Māori and Pasifika female rugby players and advocates are asking to not be an afterthought.
Māori/Pasifika community rugby representative Chantal Bakersmith said the latest New Zealand Rugby (NZR) report highlighting issues surrounding the treatment of Black Ferns players was not surprising.
A scathing review released this week by NZR raised concerns within Black Ferns’ culture and environment and said Māori and Pacific players had been badly served by both team management and the governing body.
Bakersmith, who has developed pilot programmes for women’s rugby within NZR, said the issues were not new.
“Planning for women’s rugby, it was always an afterthought, and you really had to push your case for it to be thought about,” she said.
“And then there was always this feeling that because I’m questioning things I’m an agitator or being a pain — but there’s a population that hasn’t been served or thought about.”
The review was a result of Black Ferns hooker Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate, who shared a social media post saying the Black Ferns head coach Glenn Moore told her she did not deserve to be on the team, and was “picked only to play the guitar”.
Cultural competency needed
Rugby advocate Alice Soper said Pākehā coaches needed to understand cultural competency and be able to relate to their players.
“Any excuse around ignorance is just arrogance,” she said.
“We live in a time where there is multiple things that you can access to upskill yourself and if you are a Pākehā coach and you are going into a team that is predominantly Māori or Pasifika then you need to be upskilling yourself — that is a basic part of your role.”
Soper said changed behaviour and the removal of the current coach was a must. It was understood that Moore would remain as the head coach until at least the Women’s World Cup in October.
However, female rugby players also need to take accountability of their own performance, said former Black Ferns representative Regina Sheck.
Sheck, who played prop for the Black Ferns from 1994 to 2004, said the NZR review seems to be about a communication issue rather than a management issue.
She said a lot of the ownership of not being selected comes down to the players themselves.
“If you haven’t put in the effort then don’t be surprised if you don’t get the call-out,” she said.
‘Take a look at themselves’
“Players need to take a look at themselves — well that’s just life in general. Don’t throw stones if you live in a glasshouse.
“What’s happened since the Black Ferns started to get paid, and this is how I look at it, this could also go back through to NZR as well — is that there hasn’t been any development.”
Despite the report, Bakersmith said that there were some initiatives that NZR had created to ensure rugby culture was more inclusive for women.
“There’s a programme called Ako Wāhine, and it’s fully focused on upskilling or recruiting women from all different parts of rugby experience — whether as a manager or as a player or as a coach, anybody.”
“They had the first cohort rollout last year and you’ll see these cohorts throughout the community and across the country, so that’s positive.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
It is unconscionable. A bewildering and grossly unfair crisis for 34 young Papuan students – 25 male and 9 female – the hope for the future of the West Papua region, the Melanesian half of Papua New Guinea island ruled by Indonesia.
They were part of a cohort of 93 Papuan students studying in Aotearoa New Zealand on local provincial autonomy government scholarships, preparing for their careers, and learning or improving their English along the way. They were also making Pacific friendships and contacts.
They were fast becoming a “bridge” to New Zealand. Ambassadors for their people.
And then it all changed. Suddenly through no fault of their own, 41 of them were told out of the blue their scholarships were being cancelled and they had to return home.
Their funds were cut with no warning. Many of them had accommodation bills to pay, university fees to cover and other student survival debts.
They were abandoned by their own government, some of them being close to completing their degrees of diplomas. Appeals to both the provincial governments in Papua and the central government in Jakarta – even to President Joko Widodo — were ignored.
Yes, it is unconscionable.
New Zealand help?
Surely New Zealand can respond to this Pacific plea for help?
An interview by Laurens Ikinia with Tagata Pasifika last month. Video: Sunpix
They must finish their studies here in New Zealand because returning home to a low wage economy, high unemployment, the ravages of the covid-19 pandemic, and an insurgency war for independence will ruin their education prospects.
Papuan students studying in Australia and New Zealand face tough and stressful challenges apart from the language barrier. As Yamin Kogoya, a Brisbane-based West Papuan commentator, says from first-hand experience:
“Papuan students abroad face many difficulties, including culture shock and adjustments, along with anxiety due to the deaths of their family members back in West Papua, which take a toll on their study.
“As well as inconsistencies and delays in Jakarta’s handling of funds, corruption, harassment, and intimidation also contribute to this crisis.”
At present, out of 17 students currently studying at the Universal College of Learning (UCOL) in Palmerston North, only 10 are able to attend classes. Seven students cannot attend because of their visa status and tuition fees which have not been paid.
Five students at AUT
At Auckland University of Technology, out of five students studying there, one is doing a masters degree, four are studying for diplomas and one is not enrolled because the government has not paid tuition fees.
Out of the 41 recalled students, the visas for some of them have already expired while others are expiring this month.
Of the 34 students still in New Zealand and determined to complete their studies, the breakdown is understood to be as follows:
UCOL Palmerston North – 15
Institute of the Pacific United (IPU) New Zealand – 6
AUT University – 4
Ardmore Flying School – 2
Waikato University – 2
Canterbury University – 1
Massey University – 1
Unitec – 1
Victoria University – 1
Awatapu College – 1
Papuan students in Auckland sort donated food for their colleagues stranded in New Zealand while completing their studies. Image: IAPSAO
The students have rallied and are working hard to try to rescue their situation as they are optimistic about completing their studies. The Green Party has taken up advocacy on their behalf.
The Papuans are communicating with the NZ International Students Association, NZ Students Union and NZ Pasifika Students.
Community groups such as the Whānau Hub in Mt Roskill, Auckland, have assisted with food and living funds. A givealittle page has been set up for relief and has raised more than $6500 so far.
But far more is needed, and an urgent extension of their student visas is a must.
Papuan Governor Lukas Enembe (centre in purple shirt) talks with students in Jayapura. Image: Jubi
‘Grateful for support’
“We’re so grateful to all Kiwis across the country for their generous support for us at our time of desperate need,” says communication coordinator Laurens Ikinia of the International Alliance of Papuan Students Associations Overseas (IAPSAO) and who is a postgraduate student at AUT.
“We’re also grateful to all the tertiary institutions and universities for understanding the plight of the West Papuan students.”
Papuan students are speaking today on the issue at a Pacific “media lunch” in a double billing along with Fiji’s opposition National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad at the Whānau Community Centre in Auckland’s Mt Roskill.
Today’s “media lunch” featuring the forthcoming Fiji general election and the West Papuan students. Image: Whānau Community Hub
Just last Monday, many worried parents and families of students affected by this sudden change of scholarship policy gathered to meet Papua Governor Lukas Enembe in Jayapura to plead their case.
Hopefully, Indonesian Ambassador Fientje Maritje Suebu, ironically also a Papuan, will read this appeal too. The situation is an embarrassment for Indonesia at a time when the republic is trying to foster a better image with our Pacific neighbours.
