have to be collaborative, they have to be built with the kind of collective will and expertise of the university especially.
“There is no question that AUT will be prioritising Māori research and Pacific research among its other amazing specialisations,” Dr Salesa says.
AUT ‘anchored in Pacific’
“AUT will always be anchored in the Pacific region and obviously has a long history of educating people from the Pacific region and we hope to continue and deepen that.
“Those partnerships will speak directly to AUT’s future, and this is a period in time where everyone is just hoping for the best possible outcome for USP, and we will be looking to support in ways that make sense for them and AUT.”
Dr Salesa is testament to the fact that people of a Pacific background or ethnicity can succeed and excel — not just in sport, but in every facet of society.
“I think we’ve always known, as the saying goes, talent is everywhere, but opportunity isn’t — and what AUT is the story of, is making opportunity available to diverse groups of talented people.
“We know if you make opportunities available to those who have been denied them, they will flourish if they are supported in the right way.
“I have no doubt what people will see in my own story is that the kinds of diverse talent we have in New Zealand that too often we haven’t made the most of, can come to AUT and thrive.
“I hope that people see in that all kinds of stories because I am also the son of a factory worker, and I am also a first-generation university attendee people can understand that when talent gets opportunity and support it drives them and that’s what I am hoping you’ll see and that is what success at AUT is all about and its story,” the Auckland suburb of Glen Innes-raised Dr Salesa says.
Education pathway
A strong advocate for education, he wanted young Māori and Pasifika people to pursue that pathway rather than young school leavers joining the workforce.
“We know that education is one of the proven pathways to wellbeing and prosperity for families, and that at the same time we know that many families need their young people to go out and work.
“So, it is absolutely critical that we find ways to get talented young Pacific, Māori and other students into high value employment and education is one of the ways of doing that.
“What we need is for them to be ambitious, to have high expectations of themselves and their families and it is for AUT and other universities to deliver that transformational learning which is the secret to those strong and prosperous futures,” Dr Salesa says.
Transformative learning allowed people to change and have more than one career.
“We know all of us are living in the most uncertain and highly changeable times. In the old days everyone imagined they would have just one career and many people now are realising they might not only change jobs but change careers and they have also come to realise that in many, many of our jobs technology sits at the centre of opportunity and the ability to be effective.
“AUT is the kind of institution that is built for these times, it offers all sorts of flexible learning offerings and a truly diverse student body and it is New Zealand’s tech university.
Transformative learning
“So transformative learning is the kind of learning that actually transforms individual students lives where you can see outcomes writ large and that’s what I’m hoping to support further development at AUT so that people understand AUT is a great place to go, to study and get a great job but also prepare themselves for a great future,” Dr Salesa says.
Then there was the inevitable vexed question, whether it was time for another university, namely AUT, to start a new medical school? To which he played with a straight bat.
“At the moment AUT is one of the great providers of the health workforce in New Zealand and certainly for the short term we will be focusing on doing an even better job of doing that.
“Delivering a health workforce and the health researchers that New Zealand needs. That is obviously a critical contribution in the age of the pandemic, but again that will be built collaboratively with my colleagues at AUT.
“I think it is a very challenging time for universities across the board and particularly where next year is going to be where students have had two years of lockdown learning in Auckland so we have to make sure that the university can support them in their ambitions to be successful at AUT.
“That is going to be one of the great challenges, not just facing AUT, but all the tertiary providers that have suffered lockdowns in Auckland.”
This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by Sri Krishnamurthi.
The riots in Honiara yesterday, disturbing the city’s normally quiet atmosphere, were unexpected but not surprising.
Someone made reference to a possible protest that would coincide with the convening of Parliament, but details were sketchy and social media was tightlipped about a protest for a change.
Arguably, the riots are a culmination of a number of flashpoints that have been ignored these past few months.
At a “Tok Stori” Conference jointly held by the Solomon Islands National University and University of Melbourne on Wednesday, 17 November 2021, on the environment, conflict and peace, I spoke about unmasking the faces of those who control the Solomon Islands economy.
