In Indonesia, I expected to broaden my understanding and realisation of Asia and its importance to New Zealand. And in a way I did. But more than anything, the experience reinforced for me why engaging with and respecting the Pacific is paramount for New Zealand.

My first week at AFP news agency’s Jakarta bureau coincided, tragically, with the deaths of as many as 100 people, mostly toddlers, in Papua from a measles outbreak.

The crisis, sparked by poor conditions and increasing local reliance on imported foods, represented “decades of neglect” by Indonesia following its annexation of the region.

READ MORE: West Papua protest during Jokowi’s visit to NZ

AFP committed significant resources to covering this, including sending a team of reporters to a remote Papuan village. Along with assistance from us folks that manned the fort in Jakarta, they produced what I believe was the definitive coverage of that health crisis.

It was genuinely humbling to be a part of. Papua, after all, has faced decades of neglect from the international media too, New Zealand included.

While RNZ Pacific does a fantastic job, it is not enough and, as pointed out by some, it is too partisan at times.

Diversity is needed when we cover events of international significance. Yet Papua is of particular and unique significance to New Zealand.

Siding with colonial past?
Having played a key role in the decolonisation of the Pacific, if we cannot continue this, including by acknowledging Papua as a Pacific and Melanesian nation, then surely we are siding with our colonial past (and present).

New Zealand’s foreign policy is changing dramatically, and not just under the direction of a new government in place.

As recent speeches by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have indicated, policy shifts towards the Pacific are motivated at least partly by the increasing sway Asia has there.

And although veiled references to China were highlighted by analysts, its long arm is not the only one in play in the Pacific.

There is a need now to be more savvy than ever towards Asia, if only for the sake of the Pacific. And for all the importance of politics in setting the pace of national dialogue, journalists too play a significant role.

The New Zealand media’s restraint, for example, in covering revelations of China’s political influence activities from Anne-Marie Brady has been remarkable. Just look at Australia, they are going nuts over there.

The media certainly prodded officials during the government’s recent Pacific tour over China’s growing influence there but it was a long way from the “roads to nowhere” white elephant rhetoric coming from across the ditch.

Hope for Asia-Pacific voices
There is hope for how we cover the Asia-Pacific and for the voices we give air to.

So it feels like a good time to arrive back as an “Asia-savvy” journalist – savviness being a term I share the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s fondness for – but an even better time to be a Pacific-savvy journalist.

While both regions demand our attention, one neighbours us and one we sit in. How the two interact will define New Zealand’s foreign policy mandate for the foreseeable future.

There was no happy resolution to Papua’s health crisis; it merely petered out, media coverage in its final days giving way to the detainment of a rather foolhardy journalist who had set out to cover it, rather than the real issues at hand.

And, as observers told AFP, the deaths are doomed to be repeated unless drastic action is taken.

The day before Indonesia declared the crisis over, in an unrelated incident a 61-year-old woman was shot dead by military police in Papua.

As the Foundation’s Pip McLachlan has pointed out, “we need to talk about Asia”. But we also need to talk about the Pacific.

Mackenzie Smith spent six weeks working in Jakarta on the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesia Studies Journalism Professional Practicum. His participation was funded by the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s media programme. Views expressed are personal to the author.

Tokelau’s controversial helicopter buy was part of at least one major Samoan airline deal, along with plans for the establishment of a luxury hotel on the remote New Zealand-administered territory.

In February, then Foreign Minister Murray McCully slammed Tokelau over the purchase of two helicopters that he described as “extravagances”, and later said they represented “a breakdown in Tokelau’s governance”.

David Nicholson, New Zealand’s​ Administrator for the territory, also imposed restrictions on Tokelau’s capital spending and has since carried out a review into the helicopters which found government officials behind the purchases did not have the authority to make them.

Documents obtained by Asia Pacific Report under the Official Information Act confirm earlier revelations that the helicopters, which will now be sold off, were part of an “interim air service”, with the end goal of establishing runways on Tokelau.

Last October, a Tokelau “senior public servant”, whose name was redacted, advised the NZ Civil Aviation Authority (NZCAA) that Tokelau was exploring a fixed-wing air service between Samoa and Tokelau.

