Pacific members of Parliament were brought together this month to address the way forward for Pacific communities living amongst Auckland’s current housing crisis.

MP’s formed a panel discussion held by The Pacific Islands Chartered Accountants Network.

Jenny Salesa and Su’a William Sio both advocated for Labour’s housing policy to build 100,000 houses over the next ten-years to address the under supply of housing.

National MP, Alfred Ngaro, also supported the idea of defining Pacific prosperity, to support more home ownership by Pacific living in Auckland.

Listen to the full audio report:

Wansolwara, USP’s training newspaper, was also commemorated for its 20th year of publishing.

Journalism student Chrisnrita Aumanu received the award of Best Wansolwara Editor, sponsored by Fiji publication Business Melanesia.

She told Asia Pacific Report that she enjoyed her role as student editor this year and was humbled to receive the award.

‘Challenging times’

“There would be challenging times, for example, running out of stories to put on the pages and looming deadlines. But at the end of the day when the challenges are dealt with, and with the great help from our tutors, it’s a great feeling.”

She said one of the successes for 2016 was this years first edition of the newspaper, when  student journalists dedicated two-pages of the publication to TC Winston, the biggest cyclone ever to hit the Fiji islands.

Aumanu said being an editor has pushed her out of her comfort zone. Originally from the Solomon Islands, she hopes to bring her experience home to give back to her country.

She also acknowledged the team of student reporters and photographers who worked tirelessly on the newspaper this year.

‘Wansolwara’

“Wansolwara is a great news outlet, as it is a great platform for student journalists to put on paper what they have been taught in classrooms. Moreover, Wansolwara moulds budding journalists like us to write better stories each and every time with a sense of pride when we see our bylines.”

Another big winner of the night was former Wansolwara student editor, Sonal Singh, who won the Fiji Sun Tanoa Bowl Best Graduating Student Award.

‘Biggest success’

He told Asia Pacific Report, the award is his biggest success this year.

“Since 2014, when I first came to know about the awards, it became one of my goals to win the best graduating student award. I could say that my consistency brought me closer to this.”

“This awards means that I am on the right track.”

Singh said the biggest challenges for the year have been managing his role as the president of the USP Journalism Students Association (JSA), as well as a six-week attachment, and his commitment to Wansolwara.

“However through the understanding and help from family, friends and my lecturers, I was able to overcome my obstacles.”

‘Revived’

Singh, together with fellow journalism students have also successfully “revived” USP’s JSA by raising enough funds to improve the facilities in their newsroom.

Asia Pacific Report asked Singh what advice he would give to other aspiring Pacific journalists: “My advice would be that if you have the will and courage to stand and speak for what is right to improve our society, then become a journalist. It’s more exciting and satisfying than you think.”

Chief guest

The chief guest at the awards night was former USP lecturer Dr Philip Cass who founded Wansolwara in 1996 and now teaches at UNITEC in Auckland.

“Wansolwara has gotten more ambitious, covering issues from across the Pacific region,” Cass said in a statement featured in the Fiji Times.

“I think over the years, Wansolwara has become a lot better and has certainly won a lot of awards. This certainly has reflected the hard work done by my successors and all the staff who have worked on it over the years.

“This is a very special moment for me to think that it has survived this long and has prospered this much. I was very touched and I am very grateful for this invitation.”

Wansolwara is now the longest surviving student publication in the Pacific region and continues to cover serious news on a quarterly basis.

USP journalism coordinator Dr Shailendra Singh said the awards have been an important event in university’s journalism calendar, since it was introduced by the Pacific Media Centre’s Professor David Robie.

‘Well supported’

“The awards are well supported by the news media industry in Fiji who sponsor the prizes,” Dr Singh said.

“News media industry representatives attend the function and present the prizes in person, which is a boost for the future journalists of the region.”

Dr Singh said the need for well-trained journalists had increased with the onset of social media and citizen journalism, especially in the face of the ongoing development problems faced by the region.

‘Young journalists’

“It is very important to encourage potential young journalists by recognising, incentivising and rewarding good examples of journalism,” said Dr Singh.

“The awards have become an important occasion in the USP journalism calendar over the years, given USP’s critical role in nurturing the future journalists to meet the needs of the region.”

The USP Journalism Programme has produced more than 200 graduates. Many are now working in various media roles throughout the Pacific and beyond.

• Previous Wansolwara publications

A new online research platform will allow Pacific research to be more accessible around the country and the world.

Tuwhera was launched this week at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT). The platform allows journal editors to have their work freely published online and available to the public.

The Pacific Journalism Review was launched on the research site, making information about the Pacific more accessible to international staff and students.

The investigative journal is published by the Pacific Media Centre. Globally, it is the only journal that publishes expert media research and articles about the Pacific region.

The founding editor of Pacific Journalism Review and director of the Pacific Media Centre professor David Robie has edited the journal during its 22-year existence.

Robie who is currently away on sabbatical praised the Tuwhera initiative in a video message screened at the launch.

‘Tremendous step’

He said it is a “tremendous step forward” for the Pacific Journalism Review, whose readers have been asking for open access to the journal for a long time.

“Particularly in the South-Pacific and the Asia-Pacific region, to have open access to a journal such as ours is a really important step forward.”

“This is a really exiting opportunity for Pacific Journalism Review, we are delighted to have the opportunity to be publishing with AUT’s open access Tuwhera site.”

Listen to the Pacific Media Centre’s podcast:

• Pacific Journalism Review issue archives

Pacific journalist Barbara Dreaver says she is ‘thrilled’ to be able to report in Fiji again, after being blacklisted from the country for eight-years.

The TVNZ Pacific Correspondent told Asia Pacific Report that it is a “promising move” by the Fiji government and said an open and free media is a corner stone of democracy.

This comes after the announcement made by the Fiji government this week, that it had lifted the ban on foreign journalists reporting in the country as long as they have been accredited in the usual manner by the Department of Information.

Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama is currently in New Zealand on his first state visit to the country.

Listen to the interview with Pacific journalist Barbara Dreaver:

• Lifting of Fiji journo ban ‘curious’, says reporter
• Barbara Dreaver: Fiji’s journalist blacklist is a disgrace

By TJ Aumua in Auckland 

Filmmakers of the New Zealand documentary Price of Peace were honoured this week with the producers receiving an award for their contribution to “peace and aroha”.

Director Kim Webby with co-producers Christina Milligan and Roger Grant were recipients of the Te Pou Tatau Pounamu NZ Peace Foundation Award at the Ngā Aho Whakaari (Māori in Screen Production) 20th Anniversary.

Milligan told the Pacific Media Centre that they were honoured to be recognised by their peers and the film community.

She added the film has achieved more success than they had hoped for, reaching mainstream and indigenous audiences around the world.

Tūhoe activist

The film provides exclusive access to the world of Tūhoe activist Wairere Tame Iti and the trial of the Urewera Four’ in which Iti and three others were accused of plotting terrorist activities in 2007.

International screenings

International screenings of the film continue this week, with the documentary being featured in the Margaret Mead Film Festival at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

It was recently aired on Al Jazeera as a Witness documentary under the title An Innocent Warrior. 

In January 2017, it will be filmed at the Skábmagovat -Indigenous Peoples’ Film Festival in Finland.

·       A list of all the recipients at the Ngā Aho Whakaari award ceremony

·       New documentary gives fresh side to Tame Iti story

It was a weekend filled with Fijian culture and tradition as the community gathered at the Auckland Museum this week to open celebrations for Fijian language week.

On Saturday morning Fijian leaders from all around the country came together for the first time to address issues that are affecting the community living in New Zealand.

With the community’s population growing fast in Auckland, the leaders were concerned that approximately seven percent of New Zealand-born Fijians cannot speak the language.

The President of the Fiji Community Association of Auckland (FCAA), Naca Yalimaiwai, said it is important for Fijian youth to grow-up surrounded by their language so they can identify with their culture and who they are.

“It’s important to maintain that reputation of who we are when we come away from Fiji,” he said.

In the afternoon, the community turned out in big numbers for the launch of the Fijian collection at the museum.

‘Fijian treasures’

The collection of ancient Fijian artefacts was officially named: ‘Nai Yau Vakaviti: Na Ka Marequiti’ which translates into: ‘Our Fijian Treasures: That are treasured’.

The community said a special blessing for the items, acknowledging the culture, tradition and skill of their ancestors.

The exhibition is a part of the Pacific Collection Access Project at the Auckland Museum. It has, for the very time, allowed communities to view an extensive look into the Pacific collections they store.

The collection will continuing viewing until July 2017.

Watch the full video story here.

Fiji Language Week runs from October 3-9, 2016. This years theme is:Noqu vosa, me’u bula take, which means my language, learn it, speak it, live it!

By TJ Aumua in Auckland

Former Māori party co-leader Sir Pita Sharples described te reo Māori as being on “life support” at a Human Rights Commission forum this month.

He said he would lead an initiative of revitalising the Māori language and would hope to encourage the Government in supporting the notion, as a fundamental right in the United Nations Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

“I am determined this year to lead a charge with the Declaration and with the Treaty of Waitangi and for Government to be meaningfully supportive of the growth of te reo Māori in New Zealand.”

‘forbidden’

Sharples talked about his parents who, in the past, were forbidden to talk te reo Māori in New Zealand.

As a result “our language was killed in one generation”.

He told the Pacific Media Centre an environment that would support the learning of the language and its use in everyday conversation needs to be established in New Zealand.

“When our kids go to the mall, they talk Māori the whole time. But the world around them doesn’t support what they are doing.”

Sharples also emphasised that New Zealand media have to be trained in Māori pronunciation in order to foster an environment that encourages and respects te reo.

Indigenous law

Expert member on the UN Permanent Forum of Indigenous Issues Valmaine Toki recommended mandatory indigenous law studies in New Zealand as part of implementing legal understanding of the UNDRIP.

She also said constitutional recognition of the Declaration in New Zealand is key to reflecting indigenous rights.

Listen to the full audio story:

Traditional knowledge

Toki also touched on how indigenous knowledge is key to solving Pacific climate change.

“The Pacific is really vital and key at the moment because of climate change-it’s a huge issue. And traditional knowledge cuts right across that.”

Listen to the interview with Valmaine Toki:

The Free West Papua Campaign (FWPC) stated those that took part in the peaceful demonstrations marched with a clear message: “We want to be free people”.