I argued that even though 80 percent of land in Solomon Islands is owned by Solomon Islanders, they are largely bystanders, while outsiders, mainly Malaysian, Filipino, and Chinese loggers and mining companies control the resources and the political processes involving our politicians.
People might elect our members of Parliament, but it is the logging companies, mining companies and other largely Asian-owned companies that underwrite the formation of government, influence the election of the Prime Minister, and keep ministers and government supporters under control after the elections.
In return, if they want anything, or need special favours, they go directly to ministers and even the Prime Minister.
Indigenous owners shut out
Indigenous Solomon Island business owners do not have the same access to our leaders. The political governance arrangements in Solomon Islands are shaped by the cozy co-existence between foreign loggers, miners and businesses.
The influence of non-state actors in shaping political undercurrents in Solomon Islands cannot be ignored.
Yesterday’s protest is said to have been instigated by supporters from Malaita, but the frustration with the national government, the attitude of the Prime Minister and ministers to provincial governments and provincial politicians, and the sense of alienation and disenfranchisement, is arguably shared across a wide spectrum of the country.
People feel resentful when they see the national government giving a Malaysian company preferential tax status by virtue of an Act of Parliament, or $13 million as a deposit towards the construction of what are purportedly poor-quality prefabricated houses, while Solomon Islanders have to sleep on the floor in the emergency department of their hospital.
Such things are inevitably bound to fuel resentment. When people see the government bypass local, indigenous contractors for the Pacific Games, it makes them antagonistic, and feel neglected.
This sense of alienation, disempowerment and neglect has been building for some time.
Yesterday’s protest is intertwined with the complexity of the China-Taiwan, and national-provincial government political dynamics that have been well publicised.
Shoddy treatment of Premier
Malaitans in Malaita generally have been sympathetic to their Premier. The shoddy way the national government has been treating their highly respected Premier Daniel Suidani, starting with arrangements for his overseas travel, and then blocking every single attempt he made at appointing ministers while he was away, has not been lost on Malaitans.
The unprecedented welcome he received at Auki when he returned from medical leave was testament to the high regard in which he is held.
Not even the Prime Minister would have come anywhere near size of the crowd that welcomed him that day. Notably absent were the Malaitan members of the national Parliament.
The thousands of supporters who showed up in truckloads from all wards in Malaita to stop the vote of no-confidence against Daniel Suidani should have sent a signal to national parliamentarians and the Prime Minister that it was time to set aside their differences.
Perhaps they underestimated the people’s resolve, thinking that the bribes that were allegedly paid to the Malaita provincial members would have been sufficient to topple Daniel Suidani.
Where the money originated from remains a mystery. However, Daniel Suidani’s vocal opposition to the switch to China, and his courting of Taiwan, might give a clue.
Throughout the past months, there has been little dialogue between the national government and the Malaita provincial government. A great opportunity to avoid today’s protests would have been for government ministers from Malaita to attend a reconciliation ceremony that was held in Aimela, a village outside Auki, last week.
They were not seen. Diplomacy and dialogue are not confined to international relations. They are very important attributes for politicians to have when they deal with each other.
Drifting to self-destruction
Solomon Islands has been drifting to self-destruction. It is one of the most aid dependent countries in the world.
Significant donor support is given to its health and education sector. Yet, its ministers and senior government officials treat its people poorly, and allow them to be exploited by loggers and miners.
Yesterday’s protest and riots are evidence of serious underlying currents that have been neglected. There has to be reform to the political system, including making the government more inclusive.
Those that rioted today probably don’t get anything from government. This has to change, otherwise Solomon Islands could be on the pathway to implosion.
Dr Transform Aqorau is CEO, iTuna Intel and founding director, Pacific Catalyst and a legal adviser to Marshall Islands. He is the former CEO of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement Office. This article was first published on DevPolicy blog at the Australian National University and is republished here under a Creatiuve Commons licence.