Minister Faafoi, surely New Zealand can open its arms and embrace the Papuan students, offering them humanitarian assistance, first through extended visas, and second helping out with their financial plight.
The first female premier of a Solomon Islands province is appealing to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to help her country manage covid-19 in the community.
People travelling between Honiara and Isabel Province were being tested for the virus at four testing centres, and if they test positive they were isolated at a makeshift centre.
The Isabel Premier, Rhoda Sikilabu, said she was desperate for funding to make improvements to the isolation centres because “they’re filling up and are run down”.
“I really, really need support. We have no place to … isolate these people,” Sikilabu said.
She wants New Zealand to provide funding for improvements for the centres.
“I, as a woman and a mother, I have so many worries and concerns for families offloading with babies, children,” she said.
“I really, really need support in covid. Please I would like to appeal to the Prime Minister.”
Focus on environmental and women’s issues
Sikilabu plans to focus on environmental and women’s issues, and is hopeful of bringing changes to her region as well as transform old mindsets.
She wants women to have authority to speak about their land and property in regards to resources.
“Reforestation is one of the priorities that I will tackle and maybe I can impact more on how women can address or say more on their property, their land ownership,” she said.
”The environment is very, very important to women just now.”
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Tagata Pasifika is celebrating 35 years on air this year. Former hosts Foufou Susana Hukui, Reverend Elder Maligi Evile and former researcher/reporter Iulia Leilua take look back at the early days. Video: Sunpix
A trip down memory lane for Tagata Pasifika’s first host, Foufou Susana Hukui as she watches a video clip of an interview she did with former Prime Minister of Samoa, Tupua Tamasese Efi.
“It was just the most exciting journey that we were going to take,” Hukui says.
“Because I have watched the white man, white people, other people but never us telling our own stories. When they were told, they were told from a white man’s perspective.”
The weekly show first aired on the 4 April 1987, as a pan-Pacific voice on New Zealand television.
“When I got on our first programme, I made sure that we were different. I didn’t deliberately do it — that’s just the way I was,” Hukui says.
“Coloured clothes, summer right through the whole year and flowers in my ear. I just wanted people to know who I was, this is me and this is going to be our people’s programme.”
Hukui switched from working in radio to pioneer storytelling from a Pasifika lens on national television covering a myriad of stories and events.
Foufou Susana Hukui was the first host for Tagata Pasifika, which launched on 4 April 1987 … “Coloured clothes, summer right through the whole year and flowers in my ear.” Image: TPPlus
‘Flooded the market with colour’
“We did suddenly flood the market on the media with colour that we are used to with flowers, with headgear, with cooking, the puaka, hair cutting ceremonies, weddings; and this, you know, even though it’s our culture, we love to see it on TV.
“In those days we didn’t have social media so we were, at the time, just right because that was the strongest medium at the time,” Hukui says.
From the very start, Tagata Pasifika was a news and information show for the community.
Radio broadcasters like the Reverend Maligi Evile played a key role as the first news reader.
“The programme was more or less bifocal in the sense that I was telling our people what is happening out there at home in your country and your home and I was also telling the NZ public, the NZ community that this is what is happening out there in our homes in the Pacific,” Reverend Evile says.
As our people continued to come to Aotearoa, the half hour show played an important role in helping them settle in and feel like they belonged here.
“I was really appreciative to think that, considering the number of Pacific people who were living in NZ at the time, I think it’s about time that we have some small window on the screen on TVNZ,” he says.
‘Transforming a window’
“When this opportunity came along, I thought this was the window that we were waiting for and I was hoping that this window will transform into a door and perhaps into a room and even a big house for bigger things to come for the Pacific people.”
Reporter Maligi Evile delivered the Pacific News on the very first episode of Tagata Pasifika … “This was the window that we were waiting for.” Image: TPPlus
And over the years Tagata Pasifika has moved through different time slots and faces have come and gone, but through it all viewers have remained loyal.
Former researcher and reporter Iulia Leilua says there was a demand for Pacific voices and faces to be seen and heard in the media following major events like the Dawn Raids which happened in the previous decade.
“I thank TVNZ for their foresight, I thank even more so the people who lobbied for this programme. TVNZ really had no option but to showcase the Māori and Pacific voice and faces at that time,” Leilua says.
In 2014, TVNZ announced that the show will no longer be made in-house and the following year production company Sunpix Limited started producing the show.
“Tagata Pasifika is reflective of our Pacific peoples and it’s been there on that journey for many people and their lives. People come to the show to see stories that they are not hearing or seeing elsewhere so the legacy is kind of this, you know, this trusted source of story telling about our people and an important place that documents our people’s lives and history,” Leilua says.
Iulia Leilua was with Tagata Pasifika since its inception, taking on roles of researcher, director and presenter for the show … “Tagata Pasifika is reflective of our Pacific peoples.” Image: TPPlus
Playing a role online
Now, 35 years on, with a wide variety of media to choose from Tagata Pasifika continues to play a role not just on our television screens but also online where more content is available. But there has always been a dream for more time on air.
“We started off with half an hour, perhaps give us another 15 mins on air or perhaps give us an extra half hour you know we need a bit more frequency on air and we need more support,” Reverend Evile says.
Hukui acknowledges the changing media landscape but adds that it is even more important than ever to have a trusted source of information.
“No matter what, no matter if you have Instagram, your TikTok, whatever, Facebook, the people of our Pacific always go to what’s Tagata Pasifika to see the real, to get the real story.”
John Pulu — “JP” — is a Tagata Pasifika reporter/director/presenter and a Pacific community broadcaster.
Papuan Governor Lukas Enembe had an hour-long meeting with Russian Ambassador Lyudmila Vorobyeva, accompanied by the director of the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Jakarta this week. On the table, an invitation for President Vladimir Putin to visit Papua later this year.
The governor also had his small team with him — Samuel Tabuni (CEO of Papua Language Institute), Alex Kapisa (Head of the Papua Provincial Liaison Agency in Jakarta) and Muhammad Rifai Darus (Spokesman for the Governor of Papua).
As a result of this meeting, social media is likely to run hot with heated debate.
This isn’t surprising, considering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, hotly condemned in the West.
Speculation is rife whether Indonesia — as chair of the G20 group of nations — will invite President Putin to attend the global forum in Bali later this year.
Governor Enembe is not just another governor of another province of Indonesia — he represents one of the biggest settler-colonial provinces actively seeking independence.
Considering Enembe’s previous rhetoric condemning harmful policies of the central government, such as the failed Special Autonomy Law No.21/2021, this meeting has only added confusion, leaving both Indonesians and Papuans wondering about the motives for the governor’s actions.
Also, the governor has invited President Putin to visit Papua after attending the G20 meeting in Bali.
Whether President Putin would actually visit Papua is another story, but this news is likely to cause great anxiety for Papuans and Indonesians alike.