People of West Papua are calling on the United Nations to support their fundamental right to self-determination and a resolution for an internationally supervised vote for independence.

FWPC reported that some demonstrations around the country were blocked by the Indonesian police and 68 peaceful protestors were arrested in Merauke, West Papua.

A day before the demonstrations 21 women, men and children were arrested for distributing leaflets for the rally. More details here.

‘Forgotten struggle’
Last week West Papuan leader Benny Wenda, who lives exiled in London, was interviewed by TeleSUR on ‘West Papua’s forgotten struggle for independence’.

In the interview Wenda said people in West Papua sacrifice their lives by protesting and Indonesia continues to get away with “impunity”.

“Indonesia is able to massacre my people. Almost 500,000 men and women have been killed. While I’m speaking, there are arrests and intimidations and imprisonments still going on in West Papua,” Wenda said.

He said the Indonesian government has banned journalists from entering the country for the past 50-years which is part of the reason West Papua’s struggle remains largely unknown.

West Papuans are left to turn to social media to get their struggle out to the world.

“I am really confident that people in the Pacific, particularly across the Micronesia, Polynesia and Melanesia, the governments and the ordinary people are in support, including New Zealand and Australia. Ordinary people are always with us.”

TeleSUR full interview.

People of West Papua: Self-determination rally.

1 of 5

• Free West Papua Campaign

Democracy and freedom of speech are at the forefront of discussions concerning the arrests of five prominent Fijian politicians over the weekend.

The men were allegedly detained on Saturday for a comment made at a meeting that discussed Fiji’s 2013 Constitution; the meeting was also held without a legal permit.  They were kept in custody overnight and released on Sunday.

Among the group was former Fiji prime minister and original coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka, National Federation Party (NFP) leader Dr Biman Prasad, academic Dr Tupeni Baba, trade unionist Attar Singh, and Jone Dakuvula from the organisation Pacific Dialogue.

Another former prime minister and current Fiji Labour Party (FLP) leader, Mahendra Chaudhry, handed himself into police on Sunday and was released yesterday morning without charge.

‘Intimidation’
In an interview with Radio New Zealand International, Chaudhry referred to the incident as an act of “intimidation” and said there was no democracy in Fiji.

“If we can’t hold a forum to discuss our own Constitution in a democracy … what kind of democracy is that?

“We want to live in a free society not where there are restrictions on free speech.”

Chaudhry said Fiji’s current prime minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, and the Attorney-General, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, were invited but didn’t attend the meeting.

The NGO Coalition for Human Rights stated police may have also searched the homes and offices of Dr Prasad, Singh, Dr Baba, Dakuvula and Rabuka.

In protest, Dr Biman Prasad and the National Federation Party boycotted yesterday’s parliament session over the continued intimidation by the Opposition and “muzzling of free expression” in Fiji.

Public order amendment
According to Fiji’s Public Order Amendment Decree a permit is required for those wanting to hold a public meeting.

The Decree gives permission to the commissioner of police or any divisional police commander to prohibit a meeting they think may undermine the public safety and good order of the country.

The Fiji Times reported a statement by Bainimarama who said he was disappointed with the international community and their questioning of Fiji’s laws without objectivity.

“The Public Order Act, among other provisions, requires any group wanting to hold a public meeting to apply for a permit from the police before the proposed event.”

Bainimarama said no application was made therefore the police were acting within their rights.

“Those who attended this gathering were lawfully detained for questioning and there have been no allegations of any of their human rights being breached while in detention,” he said.

‘Step forward’
The arrests have spurred questioning of Fiji’s democracy as its 2014 general election, in which Bainimarama was elected prime minister, was deemed as a step forward for the country after eight-years of military governance.

When he was elected in 2014, Bainimarama thanked a crowd in Suva: “I am deeply honored and humbled that the Fijian people have put their trust in me to lead them into our new and true democracy.”

In a separate RNZI interview, Dr Steven Ratuva, said after the 2014 elections there was optimism for a democratic space to be established within Fiji.

“In fact the Constitution itself talks about the rights of free expression and assembly.

“Now the Public Order Amendment Decree seems to provide a limitation to those freedoms which are being contained in the Constitution.”

During the Pacific Tertiary Education Forum this week it was revealed that despite Pasifika students obtaining NCEA Level 3 they are then going on to do a degree ‘unmatched’ to their subjects studied in high school.

Tim Fowler, the chief-executive of the Tertiary Education Commission, spoke at the forum in Auckland. He referred to the issue as an “under matching” between NCEA attainment and the transition to tertiary.

Because of this many are then entering into a level one tertiary course to gain the required subjects needed in their decided career path.

He said the launch of new TEC education tools would hopefully aid educators in addressing and finding solutions to the issue.

This includes a new online education tool, Qlick, that will be launched by TEC in November. It will allow educators to access live data on Pasifika achievement levels and patterns of study.

Fowler also said in 2017 tertiary providers that offer Level 5 qualifications or higher will be required to inform school leavers with in-depth data about each qualification on their organisation web-pages.

Lack of staff

Those who attended the forum also got a chance to raise their concerns around the lack of Pacific staff in the tertiary sector.

They said although the enrollment of Pacific students are increasing, Pacific staff in the workforce remain low.

“Nothings changed…I strongly plea to you if you can make that a priority in some way to incentivize TEO’s (Tertiary Education Organisations) to committing to raising Pacific work staff.”

Listen to the full audio story on Pacific Media Centre’s SoundCloud channel:

The importance of preparing our Pasifika youth to succeed in a digitally connected world was a key message delivered this week by the NZQA, chief-executive, Karen Poutasi.

Speaking at the Pacific Tertiary Education Forum held in Auckland this week Poutasi said there needs to be a greater leverage between education and the opportunities of digital technology.

“We live in a different world at the moment, it’s global, digital and connected.

“As an education system we need to reflect the world that they are growing up in and the world they will be employed in.”

Poutasi said it is not as easy task for teachers as many didn’t grow up in a “digital enabled world”.

“Yet it is vital that we actually use technology, exploit the opportunity and manage the risks and therefore tutors and teachers are needing to grapple with it.”

‘But never underestimate the power of teachers in influencing Pasifika success’, she added.

Future employment 

In her presentation Poutasi referred to a World Economic Forum survey, which suggest 16 skills needed for employment in the 21^st century.

This is what international employers want, Poutasi said.

“These are the skills education in some way, shape or form need to deliver.”

Listen to the full audio story on Pacific Media Centre’s SoundCloud:

By TJ Aumua in Auckland

Filmmakers Joshua Iosefo and Corey Larry Sio found out this month that their short film Forgotten Dawn Children will be screened in Sydney later this year at the Pasifika Film Festival.

The best friends are still overwhelmed saying it is a dream come true to have a film accepted into a festival.

Originally made for final year assignment at university, Sio, the films producer, says he is “shocked but humbled” at the news.

“I didn’t think we would submit it into anything…but he did!” Sio laughs pointing to the films director, Iosefo, who is sitting next to him.

“As we were making it I was like, yeah, this is going be in a film fest!” 22-year-old Iosefo admits.

“I just had this big dream that even though this was supposed to be an end of year assignment, I wanted to make it way more than that.”

“For it to be recognised in a film festival adds value to the film,” says Iosefo.

This is especially important to a film that is based on a shamefully true event that itself, has received little value and little recognition in New Zealand’s history.

 The film follows main character, Ioane, a middle-aged man, who is haunted by his memories of the dawn raids, and the struggle of growing up as a Pacific Islander in mid-1970s Auckland.

While going about his daily life, Ioane’s flash backs, show us the unjustifiable arrests of many Pacific Islanders whose homes were raided by police in what is now today’s trending suburbs of Ponsonby, Grey Lynn and Mount Albert.

 Honoring the struggle

“The Dawn Raids is not taught in New Zealand schools- it’s not in the curriculum,” Iosefo explains.

It wasn’t until a year-12 drama teacher in high school taught him about the dawn raids when he became “obsessed” with learning about it.

“I feel that, that was quite late in my life to learn something that concerns my people and my history in New Zealand,” Iosefo says, who is a proud Samoan/Niuean.

“Hence Forgotten Dawn Children.

“I felt that there needed to be something to honor that, to honor the struggle, as well as the memories of people…memories that have just been forgotten.”

‘Our people’

‘We don’t take credit for the film,’ they both say. ‘We are just telling the story of our people and what happened.’

Twenty-eight-year-old Sio, says seeing the film come to life has created a new found respect for his Pacific family.

“It’s made me realise how strong and resilient our people are. We are some of the greatest survivors of all time. We really, really, really are strong!

“It makes me even more proud to be Samoan.”

When asked of the most memorable moment in the film, Sio said it was the last scene.

“It was this police scene we filmed on a street in Māngere. We had cops chasing five Pacific Islanders down the street-we had to shoot it so many times.

“People were coming down the street, I think people thought it was real, seeing everyone watching-that will forever stay in mind.

“We were almost done, that was our last and biggest scene and we had no energy left.”

“We were so exhausted that night,” Iosefo adds.

“I fainted in the car…while I was sitting down!” he laughs.

‘Home grown’

It took an eight-member-crew made up of fellow students in their class to make the film which they refer to as “totally home grown”.

Family, friends, and a childhood music teacher were also “shoulder tapped” and generously donated their talent, time and money to making the film.

“At least three quarters of the cast are my family,” says Iosefo.

He credits his dad, who not only acted in the film, but also played the role of transport, errands runner and provided food for the cast and crew throughout the long hours of shooting.

Both Sio and Iosefo say they will be launching a new film project next year.

In the meantime, they are still feeling overwhelmed by their films success and will be flying to Sydney in November for the screening of Forgotten Dawn Children at the Pasifika Film Festival.

We wish them all the best!

The Solar Nation of Tokelau, directed by Ulli Weissbach, puts the idyllic New Zealand dependency of Tokelau in the Pacific in the spotlight as the first territory to be free of CO2 emissions.

Through the documentary, locals on the dependency, comprising three remote atolls, are able to share with the world how solar-powered energy has provided power to every household, making life easier and creating better education opportunities.

Above all, Tokelau shows how some of the smallest countries are effectively fighting against the global threat of climate change.

Positive praise
The documentary received positive praise from members of the Tokelau community living in New Zealand.

