A massive Stop Wars Aotearoa coalition rally and march on the US Consulate took place in Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau last Saturday, 11 April 2026.

“We’re going to stand up for the people of Iran, stand up for the people of Palestine, stand up for the people of Lebanon, stand up for the people of Venezuela, stand up for the people of Cuba, stand up for this fight against the American empire,” declared organiser Joe Carolan.

US and Israeli imperialism was strongly denounced by political, civil society, human rights and migrant speakers.

Protesters staged a “die-in” on the street in front of the consulate to mark the targeted slaughter of 168 children at the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in the southeastern Iranian city of Minab by US bombs. This tragedy took place on February 28, the opening day of the illegal and unprovoked US-Israel war on the Islamic Republic.

Photographs: David Robie

• See other images and video clips
• Full story — Protesters rally across Aotearoa in condemnation of Israel, US ‘warmongering’ and ‘shameful’ NZ

Stop Wars Aotearoa

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Thousands of senior hospital doctors and specialists walked off the job today for an unprecedented 24-hour strike in protest over stalled contract negotiations and thousands of other health workers protested across Aotearoa New Zealand against the coalition government’s cutbacks to the public health service Te Whatu Ora.

In spite of the disruptive bad weather across the country, protesters were out in force expressing their concerns over a national health service in crisis.

Among speakers criticising the government’s management of public health at a rally at the entrance to The Domain, near Auckland Hospital, many warned that the cutbacks were a prelude to “creeping privatisation”.

• READ MORE: Wellington doctors defend nationwide strike action over recruitment

“Health cuts hurt services, the patients who rely on them, and the workers who deliver them,” said health worker Jason Brooke.

“Under this coalition government we’ve seen departments restructured, roles disestablished, change proposals enacted, and hiring freezes implemented.

“Make no mistake. This is austerity. This is managed decline.

“The coalition can talk all they like about spending more on healthcare, the reality for ‘those-of-us-on-the-ground’ is that we know that money is not being spent where it’s needed.”

Placards said “Fight back together for the workers”, “Proud to be union”, “We’re fighting back for workers rights”, and one poster declared: “Don’t bite the hand that wipes your bum — safe staffing now”.

Palestine supporters also carried a May Day message of solidarity from Palestinian Confederation of Trade Unions.

• Photographs: David Robie/Asia Pacific Report    Other photos, videos here
  

Fighting back for NZ's public health system

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Vanuatu has celebrated the reconstruction of the national council of chiefs meeting house, called the Malvatumauri nakamal, destroyed by fire two years ago.

Dozens of chiefs from across the country — and also Kanaky New Caledonia — joined the ceremony in the capital Port Vila on Wednesday, March 5, during the Chiefs Day national public holiday alongside the president, prime minister and general public.

Traditional dances, kastom ceremonies, and speeches highlighted the building’s cultural significance, reinforcing its role as a place for conflict resolution, discussions on governance, and the preservation of oral traditions.

After independence in 1980, the chiefs decided a symbol representing unity for all of Vanuatu’s peoples and customs be built in Port Vila. The nakamal was officially opened in 1990.

Ahead of the ceremony, Prime Minister Jotham Napat emphasised all are welcome at the meeting house, in the heart of the capital.

“Nakamal does not separate the people, nakamal has a place for everyone,” Napat said.

President of the Malvatumauri Council of Chiefs Paul Robert Ravun used the occasion to call for greater parliamentary consultation with customary leaders.

‘Right time to speak’
“For 44 years we have been silent, but now, in this moment, I believe it is the right time to speak,” Ravun said.

“Any bill that is to be passed through Parliament must first pass through the father’s house, the father must agree and have the final say before it can proceed,” he said, referring to the council of chiefs.

The nakamal took two years to rebuild using locally sourced materials, including natangura palm for the thatched roof and hardwood for the framework, after it was destroyed by fire in early 2023.

Volunteers including chiefs, community members, and apprentices eager to learn ancestral building techniques all contributed to its construction and it survived December’s 7.3 magnitude earthquake intact.

Vanuatu’s government and international donors France, Australia, New Zealand, and China provided financial and logistical support for its reconstruction, costing about 20 million vatu (US$160,000).

Republished with permission from BenarNews.

• Images by the VBTC

The Malvatumauri nakamal

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Palestinian diaspora poets, singers and musicians gathered today with solidarity partners from Aotearoa New Zealand, African nations — including South Africa — in a vibrant celebration.

The celebration marked the UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and similar events have been happening around New Zealand today, across the world and over the weekend.

Images by David Robie of Asia Pacific Report.

• See news report
• Video clips of songs
• PSNA live feed of the celebration

UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

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As Israel drives the Palestinians deeper into another Nakba in Gaza with its assault on Rafah, the Palestine Youth Aotearoa (PYA) and solidarity supporters in Aotearoa New Zealand tonight commemorated the original Nakba — “the Catastrophe” — of 1948.

• READ MORE: As Israel bombs Gaza, sirens echo in West Bank marking 76 years since Nakba
• Fiji abstains from new UN vote on Palestinian membership bid
• 1000 protest in Auckland over Israel’s war on Gaza, honour Nakba victims
• Other War on Gaza reports

This was when Israeli militias slaughtered more than 15,000 people, perpetrated more than 70 massacres and occupied more than three quarters of Palestine, with 750,000 of the Palestinian population forced into becoming refugees from their own land.

The Nakba was a massive campaign of ethnic cleansing followed by the destruction of hundreds of villages, to prevent the return of the refugees — similar to what is being wrought now in Gaza.

The Nakba lies at the heart of 76 years of injustice for the Palestinians — and for the latest injustice, the seven-month long war on Gaza.

Participants told through their stories, poetry and songs by candlelight, they would not forget 1948 — “and we will not forget the genocide under way in Gaza.”

Photographs: David Robie

Nakba Day vigil in Tāmaki Makaurau in Aotearoa 2024

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Protesters were out in force at 17 centres around Aotearoa New Zealand — from Rawene in the north to Invercargill in the south — this weekend calling for a “ceasefire now!” in the War on Gaza.