A sad day indeed when a school building was also torched and burnt down. My former school, Honiara Senior High School now being burnt down this evening. The science lab is now gone and the fire moving towards the assembly hall. A sad time for the students & teachers not mine pic.twitter.com/MhIa1m8xzU
Toeolesulusulu said the past two years of the covid-19 pandemic have been the most difficult for education in a long time.
He said part of the reason he chose to take up the new role was that AUT provides a pathway to education for people of all ages, backgrounds and races, regardless of the life stage or academic credentials.
“The pressures of the pandemic have forced many young people to have to choose between furthering their education or providing for their families, and institutions like AUT can help.
“Now is a great time to just leave school and get a job,” Toeolesulusulu said.
“But in terms of the future that students’ families need, that our city and our communities need, education still remains the single most powerful way to transform the lives of you and your family and through them our communities.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Pacific civil society organisations say COP26 was the most exclusionary and inequitable of the annual United Nations climate negotiations so far and the results are equally disappointing.
The global climate negotiations concluded over the weekend in Glasgow with a new global deal on climate.
But reaching an agreement is looking like one of the only good things to come out of the negotiations from the Pacific Islands’ perspective.
Lavetanalagi Seru of the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network was in Glasgow and said that after all of the struggle getting there it was disappointing to find civil society excluded from many of the meeting rooms.
“So it doesn’t deliver on being an inclusive COP, neither does it deliver on equity and ensuring that the voices of frontline communities who are most impacted by the climate crisis are being heard,” he said.
“And that would mean the rapid phase out of fossil fuels, increased climate finance commitments.
“The second [disappointment] was on how they watered down the language on fossil fuel phase out to now its phase down.”
Lavetanalagi Seru said another big letdown for the Pacific was there was no concrete action on setting up a mechanism for loss and damage finance, which is reparation for the longterm and permanent damage already being caused by climate change.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The climate emergency is the result of an ethical, moral and spiritual crisis, manifested in a fixation on profit.
The extractive and, ultimately, unsustainable systems of production and consumption, by those complicit in this crisis, continue to ignore increasing scientific, and moral warnings.
Those who have contributed to this crisis the least, suffer the most, physically, existentially, and ecologically.
We affirm the Faith and Science Joint Appeal, calling us to respond, with the knowledge of science, and the wisdom of spirituality: to know more and to care more.
Our interconnectedness to this common home forces us to a radical solidarity, across gender and generation, for climate justice for all.
In this spirit, wealthier countries must lead in reducing their own emissions, and in financing emission reductions of poorer nations.
Industrialised countries must support the vulnerable
Industrialised countries must support the vulnerable countries, and finance adaptation.
They must put into action a mechanism for loss and damage, with additional funds.
Love calls us to seek climate justice and restoration. It calls us to respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, to protect them, and their ancestral domains, from predatory economic interests, and to learn from their ancient wisdom.
Indigenous spirituality could restore our understanding of interdependence between land, ocean, and life, between generations before us,and the ones to come.
Love calls us to transformation of systems and lifestyles. This transition away from fossil fuel-based economies must be just, securing livelihoods and wellbeing for all and not just some.
Keep Paris Agreement promise alive
We ask our leaders to not only keep the promise of the Paris Agreement alive, but also to keep alive the hope of a flourishing future for humanity.
We have heard many commitments in this place.
Words have power, but only when they are manifested into action.
The fate of the planet depends on it.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) presented a longer statement to the COP26 Climate Summit. This was the text of Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) secretary-general Reverend James Bhagwan’s intervention to the High Level Plenary yesterday.
COMMENTARY:By the Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown
After years of empty promises by major emitters, it’s time to deliver on climate financing.
The world is warming. The science is clear. Most large, developed countries need to take ambitious action to reduce their emissions in order not to impact us further.
If they don’t, there is dire consequence, and in turn a significant rise in adaptation cost to us, those that did not cause this problem.
Some people call it paradise, but for me and thousands of Pacific people, the beautiful pristine Pacific Island region is simply home. It is our inheritance, a blessing from our forebears and ancestors.
As custodians of these islands, we have a moral duty to protect it – for today and the unborn generations of our Pacific anau.