Lotu Foua, who moved from Tokelau to New Zealand in 1994, said she attended the premiere because she did not know much about the solar panels on the island.

“I’m proud of Tokelau, for a tiny island like that to be first in the world [to be CO2 emission free] it makes me think about going back and starting another life there,” she said.

Although it has been 22 years since she has been back home to Tokelau, Foua said the solar panels have made it easier for her to connect with family back home.

“Communication is a lot easier now but it was bit hard in those days. I remember wanting to talk to mum and dad and I couldn’t get through but now I can just reach them easily.”

Staying in touch with family is vital when considering it takes a plane ride to Samoa and then a 20-plus hour boat journey to reach Tokelau’s three atolls.

Tokelau community member, Takua Iona, who was also at the premiere, said seeing the effects of climate change on her home atolls was “saddening” and it hurt to see how it affected the “old ways and life of Tokelau”.

“I just wish all of the Tokelauans that are here [New Zealand] can see the changes.

“I had no idea what the solar panels were like, but now seeing this documentary I understand how it is helping the Tokelauan people.”

Way of life
Director Ulli Weissbach referred to the documentary as a “mixed bag of issues” saying it grew from being just about a “solar revolution” to weaving in the challenges and beauty of “the way of life in the Pacific”.

The spirit of Pacific people as ocean navigators, their value of community and culture are all captured through personal stories and experiences in this documentary.

“It’s a way of life that you don’t see in the touristy parts of the Pacific Islands. [I wanted to] show people how it was and also how hospitable people are in the islands and how joyful they are, seeing all their sunny faces.

“I would like to thank the Tokelau people for their hospitality. They really made us feel at home and actually shared their homes with us.

“They really supported us a lot and made a lot of things possible.”

The premiere was organised by Devonport Rotary Club and supported by the New Zealand German Business Association (German Trade Office), the German Embassy and the Goethe Institute in Wellington.

The documentary has been made available for viewing online.

People stories
CNN Philippines editor Jose Maria Carlos says more “people stories” need to be told in the media to bring better interest and awareness to climate change.

“That is identifying families or individuals who have done something to deal with the impact of climate change. Whether it’s flooding, planting new types of crops that are resilient to the impacts of climate change, or simply moving out from dangerous areas to new locations.

“Your viewers are people, and they’re interested in people. If you use that approach first, then you can put in the hard stuff like statistics,” Carlos told Asia Pacific Report.

Carlos quoted from the Philippines Climate Change Commission which reported climate change awareness was high but the depth of understanding was lacking.

Local dialects
He said scientific terms and language barriers are part of the problem.

“You can’t have complex terms in your story, news has to be understood by all types of people,” Carlos said.

“If you are targeting fishermen or families in the coastal areas in the Philippines you won’t use English, you have to use their dialect so they will understand what climate change is all about and how they can deal with it.”

Youth voice
The head of media and communications at the National University of Samoa (NUS), Misa Vicky Lepou, talked to Asia Pacific Report about the importance of having the youth voice at the forefront of the issue.

“They are the future leaders of the [media] industry and the country,” Lepou says.

“Having that new voice in the media, they would of course progress this and take this to the next generation.”

Communication lecturer Dr Hermin Indah Wahyuni of Gadja Mada University in Indonesia encouraged young journalists to inspire their communities.

“They can do this by observing and offering them refreshing insights on climate change,” she says.

“Always offer new perspectives, irritate the society in a positive way and always rejuvenate the issue.

“Only media can keep society on their toes.”

Listen to TJ Aumua’s full audio podcast on the Pacific Media Centre’s SoundCloud channel.

“Teaching hospital” is a model that is regarded as a way for journalism educators to turn their classrooms into newsrooms by immersing students into a practical learning environment. But it is often debated among media educators who are continuously faced with ethical dilemmas of trying to provide a real world learning experience while staying within the boundaries of institutional ethics and keeping students safe on location. It was a topic discussed among media educators at the 4^th World Journalism Education Congress in New Zealand this week.

‘Real world’ vs learning environment
The teaching hospital model has been a success in their journalism school, says Associate Professor Katherine Reed of the Missouri School of Journalism, who was chairing the panel.

Talking to Asia Pacific Report, she said students had been “Pulitzer prize winners” and are able to find work and contribute towards interesting projects after graduation.

But it has not been without its challenges either, Reed admitted.

During the panel debate, she mentioned the ethical dilemmas she had faced when applying a real world working environment within a university.

She gave an example of her journalism students wanting to cover the conflict and unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014.

“I told them it was too dangerous,” Reed said.

“Stories that were not an ‘imminent threat’ but still served the community, were important to cover.”

She said although there were challenges, it’s important that stories continue to serve the community otherwise “we are teaching our students to be self-absorbed”.

Reed also questioned how students could cope with the stress that comes with the workload of a newsroom as well as being able to meet deadlines for other subject assignments.

Professor of journalism at the University of Florida, Dr Kim Walsh-Childers, said the model was a success because it allowed students to write for their wider community and “past their own university audiences”.

But she said conflicts of interest for the university could also arise as a result.

Post-traumatic care
Professor Harry Dugmore of the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University in South Africa said his class have had “real, live and fiery debates” concerning ethics while practising the model.

Dugmore said the school had applied “analytical tools from sociology and political science” to the teaching hospital theory; allowing students to gain insight into understanding dispositions and conflicts in their country.

“It confronts them with the reality of South Africa and allows them to be more sensitive journalists,” he told Asia Pacific Report.

During his presentation, Dr Dugmore highlighted a student incident that emphasised the need for post-traumatic care for students.

He said a group of university students produced a story addressing the issue of rape culture within the campus, in which names of several alleged rapists were anonymously published.

The university was then “barred and barricaded for a week”.

Despite the story providing a platform to voice a serious issue, it did raise the need for the model to include “debriefing and post-traumatic care for students”, he said.

Listen to an extended interview with Associate Professor Katherine Reed, where she defines the teaching hospital model and explains why she disagrees with the metaphor, saying the model is better compared to the workings of a “kitchen” not a hospital.

Pacific communities know how difficult it is to have our voices and regional human rights abuses heard on a world stage and to be represented in global media. Tonight veteran broadcaster and publisher Kalafi Moala expressed the region’s concerns and uniqueness and finally gave Pasifika a presence and voice at the closing of the 4th World Journalism Education Congress (WJEC). 

The publisher and chief executive of the Tongan newspaper group Taimi ‘o Tonga, Kalafi Moala, told global journalists and media educators that they must begin to include Pacific people in their media and course curricula.

Moala said this during his plenary closing address at the 4th World Journalism Education Congress held at the Auckland University of Technology.

He emphasised the notion that the Pacific is often treated as a second-class citizen, and is not given a chance to voice its human rights abuses to the world.

“I wish to emphatically call on you journalism educators and journalists from the around the world,” Moala began, “to please give us, your fellow journalists and journalism educators in our Pacific region, your kind attention.

“Let me point out how unique we are as a Pacific people. Despite the fact of our smallness in our population and in land size, we are not insignificant, you know why, because we live in the biggest continent on planet Earth…it’s called the Pacific.”

The profound editor’s moving speech identified corruption cases and the neglected human rights abuses in the Pacific caused by super power countries.

“There are island nations in both Polynesia and Micronesia, that have been victimised by the nuclear testing of the French and the Americans in previous years.

“We have fellow Islanders that are being oppressed as we talk and still under colonial rule by an Asian power, like in West Papua.

“There are island nations whose future, both economically and politically, will be determined by others and not by themselves.

“There is of course the ongoing recolonisation of all Pasifika by economically powerful nations, not only from the West but also from the East.

“A phenomena that has put back the peoples of Pasifika into the subservient role that was common in the golden era of colonisation.”

The world needed to know the Pacific’s diversity and understand its complexity, Moala said.

“We are people with many different cultures and we have many stories to tell.”

“I call on you, our journalism educators, to please include Pasifika in your curricula and to assist us in our quest to deliver quality journalism to our people.”

Listen to Kalafi Moala’s full plenary speech at the WJEC, where he is introduced by the director of AUT’s Pacific Media Centre, Professor David Robie. Kalafi Moala’s speech on demand.

The lack of qualified journalists and media educators is threatening the quality of media in the Pacific. This was an urgent topic discussed today among journalism educators as part of the Media Educators Pacific (MEP) fono, held in Auckland’s Pacific Media Centre.

Points for improvement
Dr Shailendra Singh, senior lecturer and coordinator of journalism at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, stressed three fundamental points that needed improvement.

There are not enough expert journalists that are qualified and have experience, he said. 

“Less than 50 percent of journalists in Fiji have six years experience.”

Secondly, he continued, current journalists needed to update their training.

“And lastly, media institutions and industries are not fully committed to the cause,” said Dr Singh.

He said journalism institutions were “not funding the curriculum in the way they should be funding it”. This further impacted on the quality of training resources and equipment.

Dr Singh also added that because of the low salaries of journalists in the Pacific, many of the top graduates were being “plugged” by NGOs.

“Media industries do not offer competitive salaries, so we are not getting the cream of the crop.”

Filling the void
MEP president Misa Vicky Lepou, from the National University of Samoa, said it was vital that media educators gained industry assistance with teaching journalism.

“We need to train working journalists so they can teach journalism, we educators do not have the expertise or knowledge to teach those courses.

“In order for us to get help, we need help as well,” she admitted.

Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS) programme manager Francis Herman said the trouble with helping working practitioners improve their training was they could not attend a full-time course with the demands of working in a newsroom.

“How can we fill that void?” he questioned MEP members.

Education challenges
He said that restrictive media laws in the Pacific region like the Fiji Media Industry Development Decree would affect the new generation of journalists.

Herman said this was a challenge media educators would have to address and referred to it as a “dire problem” within Pacific journalism education.

The PACMAS representative added that funding to assist media training had proven difficult for Pacific organisations to access.

“We need help putting proposals [for funding] together, this is something that could really strengthen our case.”

Present at the meeting was Michael Rose, director of research and communication at the Australian Press Council.

Rose confirmed the APC’s interest with assisting in areas that supported raising the standards of Pacific journalism.

“We can help with facilitation, bringing in expert journalists into the region for training purposes,” he told MEP.

“We are aware that what works in Australia doesn’t work in every country,” he said. “Please reach out to us with your needs, we can help particularly with advocacy.”