So, what was Monday’s meeting all about?
Papuan Governor Lukas Enembe … “The old stories are dying, and we need new stories for our future.” Image: West Papua Today
Papuan students in Russia
Spokesperson Muhammad Rifai said Governor Enembe had expressed deep gratitude to the government of the Russian Federation for providing a sense of security to indigenous Papuan students studying higher education in Russia.
The scholarships were offered to Papuan students through the Russian Centre for Science and Culture, which began in 2016 and is repeated annually.
Under this scheme, Governor Enembe sent 26 indigenous Papuans to the Russian Federation on September 27, 2019, for undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
As of last year, Russia offered 163 places for Papuan students, but this number cannot be verified due to the high number of Indonesian students seeking education in Russia.
The ambassador also discussed the possibility of increasing the number of scholarships available to Papuan students who want to study in Russia. Governor Enembe appreciates this development as education is a foundation for the land of Papua to grow and move forward.
The governor also said Russia was the only country in the world that would be willing to meet Papua halfway by offering students a free scholarship for their tuition fees.
Along with these education and scholarship discussions, Rifai said the governor wanted to talk about the construction of a space airport in Biak Island, in Cenderawasih Bay on the northern coast of Papua.
The governor was also interested in the world’s largest spaceport, Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which is still operating today and he hoped to gain insight from the Russian government.
Building a Russian cultural museum in Papua
As part of strengthening the Russia-Papua relationship, Governor Enembe asked the Russian government to not only accept indigenous Papuan students, but to also transfer knowledge from the best teachers in Russia to students in Papua.
As part of the initiative, the governor invited Victoria from the Russian Centre for Science and Culture to Papua in order to inaugurate a Russian Cultural Centre at one of the local universities.
However, Governor Enembe’s desire to establish this relationship is not only due to Russian benevolence toward his Papuan students studying in Russia.
The Monday meeting with the Russian ambassador in Jakarta and his invitation to President Putin to visit Papua were inspired by deeper inspiration stories.
The story originated more than 150 years ago.
Governor Enembe was touched by the story he had heard of a Russian anthropologist who lived on New Guinea soil, and who had tried to save New Guinean people during one of the cruellest and darkest periods of European savagery in the Pacific.
Indigenous hero
Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay pictured with a Papuan boy named Ahmad in this image taken c. 1873. Image: File
His name was Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay (1846 –1888) — a long forgotten Russian messianic anthropologist, who fought to defend indigenous New Guineans against German, Dutch, British, and Australian forces on New Guinea island.
His travels and adventures around the world — including the Canary Islands, North Africa, Easter Island, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, the Philippines, and New Guinea — not only expanded his knowledge of the world’s geography, but most importantly his consciousness. This made him realise that all men are equal.
For a European and a scientist during this time, it was risky to even consider, let alone speak or write about such claims. Yet he dared to stand in opposition to the dominant worldview of the time — a hegemony so destructive that it set the stage for future exploitation of islanders in all forms: information, culture, and natural resources.
West Papua still bleeds as a result.
His campaign against Australian slavery of black islanders — known as blackbirding — in the Pacific between the 1840s and 1930s, and for the rights of indigenous people in New Guinea was driven by a spirit of human equality.
On Sunday, September 15, 2013, ABC radio broadcast the following statement about Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay:
He was handsome, he was idealistic and a mass of disturbing contradictions. He died young. That should have been enough to ensure his story’s survival – and it was in Russia, where he became a Soviet culture hero, not in the Australian colonies where he fought for the rights of colonised peoples and ultimately lost.
ironic and tragic
The term Melanesia emerged out of such colonial enterprise, fuelled by white supremacy attitudes. As ironic and tragic as it seems, Papuans in West Papua reclaimed the term and used it in their cultural war against what they consider as Asian-Indonesian colonisation.
It is likely that Miklouho-Maclay would have renamed and redescribed this region differently if he had been the first to name it, instead of French explorer Jules Dumont d’Urville (the man credited with coining the term). He arrived too late, and the region had already been named, divided, and colonised.
In September 1871, Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay landed at Garagassi Point and established himself in Gorendu village in Madang Province. Here he built a strong relationship with the locals and his anthropological work, including his diaries, became well known in Russia. The village where he lived has erected a monument in his name.
Miklouho-Maclay’s diaries of his accounts of Papuans in New Guinea during his time there have already been published in the millions and read by generations of Russians. The translation of his dairies from Russian to English, titled Miklouho-Maclay – New Guinea Diaries 1871-1883 can be read here.
C.L. Sentinella, the translator of the diaries, wrote the following in the introduction:
The diaries give us a day-to-day account of a prolonged period of collaborative contact with these people by an objective scientific observer with an innate respect for the natives as human beings, and with no desire to exploit them in any way or to impose his ideas upon them. Because of Maclay’s innate respect, this recognition on his part that they shared a common humanity, his reports and descriptions are not distorted to any extent by inbuilt prejudices and moral judgements derived from a different set of values.
In 2017, the PNG daily newspaper The National published a short story of Miklouho-Maclay under the title “A Russian who fought to save Indigenous New Guinea”.
The Guardian, in 2020, also shared a brief story of him under title “The dashing Russian adventurer who fought to save indigenous lives.” The titles of these articles reflect the spirit of the man.
After more than 150 years, media headlines emphasise his legacy. One of his descendants, Nickolay Miklouho-Maclay, who is currently director of Miklouho Maclay Foundation in Madang, PNG, has already begun to establish connections with local Papuans both at the village level and with the government to build connections based on the spirit of his ancestor.
Enembe seeks Russian reconnection
Governor Enembe believes that Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay’s writings and work profoundly influence the Russian psyche and reflect how the Russian people view the world — especially Melanesians.
This was what motivated him to arrange his meeting with the Russian ambassador on Monday. The Russians’ hospitality toward Papuan students is connected to the spirit of this man, according to the governor.
It is a story about compassion, understanding, and brotherhood among humans.
The story of Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay is linked to the PNG side of New Guinea. However, Governor Enembe said Nikolai’s story was also the story of West Papuans too now — because he fought for all oppressed and enslaved New Guineans, Melanesians, and Pacific islanders.
Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay’s ideas, beliefs and values — calling for the treatment of fellow human beings with dignity, equality and respect — are what are needed today.
This is partly why Governor Enembe has invited President Putin to visit Papua; he plans to build a cultural museum and statue in honour of Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay.
“The old stories are dying, and we need new stories for our future,” Governor Enembe said. “I want to … share more of this great story of the Russian people and New Guinea people together.”
Yamin Kogoya is a West Papuan academic who has a Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from the Australian National University and who contributes to Asia Pacific Report. From the Lani tribe in the Papuan Highlands, he is currently living in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Time is running out for a group of West Papuan students in New Zealand whose scholarships were cut — out of the blue — by the Indonesian government
The sudden removal of government funding for the Papuan students has left many of them in financial dire straits on visas that are running out.