“This is the largest number of centres ever taking action as New Zealanders express their abhorrence at Israel’s genocidal rampage against Palestinians in Gaza,” said Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) national chair John Minto.

“People are stepping up where our political leaders are showing anti-Palestinian racism.”

• READ MORE: Crowds greet freed Palestinian prisoners after second captive exchange

A four-day “pause” came into force on Friday with the first two exchange batches of Hamas hostages and Palesinian prisoners held by Israel taking place over two days.

“But this pause is just a tea break in the ongoing genocide against Palestinians,” said Minto. “We are demanding our political leaders call for Ceasefire Now!”

Images from today’s Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland rally in Aotea Square by David Robie.

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Another house done, and onto the next . . . Volunteers working in Mount Albert community over the past few days helping those suffering from Auckland’s flash flood devastation have done us proud.

Tremendous work by everybody. Here are some random photos of our volunteer teams on the job.

Many thanks to everybody who has contributed.

• READ MORE:  ‘We lost everything’: Refugees, migrants draw on backgrounds to help flood victims
• Earlier volunteer photo gallery
• Other Auckland flash flood reports

Thanks to sponsors Chicking for supporting the community with hot meals for families in motels and volunteers.

And also thanks to Karla for the Bunnings Warehouse New Zealand donating safety equipment for the volunteers helping the community.

• Need help, please contact these numbers:
  Accommodation support: 0800 222 200
  Clothes, bed, and blankets etc: 0800 400 100
• Photographs by Red Tsounga, Aotearoa Africa Foundation community leader, and Ernestina Bonsu Maro

Mt Roskill volunteers after the floods

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First came the devastating flash floods in Auckland on Friday night. Then came the huge effort to help families evacuate to community shelters. And finally the ongoing clean-up operation.

We’re saddened by this unprecedented extreme weather that has impacted on some of our communities in Aotearoa. It was great to see the community come out to support and help evacuate flooded-out people to the community shelters. We were going door-to-door to help families as the flood waters were rising.

Special thanks to the volunteers who came out yesterday to help clean up at the NZ Ethnic Women’s Trust in Mt Roskill which was impacted by the flooding. Volunteers at the Wesley Primary School helped families with food, clothes and hot meals.

• READ MORE: Other Auckland flood reports

Thanks to the school leaders who opened the space to give shelter to families.

A massive thanks to the volunteers that worked alongside me to distribute food today in Albert-Eden and Puketāpapa. We distributed food and needed information door to door on O’Donnell Avenue in Mt Roskill to families and the church affected by the flood.

We also reached out to affected families in Fowlds Avenue, Kitchener Street and Lambeth Avenue.

About 80 meals delivered to 30 families — thanks to Humanity First International for the meals and to the Whānau Community Centre and Hub’s Nik Naidu.

All over Auckland, volunteers were doing a great job.

• Accommodation support: 0800 222 200
• Clothes, bed, and blankets etc: 0800 400 100

Auckland's flash floods

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Peace campaigners, activists and Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific stalwarts were among those who gathered in Auckland this evening to celebrate publication of a new book dedicated to the remarkable mahi of the late international peace researcher Owen Wilkes.

This Auckland launch of Peacemonger at Grey Lynn’s Trades Hall was the second of three such events following one in Christchurch last week and a third planned for Wellington on February 24.

Speakers included three of the four Auckland contributors to the book — event organiser Maire Leadbeater, Dr Bob Mann and Dr David Robie — with the fourth, Dr Peter Wills, sending his apologies. Dr Robie also shared a message from Swedish researcher Paul Claesson.

Guest speakers Bob Woodward and Lyn Hume reflected on the Peace Movement and the remarkable achievements over many years.

Activist musician Roger Fowler rounded off the evening with a performance.

Photographs: Del Abcede/WILPF and APR

• Peacemonger: Owen Wilkes: International peace researcher, edited by May Bass and Mark Derby. Wellington: Raekaihau Press, 196 pages. $35. ISBN 978-1-99-115386-9

Owen Wilkes book launch

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One of the joys of travelling the world and collecting books is the historical oddities that turn up in the most unexpected places.

I have a splendid copy of the complete works of Shakespeare dating to the Second World War, completely re-set, so the frontispiece notes, due to the original plates having been “destroyed by enemy action”. One wonders at the perfidy of the Luftwaffe in trying to blow up the Bard.

I have a copy of Grove’s encyclopaedia of music from the 1930s which notes with disdain that attempts to make jazz respectable by using an orchestra have failed—and this written several years after Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. The same volume also contains a section on the influence of Jews in classical music, noting such important ‘Hebrew’ composers as Mahler.

• READ MORE: ‘Fijian hearts are heavy’ says PM as Pacific mourns Queen Elizabeth II
• Other Pacific Journalism Review book reviews

Both these volumes came from a secondhand bookseller near the bus station in Suva: relics, I suppose, of a long departed British colonial administrator.

Each of these volumes is a window into the past and into attitudes and ideas that have long vanished.

In the year of the Platinum Jubilee of the late Queen Elizabeth II—who died yesterday aged 96 after a 70-year reign—it was therefore timely to find a copy of the Royal Tour Picture Album, a lavishly illustrated record of her 1953 tour of the Commonwealth in my local Salvation Army shop.

The 1953 tour seems to have been a strange affair, a tour of places rarely visited by royalty alongside some more important, but equally far-flung outposts of the Commonwealth. It was rather like Iron Maiden playing in Christchurch or Caracas.

Pacific and other places
The Queen and Prince Philip visited Bermuda, Jamaica, Panama, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, what was then Ceylon, Aden, Uganda, Tobruk (Libya), Malta and Gibraltar.

The African segment seems to have been beset by security issues and Britain would eventually be expelled from Aden and Libya, where the Queen paid tribute to the defence of Tobruk during the Second World War.