‘Critical thinking’
The director of Pacific Media Centre, Professor David Robie, raised issues of digital technology and how many Pacific news outlets were lagging behind embracing the possibilities.

He said social media strategies were well integrated in the journalism profession but the Pacific is still very low in adapting to these new platforms.

Dr Robie highlighted “critical thinking” and flexibility as paramount to adapting to a “shrinking” profession. Skills were important but far more was needed in developing the ability to produce critical and insightful journalism.

“We keep thinking long term but the industry is changing, and the Pacific industry is going to change very rapidly in time as well.

“Changes are fundamental now, we have to think strategically about the future.”

Western vs ‘Pacific way’
Misa Vicky Lepou told Asia Pacific Report that based on the comments made during the meeting, media educators needed to decide whether they wanted to teach a Western perspective of journalism in their curriculum or whether it should be taught in the “Pacific way”.

“It’s their job as educators to make that call, so before we move forward we need to set these priorities.”

In the meantime, Lepou said Pacific journalists and media educators needed to begin to “trust” and forge partnerships with prominent universities to collaborate and further their expertise.

Listen to an extended commentary from Misa Vicky Lepou about this issue with Asia Pacific Report.

The traditional welcome was led by AUT students and staff and the conference is bringing together media and journalism educators from around the world for three days of discussions about global media challenges and education.

More than 220 people from 42 countries are attending.

The WJEC officially begins tomorrow and ends on Saturday.

The World Journalism Education Congress preconference for JERAA and the region began today and brought together Pacific journalism educators to improve the role of the Fourth Estate in the region.

Toeolesulusulu Associate Professor Damon Salesa, director of the New Zealand Institute of Pacific Research, opened the preconference, saying journalism was important for bringing the community together for people to engage in the public sphere.

“Journalism is central to the public interest of the Pacific, it protects culture and especially language,” Toeolesulusulu said.

“However the world has changed drastically, making it difficult for journalists to keep up with the scale of some of the issues affecting Pacific.”

He referred to health issues, like the Zika virus where communities are struggling to understand how the media are easing the issue.

This was an “exciting” time for educators to gather and face these issues together at the conference.

The day-long preconference was organised by the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA), Pacific Media Centre (PMC) and the Media Educators Pacific (MeP).

The NZ Institute of Pacific Research was the main donor for the preconference, funding five media educators from Fiji, Papua New Guinea (2), Samoa and Tonga to attend JERAA and WJEC.

The institute is a collaboration between the University of Auckland, Auckland University of Technology and Otago University.

The group of Pacific educators will host a series of panel discussions at the WJEC Pacific preconference held on July 13 at the Auckland University of Technology.

Eliki Drugunalevu, a journalism broadcast tutor from the University of the South Pacific in Suva, says he is excited to be presenting a panel about broadcast education in Fiji.

“Being a part of WJEC will expose me to a whole range of issues out there and I’ll be able to meet academics, researchers, journalists who have done so much contribution in this field.”

Drugunalevu, who is also manager of Radio Pasifik, says the audience could expect a thorough look at how student radio stations are offering real world journalism experience to students, which is important under Fiji’s strained media climate.

“The existence of such a facility is critical in engaging students in discussion through a broad range of community, educational and cultural programmes.”

Eddie Osifelo, a journalist from the Solomon Star, will be presenting about some of the challenges in the Solomon Islands media.

“As a journalist I have experienced harassment, verbal abuse and court challenges,” he told Pacific Media Watch.

His presentation will focus on the use of anonymous sources, particularly in political and business articles.

‘Digital divide’
Another journalism lecturer, Maria Sagrista, from Divine Word University (DWU) in Papua New Guinea, will present a discussion on the “digital divide” in PNG.

She told Pacific Media Watch that the digital divide presents many challenges for students transitioning from university to “real world” media organisations.

“The first one of them is the lack of equipment and resources at the university level that do not allow students to become familiar with the current technologies used in “real world” media organisations.”

Access to new technology is crucial for developing countries to play an active role in a knowledge-based society, she says.

“New technologies and the internet have the potential to enhance access to information for people and to bring countries such as Papua New Guinea to a position of active producers of knowledge, shifting away from the traditional role of passive silent consumers,” she says.

Other Pacific contingent members speaking at the preconference include Emily Matasororo (University of Papua New Guinea) and Dave Mandavah (Vanuatu Institute of Technology).

They are all being sponsored to attend by the New Zealand Institute of Pacific Research.

NZIPR director Toeolesulusulu Associate Professor Damon Salesa says the conference aligns with the goals of the institute by providing a place for the sharing of knowledge that will help improve the role of the Fourth Estate in the Pacific.

“It allows for the Pacific to get to know more about New Zealand and world media, and for New Zealand media to better understand the Pacific,” Toeolesulusulu says. “We are really excited and looking forward to this conference.”

Corruption and bribery
A special panel topic about corruption and the media in the South Pacific has been organised by Transparency International and will be streamed live on Asia Pacific Report.

Panelists include Alex Rheeney (editor-in-chief of the Post-Courier in PNG), Dr Shailendra Singh (USP) and Kalafi Moala (Taimi ‘o Tonga media group and deputy chair of the Pasifika Media Association-PasiMA)

Transparency International New Zealand’s Fuimaono Tuiasau, the Pacific director, says the forum enables TINZ to support Pacific journalists in their work to tell stories about corruption and bribery.

“We hope to highlight to an international audience the role of he media in the Pacific and the challenges that face media organisations and to expose those at the forefront to an international audience.”

Fuimaono says corruption and bribery should be a topic introduced into journalism education and training so the media can develop the skills necessary to tell these stories.

• Register for the preconference here.
• Strong Asia contingent lined up for WJEC
• Pacific preconference webpage
• WJEC website

“One of the greatest challenges of our country is understanding our demographic,” says New Zealand’s Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy.

In Devoy’s words, the increased demographic shift of cultural diversity in the country has happened in “less than a generation”.

The question at the center of the debate, “Where are you from?”, was discussed by the audience at the Pacific Women’s Watch (PWW) Celebrating our Diversity conference in Auckland last month and was referring to institutional diversity and casual racism in the New Zealand work place.

For many employers, it may seem a harmless question to ask during the recruitment process. But a question so casual is demeaning for the person on the receiving end.

Devoy spoke about this in the same conversations surrounding “casual or accidental racism” in New Zealand.

“The term ‘casual or accidental racism’ is misleading here because when you or your children are being humiliated or stereotyped it doesn’t feel casual or accidental,” she told Asia Pacific Report.

You’re not a Kiwi
PWW member and E Tū democratic union campaigner Fala Haulangi agrees, saying it’s not the right way to ask what a person’s ethnicity is.

Haulangi told Asia Pacific Report that as a Pacific Islander living in New Zealand, being asked that question makes a person feel like she or he doesn’t belong.

“I am a migrant, but I have been living here for so long,” says Haulangi.

“Having people constantly asking you that question, makes you feel like you’re not a Kiwi, like you’re still regarded as a person from outside New Zealand— when we have actually been living here for so long.”

I’m asked that question too often, she said.

“So we just have to be more bold and when someone asks you that question, say I’m from New Zealand, what about you? Where are you from? Ask that question back again.”

“Blind recruitment’
Bev Cassidy-Mackenzie, chief executive of Diversity Works NZ and also a key speaker at the conference, says employers should never ask that question during the interview recruitment process and in the workplace.

She says Diversity Works NZ is providing training to organisations that want to better “institutionalise diversity”.

“There is cultural competency being undertaken in that space for organisations,” says Cassidy-Mackenzie.

“They’re helping their staff to be more culturally competent in terms of how to better act or react in the workplace and how to better interact with staff and their organisation,” she says.

Blind recruitment
However an area that needs to be improved is better Māori and Pacific diversity in the New Zealand workforce, Cassidy-Mackenzie told Asia Pacific Report.

An issue that could be made better by employers adopting “blind recruitment strategies”.

This is a method of removing details from an applicant’s CV, such as their name and age, during the recruitment process as a way to avoid unconscious bias.

According to the Human Rights Commission, Tracking Equality at Work Key Findings 2016 young Māori and Pacific women in New Zealand are the most affected by unemployment.

Young Māori women under 25-years-old have an unemployment rate of 23.6 percent while Pacific women in the same age bracket have an unemployment rate of 31.4 percent

“It’s not necessarily about who you are, what school you go to, where you live, it’s about what you can bring to the role. Who you are is far more important than where you are from,” says Cassidy-Mackenzie.

She added that more needs to be done to improve institutional diversity and that blind recruitment is only a small part in solving a complex issue.

Auckland-based lawyer and the national president of the Māori Women’s Welfare League, Prue Kapua, attended the conference and told Asia Pacific Report, she shared the view that increasing Māori and Pacific diversity in the workplace is much deeper than deleting certain aspects from a person’s resume.

“It’s a whole issue of how you change people attitudes,” she says.

“Which is how to deal with institutional racism, how you deal with the kinds of aspects of people who get into positions of power and then exercise that through their own prejudices.”

To have diverse representation in institutional organisations and the New Zealand workforce, Kapu said, goes back to fundamental issues.

“Issues around education, poverty, the opportunity that presents or doesn’t present itself and inequality that’s where you begin this whole debate really.”

Fair go
Dame Susan Devoy told Asia Pacific Report that the answer to addressing diversity issues isn’t easy.

“Many Kiwis I talk with are older men and women.

“When I tell them we are one of the most ethnically diverse and peaceful nations on the planet and that our multicultural change took place in less than a generation they nod,” Devoy says.

“This is a very different New Zealand to the one they grew up in.

“This is our challenge for all New Zealanders – everyone deserves a fair go.”

Media experts say journalism institutions lack the resources needed to raise the quality and awareness of environmental reportage in the Asia-Pacific region.

Widely published writer and chairman of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC), Professor Crispin Maslog says that because of this he rarely sees climate change being reported in Asia-Pacific media.

“Based on my experience in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, the problem has been the lack of science courses in the curricula, the lack of teachers to teach the basics of science and the environment,” he said.“There are no textbooks and no teachers.”

Dr Maslog writes an analysis blog on science and development at the SciDev.net website with his latest column on Asia’s “invisible women farmers”.

The Indonesian country representative of AMIC and a researcher of indigenous and environmental issues, Dr Hermin Indah Wahyuni, says a key challenge such as climate change is often overlooked by the media because it is not emphasised in many journalism schools.