According to the public servant, Polynesian Airlines, which is co-owned by the Samoan government, would be functioning as the service operator, made possible through a “partnership arrangement” with private Samoan tourism company, Grey Investment Group (GIG).

It is unclear whether the public servant is one of the two who were suspended pending an investigation by Tokelau’s government into their role in the helicopter purchases.

Commercial deal
A document from February last year, composed by a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) official, reveals Tokelau’s bilateral team advised MFAT of a proposal made by a hotelier, whose name was redacted, for a commercial deal involving “operating a helicopter service from Apia to Tokelau”.

Its purpose would be to deliver tourists “to a proposed high end hotel in Tokelau”.

The chairman of GIG is Alan Grey, son of famous proprietor Aggie Grey and who holds several senior government and corporate positions in Samoa, including a directorship of Polynesian Airlines.

GIG has an extensive portfolio of investments, including several high end hotels and resorts across the Pacific, and Alan Grey is also chairman of the Samoa Hotel Association.

Polynesian Airlines and GIG have not responded to requests for comment.

The arrangement with Polynesian Airlines was mentioned as early as September in email correspondence between NZCAA and MFAT officials.

It was also described in a January meeting between David Nicholson, several MFAT and NZCAA officials, and Tokelau’s Chief Technical Helicopter Adviser and Financial Adviser.  

‘Logistical support’
Polynesian Airlines was “providing logistical support” to Tokelau, “including hangar space and access to fuelling facilities”, according to notes from the meeting.

However, earlier documents reveal Polynesian Airlines was not the only Samoan company that expressed interest in a fixed-wing air service to Tokelau.

In a November email, which had its recipients redacted but includes a “minister”, then High Commissioner to Tuvalu Linda Te Puni said she had “heard about a number of proposals for helicopter services and a seaplane service involving Talofa airways with possibly a Japanese company”.

In another email later that month and this time addressed to multiple NZCAA officials, Te Puni confirmed Tokelau was in discussions with Talofa Airways.

In October, a representative for the airline advised NZCAA of the logistics of future flights to and landings on Tokelau, after NZCAA requested the information so that it could determine the relevant rules for aircraft operation in Tokelau.

Following earlier statements from Ulu-o-Tokelau Siopili Perez and former Foreign Minister Murray McCully that the helicopters would be sold off, a chain of emails starting from late February show those plans are now under way.

A number of discussions between CAA and MFAT officials detailed the logistics of selling or contracting out the two helicopters to recover their initial cost.

March correspondence between NZCAA and MFAT officials revealed Administrator David Nicholson had “been approached” by Hawker Pacific, an Auckland-based aviation provider, with the intention of it acting as a sales agent for the helicopters.

• Tokelau suspends two officials following helicopter row review
  

After the closure of one of its tuna canneries, American Samoa is looking to recover by giving away tonnes of the fish to its neighbours, a move welcomed by Tokelau.

In December, tuna supply group Tri Marine indefinitely closed its Samoa Tuna Processors plant based in Pago Pago after supply and profit issues.

While the fate of Samoa Tuna Processors remains uncertain, American Samoa is now sending its excess tuna to the governments of Tokelau and Samoa.

Earlier this month both neighbours were gifted more than 11 tonnes of tuna each — in Tokelau’s case, enough to match two years worth of its tuna imports.

American Samoa Department of Commerce Director Keniseli Lafaele said there were plans to extend this offer to Tuvalu and Kiribati as well.

The main idea behind it, said Lafaele, was to establish economic relations and improved access to the fisheries of the wider Pacific.

“We would like to explore the possibility of exporting goods from American Samoa to the neighbouring countries.” 

Mutually beneficial
This could be mutually beneficial for Tokelau, a country heavily reliant on both imported goods and income made through selling fishing licences to foreign nations, said Lafaele. 

Despite its population of roughly 1500 people, Tokelau netted US$13.5m in 2016 alone from the licensing of its 320,000 sq km exclusive economic zone.

Seiuli Aleta, Acting General Manager of the Office of the Council for the Ongoing Government of Tokelau, said American Samoa’s gift was a sign of the growing relationship between the two countries. 

“It’s not just that we’re located in the same geographical area and there’s a primary interest in fisheries, there’s a collective interest which I think in terms of economic development is probably good for both countries.”