Sadly, we are unable to do that because of things beyond our control. The grim reality of climate change, especially for many Small Island Developing States like my beloved Cook Islands, is evidently clear.
Sea level rise is alarming. Our food security is at risk, and our way of life that we have known for generations is slowly disappearing. What were “once in a lifetime” extreme events like category 5 cyclones, marine heatwaves and the like are becoming more severe.
No longer theory
These developments are no longer theory. Despite our negligible contribution to global emissions, this is the price we pay.
We are talking about homes, lands and precious lives; many are being displaced as we speak. I am reminded about my Pacific brothers and sisters living on remote atolls including some of those in our 15 islands that make up the Cook Islands — as well as our Pacific neighbours such as Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tokelau and many others, not just in the Pacific Ocean.
This family of small islands states is spread beyond our Pacific to across the globe.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown … “the devastating impact of climate change has evolved from a mere threat to a crisis of epic proportion.” Image: Nate McKinnon/RNZ
Here in the Cook Islands, we are raising riverbanks to protect homes that for the first time in history are being reached by floodwater. We are building water storage on islands that have never before experienced levels of drought that we see now.
Over the years, the devastating impact of climate change has evolved from a mere threat to a crisis of epic proportion, now posing as the most pressing security issue to livelihoods on our island shores.
We live with undeniable evidence to back up the science. Most of you who follow the climate change discourse know our story. We have been saying this for as far as back as I can remember.
For more than 10 years of my political career, our message to the world about climate change has been loud and clear. Climate change is a matter of life and death. We need help. Urgently.
Given only empty promises
Today, I am sad to say that after all the years of highlighting this bitter truth, the discourse hasn’t progressed us far enough. All we have been given are promises and more empty promises from the world’s biggest emitters while our islands and people are heading towards a climate catastrophe where our very existence and future is at stake.
But we will not stop trying. As long as we have the strength and the opportunity to speak our truth to power, we will continue to call for urgent action. In the words of our young Pacific climate activists, “We are not drowning, we are fighting.”
Koro Island, Fiji, after Tropical Cyclone Winston in 2016. “It is critical that COP26 begins discussions for a new quantifiable goal on climate finance.” Image: UNOCHA
As the political champion of Climate Finance for the Pacific Islands, I believe it is imperative that world leaders fast track large-scale climate finance that are easy to access for bold long-term and permanent adaptation solutions.
It is critical that COP26 begins discussions for a new quantifiable goal on climate finance. We need to do this now. Not tomorrow, next year or the next COP.
Last week when I addressed world leaders attending COP26, I urged them to consider a new global financial instrument that recognises climate-related debt, separately from national debt. We need to provide for innovative financing modalities that do not increase our debt.
We need to take climate adaptation debt off national balance sheets, especially since many Pacific countries are already heavily in debt. Why? Pacific countries contribute the least to global emissions and they should not have to pay a debt on top the consequences they are already struggling with.
Amortising adaptation debt
We need to consider amortising adaptation debt over a 100-year timeframe.
We must seek a new commitment that dedicates financing towards Loss and Damage that would assist our vulnerable communities manage the transfer of risks experienced by the irreversible impacts of climate change. We must also ensure that adaptation receives an equitable amount of financing as for mitigation.
I want to reiterate that adaptation measures by their very nature are long-term investments against climate impacts, thus we need to be talking about adaptation project lifecycles of 20 years, 50 years and 100 years, and more.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited Tuvalu in 2019 and described the nation as “the extreme front-line of the global climate emergency”. Image: UN in the Pacific
We are at a critical juncture of our journey where the fate of our beautiful, pristine homes is a stake. I call on all major emitters to take stronger climate action, especially to deliver on their funding promises.
Stop making excuses; climate change existed way before covid-19 when the promises of billions of dollars in climate financing were made.
It is time to deliver.
Mark Brown, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, is also the Pacific Political Champion for Climate Finance at COP26. While not attending the COP this year due to covid-19 travel restrictions, Prime Minister Brown is providing support and undertaking this role remotely. This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
not mine 