“Journalism lecturers in most Indonesian communication departments don’t offer specific attention to this issue [climate change],” she said.

This results in a “fallback effect” when students leave to join major media organisations.

“This condition impacts on the media structure in general,” Dr Hermin says. “Media education has a big role to offer perspectives for a better society, however not many media and communication departments can do this.”

She says a factor contributing to the quality of climate change reportage is that it is seen as an unpopular topic because it is competing with other issues that are having immediate effects on people.

Corruption priority
“Topics like corruption, political conflict, and economic issues,” she says are examples that are given priority over climate change.

Dr Hermin Indah Wahyuni and Dr Maslog will be presenting on a panel about the challenges of climate changel reporting and journalism education at the World Journalism Education Congress (WJEC) held in Auckland next month.

They are both sponsored by the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s media programme, which supports media professionals to take up placements or projects in New Zealand or Asia.

Foundation media adviser Rebecca Palmer says events like the WJEC are a great way for journalism educators around the world to interact and share knowledge with their counterparts.“We hope they have the opportunity to shed light into current affairs and media issues in their home countries and that they build networks with New Zealand-based journalism educators, who will then be able to pass their knowledge on to their students,” she says.

In addition a former secretary-general of AMIC and investigative journalist, Jose Maria Carlos, will also present at the conference.

Currently a desk editor with CNN Philippines, Carlos has been busy preparing news coverage for the inauguration of the Philippines President-elect, Rodrigo Duterte.

The Pacific Media Centre is sponsoring Carlos to attend the WJEC.

The World Journalism Education Congress (WJEC) will be held at AUT University’s city campus in the Sir Paul Reeves Building. It will run from the July 14-16 and follow an Australia-NZ-Pacific preconference on July 13 jointly staged by the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA), Media Educators Pacific and the Pacific Media Centre.

TJ Aumua is contributing editor of the Pacific Media Watch Project.

Strong Asia Pacific contingent lined up for world journalism congress

Hosted annually by the Pacific Cooperation Foundation, this year’s Pacific Wave event was held at Aotea Square, Auckland, where guests spoke about the importance of Pacific youth playing an innovative role in technology.

A significant keynote speaker was Dr Michelle Dickinson, director of the science and technology organisation Nanogirl and a senior University of Auckland lecturer.

Dr Dickinson, who describes herself as a “passionate engineer who wants to make a difference in the world”, stressed the importance of having diversity in science and engineering industries.

A call for diversity
“We need to talk more openly about having more female and especially Pacific and Māori students in this industry,” Dr Dickinson said.

“I get students to draw what they think a scientist looks like and it’s always a guy,” she said during her presentation.

“I’ve probably had over a thousand kids draw a picture of a scientist and I’ve never had one of them draw a women and I’ve never had one of them draw a picture of someone from a minority group… we need to change that.”

Speaking to Asia Pacific Report, Dickinson explained: “Diversity in science and engineering is really important because what we do is solve problems. The best way to solve problems is to have teams and if you have a team of people that are just like you and think like you, you probably are not going to problem solve as well as if you had a diverse team.”

Diverse teams ensure people are coming with different experiences and backgrounds, which help create the best science solution or engineering product, she said.

Also a co-founder of OMG Tech! A programme that is focused on state of the art technology, allows children in primary and intermediate schools across the nation to take part in workshops, learning aspects of 3D printing, coding and building robots.

Passionate about her cause, Dr Dickinson said she did not run a workshop unless the class was 50 percent female and 50 percent low decile Māori and Pasifika students.

“Because I want to create a technical space of education where the minority become the majority,” she said.

Pacific innovation
Pacific high school students who attended the conference were encouraged to be creative and to think of innovative ways of using technology to add value to society.

Mike Usmar, the chief executive for High Tech Youth, an organisation which allows young people to use technology to change economic environments, said technology creates room for groundbreaking ideas.

“There is amazing innovation in the Pacific community and they’re utilising technologies in ways probably the designers didn’t think. That is just a hallmark of where our future is with our young people.”

New Zealander and global entrepreneur Jamie Beaton also spoke at the event.

The Kings College graduate is the chief executive of Crimson Consulting, a company that has made almost $90 million within three years.

The institution helps young professionals gain the mentoring and assistance they need to study at world-class universities.

“Basically after high school I had applied to all these universities around the world. After I gained admission to them I realised there was this massive need in New Zealand to help students with the resources necessary to break these geographical boundaries – that was the starting block,” he told Asia Pacific Report.

More Pacific needed
The 21-year-old reinforced the theme of empowering youth with technology.

Beaton explained he is particularly focused on helping universities which are actively trying to recruit students from the Pacific.

“But there isn’t enough representation right now from Pasifika, so we need more applicants.”

“I want to help inspire more of these students by providing the tools necessary to get into these places.”

He said it was important for young people to remember that their potential is not bound by their community, but instead bound by the world.

Pacific Wave speakers

Name: Jale Samuwai Curuki

Age: 30

Occupation: PhD candidate, University of the South Pacific

Passion: Accounting, climate financing

Country: Fiji

Climate change activist, Jale Samuwai Curuki, sends a powerful message from Fiji to the sceptics of climate change.

“I come from the second largest island in Fiji, Vanua Levu,” says the 30-year-old.

“There’s a village there called Vunidogoloa and [this is] the first village in the world to be relocated due to climate change.

“I’ve been to Vunidogoloa and seen the consequences. The entire village is gone and it’s not habitable anymore, they have had to shift so that in itself is a testament that climate change is real.”

“We’re not making this up,” he says. “If you are still a climate denier, I feel sorry for you.”

Currently completing his PhD in climate financing at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Curuki can often be found clicking away at the keyboard, getting stuck into his thesis.

Climate financing is one of the issues that affect small island countries in their effort to combat climate change, Curuki explains.

Climate financing
“The issue of climate financing is new. No matter how you spin it, no matter how many fancy words you apply to it, all comes down to money.”

Curuki followed the climate finance track at the 2015 COP21 conference in Paris, which he attended as apart of a selected delegation for Fiji.

“To actually live and experience how agreements and how treaties are made on the highest level is something else, it’s totally mind-blowing,” he says.

He recalls busily running from meetings to negotiations that would sometimes finish in the early hours of the morning.

“We can really appreciate the effort all these diplomats and negotiators do on our behalf,” he says.

Curuki encourages all Pacific communities especially those in New Zealand and Australia to mobilise and take action against climate change.

He makes it clear that if you’re still not convinced, the Pacific isn’t far away for people to come and see the effects for themselves.

“[We are all linked and] for now we might be crying, tomorrow it might be you.”

• Pacific profile: Jenny Jiva

A group of New Zealand-born Samoans meet every Tuesday night at Newton Pacific Island Church (PIC) to connect with the Samoan language and their culture.

The 10-week Fa’amatai Bilingual class, run by the Pasifika Education Centre (PEC), is a first step for those wanting to learn Samoan rituals and protocols.

The tutor of the class and also PEC Pasifika cultural adviser, Alaelua Taulapapa Leasoiloaifaleupolu Malesala, says the class was important as it allows the community to stay connected through language and culture.

“Many of our New Zealand-born Samoans and even some people that were born in Samoa travelled to Aotearoa at a very young age,” he says.

“They are now in positions of leadership in the New Zealand community which works with a lot of our Samoan community but they don’t have the ability to communicate with our Samoan people in the times that they do come together.”

This class ensures Samoan knowledge is imparted to those that reside in New Zealand, he says.

For many of the students, the class has come to represent a revitalised connection to their language, culture and ultimately embracing their Samoan roots.

Passing on to grandchildren
Class member Peter Ah Kuoi says it is not only a “reconnection” for him, but learning Samoan language allows him to pass what he has learned on to his grandchildren.

“In our class today we learned about a legend, and it was a beautiful story, I think I could tell it to grand kids.

“I kind of missed the boat with [teaching] my children [Samoan] but I now have five grandchildren who I think at this age would be sponges for all these myths and legends of who we are and where we come from.

PIC church member in Newton Theresea Miller says the class will help her connect and better communicate with members of the Samoan community.

“We go on visitations [for church] and it’s good when we go Samoan families that we know the [cultural] processes.”

Mary Anne Copeland says she is taking the class to learn about the formal protocols and Samoan speeches.

“I’m really good with street talk I guess, talking within my own family. But being able to stand up and say a lauga (speech) and to stand up and be able to do a lot of the formal protocols, which normally I wouldn’t do, that’s what the extension of this programme has been able to help me with.”

Staying informed
Alaelua Taulapapa Leasoiloaifaleupolu Malesala encourages all Pasifika people to attend the language classes to stay informed and connected with one another.

“We must always make that connection with home,” he says.

“This is your opportunity to be exposed, be supported and gain some learning for yourselves so you can continue on with your role and responsibly within your aiga (family).”

This story is in celebration of 2016 Samoan Language Week (29 May-4 June 2016)

The theme for this year is:“E felelei manu, ae ma’au i o latou ofaga: Birds migrate to environments where they survive and thrive.”

New Zealanders need to catch up with reality about the country’s trade partners in the South-East Asia region, says an ambassador.

Speaking to the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) NZ Business Council today, New Zealand Ambassador to Viet Nam Haike Manning said it was important for ASEAN members to work together to change outdated perspectives of potential business in the region.

“What I find in general is that a lot of perceptions about Viet Nam in New Zealand lags behind the reality of the country,” he told council members.

New Zealand’s Heads of Mission from ASEAN country members met at an Auckland University of Technology breakfast to update each other on recent developments.

Listen to TJ Aumua’s podcast for Pacific Media Watch.

“Yesterday I took a screenshot of an article that said, ‘Could Viet Nam become the next Silicon Valley’, and I think it’s a really interesting and provocative proposition,” Manning said.

“What we are certainly seeing is the rapid emergence in Viet Nam of a knowledge economy, we are seeing a rapid emergence of Viet Nam has a high-tech place.”

‘Academic freedom’
In an interview with Pacific Media Watch, Manning said that as part of Viet Nam’s step towards a growing knowledge economy, the country is working on establishing its very first university to have academic freedom.

“I think in Viet Nam it’s pretty well understood that the public education system cannot properly deliver all the needs for its people and that’s why we see a lot of Vietnamese students coming to New Zealand,” Manning said.