What is intriguing is the concentration on the small island states in the Caribbean and the Pacific, places which did not, at the time, seem to have afforded much material benefit to the UK (although the Fijian soldiers who served in the British army and the Windrush migrants might argue otherwise), but which could be relied upon to provide a loyal, colourful and exotic welcome.

It is the Pacific that takes up most of the pages here. There are some splendid colour plates (one suspects some of them are actually hand tinted) showing, among other things, Her Majesty and the Secretary for Fijian Affairs, Ratu Lala Sukuna, in Albert Park in Suva, surrounded by Fijians with their gifts for the visitors—50 newly killed pigs, 50 cooked pigs, 10 tons of bananas and 50 metres of tapa cloth.

It is the depictions of the local people that intrigue after so many decades. Some of the Indigenous peoples, like the Tongans, are well defined (at least in the somewhat patronising terms of the day), others are projected as members of a happy, multi-racial Commonwealth (the various inhabitants of Fiji) and others, like the First Nations peoples of Australia are very awkwardly presented, with little or no information or explanation about who they are or why they are there. Given the things we know now, some of the images raise disturbing questions to which we may never know the answers.

It is unclear whether the author, Elizabeth Morton, accompanied the tour or simply worked from a pile of press releases and newspaper clippings. The book was co-produced with the Sunday Graphic, which closed in 1960, so she may have worked for that masthead.

Whatever the case, she was clearly eager to present Fiji as a multi-racial success story. While we are told that the royal vessel, the SS Gothic, was greeted by canoes manned by ‘fuzzy haired warriors’ we are also told that ‘Fijians, Indians, Chinese and Europeans’ all cheered the Queen.

Lautoka’s ‘tremendous welcome’
Later they visited Lautoka where they received ‘a tremendous welcome from the Indian sugar-cane workers’. Alas, it would only take a few more decades for that multicultural vision to be shattered by the first of the coups that have bedevilled Fiji

From Fiji, Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh flew to Nuku’alofa in a TEAL Solent Mk IV flying boat, the Aranui, which is now in the MOTAT aviation collection in Auckland.
Despite only visiting for two days, the royal visitors were given a hearty welcome.

She and the Duke were greeted by Queen Salote, who had entranced the British when she visited London for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. When the Tongan monarch rode in an open carriage oblivious of the rain, her fortitude drew the admiration of the crowd and prompted both Noel Coward and Flanders and Swan to make jokes that are probably unrepeatable today.

Despite preserving its independence, Tonga had strong ties with the United Kingdom. During the Second World War, when the then Princess Elizabeth was driving an ambulance, Queen Salote raised enough money to buy three Spitfires for the RAF.

After being greeted at the wharf by Queen Salote, the Queen and the Duke drove through the rain into the capital where people from all over the kingdom, including its remotest islands, gathered to greet her.

Ex-servicemen marched through the streets and at the mala’e the British visitors were waited on by members of the Nobility as they and 2000 guests tucked into a banquet of pork, chicken crayfish, lobsters, yams and pineapples.

A sipi tau (the Tongan equivalent of the haka) was given in honour of the visitors.
That night they slept at the royal palace and were wakened in the morning by a serenade of nose flutes.

Overflowing church
After breakfast they attended service in the Wesleyan church that was full to overflowing.

In her speech, Queen Elizabeth said: ‘Never was a more appropriate name bestowed on any lands than that which Captain Cook gave to these beautiful islands when he called them The Friendly Islands.’

The photographs accompanying the report are of the kind we have become used to: The Queen and her party enjoying local hospitality, receiving gifts and inspecting local curiosities, including Tui Malila, the tortoise said to have been presented by Captain Cook in 1777. The tortoise died in 1966.

And how were the Tongans presented? It is worth reading, 70 years later, Morton’s description:

The Tongans are a simple, happy, devout people. They share their fervent loyalty between their own Queen and the Sovereign Head of the Empire and Commonwealth which since 1900 has protected their 1000 year old independence. Their land is rich and fertile, their seas teem with fish; for longer than they can remember there has never been poverty or unemployment in their paradise. Queen Elizabeth II came to them as their friend from afar whose navies guard their shores and whose peoples buy all the bananas, copra and coconuts they produce.

They welcomed the Queen and her husband with sincere and abandoned joy and gave them a feast that was fabulous in its lavishness. But before this began there was a simple little ceremony on the quay at Nuku’alofa shortly after the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh landed. Five-year-old Mele Siuilikutape, granddaughter of Queen Salote, came shyly forward and, with all the dignity and grace of her ancient race, presented the friend of Tonga with a basket of wild flowers.

This passage lays out a vision that was very familiar, an Island paradise presided over by a wise local ruler loyal to Britain and a people forever grateful for the protection of the Royal Navy. Was it only slightly more than 50 years since Kipling had prophesied: ‘Far-called, our navies melt away?’ In another 30 years Britain would barely be able to scrape together enough ships to rescue the Falklands from the Argentine invaders.

Queen Elizabeth visited Tonga again in 1970 and 1977.

‘Cherished memories’
When Prince Harry visited Tonga in 2018 he read a message from his grandmother: ‘To this day I remember with fondness Queen Salote’s attendance at my own Coronation, while Prince Philip and I have cherished memories from our three wonderful visits to your country.’

From Tonga, the Queen travelled on to New Zealand, where, according to Morton, ‘the Maoris, once the most warlike and adventurous of the Polynesian races, now live in peace and understanding with the people of British stock’.

Later, she writes: ‘The Maoris gave their first vociferous welcome at Waitangi, an historic spot on the placid waters of the Bay of Islands. Here in 1840 the Maori chiefs met Captain William Hobson—who became the first Governor of New Zealand-and signed a treaty acknowledging Queen Victoria as their sovereign.’ It is possibly not too much to suggest that some modern readers might bridle at this interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi.