Forty two students learned of the termination of their scholarships at the beginning of this year. With deadlines approaching they have appealed to both the Indonesian government and MPs in New Zealand to see if they can fix their dashed hopes of a completed education.
Green Party MPs Ricardo Menendez March, Golriz Ghahraman and Teanau Tuiono penned a letter to Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta requesting government to support for the students before they are deported.
They are calling for a scholarship fund to support the impacted students, a residency pathway for West Papuan students whose welfare has been affected, and an assurance that the students will have access to safe housing in affordable accommodation.
But according to Menendez March, the most urgent issue is the students’ visas — he is calling on the government to extend them due to special circumstances, such as those for Ukrainian nationals.
“What the situation in Ukraine taught us is that when there is political will, our immigration system can move relatively fast to provide solutions for people who are facing uncertainty,” he said. “The special visa that was created to support Ukrainian families show we could have an intervention to support these students.”
Quick move for Ukraine
Immigration moved quickly to ensure Ukrainians with family in New Zealand had an easier avenue to a two-year work visa as a part of the humanitarian support developed in response to the refugee crisis.
“Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said last week when the details were unveiled: ‘This is the largest special visa category we have established in decades to support an international humanitarian effort and, alongside the additional $4 million in humanitarian funding also announced today, it adds to a number of measures we’ve already implemented to respond to the worsening situation in Ukraine.’”
West Papuan masters student Laurens Ikinia … “It is really heartbreaking for us as the central government of Indonesia and the provincial government have not given any positive responses.” Image: MTS screenshot APR
The Ukraine policy is expected to benefit around 4000 people, with Immigration streamlining processes to make sure they are supported sooner rather than later.
With just 42 West Papuan students now in this visa crisis, Menendez March said it would be easy enough for the Government to create a special category.
And more than that, it would be an opportunity for New Zealand to stand up for a Pacific neighbour.
“As a Pacific nation we do have a responsibility to support West Papuans,” he said. “I think this is a small but really tangible way that we could supporting the West Papuan community.”
For some of the students, returning home isn’t just a matter of giving up on whatever ambitions lay past graduation day – but also a safety risk.
Openly communicated
“The students have openly communicated in the past some of them may not necessarily face safe living conditions back at home,” Menendez March said, who met with the students last week along with Greens spokesperson for Pacific people Teanau Tuiono to discuss possible solutions.
Tuiono said there were multiple reasons why the New Zealand government should step in and offer support to the students.
“First, there’s the consistency thing — if we’re going to do this for people from the Ukraine, why not for West Papuans,” he said. “Also, we are part of the Pacific and we have signed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”
The declaration, first adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007, establishes a framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world.
“West Papuans are indigenous peoples who have been occupied by Indonesia, so there’s that recognition of a responsibility on an international level that we have signed up to,” Tuiono said.
The letter signed by the Green MPs was sent to Mahuta at the beginning of this month, but they say there has been no meaningful response. Meanwhile, some of the students are potentially just a matter of weeks away from deportation.
The decision to rescind the scholarship funds came as a shock to West Papuan students in New Zealand like Laurens Ikinia, who is in the final year of his Master of Communication at AUT. He hopes he will be allowed in the country until his upcoming graduation.
“It is really heartbreaking for us as the central government of Indonesia and the provincial government have not given any positive responses to us,” Ikinia said. “The government still stick to their decision.”
Matthew Scott is a journalist writing for Newsroom on inequality, MIQ and border issues. Republished with permission.
The West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Organisation (TPNPB-OPM) has rejected peace talks with the Indonesian government if it is only mediated by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM).
It is also asking President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to be prepared to sit down with them at the negotiating table.
TPNPB-OPM spokesperson Sebby Sambom said that the OPM wants the peaceful dialogue or negotiations to be mediated by the United Nations because the armed conflict in Papua was already on an international scale.
“In principle we agree [that] if the negotiations are in accordance with UN mechanisms, but we are not interested in Indonesia’s methods,” said Sambom in a written statement.
Sambom said that they also do not want to hold the dialogue in Indonesia but want it to be held in a neutral country in accordance with UN mechanisms.
“The negotiations must be held in a neutral country, in accordance with UN mechanisms”, he said.
Sambom said President Widodo must be aware and must have the courage to sit down at the negotiating table with the TPNPB-OPM’s negotiating team.
He also reminded Widodo that the UN was an international institution which can act as a mediator in resolving armed conflicts.
Peaceful dialogue
“In the statement to Jakarta we are asking that Indonesian President Jokowi be aware and have the courage to sit at the negotiating table with the TPNPB-OPM’s negotiating team together with all the delegates from the organisations which are struggling [for independence],” he said.
Earlier, the Komnas HAM claimed it would initiate peace talks between the government and the OPM.
Komnas HAM had also claimed that the proposal for talks had been agreed to by the government, ranging from President Widodo, Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs Mahfud MD to the TNI (Indonesian military) and Polri (Indonesian police).
Komnas HAM, along with the Komnas HAM Papua representative office, began sounding out peaceful dialogue by meeting with a series of groups in Papua on March 16-23.
In the initial stage, Komnas HAM was endeavoring to hear and ask for the views of key parties on the issue, especially the OPM, both those within the country as well as those overseas. The other key people were religious, traditional community and intellectual figures.
The West Papua students who had their tertiary scholarships terminated by the Indonesian government have turned to New Zealanders for help. Video: Tagata Pasifika
By Anauli Karima Fai’ai in Auckland
Papuan students are appealing for support in New Zealand after the Indonesian government terminated the autonomous West Papuan scholarships of 42 tertiary students across the country.
“We humbly ask Kiwis to support us in terms of financial support,” says masters degree student Laurens Ikinia.
Indonesia cut the scholarships in December, claiming that the students were either failing their studies or taking too long to finish their degrees.
Ikinia, one of the students affected, is trying to complete his master’s degree in communications at Auckland University of Technology.
“The claim that the government is using is baseless,” he told Tagata Pasifika.
“Some students are on their pathways to finish their programmes and, like myself, I’m just about to finish and this is my final month to complete the programme.”
Half close to completion
At least half of the students are close to completion and have thus defied Indonesia’s orders to be repatriated.
Now they have been left to fend for themselves.
“It’s really hard for us to purchase our grocery needs and also for us to pay for our rent so it’s really restraining us.”
Last week, affected students in Palmerston North approached Green MP Teanau Tuiono to help raise their concerns with the government.
“That’s deeply concerning that a student can get that far to completing their education qualification and get told that their funding’s cut and they’ve got to go home. That’s not cool,” Tuiono said.
The MP has already sent a letter to Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta requesting a scholarship fund, visa extensions and accommodation for the students.