“But something’s got to happen inside the country as well in terms of supplying the public education system.”

“It’s a brave step by the Vietnamese government to give this freedom.”

The New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines, David Strachan, also spoke at the event, saying New Zealanders needed to understand the Philippines was a great business and trading hub.

His speech also highlighted the controversy around Philippines President-elect, Rodrigo Duterte, who has become known for his hate speech and approval of increased death squads to reduce crime.

But he noted that the Philippines had been the top performing south-east Asian economy in recent years and he expected Duterte’s decisive leadership would be good for New Zealanders doing business with the country.

• Could Viet Nam become the next Silicon Valley?

Name: Jenny Jiva

Age: 23

Occupation: Masters student, University of the South Pacific

Passion: Pacific diplomacy and climate change

Country: Fiji

Jenny Jiva, a master’s student from the University of the South Pacific in Suva, is giving Pacific climate change a voice on the world stage.

Her master’s research concerns the loss and damage impacts related to climate change, as an issue, which can include the loss of livelihood, territory and property.

Jiva’s research focuses on the Pacific’s role in getting loss and damage issues on the negotiating table, and successfully into the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) outcomes and documents.

In 2015, the 23-year-old was selected as a country delegate to represent Fiji at the COP21 climate change conference in Paris, a global meeting where world leaders reached a legally binding agreement to address climate change.

“I went to the meetings and the negotiations about loss and damage,” she says.

“My main role was to take notes and do briefings for our main negotiator so that’s what really consolidated my research question.”

A goal for Jiva is to attend COP22 in November this year, which will be held in Marrakech, Morocco.

She told Asia Pacific Report that this year the conference would be reviewing the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage, a policy that aims to address climate-related loss and damage in developing countries vulnerable to extreme effects of climate change.

In 2013, in Warsaw, the Pacific fought strongly for this mechanism, she says.

The young activist is also a member of Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN), an organisation that brings together Pacific NGOs and civil society actors who advocate for climate change.

“Climate change is a very real thing, we now know that it is happening, it’s not debatable anymore,” she says.

By TJ Aumua in Daku, Fiji Islands

Rising sea levels are a major threat to coastal villages in the Pacific.

Daku village in the Rewa delta area in Tailevu, Fiji, is one village that faces the challenge every day.

Biu Naitasi, Daku’s headman, says that despite the village receiving a floodgate funded by USAid to help drain water, the sea level is still rising and the strength of waves is increasing.

Naitasi told Asia Pacific Report that sea water flooding in their village can reach up to their ankles, forcing some children in the village to relocate to another school.

The salt water has damaged their food plantations and eroded the wooden and concrete support beams on their homes.

While they wait for another floodgate to stop seawater flowing into their crops, they continue to be proactive, using people power to build higher seawalls and filling the flooded land with soil.

• Thanks to the people of Daku village and the University of the South Pacific’s Pacific Centre for the Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD), USAid and the Pacific Community in Fiji for support in making this video.

By TJ Aumua in Suva

Hydrothermal vents have been compared as the ocean equivalent of the earth’s volcanoes. They are a treasure trove of precious minerals and home to unique ocean life.

The rich ecosystems in the vents have scientists eager to gain more knowledge about them, as they face threats of disruption from deep-sea mining interests.

Hydrothermal vents are formed when the movement of the Earth’s plates split open, releasing chemically enriched water, forcing emerged peaks in the ocean’s surface.

Marine species that are developed to live in each vent’s specific ecosystem also face the danger of industrial mining.

Marine researcher and Schmidt Ocean Institute communications manager Carlie Wiener spoke to Asia-Pacific Report in Suva where she was a guest speaker as part of a series of seminars hosted by the Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) at the University of the South Pacific.

She says hydrothermal vent communities are still largely unexplored.

“Because the deep ocean is so dark, the species use hydrogen-sulfide and the process of chemosynthesis to produce energy,” Wiener says. “This is unlike land animals where they use sunlight and photosynthesis to produce energy.”

The Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI) is currently on a 28-day expedition researching hydrothermal vent sites between Fiji and Tonga.

The SOI team will use a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that is able to travel up to 3000m to the seafloor to photograph species and take environmental measurements of the vents.

Scientists are hoping the research will provide new insights into volcanic and tectonic activity in the Pacific basin, the ecology of hydrothermal vent species, and data on the impact of deep-sea mining to establish policies and protocols for the future.

Weiner said there is need for more research to happen in the Pacific with the institute receiving many proposals addressing oceanography exploration in the region.

Earlier this year, SOI researchers studied the effect of greenhouse emissions and its link with low oxygen zones in the Pacific Ocean.

Communities in the region are encouraged to get involved in the explorations.

Students and researchers can send in proposals for future expeditions to the SOI website.

“Our diving explorations are also livestreamed,” says Weiner.

“So someone here in Fiji who will never get to see 2000m below the surface, can watch it – it’s right in their backyard, happening in real time.”

Ami Dhabuwala and Pacific Media Watch contributing editor TJ Aumua are in Fiji on a two-week “Bearing Witness” climate change journalism project with the University of the South Pacific.

• The hole in the ocean – the Mariana Trench

Severe weather patterns and cyclonic activity have become increasingly hyperactive in the South Pacific with climate change as the key contributor.

Communities are faced with the destruction of food crops and are left suffering from food scarcity and malnutrition.

The Pacific Media Centre team in Fiji was granted access to propagation projects at the Pacific Community (SPC) and its Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees in Suva (CePaCT).

Here the issue of climate effects on food sources are being addressed by researchers developing strategies for rapid plant growth and climate resistant crops.

When we arrived at the centre, busy white-coated lab assistants were counting and double-checking more than 1000 banana, sweet potato and swamp taro seedlings which lay in rows across the counters, packed delicately in plastic pockets.

With the assistance of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) these seedlings are one of three batches to be sent to Tuvalu, where the island agriculture is still recovering from the devastation caused by cyclone Pam in 2014.

A total of 6000 seeds will be sent as part of this project.

Fiji itself was hit by category five, tropical cyclone Winston two months ago and as a result the lab has been experiencing frequent power shortages because of damaged infrastructure.

The continued production of seedlings amid these difficulties shows the importance of collaboration between Pacific countries to address crop resilience and food security in the region.

Tissue-culture propagation
Centre Curator Logotonu Meleisea Maqainabete says the seedlings are grown using tissue culture material, a method used for growing mass shrub vegetation.

The tissue culture propagation process is carried out in strict sterile conditions, from the materials used to grow the seeds to the air currents in the packaging labs to ensure viral and disease free plants.

We were present during one of the labs power outages, which disrupt the workflow each time it happens.

Curator Maqainabete told other lab assistants to re-start the packaging process of the seedlings.

“Each time we have a power cut and the power is out for long time we have to start again because the air becomes unsterile. We’ve had about 10 or 11 power cuts this week.”

Stem-cutting research

Unlike tissue culture cultivation used for shrub-like vegetables, the stem cutting technique is being used to encourage growth of tree species.

The process involves cutting branches from a mother-plant and rerooting the cutting in soil.

Plants grown from stem cuttings are more likely to mature faster. But although the method sounds easy, the practical application is far from simple.

The environment of the plants is continuously tested to find what temperature and humidity levels encourage the best growth.

SPC Genetic Resources Coordinator Valerie Tuia, told Asia Pacific Report breadfruit trees, an economical crop for being a staple food source in the Pacific, is the main focus for stem-cutting research in the centre.

Other economical crops being tested are coffee, mango, cocoa and mango.

“Some of these crops flower or produce seeds once a year, and sometimes we get requests for planting material right throughout the year,” says Tuia.

“The idea is, once you work out a system where you are producing material using stem cuttings then you can continue planting and supplying materials right throughout the year.”

Drought resistant crops
The effects of longer periods of drought and frequent bouts of severe weather forces have made it difficult for farmers in the region to grow seasonal produce.

Tuia explains the findings so far, suggesting crops with a combination of plant species have a better chance of surviving drought conditions.

According to the SPC website, assistance from DFAT (Australian Aid) and the International Climate Change Adaptation Initiative (ICCAI), has allowed the Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees to research “climate ready crops”.

These consist of plant species that are able to tolerate drought, salt, high temperature, and waterlogging.

“So we are looking at different approaches on how you can integrate short term crops like leafy vegetables, medium term crops like cassava and taro, and then tree crops like breadfruit or lemon trees,” says Tuia.

“With that approach, models of these crops can be practiced by small scale farmers.”

Elevated cultivation
After cyclonic weather and floods, rubbish and waste products add to the already difficult task of cleaning streets and coastlines.

“Waste materials like bottles and containers are a nuisance,” says Tuia. “So we are looking at ways of using low technology, and recycling these materials to grow vegetables.”

“What you can do is cut the bottom of the plastic bottle to plant any vegetables inside. Sterile the plastic first with hot water and sun dry the soil to kill all the microbes.

“You can then make small hooks and make an apparatus where you can then hang the individual plant containers—this is what we call elevated cultivation.”

The simple but economical strategy means it can be easily adopted, with rural and marginalised communities being able to adapt to it without needing expensive materials.

These mobile plants can be moved in doors so farmers can avoid replanting and starting their crops again in the threat of a cyclone or forced climate relocation.

“Destruction of crops also affects nutrition,” says Tuia. “The price of fresh vegetables and fruit increases after a natural disaster, so this method allows continuous harvesting of crops for anyone.”

Ami Dhabuwala and Pacific Media Watch contributing editor TJ Aumua are in Fiji on a two-week “Bearing Witness” climate change journalism project with the University of the South Pacific.

By TJ Aumua

The effects of climate change on Pacific island nations like Samoa are leaving young people faced with uncertainty about being forced to leave their homelands and migrating to other countries.

The chair for Ōtara-Papatoetoe local board in Auckland, Fa’anānā Efeso Collins is also a former broadcaster and recently returned from Samoa.

He “feels” for Pacific youth who are unsure about the existence of their homeland in the future.

“There is a lot of fear about whether or not they will be able to have their own children, their own families and grow up safety in Samoa over the next few decades,” he told Asia Pacific Report.

“We know that in countries like Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu, there’s been more international travel – so they’ve migrated more in the last 10 years than any other period in their history. I think Samoan young people are starting to think about the same thing.”