From New Zealand, the Queen travelled on to Australia. Here too we have a picture of a predominantly white nation, but unlike New Zealand the Indigenous people remain in the background; if not unacknowledged then certainly unexplained. Clumsy as the writing about Māori might seem to us today, it is a reflection of the Pākehā view of the day and Māori representatives are present and clearly indicated in several photographs.

In Australia, the identified Indigenous face practically disappears. Here is a colour photograph of ‘fearsome looking Torres Straits Islanders armed with bows and arrows and wearing elaborate feather head dresses’ providing a guard of honour in Cairns.

Here is a group of Aborigines from the Northern Territory who had been shipped to Toowoomba in Queensland where they ‘performed native dances’. Here are two Aboriginal girls in ‘immaculate white dresses’ curtseying to the Queen, but they have their backs to the camera. They have no identity. In the background an Aboriginal dancer looks on.
Here, though, is six-year-old Beverley Joy Noble, from the Kurrawong Native Mission in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, presenting a bouquet. One wonders whether she was one of the Stolen Generation.

There are other, unexplained photographs. There is a picture of the royal party in Busselton in Western Australia where they were greeted by a Boy Scout troop—most of whom seem to be Indigenous Peoples, but nothing is said about who they are or how a multi-racial troop evolved.

Unexplained picture
And last but not least, there is an entirely unexplained picture of the late Queen reviewing ‘soldiers and sailors from Australia’s Island Territories’. These vaguely determined people are clearly members of the Pacific Islands Regiment (the PIR) from what was then the Territory of Papua and New Guinea.

The Royal Tour Picture Album is a glimpse into a world that simply never existed for much of today’s population. However, this does not make the book simply a curiosity. Indeed, for the curious, the book is a joy because of what it contains. It preserves images and ideas and views that need to examined, not just for their historical value, or as a mark of how far attitudes have changed, but as a warning that in 70 years our descendants will look upon our own world—and us—and wonder with equal puzzlement at why or how we behaved and thought as we do.

Dr Philip Cass is editor of Pacific Journalism Review. This review is republished from PJR in a partnership and was written and published before the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022 aged 96 after a remarkable reign of 70 years.

• Royal Tour Picture Album, by Elizabeth Morton. London, UK: Sunday Graphic/Pitkin Pictorials Ltd, 1953. 104 pages.
• To read the full article and see the photo gallery go to: https://doi.org/10.24135/pjr.v28i1and2.1262

An RNZAF P-3K2 Orion aircraft flies over the small Tongan island of Nomuka showing the heavy ash fall from last Saturday’s volcanic eruption on Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai.

Five Squadron crew worked on board while flying overhead to gather vital information to send back to New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and other government agencies.

• READ MORE: Asia Pacific Report’s other images and stories on the volcanic eruption and tsunami

Images: Taken on board the Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion on Monday 17 January 2022/Licensed under Creative Commons BY-4.0

RNZDF Orion surveillance flight images

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New Zealand’s largest ever crowd in support of migrant rights gathered in Auckland’s Aotea Square at the weekend in triple protests that also marked solidarity for Palestinian justice and the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, China.

More than 1500 people filled the square on Saturday proclaiming “migrant lives matter” with speakers calling on them to stand up for their rights.

New Zealand governments over the past few years were accused of cynically exploiting migrant workers and that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s “nation of 5 million people” excluded about 300,000 migrants.

The protesters then marched down Queen Street calling for changes to the “broken” immigration policies.

Among demands were:

• Visas to be extended to allow for workers who had been trapped overseas, and
• Creation of “genuine pathways” to permanent residence.

Unite union national director Michael Treen said successive governments had built the economy on the back of migrants and then consistently “lied” to them about their prospects.

President of the Migrant Workers Association Anu Kaloti said migrants were suffering at the hands of the “broken immigration system”.

Before the march, Palestinian community leader Maher Nazza declared to the crowd “No one is free until we are all free”, saying that the world community must pressure Israel into honouring the United Nations resolutions and restore justice and hope for Palestinians.

A smaller crowd of Chinese dissidents marked the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, with more than 10,000 deaths, according to a BBC report.

One speaker said: “If I said the truth [about the Chinese Communist Party] as I am saying here today in China, somebody would come within minutes and take me away.”

Photographs by David Robie

Palestine, migrant rights and the Tiananmen massacre

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More than 2000 people took part in Auckland today in a demonstration for justice for Palestine and against “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing”.

While speakers welcomed the ceasefire on Thursday night in the Israeli attack on Gaza after 11 days of bombardment, they lamented the lack of progress in addressing the “root causes” of the conflict.

The protesters marched to the US consulate in Auckland and condemned uncritical US policy in support of Israel.

• READ MORE: Israel and Hamas claim victory as fragile ceasefire holds
• Time for NZ to speak up clearly for Palestinian rights and international law – John Minto
• Other Palestine reports

This is the second weekend in a row when protests in support of Palestinian statehood and self-determination have been held across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Palestinian community organisers set-up a pavement vigil for the 70 Palestinian children killed in the continuous barrage of Israeli jets and missiles.

At least 243 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli bombardment, including more than 100 women and children. The Gaza Health Ministry also said more than 1800 Palestinians had been wounded.

Twelve Israelis, including two children, were killed by Palestinian rockets, the country’s medical service said.

The United Nations estimated that at least 94 buildings in Gaza had been destroyed by the Israeli military, comprising 461 housing and commercial units.

Photographs/video: David Robie/Asia Pacific Report

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Sir Michael Somare. Founding father and three times prime minister of Papua New Guinea. Born Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, April 9, 1936. Died Port Moresby, February 26, 2021, aged 84.

As the nation has mourned for the past two weeks for one of the Pacific’s leadership giants in the cultural process known as haus krai, Papua New Guinea television journalist and blogger Scott Waide threw open his blog, My Land, My Country, for tributes and photographs to the great man.

On this gallery page is a selection of some of the photos provided by the country’s “citizen photojournalists” from the tribute marches of tribespeople from Hela, Western Highlands and Jiwaka in the capital of Port Moresby on Tuesday.

