Yearly Archives: 2022
Pasifika make up half of cases in NZ’s omicron variant surge – cases top...
By Susana Suisuiki, RNZ Pacific journalist
Pasifika people are making up about half of the cases in the current outbreak of the omicron variant in...
Police act against NZ protester vehicles but admit towies unwilling to help
RNZ News
New Zealand's Police Commissioner admits some tow companies are reluctant to help with the removal of vehicles near Parliament but says some towing...
The occupation of NZ’s parliament grounds is a tactical challenge for police, but mass...
ANALYSIS: By Ross Hendy, Monash University
The continued occupation of the Aotearoa New Zealand Parliament’s grounds by anti-vaccine mandate protesters (and others) provides a unique...
Gavin Ellis: Copycat media abuse from ragtag bag of protesters
COMMENTARY: By Gavin Ellis
It is common practice for journalists to share contact details and locations in hostile environments such as war zones. Something is...
RSF condemns ‘unacceptable political meddling’ over PNG news chief suspension
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the "unacceptable political meddling" behind Sincha Dimara’s suspension as head of news and current affairs...
Panguna share value doubles overnight after landowners opt to reopen mine
By Gorethy Kenneth in Port Moresby
The dormant Bougainville Copper Limited share value has more than doubled overnight on the Australian Stock Exchange following a...
Omicron spread: ‘Crazy’ shortfall in booster numbers worries top NZ covid-19 adviser
RNZ News
The one million New Zealanders who are so far delaying getting their booster shots are the biggest concern of top covid-19 adviser Sir...
How Google moulds public opinion on West Papua, disrupts education
ANALYSIS: By Yamin Kogoya in Brisbane
Google images of a country or region can offer a wealth of information about the people and cultures that...
John Minto: The hypocrisy of NZ’s silence in calling out Israeli, Indonesian rights violations
COMMENTARY: By John Minto in Christchurch
On December 30, New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade published a tweet condemning the forced closure of...
NZ parliament covid protesters ‘not interested in engaging’, says Ardern
RNZ News
"Go home and take your children" -- that was New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's plea to protesters remaining at Parliament today.
Despite being...
NZ protest at Parliament enters sixth day – covid cases almost double to 810
RNZ News
Hundreds of anti-mandate protesters remained on the New Zealand Parliament lawn today as health officials reported a big increase in covid-19 cases nationally.
But...
US announces deeper engagement strategy to match China in the Pacific
By Lice Movono, RNZ Pacific correspondent in Suva
The United States insists it is a Pacific nation and has unveiled a raft of new strategies...
Stronger police barriers, heavy rain, covid ads don’t dampen NZ protest
RNZ News
Police say a protester who needed medical attention within New Zealand's Parliament grounds last night had to wait for ambulance staff to get...
Right to protest lost for those who ‘threaten, harass and disrupt’, warns deputy PM
RNZ News
New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson has warned that although people have a right to protest when "they threaten, harass and disrupt...
Transparency watchdog seeks US help to tackle Pacific corruption
RNZ Pacific
Strengthening democracy and rolling back corruption in the Pacific must be front of mind for Pacific leaders meeting with the US Secretary of...
Covid-19 outbreak: Misinformation spreading among NZ’s parliament protesters, say police
RNZ News
Police say misinformation and a "range of different causes and motivations" are making it difficult to resolve the situation with protesters at New...
Covid-19 outbreak: NZ police brace for fourth day of protest at Parliament
RNZ News
New Zealand police are braced as more protesters began arriving as the demonstration at Parliament in the capital Wellington entered the fourth day.
Tensions...
Piracy a growing threat along PNG coasts, warns water police chief
PNG Post-Courier
Piracy is a growing threat in Papua New Guinea's coastal waters and riverine waterways, warns National Capital District (NCD) water police officer-in-charge Senior...
Vale Harn Lay, a cartoonist who stood by victims of the powerful and ruthless
OBITUARY: Phil Thornton profiles cartoonist Harn Lay, 1963-2022
I first met cartoonist Harn Lay, who has died peacefully at 59, 15 years ago in the...
Global media attacks on Australasian ‘covid strictness’ unfair, says NZ Herald
Pacific Media Watch newsdesk
New Zealand's leading daily newspaper today published an editorial exposing the "unfairness" of global media criticism of Australasian responses to covid-19,...
120 protesters at NZ’s Parliament arrested as tension grows on third day
RNZ News
One hundred and twenty protesters have been arrested for refusing to leave the grounds of New Zealand's Parliament after being trespassed today
Police say...
Mark Craig: Now we just need to be brave about omicron – we’ve shown...
COMMENTARY: By Dr Mark Craig in defence of New Zealand's dedicated managed isolation and quarantine team and facilities as the country braces for omicron.
As...