“We totally support the cause to have refugees from Ukraine because it is an area under conflict, let’s see that for West Papua as well, which is also a region under conflict.”
Givealittle page
In the meantime, a givealittle page has been set up to help the students — many of whom are afraid to speak out.
Page creator and advocate Nik Naidu, who is originally from Fiji, says it is important for the wider Pacific community to get involved.
“You know we were always taught to listen and not just speak and not to ask for things, wait for things to be given to you but, even then, you decline it, you know.
“And so for us in our Pasifika culture, the important thing is to be aware of everybody’s situation to keep an eye out for all our whanau and our families and our children,” Naidu said.
Ikinia fears the possibility of having to leave New Zealand before finishing his studies and the impact it could have on his community back home.
“For me, I would love to learn here so that young people who would love to have an education, like myself, can think positively – that hope is there.”
The first media freedom advocacy group has formed in the Marshall Islands. Organisers this week were in the initial phase of outreach to launch the Pacific Media Institute, which was incorporated last month as a non-profit organisation.
Despite a small but robust independent news media in the Marshall Islands, there has never been an advocacy group for media freedom in this nation.
“If ever there was a ‘right time’ to form an advocacy organisation for freedom of expression and transparency in government, now is it,” said Marshall Islands Journal editor Giff Johnson, one of the founding members of the institute.
“Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine is a prime example of a violation of a sovereign, independent democracy that undermines the rule of law.
“Moreover, we watch as Russia suppresses access to independent media at home to prevent its citizens from knowing what is happening in the Ukraine and the world’s reaction to the invasion.”
Founders of PMI said closer to home, there were indications of democracy and media freedoms eroding in island nations that banned visits by foreign independent media and attempted to restrict their own media and freedom of expression by their citizens.
“We are fortunate in the Marshall Islands to have clear free speech rights enshrined in the Constitution and to have had governments for decades that respect this essential element of democracy,” Johnson added.
Freedoms ‘cannot be taken for granted’
“But these freedoms here and in the region should not be taken for granted. We need to celebrate them where they exist, strengthen them where we can, and advocate for them where they don’t.”
A growing concern is the increasingly active presence in the islands of governments outside the region that do not support media freedom and transparency in government operations at home and bring this philosophy with them into the region, he said.
The PMI is a joint effort of three people in independent media in the Marshall Islands.
Joining Johnson as co-founders of PMI are Daniel Kramer, CEO of Six9Too Productions and Power 103.5FM, and Fred J. Pedro, a long-time broadcaster and talk show host.
They said PMI hoped to promote independent media and transparency in government in the Marshall Islands as well as neighbouring nations.
The purpose of the new non-profit organisation is to:
• Advocate for and engage in media freedom and freedom of expression;
• Promote transparency and accountability in government;
• Support expansion of independent, non-government media; and
• Promote training and other initiatives to increase the number and skills of people working in media and the quality of reporting in the Marshall Islands and regionally.
‘Watershed moment’
Veteran Pacific islands journalist Floyd K. Takeuchi said: “This is a watershed moment in the history of independent journalism in the Western Pacific.
“And what better country to see a media freedom group organized than the Marshall Islands, which for more than half a century has shown how democratic values, chiefly and cultural traditions, and a free press can comfortably coexist.”
PMI has already reached out to Takeuchi and other journalists with extensive experience in the region to collaborate on proposed training for media and outreach dialogues with top-level government authorities in the initial phase of the organisation.
“We want to see more young people take up careers in media in the future,” said Kramer.
“We hope that PMI can help interest young people in media careers through training and other opportunities that our new group plans to offer for journalists here and in the island region.”
Kramer’s Six9Too Productions has established an ongoing record of collaboration among musicians from the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands and Polynesian countries that have produced hit songs and music videos.
He said PMI hoped to see this type of collaboration among working journalists here and in the region to bolster reporting skills and media freedom in general.
The PMI founders said they were hopeful that countries internationally that supported media freedom, democracy and transparency in government would be supportive of PMI training and other initiatives.
“We want to start tapping opportunities for synergy among working journalists in the Marshall Islands and in other Pacific islands through collaborative training programs and reporting initiatives,” said Johnson.
The tiny Pacific territory of Wallis and Futuna can, per capita, surely lay claim to be test rugby’s hottest talent nursery.
Three players who trace their heritage to Wallis and Futuna — a French “overseas collectivity” located north-west of Fiji and west of Samoa — are in France’s Six Nations squad.
Hooker Peato Mauvaka — a two-try hero in France’s 40-25 win over the All Blacks last November and lock Romain Taofifénua have been joined in Fabien Galthie’s squad by young centre Yoram Moefana, Taofifénua’s second cousin.
Both Mauvaka and Moefana played in France’s hard-won 13-9 victory over Wales in Cardiff last night – a victory that keeps alive their hopes of a first grand slam and Six Nations title in a decade.
Lock Taofifénua would probably also have played if he had not contracted covid-19.
When Mauvaka and Taofifénua came off the bench to join Moefana in the recent win over Ireland, Wallis and Futuna effectively supplied 20 per cent of the France XV. This was repeated in the victory over Scotland.
Wallisians and Futunans have the right to live anywhere in France, so automatically qualify for French national sporting teams.
Born in New Caledonia
The list of French rugby internationals includes some players born in France to parents from Wallis and Futuna, or born and raised in New Caledonia where around 30,000 Wallisians and Futunans live.
Outside back Yann David, who still plays for Top 14 club Bayonne, had four tests in 2008. He was born in Lyon in mainland France, but his mother, Monika Fiafialoto, a former French javelin champion, is Wallisian.
Towering Noumea-born lock Sébastien Vahaamahina had 46 test caps between 2012 and 2019. Vahaamahina, who scored his first try in the 2019 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal, retired from test rugby after getting sent off for elbowing a Welsh rival in the head in that 2019 defeat.
Still only 30, he continues to play in the Top 14 for Clermont.
Vahaamahina was often joined in France’s second row engine room by Romain Taofifénua, whose father, Willy was one of the first players from Wallis and Futuna to make a mark on the French club scene.
Romain — born in Mont-de-Marsan in France and raised in Limoges — made his test debut in 2012. The 31-year-old has since garnered 32 caps.
Brother Sébastien, 30, propped France’s scrum in two tests in 2017. The Taofifénua twosome, and their cousin Vahaamahina played together in a 23-23 draw with Japan that year.
Rugby World Cup squad
Vahaamahina and Mauvaka were joined in France’s 2019 Rugby World Cup squad by another player with Wallis and Futuna heritage, Toulon hooker Christopher Tolofua, another cousin of the Taofifénuas, who has seven caps since his debut at 18 in 2012.
Tolofua’s younger brother, Selevasio, a No 8, has won European Champions Cup and French Top 14 honours with Toulouse, alongside Mauvaka and ex-All Blacks great Jerome Kaino. He won his first and so far only test cap at No 8 in the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup final defeat to England at Twickenham, playing with Mauvaka and Yoram Moefana.