The state funeral is on Friday.

Asia Pacific Report republishes items from Waide’s blog with permission.

• READ MORE: Other Sir Michael Somare reports and tributes

Haus Krai for Sir Michael Somare

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The Pacific Climate Warriors are the winners of the Pax Christi International Peace Prize 2020.

On making the judgment, the members of the Pax Christi International board acknowledged the “admirable leadership shown by young people” on this critical issue.

The award tribute said: “[The board members] also want to draw attention to the region of Oceania, a beautiful part of the world which is too often overlooked.

“The brave, nonviolent and tenacious actions of the Pacific Climate Warriors are to be applauded and encouraged.”

The Pacific Media Centre’s Del Abcede was on hand to capture the international presentation this week at St Columba Centre, Ponsonby, Auckland, in Aotearoa New Zealand.

• News story on the awards

Pax Christi International Peace Prize 2020

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Pacific Media Centre students, staff and journalists gathered at Auckland University of Technology this week and debated reset strategies for the future in a “rollercoaster” symposium.

They also farewelled founding centre director Professor David Robie, who is departing after 18 years at AUT after a surprise announcement. He wishes to concentrate on his journalism, book, research and innovative projects.

Centre volunteer photographer and publications designer Del Abcede, who is also leaving, captured these images on the day. The programme featured a group of West Papuan postgraduate students from Auckland and Waikato who gave a cultural performance.

Master of ceremonies was Tagata Pasifika reporter and presenter John Pulu.

• Pacific journalism, media and diversity researchers tackle challenges ahead
• Former University of the South Pacific professor Dr Crosbie Walsh pens a tribute
• Media education messages of support on Cafe Pacific
• ‘Empowerment is really important. Journalism isn’t just about writing a good story … but empowering people with information in a democracy’

PMC highlights and new horizons

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Alert level two looked like alert level “zero” today after more than a month of lockdown in Auckland when I caught a local bus into downtown.

There were people in every facet of business smiling and frowning just like Auckland in the old pre-covid days.

The barber shops, coffee shops, takeaways were busy as people returned to their normal routines of keeping their businesses open.

What was disappointing, however, was there was no social distancing on the bus – or elsewhere, even though the bus signs said a maximum of 39 people.

Was I taking a risk? I suppose I was but that is the price you pay when you’re a journalist.

Did anyone on the bus feel threatened? No, a few had face masks on … even fewer people were wearing gloves.

Scent of a hairdo
I could smell the scent of the woman in front of me with her hairdo, which was fragrant and pleasant – so much for keeping your distance.

There were others on the bus, like a woman who sat across from me looking really busy as she answered her phone.

The others looked busy too as we picked up passengers on the way to Newmarket where young men and women would alight. And again there was no social distancing.

Whether they were girlfriends and boyfriends, I wouldn’t know but the sheer joy of seeing each other was something to behold after such a long time of being locked away.

Westfields at Newmarket was open, and it seemed that nothing new had happened. Again I was aghast at the no social distancing.

It was appalling to say the least. It was like the shackles had been taken off and people had come out to play on a sunny day.

Onehunga was busy as the mall returned to business, you couldn’t get a place to park your car, which was a far cry from level 4 or even level 3.

Thai pie and coffee
The joy of having a chicken and mushroom pie and a coffee made by the Thai couple down the road before I caught the bus was palpable. Finally, I could return to something normal – even though it was bad for me.

As were the kids at the playground in Onehunga, I saw from the bus. They were going down the slide after lockdown, and their joy was unbridled.

I stopped off at AUT University – where I study. It was closed with a QR barcode on the door which I didn’t bother to try.

Next was a trip to High Street, it seemed nothing had changed, just as busy as ever.

Auckland, had returned to normal it seemed. Covid-19 has been banished …or has it?

Story and pictures by Sri Krishnamurthi

Covid L2 ... or L zero?

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This week marks the 74th anniversary of the United States atomic bombings of Japan, bringing with it the annual renewed debate over the morality of the decision to force the country’s unconditional surrender by unleashing the Allies’ terrible new weapon on two heavily populated cities that were critical to the Japanese war effort.

Hiroshima was chosen first due to its compact topography, strategic port, and hosting of two major Army headquarters. It was bombed on 6 August 1945.

The city was devastated with between 90,000 and 150,000 deaths.

Three days later, on August 9, a second port city of Nagasaki was bombed with up to 80,000 deaths. About half the death tolls in both cities was within the first day.

The Pacific Media Centre’s Del Abcede visited Nagasaki in January this year. Her portfolio of images – prepared for a display at the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) commemoration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing in Auckland on 11 August 2019 – showing the past and the modern City of Peace.

• WILPF Aotearoa

Nagasaki Day 2019

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The Pacific Media Centre’s Del Abcede joined the Ihumātao “protectors” protest at the weekend to soak up the atmosphere of guardianship over the future of the sacred indigenous Māori site.

Fletcher Building plans to build 480 homes on the site but work has been suspended by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern while talks continue between various stakeholders.

The SOUL (Save Our Unique Landscape) protectors group says the land has historical, cultural and archaeological significance and should be left an open space or returned to mana whenua.

The block of land was confiscated in 1863 by British colonial authorities, acquired by the Crown and sold to the Wallace family. In 2016, the 32ha block was bought by the Fletcher group for housing development.

Here is a portfolio of Del’s images.

• The Ihumātao land rights struggle – a timeline
• Iwi against Ihumātao protest social media pages shutdown
• More Ihumātao stories

Ihumātao - protecting the future

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Pacific Media Centre’s Del Abcede was on the ground for last Sunday’s “love not hate” rally  with about 2000 people marching down Auckland’s Queen Street in solidarity with the victims and survivors of the Christchurch mosque terrorist attack earlier this month.

Scores of children were among the marchers with placards declaring “Stand up to Islamophobia”, “Peace, love”, “Denying racism is racism”, “Dismantle white supremacy” and “Migrants are welcome, fascists are not”.