This is ironic for Pacific Islanders living in New Zealand, with hopes of many eventually to return back home.

But Fa’anānā says that with the increasing impact of climate change there may not be a home to go back to.

“I know for New Zealand-born Samoans like myself, we often talk about wanting to go back, or our parents retiring back to Samoa because the land is special to our parents generation – and it’s special to us.

“We are going to lose that sense of ‘specialness’ if we are thinking whether we are safer long-term in New Zealand.”

Health impacts
Unknown to many outside the region, climate change also has major health impacts and is contributing to the level of illnesses in the Pacific.

Fa’anānā says the health ministries in Samoa are focusing on infections like malaria, typhoid and dengue fever, which are all, transmitted by mosquitos.

‘You pick illnesses up a whole lot easier because of cyclonic activity,’ he said. ‘So the ministry is looking at how to dry up large areas of waste water where mosquitos breed’.

“And in Samoa they don’t have the western, first-world facilities to be able to deal on mass with those issues.”

Fa’anānā says the World Health Organisation (WHO) is working with the health ministry in Samoa to address diseases enhanced by climate change.

“When you are living with those sorts of things in the back the your mind, of course you are going to think about moving countries, for long term investment.”

Fa’anānā says New Zealand’s response to Pacific climate change is slow and both Pacific and mainstream media outlets need to bring this issue to the forefront.

“New Zealand can do it,” he says.

“We are a good community, we can care enough about each other, and now it’s just about us being relaxed enough to say, ‘yeah lets join together and support what’s going on in the Pacific’.”

Ami Dhabuwala and Pacific Media Watch contributing editor TJ Aumua are in Fiji on a two-week “Bearing Witness” climate change journalism project with the University of the South Pacific.

• Fa’anānā Efeso Collins speaking on Waatea Fifth Estate

By TJ Aumua in Suva

The crown-of-thorns phenomenon may sound like something from a Hollywood movie storyline. Instead it’s the name given to the rapid mass reproduction of the crown of thorns (COT) starfish – the biggest threat to the Pacific’s coral reefs.

Named for its long poisonous spines on its exterior, the starfish are the primary cause for the extinction of live coral in the South Pacific.

Dr Pascal Dumas, a researcher at the Institute for Regional Development (IRD), has been working on the phenomenon in the Pacific for almost a decade.

Although this has always been a natural marine cycle for the starfish, climate change such as warming sea temperatures and nutrient run off from floods and drains into the sea are possible factors for the starfish’s population explosion.

Standing on or being scratched by a COT spine can cause serious illness and infection.

This makes fishing for those who live on the Pacific coastlines a dangerous chore.

Dumas, together with IRD colleague and information technology engineer, Sylvie Fiat, developed OREANET, an online COT monitoring system.

This was previously launched in Vanuatu and New Caledonia to keep track of where COT clusters were present or growing around the coast.The project is planned to begin in Fiji this year.

OREANET relies on “citizen science” by encouraging locals to report on COT observations and submitting this via an online form.

Those involved in ORENET will be working with community leaders and NGO’s to help rural communities gain access to the project.

• The University of South Pacific’s Pacific Centre for Environment & Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) is hosting a weekly seminar for students during their semester. This week, they invited Dr Pascal Dumas and Sylvie Fiat from Vanuatu to inform the students about their project.

Ami Dhabuwala and Pacific Media Watch contributing editor TJ Aumua are in Fiji on a two-week “Bearing Witness” climate change journalism project with the University of the South Pacific.

• OREANET Fiji
• OREANET New Caledonia
• OREANET Vanuatu
• Fiji set to start up clean-up of crown of thorns starfish
• ‘Bearing Witness’ project

Six of the Auckland participants who attended the UN Commission of the Status of Women held in New York in March have had an opportunity to report back on the discussions that were held on the international stage.

An echoed concern among the participants was the lack of Pacific and indigenous representation at the commission.

Some even feel disappointed with a particular presentation and report by New Zealand’s Ministry for Women at the commission that “named and shamed” Māori and Pacific women.

At the “report back” session held by the Pacific Women’s Watch NZ (PWW), Denise Ewe, area representative for Tāmaki Makaurau and national executive at the Māori Women’s Welfare League (MWWL), said she felt honoured to participate in the commission but was “ashamed” over the ministry’s presentation.

Ewe said singling out these specific ethnicities and attaching them to domestic violence data on a world stage was “sloppy” when there were groups in New Zealand that have concerns around the same issue.

“There was over 4000 women from every country and no other country specifically and deliberately named [the ethnicity].

“That for me was one of the lows I have to say,” said Ewe.

Formal letter
Another participant who is also national president of the Māori Women’s Welfare League, Prue Kapua, said the league was in the process of writing a formal letter about the issue to the ministry and will be meeting with them for a debrief within the next month.

“The issue about that particular report, and how it was used has already been raised, we have discussed that with the minister last year but it seems to find its way back into that forum.”

Kapua said the commission was a huge learning experience where she gained perspectives on the process of negotiating on human right laws.

But she was disappointed with the “invisibility” of indigenous women in the world arena.

PWW board member and former Shakti Community Council employee Sara Daneshvar was also present at the commission and told Pacific Media Watch that in future she would like to see increased Pacific “grassroots” representation.

She said the Pacific was unfamiliar territory on the world stage and urged the New Zealand government to provide assistance for island nations to attend UN conferences and commissions like this one.

“For example, Papua New Guinea was not represented but we know there are plenty of organisations doing work on the ground there, but they barely have the funds to run their services. How are they going to have the funds to go to these conferences?”

Real issues
Daneshvar emphasised the real issues affecting indigenous and Pacific women were not going to be heard unless their voices and perspectives were presented directly by them.

Her message to women in New Zealand is the need to be aware of the resources they can access if their rights are abused.

“A lot of women do not know the threats committed against them are actually [human rights] abuses. All of them need to be aware that they should be treated as equals to men, that is their right as women, and if that is abused they need to know what can they do about it.”

Beverley Turner, international secretary for PWW, said New Zealand had got a reputation of being “this first country for women to vote, but [other world countries] don’t realise all the other issues beneath the surface.

“We would very much like an action plan for women,” Turner said. “This government refuses to have a plan of action for women; categorically refused that recommendation from the Human Rights Council.”

Turner’s message: “You are women, you have the same rights as women anywhere—go for it.”

TJ Aumua is contributing editor of the Pacific Media Centre’s Pacific Media Watch freedom project.

By TJ Aumua

New Zealand-based Pacific Cooperation Foundation has launched its annual appeal for student applications for the 2016 media programme.

Now in its second year, the two-week media exchange programme provides an opportunity for aspiring graduate journalists to intern in New Zealand and regional Pacific media organisations.

PCF project manager Michelle Curran said the programme was unique because it offered practical media experience in a foreign setting.

“During the internship, recipients will learn how the newsroom operates and they will be asked to go out on jobs and contribute news pieces,” she told Pacific Media Watch.

“The students will gain a real sense of what it is like to work in the industry. Perhaps most importantly, they will learn the skill and importance of networking – they will have a chance to meet journalists and senior management of organisations and learn from their personal experiences.”

Last year’s recipients included three university students from Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Fiji who travelled to New Zealand and worked in Auckland-based newsrooms. Two Auckland University of Technology students were also chosen to intern to Samoa and Fiji.

The media programme is a part of PCF’s Pacific engagement strategy, which Curran said was “in line with our aim to capture the hearts and minds of Pacific youth”.

“It is focused on improving the level and quality of media exposure in the Pacific and on creating a greater awareness and better understanding of regional issues across a wide audience.”

Curran said successful applications would showcase potential of what was needed to make a great journalist and work in the media industry.

“This includes having a passion for news and a good sense of what makes a great story, strong and clear communication skills, an interest in the Pacific, and knowledge about issues affecting the region and a desire to learn from all the contacts they will be exposed to through this programme.”

• Deadline for the 2016 PCF media programme is April 8.
• Applications
• PCF exchange students visit AUT, PMC

The launch of the New Zealand Institute of Pacific Research (NZIPR) at the University of Auckland last night has been hailed as a milestone for advancing student learning on Pacific issues.

The new institute has been established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in partnership with the University of Auckland, Auckland University of Technology and Otago University as a consortium for Pacific research and engagement.

Newly appointed director of the NZIPR, Associate Professor Damon Salesa, said it was the first time the NZ government had funded a national centre of excellence in Pacific research.

“It is a remarkable opportunity not only to research but to deliver opportunities to learn and to grow our students and research, especially our Pacific students, which our consortium has counted are in the thousands.”

Salesa said the institute also created opportunities for solo researchers to engage in conversations for purposeful and transformative Pacific relationships and resolutions.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully launched the institute at the Fale Pasifika, saying the think-tank’s objective was to support sustainable development in the Pacific region.

A pro vice-chancellor of Otago University, Tony Ballantyne, said the intellectual programme of the NZIPR would connect students with “cutting edge” research on the Pacific region.

The NZIPR will also offer students supervision in specific Pacific postgraduate research, postgraduate scholarships and student internships and placements.

The Head of Pacific Advancement at AUT, Walter Fraser, said the move for a nationally recognised Pacific institute had been desired for a long time.

Informed position
He said the NZIPR was a result of two years of discussions but its launch finally gave an opportunity for institutions to advise governance with an informed position on Pacific issues.

Professor Jenny Dixon, deputy vice-chancellor of strategic engagement at the University of Auckland and chair of the new institute, said the challenges of the consortium had concerned how the three institutions would achieve a strategy and operations consensus for the new institute.

“I think we have to remember the institute will be present at a number of places, events are going to take pace at the other universities and also overseas, so it is very much a collective effort.”

“AUT, like Otago, has a large representation of Pacific students, Pacific staff. AUT has the Pacific Media Centre — these were assets the collective bid offered.”

A launch statement noted:

• The three universities in collaboration educate 75 percent of all Pacific Island university students in New Zealand, and produce 60 percent of Pacific PhDs. They also employ 90 percent of the 175 Pacific academics working in universities across New Zealand.

• The ministry is contributing $7.5 million over five-years to the NZIPR.

• Research of the NZIPR is agenda-driven by the ministry. The first five research cases of interest for the institute are: Mapping donor contributions in the Pacific, labour markets for sustainable and economic development in the Pacific, commercial potential of land in the Pacific, private-sector investment in the Pacific and the role of sovereign trust funds.