Stan Crothers, a fisheries adviser to Tokelau, said Tokelau was working closely with Tri Marine leading up to the closure of its processing plant in Pago Pago.

“It’s really unfortunate that they had to close. And I guess the donation of that canned fish is just an example of the sort of relationship we had. We’re very disappointed that that didn’t go further but we’re hopeful that one day that might come again.”

He said the company was offering Tokelauans the opportunity to work on boats, in the Pago Pago factory and in some management positions.

“On the American Samoan side you’ve got the capital and the plants, we’ve got the fish, there’s a deal made in heaven there somewhere isn’t there?”

Aleta said despite the closure of Samoa Tuna Processors, the prospect of jobs and training offered to Tokelauans by American Samoa were still “on the table”.

Mackenzie Smith is a Te Waha Nui student journalist at Auckland University of Technology.

Tokelau has suspended two of its public servants in Samoa, after a review into the purchase of two helicopters found the pair went behind officials’ backs.

This follows restrictions on Tokelau’s spending placed by Administrator David Nicholson after Minister Murray McCully slammed the millions of dollars spent on the helicopters, which Tokelau will now sell off.

A summary of the review carried out by a New Zealand company on behalf of Administrator Nicholson found the Tokelau Public Service Commission, operating out of Apia, “did not have the authority to make the purchase”.

Aleki Silao, an adviser to the public service, told Asia Pacific Report in an email that “two senior officials have been suspended” with full pay by Commissioner Casimilo Perez, pending the outcome of the commissioner’s investigation into their actions.

Silao said the terms of reference for the investigation were still being considered by Tokelau’s government and lawyers.

The review revealed the helicopters came as “a surprise” to both Tokelau’s government and the administrator, who were not consulted by public service officials.

It said New Zealand also “offered technical assistance” which wasn’t accepted by Tokelau but the review did not clarify what this was for.

Although the governments of New Zealand and Tokelau approved bigger picture plans for an interim transport solution, this was still thought to be in a “preparation phase”. 

Also highlighted was the role the “disjoint” between public service officials in Apia and decision-makers in Tokelau had in the purchases.

At Tokelau’s General Fono in March, Ulu Siopili Perez announced the Apia public service offices would be relocated to Tokelau by the end of the year.

The review concluded by making a number of recommendations, including improving Tokelau’s governance and undertaking “a capacity building programme to support the planning and implementing of capital development”.

• ‘Heavy handed’ NZ clamps down on Tokelau spending
• New revelation in Tokelau chopper furore in air transport ‘big picture’

Academics have warned a merger of NZME and Fairfax will spell disaster for the media ecosystem at a conference on the future of the New Zealand media.

The two-day Agenda 2020: NZ Media Futures Symposium kicked off today at Auckland  University of Technology, ahead of the Commerce Commission’s final decision on the merger on Tuesday — the eve of World Press Freedom Day in Jakarta.

There have already been two delays to the final decision, which has been awaited since submissions closed in December.

Victoria University media senior lecturer Dr Peter Thompson said the proposed merger was “nuts” and the plurality it pledged would be an impossible promise to keep.

“This would be thrown out in any other country, this would be thrown out in Australia.”

Both Dr Thompson and former New Zealand Herald editor-in-chief Dr Gavin Ellis said the Commerce Act needed to be overhauled, given it had left the window open for the merger to go through.

Merja Myllylahti, manager of AUT’s Centre for Journalism, Media and Democracy (JMAD), said even outside the merger there were “tactical and structural convergences” taking place that would drastically shift the mediascape.

“Everything is audience-first or digital-first these days — at least that’s how [media companies] behave.”

Changes on way
Myllylahti authored a report in December on media ownership in New Zealand, which concluded that no matter what the outcome of the merger would be, changes were on the way.

“Media moguls and media corporations, including News Corp, have pulled out and sold all their shares in New Zealand media companies,” according to the report.

This was echoed by JMAD co-director Professor Wayne Hope: “A short process has led all major media outlets in New Zealand to be owned by financial institutions.”

Previously, said Dr Hope, media moguls and family businesses dominated the media industry but had since lost out to the corporatisation of the private sector under neoliberalism.

The symposium concludes tomorrow, including a presentation by the People’s Commission on Public Broadcasting and Media and a political panel with representatives from Labour, New Zealand First and the Green Party.