Fifty worshippers were killed by a lone gunman in an attack on two mosques in Christchurch on March 15. New Zealand has now banned assault and semi-automatic weapons.

• Other Christchurch mosque terror stories

Love Aotearoa Hate Racism

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The massive gathering in Christchurch’s Hagley Park has reassured and uplifted their shocked community, say New Zealand Muslim leaders.

About 20,000 people gathered in Hagley Park to observe two minutes of silence and the Muslim call to prayer on Friday along with thousands more at other events across the country, including Auckland’s Domain.

Pacific Media Centre photographer Del Abcede was on hand to capture these images at Ponsonby’s Al-Masjid Al-Jamie mosque and Aotea Square on a day when women across New Zealand of all faiths reclaimed the hijab. More photos can be seen on her Facebook page.

• More Christchurch mosque attack stories

Ponsonby and Aotea day of prayer, reflection

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About 100 journalists covered the historic New Caledonian independence referendum last weekend, with media from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the Pacific, as well as France and Tahiti, sending crews.

A spokesperson for the French High Commission said 100 journalists had been accredited for the referendum – 40 of them foreign journalists.

Local journalists also filed reports for Radio Canada and RTBF (Belgium).

Featured in these images are some of the news teams at work, including SBS World News reporter Stefan Armbruster and SBS executive producer Christophe Mallet who presented some of the best reporting on the event.

Photos by David Robie

• More New Caledonian referendum stories

Media and the vote

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Student journalists have celebrated the end of the academic year with their 18th annual awards at the University if the South Pacific.

They were in jovial spirits as 14 awards and cash prizes to the tune of $6000 were awarded to many of the students in a ceremony on Friday evening.

Solomon Islands students did especially well, taking away many of the prizes.

Keynote speaker was a former coordinator of the USP journalism programme, Professor David Robie, director of the Pacific Media Centre.

Media Association of the Solomon Islands (MASI) president Charles Kadamana, a senior Solomon Star journalist who graduated from the USP programme last year, also spoke.

Full awards list | Professor David Robie’s speech

• Photographers: Harrison Selmen, Jovesa Naisua and David Robie

USP journalism awards night

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The Greenpeace flagship, Rainbow Warrior 3, will arrive in Auckland tomorrow on the next stage of her “Making Oil History” tour of New Zealand.

The ship is a custom designed eco-campaign vessel designed to replace the original Rainbow Warrior bombed by French secret agents trying to stop her antinuclear voyage to Moruroa – this is now a living reef under water in Matauri Bay.

Tour programme | Video

The Rainbow Warrior is now “part of our national identity, as a symbol of New Zealand’s successful nuclear free movement”, says Greenpeace New Zealand executive director Russel Norman.

He says New Zealand must rediscover bold action now for the struggle against oil and catastrophic climate change.

The Pacific Media Centre was on hand for the Rainbow Warrior welcome in Matauri Bay, Northland, yesterday.

Photographs: David Robie

• Rainbow Warrior returns to NZ for ‘oil free’ future and activist doco

Rainbow Warrior at Matauri Bay

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Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark is the new patron for the National Council of Women and she shared her stimulating thoughts and insights at the national conference in Auckland yesterday.

In an interview format with NCW chief executive Dr Gill Greer, Clark talked about violence against women, pay equity, leadership, abortion law reform, and sustainable development aid in the Asia-Pacific region.

Clark is a former administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The conference theme was He Toa Takitini – “strength in diversity”.

The Pacific Media Centre’s Del Abcede, of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), was on hand at Mount Wellington to get some pictures.

• PMC’s Jessica Marshall’s report on the conference

He Toa Takitini - 'strength in diversity'

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AUT Indonesia Centre director Lester Finch and Auckland Indonesia Community representative Maman Baboe spoke strongly last night in support of Indonesian and New Zealand collaborative ventures such as the “Disasters, Cyclones and Communication” edition of Pacific Journalism Review, the first such joint media publication.

The Yoyakarta-based Center for Southeast Asian Social Studies (CESASS) at the Universitas Gadjah Mada collaborated with Auckland University of Technology’s Pacific Media Centre to produce this joint edition, edited by Professor David Robie and five colleagues including the evening’s MC and assistant editor Khariah Rahman and associate editor Dr Philip Cass.

The project also included research papers from the University of the South Pacific.

Photographs by PJR designer Del Abcede.

PJR climate and disasters edition launch

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About 50 people staged a “wall of noise” protest in Auckland’s port today in a bid to shut down the Israeli “festival of oppression” marking 70 years of illegal occupation of Palestinian land.

Protesting at the Silo Park over what Palestinians regard as the Nakba – “the catastophe” – when the state of Israel was established in 1948 through “ethnic cleansing” of an estimated 750,000 to one million indigenous Palestinians.

The Palestinians were forced to become refugees in a Jewish-majority state in Palestine and the day – 14 May 1948 – is regarded as Israel’s independence day.

“The Nakba isn’t just a crime of the past,” said Auckland Peace Action group spokesperson Valerie Morse, one of the organisers. “The repression is ongoing.”

The Pacific Media Centre’s Rahul Bhattarai and Del Abcede were at Silo Park to capture the protest in pictures.

• Gaza rallies – how women shape the Great March of Return movement

Free Palestine!

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Vunidogoloa was the first village in Fiji to be relocated – barely three years ago – due to sea level rise.

The village was in the Cakaudrove province and had backyard views of beautiful Natewa Bay on Vanua Levu Island.

The relaxing life for these villagers was, however, dampened by the impact of sea level rise.

Flooding was common for the villagers and so they needed to be relocated.

Their new village is 2 kilometres inland and was renamed by the villagers as Kenani (“Promised Land”).

The whole village of Vunidogoloa (pop. 130) moved to their new settlement in January 2014 and now have solar lighting.

We stopped by the old “ghost” village to see where the people once lived and also took some photos of where they are now settled.