So fielding players with Wallis and Futuna lineage is nothing new for Les Bleus, but Moefana’s emergence has served to heighten the link.
The 21-year-old — who has played little more than 30 Top 14 games for Bordeaux-Bègles – has beaten the more experienced Fiji-born Virimi Vakatawa for the berth in midfield alongside the talented Gaël Fickou. In the last two games, against Scotland and Wales, he ha played on the wing.
Moefana was reportedly born on Futuna but moved to France at 13 to live in Limoges with a professional rugby career as his goal. He lived in France’s porcelain industry capital with his uncle, Tapu Falatea, 33, now a prop for Agen in France’s second tier.
Young Moefana was soon recruited by the Colomiers academy and made his Pro D2 debut with the club in 2018.
After just six games, he was signed in 2019 by Bordeaux-Bègles, where he plays alongside test teammates Cameron Woki, Matthieu Jalibert and Maxime Lucu and Tonga’s former Chiefs prop Ben Tamiefuna.
Represented France Under-20s
Moefana represented France at under-20 level before becoming the nation’s first test player born in the 21st century when he made his debut, aged 20, against Italy in November 2020.
Judging by his assured display against Ireland’s highly-rated midfielders Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose, Moefana could be in for a long stay in the blue jersey.
Galthie told French media before the start of the Six Nations that Moefana had been on his radar since February 2020 while “he was with the U20s, and he worked with us at senior training camps.
“We’ve seen him progress with Bordeaux and when we had to enlarge the group for the [2020] Autumn Nations Cup, we didn’t hesitate to start him because he was already impressive in training. His potential was obvious then, and he performed well in the final against England.”
Moefana was supposed to tour Australia in 2021, but got injured and spent a long spell on the sidelines.
Galthie had no hesitation hurling the youngster into the Six Nations, saying: “Technically, physically and psychologically, without forgetting his talent, he is ready to meet all the requirements of this game.”
Bordeaux-Bègles coach Christophe Urios has praised Moefana as “an easy player to manage” and “always reliable”, saying the young Christian is “as reserved, even shy, in life as he is aggressive on the field”.
‘Not an ambassador yet’
A modest Moefana told French media that while it was “always nice to find guys who come from New Caledonia, Wallis or Futuna in the French team” he did not see himself as “an ambassador yet”.
“I think more of Romain [Taofifénua] because he’s been there for a long time. For young people, I think of Peato [Mauvaka] with his club and selection experience. I find out.”
Moefana’s father, Taofifenua Falatea, had earlier ventured to France to play for Niort, but injury stalled his career. Today, he is president of the Union Rugby Club de Dumbéa (URCD) club in Dumbéa, near Noumea, which is formally linked to the Toulouse club.
Mauvaka, is the URCD club’s most famous product, playing in Toulouse’s winning titles-winning team last season before his brace against the All Blacks.
“I’m not going to hide it from you, we tend to support the All Blacks and his dad has always been a fan of the All Blacks,” Falatea told France’s La Croix newspaper last December. “Playing the All Blacks is already something for him, but scoring tries for [France] and being man of the match is great. Frankly, I think he made history.”
Mauvaka — first spotted by Toulouse as a 14-year-old centre — made his test debut in 2019 and now has 12 caps. He has carved a niche as an impact player off the bench, replacing clubmate Julien Marchand at hooker.
Moefana, Mauvaka and Taofifénua — all in line now to play for France against England in the championship decider Paris next weekend — may not be the last proud Wallisians and Futunans to line up at Stade de France to the strains of La Marseillaise.
Donovan Taofifénua, Romain’s 22-year-old cousin and an Under-20 World Cup winner with France, plays in Paris for Racing 92 and has already been called up to France senior squads.
According to the La Croix article, people of Wallis and Futuna heritage comprise 10 percent of New Caledonia’s population, but represent 80 percent of the Union Rugby Club de Dumbéa membership.
The production line should roll on.
A traditional kava ceremony in Wallis and Futuna. Image: Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes
Wallis and Futuna at a glance
Wallis and Futuna is a French overseas collectivity known, officially, as the Territory of the Islands of Wallis and Futuna, or Territoire des îles Wallis-et-Futuna.
Located in the Pacific Ocean, 280km north-west of Fiji and 370km east of Samoa.
Has three main islands (Wallis, Futuna and Alofi) and 20 small islets.
The resident population is around 12,000, with another 30,000 people of Wallis and Futuna descent living in New Caledonia.
Its people are Polynesian, but, as French citizens, have an automatic right to live anywhere in France.
Tony Smithis a journalist for Stuff. Sources for this article include La Croix, Rugby World, Sud-Ouest newspaper, Wikipedia and New Zealand and Australian government websites. Republished with permission.
Women’s participation in decision-making is fundamental to improving gender equality but despite making up half of Fiji’s population, representation at all levels of leadership for women is severely lacking, says an opposition political leader.
The leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), Viliame Gavoka, said this in his statement as the international community commemorates International Women’s Day today.
He said knowing that bias existed was not enough, action was needed to level the playing field.
Gavoka said that for far too long, Fiji had continued to “shamelessly lag behind” in protecting and promoting women’s rights and their peace-building expertise.
“A study carried out by the Fiji Women Right’s Movement reveals that 42 percent of Fiji boards or executive committees of for-profit or non-profit organisations or government agencies have no women at all and 26 percent have less than one-third female participation,” Gavoka said.
“The research on gender diversity and equality on boards looked at 192 board members across 38 government-controlled organisations and state-owned enterprises,” he said.
“The purpose of the research was to determine the level of women’s representation in the boards of the 38 entities.”
Lack of diversity
He said the research also identified challenges that limited the participation of women in Fiji’s leadership, such as lack of diversity and opportunity for women elected to preside as board chair.
“According to the research, women hold only 18 percent of board chair positions and sometimes it is the same women appointed as chair of boards in multiple organisations,” he said.
“In many cases, the same people are on multiple boards. This curtails the opportunities for others to join, contribute and gain board experience.
“Ensuring that women are better represented on boards is important to dismantle patriarchal ideals that are heavily entrenched into our society and limit women’s participation in decision-making.
“There is strong evidence that a gender-equal and diverse governance board improves accountability and diversifies the expertise, knowledge and skills available.”
Gavoka said that when SODELPA would be voted into government, they would ensure to “break barriers and accelerate progress”, including:
setting specific targets and timelines to achieve gender balance in all branches of government and at all levels through temporary special measures such as quotas and appointments; and
encouraging political parties to nominate equal numbers of women and men as candidates and implement policies and programmes promoting women’s leadership.
“On this year’s International Women’s Day, we should also pause and reflect on the sacrifices of our women in all facets of society despite the challenges they’ve endured to bring change and progress.”