As it was pointed out in the symposium’s opening address, the National Party had declined to send anyone to the panel, including the last Minister for Broadcasting, Amy Adams.

• Fairfax, NZME merger proposal decision due May 2

Tokelau’s purchase of helicopters included plans to travel via remote Swains Island, contradicting earlier reports claiming the aircraft were ill-suited for the job.

Documents also reveal New Zealand officials approved plans for air services to Tokelau in the lead-up to the heavily criticised investment.

In February, it was revealed that Tokelau had bought two helicopters to circumvent the 24-hour ferry voyage from Samoa, expenditure Foreign Minister Murray McCully described as “extravagances”.

At the time, NZ Helicopter Association chairperson Peter Turnbull raised doubts about  whether the aircraft would be able to make the almost 500km trip from Samoa to Tokelau.

The incident prompted New Zealand’s Administrator to the territory, David Nicholson, to propose veto powers on purchases more than NZ$500,000 by Tokelau’s local government.

However, inquiries have revealed plans to use the US-administered Swains Island (pop. 17) as a stopover point between Samoa and Tokelau, effectively splitting the direct flight in two.

In light of this, Turnbull said both legs of the journey were “quite achievable” by the Bell 212 “Huey” helicopter purchased by Tokelau.

Approached by officials
American Samoa Representative and owner of Swains, Su’a Alex Jennings, said he was approached in January by officials from Tokelau’s National Public Service based in Apia.

Su’a said he had later contacted the US Federal Aviation Administration and was told Swains could be used in emergencies and as a fuel stop for the helicopters.

He said he had also briefed local leaders from the American Samoa government and further progress was only “pending a formal commitment” from Tokelau.

Following public outrage from Minister McCully and Ulu o Tokelau Siopili Perez, that commitment seems unlikely, with the General Fono agreeing last month to sell the helicopters.

Both helicopters were sold separately by New Zealand businesses and licensed with the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand.

Under the National government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has pushed for air transport to Tokelau since 2010, when then-acting administrator Jonathan Kings said Minister McCully was “personally excited” about air services he viewed as a “sensible, workable and sustainable” solution.

A meeting in June last year between the previous Ulu, Afega Gaualofa and Minister McCully saw the prospect of a regular air service between Tokelau and Samoa raised further.

Earlier McCully support
Minister McCully said in a written statement at the time he supported the project and the use of Tokelau’s International Trust Fund towards paying for it.

Air services were put forward as part of Tokelau’s proposed development initiatives the following month at the General Fono in Fakaofo.

This included plans for an interim air service to be “up and running soonest” until village airstrips on Tokelau’s atolls could be constructed.

An independent review of the helicopter purchases, commissioned by David Nicholson, has been completed and found “issues of governance and process around capital purchases”, said Minister McCully in a written response to questions tabled by Labour’s Pacific Island Affairs spokesperson Aupito William Sio.

Aupito said it was time for Minister McCully to “come clean” and reveal what came out of the report in this review.

“We also know that there was a meeting that occurred on March 16th in Apia between the minister, the administrator and the Tokelau leadership and I think it’s in the public interest to know what was discussed at that meeting.”

Currently, the only means of transport to Tokelau is the Mataliki, a ship designed in London and built in Bangladesh at a cost of over NZ$12 million, paid for by the New Zealand government.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it would not respond to questions regarding the purchases due to an “ongoing inquiry taking place in Tokelau”.

Minister McCully declined to comment, while David Nicholson and Siopili Perez could not be reached for comment.

• ‘Heavy handed’ NZ clamps down on Tokelau spending
• Tokelau’s new ferry Mataliki slips quietly into Apia port

As Tokelau’s ninth government takes shape, the new leader is raising concerns over New Zealand’s treatment of its last remaining Pacific territory.

Ulu-o-Tokelau Siopili Perez used his opening speech at the General Fono (Parliament) last week to protest against proposed veto powers for New Zealand’s Administrator to Tokelau.

The changes would put Administrator David Nicholson in control of the use of Tokelau’s development funds for any projects more than $500,000 — oversight not seen since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) relinquished it to the General Fono in 1996.

Labour’s Pacific Island Affairs spokesperson Su’a William Sio said power over Tokelau’s affairs should lie with the General Fono, not New Zealand.