• In Fiji, villages need to move due to climate change

From Vunidogoloa to Kenani

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Pacific Media Centre’s Bearing Witness climate project postgraduate student team Hele Ikimotu and Blessen Tom have just spent five days on the northern Fiji volcanic island of Rabi.

As Ikimotu, himself a Rabi Islander, reports: “The island’s inhabitants are the Banabans, who were forcibly relocated to Rabi in 1945 due to the destruction of their island from phosphate mining. The people kept the four villages of Banaba and brought them with them to Rabi – Buakonikai, Tabwewa, Tabiang and Uma.”

Here are some of the images from Ikimotu and Tom’s visit to the island.

• Life on Fiji’s Rabi Island
• Rabi Island video

Life on Rabi

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Colourful Pacific scenes from the AUT School of Communication Studies annual media awards at the Sir Paul Reeves Building communications precinct in Auckland last night.

On hand to take photos were Del Abcede and David Robie of the Pacific Media Centre (PMC) and Star Kata of Tagata Pasifika. Jean Bell filed the news report and full awards listing here. John Pulu of Tagata Pasifika, an AUT graduate, was the popular MC.

Communication Studies awards 2018

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New Zealand and Filipino teachers, community advocates and students this week launched an open letter appealing to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to end military abuses against indigenous Lumad people in the southern island of Mindanao.

They also called on the Manila government to scrap a terrorist listing of Lumad leaders and community activists.

The appeal was made in response to a group of Lumad advocates and teachers from the Save Our Schools (SOS) network who have been visiting New Zealand for a speaking tour.

The activists spoke at Auckland’s Peace Place in their last meeting before returning to the Philippines.

Pacific Media Centre’s Del Abcede was there to capture the event in images.

• Manila brands volunteer teachers as ‘terrorists’, say Lumad advocates

Save Our Schools

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Former US President Barack Obama won office decisively on the basis of a fervent campaign driven by his supporters believing he would bring real change.

Obama’s two terms did nothing of the sort.

He was elected US President in 2008, in the middle of the global financial crisis. It was a deeper capitalist crisis than most and widespread disenchantment, frustration and anger threatened to force politicians to regulate capitalism and end neoliberalism.

READ MORE: Obama’s celebrity star power

The reign of the rich was under intense pressure. Billionaire wealth and power rich were endangered.

Around the globe ordinary people were demanding governments not use state funds to bailout the banks at the heart of the crisis. Anger at obscene wealth alongside poverty and growing inequality was finding public expression through the likes of the Occupy movement.

What was to be done?

It was Barack Obama who rode to the rescue – a fresh-faced political orator talking of the imperative for change and promising a transformation in US politics.

“Yes, We Can” said Obama.

Hope and vision
Ordinary people flocked to his message of hope and a vision for a better world.

But behind it all his campaign was heavily backed by big business donations – more than even for the Republicans. Their donations were given on the basis of assurances Obama would calm things down, bail out capitalism and continue the exploitation of low and middle-income families for the benefit of the rich.

Obama bailed out the banks, increased weapons production and delivered 10 times more drone strikes than his predecessor George Bush.

I’m not a student of American political history, but I haven’t come across another US President where there has been a greater gulf between promise and delivery. Obama was a huge disappointment to ordinary people but a champion of the rich.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that his visit to New Zealand this week is in the company of the rich and the very rich. They owe him.

It’s disappointing all the same to see the childlike fawning of politicians and media representatives to this visit.

In New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s case it’s not so surprising.

“Yes we can” and “Let’s do this” have a similar ring.

John Minto is an independent Christchurch media commentator and activist.

• Other John Minto commentaries

The Zonta Club of Auckland “celebrated change” through its yellow rose awards on International Women’s Day today.

Speakers included Michelle Kidd, QSM, of Te Rangimarie Charitable Trust, Latayvia Tualasea Tautai of the National Council of Women, and Rez Gardi, young New Zealander of the Year for 2017.

The celebration was at the Ellen Melville Centre in Freyberg Place and the Pacific Media Centre’s Del Abcede was on hand to take some pictures.

This year also marks the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand.

• Zonta District 16 – New Zealand

Zonta NZ Women's Day Awards

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Tropical Cyclone Gita might be slowing moving away from Samoa but the danger is far from over and a state of disaster has been declared.

Gita, which has been lashing both Samoa and American Samoa with torrential rain and damaging winds, was upgraded to a category two as it caused flooding, landslides and blocked roads, reports Radio NZ.

The Samoa Observer reports police have warned people to take extra care.

“We urge members of the public to remain vigilant as we are experiencing rough weather due to cyclone Gita,” a police statement said in Apia.

“We advise families to remain indoors and not drive around Apia town area or near bridges and rivers. Flooding remains effective for all areas of Samoa.

“Overflowing rivers should not be crossed and we urge drivers not to put their lives or others at risk by trying to do so.”

Pictures of Cyclone Gita are from the Samoa Metereological Division.

Cyclone Gita hits Samoa

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Participants at the Pacific Media Centre’s 10th anniversary celebration last Thursday held a silent vigil calling for justice for the victims of the 2009 Ampatuan massacre and in protest against the spate of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

Calling for “Justice Now!”, “Never again to martial law” and “Stop the killings”, the participants made the emphatic statement at the end of a compelling address by Malou Mangahas, executive director of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), during the “Journalism Under Duress” seminar.

Associate Professor (Pasifika) Laumanuvao Winnie Laban of Victoria University, who launched the centre as a cabinet minister a decade ago, praised the progress, and AUT’s School of Communication Studies head Professor Berrin Yanıkkaya launched a new photojournalism book.

Images by Del Abcede and Kendall Hutt of the Pacific Media Centre | Video slides

PMC turns 10 in images

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One of our University of Papua New Guinea citizen journalists has been on the ground photographing polling around Port Moresby – the National Capital District.

Here are some of the pictures.

• More PNG election stories

Voting in Port Moresby

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They demonstrated in Arawa in central Bougainville and blockaded the route to the derelict Panguna copper mine late last week in a bid to prevent the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) and Bougainville Copper Limited, which has disputed ownership of the mine.