The United Nations chief scientific agency on climate change released its latest report on Monday.
The IPCC Working Group II report on climate impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability says man-made climate change is causing unprecedented damage to the natural environment and the livelihoods of billions of people.
It also says global warming is set to rise beyond 1.5 deg C by 2040 unless the world commits to drastically reduce its carbon emissions from the use of fossil fuels.
For nations on the frontlines in the Pacific the consequences will be disastrous with an increase in climate hazards such as sea-level rise, more frequent and severe extreme weather events including flooding, and droughts.
350 Pacific Climate Warriors council of elders member Brianna Fruean says the findings in the report are not new for the region.
Fruean is a prominent youth voice in international climate advocacy and spoke to RNZ Pacific’s regional correspondent Kelvin Anthony about what the report means for Pacific people.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
A West Papuan leader has praised the “bravery and spirit” of Ukrainians defending their country against the Russian invasion while condemning the hypocrisy of a self-styled “peaceful” Indonesia that attacks “innocent civilians” in Papua.
Responding to the global condemnation of the brutal war on Ukraine, now into its second week, United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda highlighted a statement by United Nation experts that has condemned “shocking abuses” against Papuans, including “child killings, disappearances, torture and mass displacement of people”.
Wenda also stressed that the same day that Indonesia’s permanent representative to the UN said that the military attack on Ukraine was unacceptable and called for peace, reports emerged of seven young schoolboys being arrested, beaten and tortured so “horrifically” by the Indonesian military that one had died from his injuries.
“The eyes of the world are watching in horror [at] the invasion of Ukraine,” said Wenda in a statement.
“We feel their terror, we feel their pain and our solidarity is with these men, women and children. We see their suffering and we weep at the loss of innocent lives, the killing of children, the bombing of their homes, and for the trauma of refugees who are forced to flee their communities.”
Wenda said the world had spoken up to condemn the actions of President Vladimir Putin and his regime.
“The world also applauds the bravery and spirit of Ukrainians in their resistance as they defend their families, their homes, their communities, and their national identity.”
Russian attack unacceptable
Wenda said Indonesia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Arrmanatha Nasir, had stated that that Russian attack on Ukraine was unacceptable and called for peace. He had said innocent civilians “will ultimately bear the brunt of this ongoing situation”.
“But what about innocent civilians in West Papua? asked Wenda.
“At the UN, Indonesia speaks of itself as ‘a peaceful nation’ committed to a world ‘based on peace and social justice’.
“This, on the very same day that reports came in of seven young boys, elementary school children, being arrested, beaten and tortured so horrifically by the Indonesian military that one of the boys, Makilon Tabuni, died from his injuries.
“The other boys were taken to hospital, seriously wounded.”
“These are our children that [Indonesian forces are] torturing and killing, with impunity. Are they not ‘innocent civilians’, or are their lives just worth less?”
A leading West Papuan activist is comparing the plight of his region to that of the crisis in Ukraine. https://t.co/K3qsMtXXWI
Urgent humanitarian access
Wenda said that this was during the same week that UN special rapporteurs had called for urgent humanitarian access and spoken of “shocking abuses against our people”, including “child killings, disappearances, torture and mass displacement of people”.
This was an acknowledgement from the UN that Papuan people had been “crying out for”.
Wenda said 60-100,00 people were currently displaced, without any support or aid. This was a humanitarian crisis.
“Women forced to give birth in the bush, without medical assistance. Children are malnourished and starving. And still, Indonesia does not allow international access,” he said.
“Our people have been suffering this, without the eyes of the world watching, for nearly 60 years.”
In response, the Indonesian Ambassador to the UN had continued with “total denial, with shameless lies and hypocrisy”.
“If there’s nothing to hide, then where is the access?”
International community ‘waking up’
Wenda said the international community was “waking up” and Indonesia could not continue to “hide your shameful secret any longer”.
“Like the Ukrainian people, you will not crush our spirit, you will not steal our hope and we will not give up our struggle for freedom,” Wenda said.
The ULMWP demanded that Indonesia:
Allow access for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and for humanitarian aid to our displaced people and to international journalists;
SPECIAL REPORT:By Giff Johnson, editor of the Marshall Islands Journal and RNZ Pacific correspondent
Micronitor News and Printing Company founder Joe Murphy moved the goal posts of freedom of press and freedom of expression in the Marshall Islands, a country that had virtually no tradition of either, by establishing an independent newspaper that today is the longest running weekly in the Micronesia region.
Murphy’s sharp intellect, fierce independence, vision for creating a community newspaper, bilingual language ability, and resilience in the face of adversity saw him navigate hurdles — including high tide waves that in 1979 washed printing presses out of the Micronitor building and into the street — to successfully establish a printing company and newspaper in the challenging business environment of 1970s Majuro.
Murphy, who died at age 79 in the United States last week, was the original sceptic, who revelled in the politically incorrect.
At 25, he arrived in the Marshall Islands capital Majuro in the mid-1960s and was dispatched by the Peace Corps to Ujelang, the atoll of the nuclear exiles from Enewetak bomb tests that was a textbook definition of the term “in the back of beyond.” A ship once a year, and no radio, TV, telephones or mail.
Still, Joe thrived as an elementary teacher, survived food shortages and hordes of rats, endearing him to a generation of Ujelang people as an honorary member of the exiled community.
After Ujelang, he wrapped up his two-year Peace Corps stint by taking over teaching an unruly urban centre public school class after the previous teacher walked out. He rewrote what he deemed boring curriculum and taught in military style, replete with chants in English.
These experiences in pre-1970s Marshall Islands fuelled his desire to return. After his Peace Corps tour, some time to travel the world, and a brief return to the US, Murphy headed back to Majuro.
No money, but a vision
He had no money to speak of, but he had a vision and he set out to make it happen.
“He was determined to start a newspaper written in both the English and Marshallese languages,” recalls fellow Peace Corps Volunteer Mike Malone, the co-founder with Murphy of what was initially known as Micronitor.
Marshall Islands Journal founder and publisher Joe Murphy in the late 2010s … “Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one.” – “I own one.” Image: Giff Johnson/RNZ
In late 1969, they began constructing a small newspaper building, mixing concrete and laying the foundation block-by-block with the help of a few friends.
Before the building was completed, however, they launched the Micronitor in 1970, printing from Malone’s house.
The Micronitor would be renamed later to the Micronesian Independent for a bit before finding its identity as the Marshall Islands Journal.
Writing in the Journal in 1999, Murphy commented: “The 30th anniversary of this publication is an event most of us who remember the humble beginnings of the Journal are surprised to see.
“February 13, 1970 was a Friday, an unlucky day to begin an enterprise by most reckonings, and the two guys who were spearheading the operation were Irish-extract alcohol aficionados with very little or no newspaper experience.