“This kind of heavy handed approach smells of arrogance and I think it would be an affront to a nation that is seeking self-determination,” he said.

Tony Angelo, a constitutional adviser to Tokelau’s Taupulega (Council of Elders), said the veto powers could compromise New Zealand’s compliance with the United Nations decolonisation requirements.

The UN ruled in 1960 that all peoples have the right to free political status and economic, social and cultural development.

‘Step back’
“I think the result would be, as the Ulu says, a step back from what has been relative autonomy,” said Dr Angelo.

Auckland University anthropologist Dr Judith Huntsman said the administrator’s move was unusual at a time when Ulu was promising the relocation of government offices in Apia, Samoa to Tokelau.

“[Tokelau is] pushing to get that office under the control of the people of the islands rather than that being viewed by outsiders and [MFAT] as the centre of Tokelau,” she said.

Su’a said MFAT was “stuck in colonial thinking that belongs to a bygone era” and it made no sense to have the office in Apia.

He said Foreign Minister Murray McCully was travelling to Apia to meet with Ulu to discuss his comments at the General Fono.

MFAT confirmed McCully would be in Samoa this week but did not respond when asked about Su’a’s claims.

The proposed veto powers come less than a month after it was reported Tokelau spent millions on two helicopters to circumvent the 24-hour boat journey from Apia, without proper certification or certainty the aircraft could make the lengthy trip.

‘Extravagances’
McCully told 1News at the time that the purchases were “extravagances” and New Zealand would “reflect on its own budgetary arrangements” with Tokelau.

“Given there appears to have been a breakdown in Tokelau’s governance, New Zealand is reviewing the oversight it has of capital expenditure,” McCully said in a written statement.

Although the funds for the helicopters reportedly came out Tokelau’s income from fishing licences, Dr Huntsman said this would still have to be sourced from Tokelau’s International Trust Fund.

The fund, set up in 2004, was started with contributions from New Zealand’s government and sat at over $78 million at the end of the 2014 financial year.

Mackenzie Smith is a Te Waha Nui student journalist at Auckland University of Technology.

Tokelau International Trust Fund

By Mackenzie Smith

Climate change activists formed a singing blockade around the SkyCity Auckland Convention Centre today in an effort to disrupt the Petroleum New Zealand Conference.

The protesters dispersed peacefully around 10:30am after a dawn start and were confident that the action was a success.

Chris Hay, an actions coordinator for Greenpeace NZ, said that the conference was effectively shut down for 2.5 hours and that was “a really great achievement”.

“More than 200 people committed to, if necessary, being arrested in order to tell the oil industry that it’s no longer business as usual,” he said.

He believes that the “radical” image normally associated with protests is beginning to change due to increased awareness from the public regarding issues such as climate change.

“The men and suits that we saw today… those guys, for too long, have been determining our future,” he said.

“This is democracy in action. Democracy doesn’t happen every three years, it happens every day.”

Hottest month
Last month — February — was reported to be the hottest month in recorded history,  something that Greenpeace NZ, which organised the protest, wanted everyone to remember.

The organisers have drawn comparisons between today’s “peaceful civil disobedience” and civil rights movements such as the 1981 Springbok Tour protests and Rosa Parks’ effort to end segregation in America.

“The climate justice movement has in front of it a job which is as big as the civil rights movements had in front of it,” said Greenpeace NZ executive director Russel Norman.

He said that although the historical movements had their differences to what was achieved today, the tactics used in order to achieve a civil rights victory were extremely relevant — and that with that history came a certain validity.

Organisers felt that while getting their message across was the main focus, it was important to preserve the kaupapa, which Hay explains as being “the spirit of things”.

Greenpeace NZ officials made it clear to protesters that today’s protest was to be non-violent and would involve no shouting, chanting, loudhailers, or active resistance of arrest.

Any protesters who did not conform to this definition of non-violence would not be provided with the customary legal support.

Greenpeace NZ chose not to apply their brand to this protest in a move that Norman describes as being “quite experimental”.

They hope that this will bring the strength and diverse representation of a people’s movement rather than that of a singular body.

Norman believes there is a “balance to be struck” between the building of broad social movements and providing support to the institutions that support them.

‘Life and death’ action needed