The women also succeeded in getting a court injunction against the mine agreement in the National Court in Port Moresby on Friday afternoon.

Llane Munau was there to capture the women’s protest on camera.

• Full story, video

'Women own the land'

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The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WIPLF) and the Devonport Peace Group organised the event, marking the 30th anniversary of the NZ Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act. This came into force on 8 June 1987.

The pictures were taken by the Pacific Media Centre’s Dr David Robie and Pacific Media Watch editor Kendall Hutt.

• Flashback to NZ’s nuclear-free law in 1987 — Challenging Goliath

Devonport and WILPF Aotearoa celebrate N-free NZ

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West Papuan parliamentarian in exile and human rights advocate Benny Wenda spoke to about 80 students, staff and activists at Auckland University of Technology last night.

He spoke under the Papuan Morning Star flag, banned in Indonesia where protesters showing this can face up to 15 years in jail.

The colourful event was organised by the Global Peace and Justice Auckland (GPJA), West Papua Action Auckland (WPAA), Asia Pacific Human Rights Coalition (APHRC) and Oceania Interrupted theatre and cultural group in partnership with AUT’s Pacific Media Centre.

Meeting and greeting Benny Wenda

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The World Press Freedom Day organisers, UNESCO and the Indonesian Press Council, marginalised the highly sensitive issue of West Papuan media and human rights violations in Jakarta last week.

But they failed to silence West Papuan media freedom advocates.

This seminar, at one of the other WPFD cluster of hotels, was a resounding success at raising the issues.

• Southern Cross report on WPFD2017

Free Press in West Papua

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The University of the South Pacific in Fiji has a colourful market which happens in the third week of every month for four days. Locals and students are both welcome.

There is music, food and clothes stalls, and also books and accessories at Suva’s Laucala Campus.

I snapped some photos while Julie Cleaver got b-roll for the climate change mini documentary we’re making.

We have several interviews lined up today, so watch for our stories over the next couple of days.

• Other Bearing Witness project stories

Market day at USP

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Pacific Media Centre’s Del Abcede, an activist for the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), was there to capture some images.

The global rallies climaxed in Washington, DC, following the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

Del Abcede’s video clip.

Women's solidarity march in Aotearoa

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This festival brings people together through music, food and art and allows young creatives to showcase their work.

Emma Olphert was one of the featured artists who displayed her work at the All Goods Gallery in Avondale during the festival.

Olphert’s artworks depict musa leaves (banana leaves) in different colours.

Also studying creative technologies at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Olphert said she has digitally edited her paintings to evoke texture and add more depth to her images.

Also at the festival was artist Curly Elias Ismail. Originally from Zimbabwe, Ismail has been living in Auckland for five-years and said he paints women which he sees in his day to day life.

“Women are not treated equally in many cultures and I believe they should be given equal rights. I like to share that same message through my paintings,” he added.

Young creative Neishun Lopati shared the wisdoms of her nana with everyone at the event through her collection titled ‘From my nana to you’.

The collection displayed her artwork which she has made into postcards. Printed on them are her favourite quotes said to her by her nana.

“One can write a small message on that postcard and give it to their loved ones.”

Celebrating diversity

Organised by Deahne Lakatani and her partner Malcom Lakatani, from the Creative Souls Project, it was the first year this festival was held.

‘Various music sessions were held, there was a craft session where the elders taught 10-year-olds how to weave and various cooking sessions of Pacific dishes were enjoyed by people from various communities,’ Deahne Lakatani said.

“We live in a diverse society and we are celebrating that through this festival,” she said.

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Organised by the Pacific Media Centre at Auckland University of Technology, the Asia-Pacific “stream” of 12 people funded by donors spanned both an Australian and Pacific preconference and the main WJEC conference.

“I must give credit to a wonderful group of educators from what we always claim –not just in media but by our governments as well — our Pacific region,” said Misa Vicky Lepou, president of the recently formed Media Educators Pacific (MeP).

Roving photographer Del Abcede captures the scene.

Full story

From JERAA to WJEC

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They are both at the 4th World Journalism Education Congress (WEC) meeting at Auckland University of Technology.

Dr Maslog is chairman of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre in Manila and Dr Wahyuni is Head of the Masters in Media and Communication Science programme at Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta.

AUT Pacific Media Centre photographer Del Abcede took the pictures.

Asia NZ Foundation team

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Leilani Salesa said the media was powerful at creating awareness of issues and it was critical that they reviewed their teaching and practice methods to give Papuan people a chance of self-determination of their future.

• Full story here

Oceania Interrupted powhiri

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Indonesian troops murdered more than 150 West Papuan villagers on Biak Island, 1200km north of Australia.

These pictures are from Sydney yesterday where the flag was raised outside the Indonesian Consulate, Maroubra, and flowers were handed out by Australia West Papua Association members to represent the victims whose lives were brutally cut short.

The 2013 Biak Massacre Tribunal findings | 18 years since the Biak massacre

Biak Day in Sydney

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A UPNG staff person said that at least three vehicles at the security base had been set on fire, while the base itself was allegedly ransacked by angry students.

The staff claimed that some students tried to prevent their colleagues from the School of Natural and Physical Sciences from attending classes.

Uniforce stepped in to prevent that from happening when the group of students retaliated.

However, a UPNG student leader said that Uniforce tried to force some male students to attend classes. The students were at the buai market at the clinic area when the guards ordered them to stop whatever they were doing and get to class.
– Carmella Gware of Loop PNG | Photographs by Citizen Journalist

Burning UPNG cars

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But police and hospital authorities denied anybody had been killed as stated in earlier news reports while saying eight students had been treated at Port Moresby General Hospital for gunshot wounds.

These graphic images capture scenes from today at Waigani campus – from peaceful protest to bloodied bodies. The students have been protesting against Prime Minister Peter O’Neill for several weeks.

Mayhem at University of PNG

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