A worthy undertaking
“They also, between the two of them, had practically no money, and of course should never, had they any commonsense, even attempted such a worthy undertaking.
“But circumstances and time were on their side, and with all potential serious investors steering clear of such a dubious exercise they had the opportunity to make a great number of mistakes without an eager competitor ready and willing to capitalise on them.”
With Murphy at the helm, it wasn’t long before the Journal earned a reputation far beyond the shores of the tiny Pacific outpost of Majuro. Murphy encouraged local writers, and spiced the newspaper with pithy comment and attacks on US Trust Territory authorities and the Congress of Micronesia.
Joe Murphy in Majuro in the mid-1970s, a few years after launching the Marshall Islands Journal, which would go on to be the longest publishing weekly newspaper in the Micronesia area. Image: Giff Johnson/RNZ
In the late 1980s and 1990s Murphy built two bars and restaurants, local-style places that appealed to Majuro residents as well as visitors. He also built the Backpacker Hotel, a modest cost accommodation that turned into a popular outpost for fisheries observers awaiting their next assignment at sea, low-budget journalists, environmentalists and assorted consultants.
“The first thing that people think about when it comes to my father is that he is a very successful businessman here in the Marshall Islands,” said his eldest daughter Rose Murphy, who manages the company today.
“But we need to remember him as someone who wanted to give the Republic of the Marshall Islands a voice.”
“To say Joe was a unique person is a large understatement,” said Health Secretary and former Peace Corps Volunteer Jack Niedenthal.
An icon with impact
“He was an icon and had a profound impact on our country because he fostered free speech and demanded that those in our government always be held publicly accountable for their actions.”
A plaque in his office defined his independent personality and his appreciation of the power of the press. It quoted the famous American journalist AJ Liebling: “Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one.” This was followed by a three-word comment: “I own one.” – Joe Murphy.
“He fought for freedom of speech and fought against discrimination,” said Rose Murphy. “Regardless of race, religion, and even status, he befriended people from all parts of the world and from all walks of life.”
In the mid-1990s, Joe Murphy created what became the justly famous motto of the Journal, the “world’s worst newspaper.” It was a reaction to the more politically correct mottos of other newspapers.
Those three words led to wide international media exposure. In 1994, the Boston Globe conducted a survey of the world’s worst newspapers, reviewing a batch of Journals Murphy mailed.
When the Globe reporter concluded that despite its claim, the Journal not only didn’t rank as the world’s worst newspaper it was “a first-class newspaper,” Murphy’s reaction was to say, “We must have sent you the wrong issues.”
The Marshall Islands Journal was the subject of scrutiny by the Boston Globe to determine if publisher Joe Murphy’s claim that the Journal was the “World’s Worst Newspaper” was accurate. Image: Giff Johnson/RNZ
Murphy knew the key to successful newspaper publishing was not how nicely or otherwise the newspaper was packaged, or if a photograph was in colour. The most important ingredient in any successful local newspaper is original content, intelligently and interestingly written.
‘Livened up’ the Journal
He did more than his fair share to liven up the Journal, from the time of its launch until poor health after 2019 prevented his engagement in the newspaper.
“My father experienced extreme hardships on Ujelang along with his adopted Marshallese family, the exiled people of Enewetak Atoll, who were moved to Ujelang to make way for US nuclear tests in the late 1940s,” said daughter Rose.
“He shared these hardships with his children to give them the perspective of being grateful for any little thing we had. If we had a broken shoe or little food, he shared with us this story.
“Our father, to us, is a symbol of resilience and gratitude. Be resilient in tough situations.”
From growing up among eight children of Irish immigrant parents in the United States to the austerity of Ujelang Atoll to the early days of establishing what would become the longest publishing weekly newspaper in the Micronesia region, Murphy was indeed a symbol of resilience and independence, able to navigate tough situations with alacrity.
One of the first editions of the Majuro newspaper in 1970, then known as Micronitor. Image: Giff Johnson/RNZ
“Democracy was able to establish a toehold, and then a firm grip, in the Western Pacific in part because of a handful of journalism pioneers who believed in the power of truth, particularly Joe Murphy on Majuro,” said veteran Pacific island journalist Floyd K Takeuchi.
“He had the courage to challenge the powers that be, including those of the chiefly kind, to be better, and to do better.
“People forget that for many years, the long-term future of the Marshall Islands Journal wasn’t a sure thing. With every issue of the weekly newspaper, Joe’s legacy is made firmer in the islands he so loved.”
Murphy is survived by his wife Thelma, by children Rose, Catherine “Katty,” John, Suzanne, Margaret “Peggy,” Molly, Fintan, Sam, Charles “Kainoa,” Colleen “Naki,” Patrick “Jojo”, Sean, Sylvia Zedkaia and Deardre Korean, and by 32 grandchildren.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
International media has been facing scrutiny from indigenous groups in the Pacific for the way it has been covering the Russia-Ukraine war.
Some have highlighted “double standards” among journalists who have brought attention to the plight of Ukrainians, while long-standing conflicts like those in Indonesia’s provinces of West Papua and Papua are often ignored.
Vanuatu’s opposition leader and former Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu said a media clampdown in West Papua had made it difficult for media to report on the situation there.
It also urged the Indonesian government to conduct full and independent investigations into allegations of torture, extrajudicial killings and the displacement of thousands of West Papuans.
Independent observers refused
But Regenvanu said Indonesia had refused to allow independent observers into the territories.
“Indonesia has just refused point blank to do it, and has actually stepped up escalated the occupation in the military, suppression of the people there,” he said.
A senior US policy advisor to Congress, Paul Massaro, drew heat from indigenous activists online after he tweeted: “I’m racking my brain for a historical parallel to the courage and fighting spirit of the Ukrainians and coming up empty. How many peoples have ever stood their ground against an aggressor like this? It’s legendary.”
I’m racking my brain for a historical parallel to the courage and fighting spirit of the Ukrainians and coming up empty. How many peoples have ever stood their ground against an aggressor like this? It’s legendary
Veronica Koman from Amnesty International said such commentaries about the situation in Ukraine ignored the many instances of indigenous resistance against colonisation.
“West Papuans have been fighting since the 1950s. First Nations in Australia have been fighting since more than 240 years ago,” Koman said.
“That’s how resilient the fights are … it’s just pointing out the the double standard.”
Koman said the West Papua and Papua provinces of Indonesia are currently experiencing some of the worst humanitarian crises.
“Sixty thousand to 100,000 people are being displaced right now in West Papua due to armed conflict, and these displaced people are mostly ignored,” she said.
“They are not getting assisted and all because mostly they are in forests. And they are afraid to return to their homes so are just running away from Indonesian forces.
“The situation is really bad and deserves our attention. And Ukraine war shows us that another world is possible, if only there’s no double standards and racism.”
Republished with author’s and ABC Pacific Beat’s permission.
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.