A research report about Pacific media outlets in New Zealand was launched today at Auckland University of Technology – the first time an extensive investigation of the Pasifika diaspora media in Auckland has been produced.

New Zealand journalist and former Auckland University of Technology postgraduate student Michael Neilson undertook the research in 2015 with the guidance of PMC director Professor David Robie.

The monograph, published by the Pacific Media Centre, includes interviews with staff at more than18 of Auckland’s Pacific media outlets and provides a broad snapshot of Pasifika media representation in New Zealand and seeks to improve the recognition of Pacific within media coverage as well as the profession.

Neilson, who is currently in Indonesia after an internship with the Sydney Morning Herald bureau in Jakarta, was unable to be at the launch but he was praised by staff and colleagues for the depth and range of the research.

Former postgraduate leader at AUT, Dr Frances Nelson, said the monograph included quotes, data and photographic material that had captured the essence of the organisations that participated in the research.

‘Beautifully written’
“It is also beautifully written. And it shows his engagement with the Pasifika community and their media outlets,” she said.

Dr Robie, who is editor of the Pacific Journalism Monograph series, said: “This will be a tremendously useful booklet for both Pasifika newsrooms and our student journalists. Michael did a really dedicated and thorough job on this project.”

Outgoing chair of the Pacific Media Centre, Isabella Rasch, launched the monograph before she stepped down after three years in the role. Associate Professor Camille Nakhid was elected as the new chair.

The monograph can be purchased at the AUT bookshop. It will be distributed to Pasifika media offices and libraries, and will eventually be made available online.

More information

The kidnapping and attack on a local Vanuatu female tourism manager, Florence Lengkon, has stirred strong criticism of violence against women in the island nation.

Deputy Prime Minister Joe Natuman, who holds the Tourism, Commerce, Trades and Ni-Vanuatu Business portfolio, was quoted by the Vanuatu Daily Post today as saying: “Enough is enough.”

He sent a clear message which told police to “arrest those involved in the kidnapping and assault of a female employee of the Vanuatu Helicopters”.

Lengkon was allegedly abducted and beaten after posting criticism of Vanuatu bus and taxi drivers on social media.

In an email to the Auckland-based Pacific Media Centre, Post media director Dan McGarry, who broke the story on Monday after interviewing Lengkon, said today: “I think this might just be a watershed moment in Vanuatu society.

“It’s the very first time that the preponderance of opinion has been in defence of the vulnerable instead of deferring to bullies.”

McGarry has written numerous articles concerning the unequal treatment and violence against women in Vanuatu.

He told Pacific Media Watch that he had been waiting for almost a decade for a “brave woman” to confront the public with details surrounding their circumstances.

“That woman is Florence Lengkon, as it turns out. Her treatment at the hands of a small group of out-of-control bullies transcends the long-standing tensions at the wharf itself. And for once, people are willing to admit that.”

He said he was satisfied Deputy Prime Minister Joe Natuman had spoken out defending Lengkon’s case, citing that the frequent lack of pressure and action from the government’s highest authorities was a fundamental factor that had resulted in similar cases being ignored and then forgotten.

“It’s certainly true that, no matter what his motivations, DPM Joe Natuman reacted swiftly and decisively, giving everyone their marching orders and making it abundantly clear that this case was not going to be swept under the carpet. So far, events indicate that officials are in fact intent on stopping this kind of behaviour,” McGarry said.

“Nobody is pretending that Florence’s case marks the end of gender-based violence and systemic discrimination against women in Vanuatu society. But I think we can mark this moment as the point where a vocal and influential group began to say, ‘enough’.”

Lengkon posted on her Facebook page, saying she was going “to stay positive to the end”.

Court warrant
The Post reported local police had so far arrested seven people alleged to have been involved in the kidnapping and attack on Lengkon.

Even though the prosecution unit reportedly applied for a court warrant to detain the seven suspects until police completed the investigations and subsequent court hearings, the suspects were released under strict conditions and must appear in court on March 31.

The attack on Lengkon came after she commented on a Facebook post in an online discussion where members of the public blamed the Port Vila and Efate Land Transport Authority (PVELTA) for a recent string of violent activity at the wharf.

Dan McGarry’s article about the incident on Monday reported that Lengkon’s comment had called the bus and taxi drivers “big headed” and “unprofessional”.

In her interview with the Daily Post, Lengkon she was approached by three men who pulled her from office, located on the Port Vila waterfront, on mid-Sunday morning. They forced her into a bus and took her to the wharf.

She said there were lots of taxi and bus drivers, who she was ordered to apologise too, but received verbal abuse and eventually was hit. McGarry’s report quoted her as saying:

“I apologised. I apologised for a second time, and one of them gestured like he was going to hit me. That’s when I started to cry and bent down to hide my face. I don’t know who hit me, but someone did. Blood began to run down my face.”

Details have not been released on why Lengkon’s comment was singled out and targeted as a threat when her comment was only one of more than 100 responses to the public Facebook post.

Her attack emphasises the escalating tensions between bus and taxi drivers who are dealing with loss of tourism at the port due Vanuatu’s shaky economy.

In February, rocks were thrown at a passenger-full tour bus.

A Daily Post article stated “eye witnesses reported that the ‘bus drivers were banging on the back of the buses, yelling at them and then started to stone the vehicles'”.

TJ Aumua is contributing editor of the Pacific Media Centre’s Pacific Media Watch freedom project.

Brave woman tells of beating by Vanuatu drivers – 7 arrested

Auckland’s Fiji community have mobilised together to action disaster relief efforts for their families back home in the Fiji Islands.

Community members assembled in Mangere last night fuelled with emotion and desperate to send help back home.

Those affected in Fiji have requested donations of  non-perishable foods, water, blankets, fishing rods and tools that can be used to help the rebuilding process.

The Fijian Community Association of Auckland and the Auckland Mayoral Committee confirmed two shipping containers would be made available soon so those wanting to contribute to relief efforts can donate.

Two main container loading points:
1. South Auckland
City Impact Church
385 Mt Wellington Highway
(Entrance via Apex Centre)
Mt Wellington
Fiji Community contact: Ratu Isoa Soqosoqo 021 269 5925

2. West Auckland
Church Unlimited
3 Te Atatu Road
Glendene
Fiji Community contact: Greg Traill 021 928 551

Relief items needed:
Non-perishable food items
Bottled water
Linen – blankets, sheets, pillows, towels
Clothes
Kitchen utensils
Pots/pans
Mosquito repellents

Money donations:

FIJI RED CROSS
Bank: ANZ Banking Group Ltd.
Account number: Account Number: 1313354 BSB: 010890 (applicable for international deposits)
Account Name : Fiji Red Cross Society Account
Swift code: ANZBFJFX (applicable for international deposits)
Please State in Narrative: TC Winston Fiji Red Cross Appeal and your name, If you need a receipt please contact Fiji Red Cross at: communications@redcross.com.fj

UNICEF
Fiji’s Children Emergency Appeal: Donate through www.unicef.org.au/appeals/fiji-children-s-emergency-appeal

NEW ZEALAND RED CROSS
All their Pacific Disaster Funds will be directed to the Fiji crisis. Make your donation through their website: https://www.redcross.org.nz/donate/where-the-need-is-greatest/

AUCKLAND COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION
Auckland Communities Foundation (ACF) is a charitable foundation and a trusted vehicle that manages Auckland Council Mayoral Fund for the Pacific. Any donations should be made through ACF as follows:
a. Via the “donate now” function on the ACF website: www.aucklandcf.org.nz.
b. Via direct payment to the ACF bank account (with reference “MFP” to ASB Bank account 12-3028-0714703-00)
c. Via cheque made payable to “Auckland Communities Foundation Mayoral Fund for the Pacific” and sent to PO Box 26087, Epsom 1334.

FIJI GOVERNMENT
Donations can be made through the bank accounts below and donors will not be charged any fees, including overseas transactions. International donations can be made through the following account:
Bank: Australia New Zealand Banking Corporation
Account Number: 12628523
Account Name: Prime Minister’s National Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation: Cyclone Winston
Swift Code: ANZ BFJFX
BSB: 010 890
HUMM FM Cyclone Winston Relief Fund Appeal – All funds collected will be given to the Fiji Red Cross. Make a donation to:
ANZ Bank Account: 06-0082-0015961200 Cyclone Winston Relief Fund; or
contact Roshilla on +675 849 7000.

By TJ Aumua

OPINION: I felt the heat of Fiji’s tropical climate as soon as I jumped off the plane. The warmth was a pleasant relief from New Zealand’s frosty winter and a gratifying reminder of what a holiday feels like.

But I wasn’t here for a holiday. So ignoring the billboards touting Fiji as a honeymoon getaway, I was to work in the nation’s newsrooms for two weeks to gain a different perspective on our Pacific neighbour.

The exchange was a part of Pacific Cooperation Foundation’s Media Programme which partnered with Fiji National University and Auckland University of Technology’s Pacific Media Centre as host organisations.

On my first day in Suva I met with student journalists from Fiji’s National University. They told me Fiji should be known for its people; that despite the nation experiencing four coups in the past two decades, the people have persevered and continue to make achievements.

I was lucky enough to meet some of these people. For two weeks it was an inspiration to work alongside some of Fiji’s 20-plus-year-old journalists who were informing the nation.

I got to accompany them on their weekly assignments helping with interviews, writing and voicing news stories, and watching behind the scenes of how a 6pm news bulletin is put together and broadcast live to the nation.

A highlight was being a part of a newsroom’s daily process of being placed on an assignment early in the morning, putting the story together and then watching it on TV that night or reading it in the newspapers the next day.

Restrictions
Fiji’s media climate often hits international headlines for being restricted and censored by the Fiji Media Industry Development Decree.

At times, this was frustrating to work under; having to withhold certain questions I wanted answered, as well as locals being extremely hesitant to speak to the media in fear of repercussions.

But I admired those journalists whom, under challenging circumstances, strived to keep the people of Fiji at the heart of their stories.

When I asked some of Fiji’s student journalists why they chose this career path, they said although they had felt the effects of their country’s media environment, it was important for them to be a voice for Fiji’s rural communities who are often under represented.

The motivated people I met in Fiji went beyond these young journalists. It extended further into youth who worked within the countries NGOs, engineering firms, the music scene and those who are entrepreneurs.

—