From being the headline to creating them, Moana Maniapoto has walked a rather rocky road of swinging between both sides of the media.

Known for her award-winning current affairs show Te Ao with Moana on Whakaata Māori, and the 1990s cover of Black Pearl, the lawyer-by-trade doesn’t keep her advocacy a secret.

Her first introduction to news was at the tail end of the 1980s when she was relaxed in the guest seat at Aotearoa Radio — Auckland’s first Māori radio station — but her kōrero hit a nerve.

• READ MORE: Other Te Reo Māori media reports

“I said something the host considered radical,” she said.

“He quickly distanced the station from my remarks and that got the phones ringing.”

It became a race for listeners to punch numbers into the telephone, the first person to get through was New Zealand filmmaker, producer and writer Merata Mita, who ripped into the host.

“How dare you talk down to her like that,” Maniapoto recalled. The very next day she answered the call to host that show from then on.

No training, no worries
Aotearoa Radio was her first real job working four hours per day, spinning yarns five days a week — no training, no worries.

“Oh, they tried to get us to speak a bit flasher, but no one could be bothered. It was such a lot of fun, a great bunch of people working there. It was also nerve-wracking interviewing people like Erima Henare (NZ politician Peeni Henare’s father), but the one I still chuckle about the most was Winston Peters.”

She remembers challenging Peters over a comment he made about Māori in the media: “You’re going to have to apologise to your listeners, Moana. I never said that,” Peters pointed out.

They bickered in true journalist versus politician fashion — neither refused to budge, until Maniapoto revealed she had a word-for-word copy of his speech.

All Peters could do was watch Maniapoto attempt to hold in her laughter. A prompt ad break was only appropriate.

But the Winston-win wasn’t enough to stay in the gig.

“After two years, I was over it. It was tiring. Someone rang up live on air and threatened to kill me. It was a good excuse to resign.”

Although it wasn’t the end of the candlewick for Maniapoto, it took 30 years to string up an interview with Peters again.

Short-lived telly stints
In-between times she had short-lived telly stints including a year playing Dr Te Aniwa Ryan on Shortland Street, but it wasn’t for her. The singer-songwriter has also created documentaries with her partner Toby Mills, their daughter Manawanui Maniapoto-Mills a gunning young actress.

Maniapoto has featured on the cover of magazines, one in particular she remembers was Mana magazine in 1993.

“Sally Tagg photographed me in the shallow end of a Parnell Baths pool, wrapped in metres of blue curtain net, trying to act like it was completely normal,” she said.

Just 10 years ago she joined Mana Trust which runs the online Sunday mag E-Tangata, mentored by Gary Wilson (co-founder and co-editor) and print journalist Tapu Misa who taught her how to transfer her voice through computer keys.

“Whakaata Māori approached me in 2019, I was flattered, but music was my life and I felt wholly unequipped for journalism. Then again, I always love a challenge.”

Since jumping on board, Te Ao with Moana has completed six seasons and will “keep calm and carry on” for a seventh season come 17 February, 2025 — her son Kimiora Hikurangi Jackson the producer and “boss”.

It will be the last current affairs show to air on Whakaata Māori before moving the TV channel to web next year.

Advocating social justice
Her road of journalism and music is winding. Her music is the vehicle to advocating social justice which often landed her in the news rather than telling it.

“To me songwriting, documentaries, and current affairs are all about finding ways to convey a story or explore an issue or share insights. I think a strength I have are the relationships I’ve built through music — countless networks both here and overseas. Perfect for when we are wanting to deep dive into issues.”

Her inspiration for music grew from her dad, Nepia Tauri Maniapoto and his brothers. Maniapoto said it was “their thing” to entertain guests from the moment they walked into the dining room at Waitetoko Marae until kai was finished.

“It was Prince Tui Teka and the Platters. Great vocal harmonies. My father always had a uke, gat, and sax in the house,” she said.

Born in Invercargill and raised in Rotorua by her māmā Bernadette and pāpā Nepia, she was surrounded by her five siblings who some had a keen interest in kapa haka, although, the kapa-life was “too tough” for Maniapoto. Instead, nieces Puna Whakaata, Mourei, and Tiaria inheriting the “kapa” gene. Maniapoto said they’re exceptional and highly-competitive performers.

Blending her Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, and Tūhourangi whakapapa into song was no struggle.

The 1990s was filled with soul, R’n’B, and reggae, she said, singing in te reo was met with indifference if not hostility.

‘Labelled a radical’
“If you mixed in lyrics that were political in nature, you were labelled a ‘radical.’ I wasn’t the only one, but probably the ‘radical’ with the highest profile at the time.”

After her “rare” single Kua Makona in 1987, Moana & the Moahunters formed in the early 1990s, followed by Moana and the Tribe which is still going strong. Her sister Trina has a lovely singing voice and has been in Moana & The Tribe since it was formed, she said.

And just like her sixth television season, Maniapoto has just churned out her sixth album, Ono.

“I’m incredibly proud of it. So grateful to Paddy Free and Scotty Morrison for their skills. Looks pretty too on vinyl and CD, as well as digital. A cool Xmas present. Just saying.”

The microphone doesn’t seem to be losing power anytime soon. All albums adequately named one-to-six in te reo Māori, one can only punt on the next album name.

“It’s kinda weird now morphing back into the interviewee to promote my album release. I’m used to asking all the questions.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The man being touted by the opposition as the next leader of Papua New Guinea says the first thing his administration would do is put more focus on law and order.

East Sepik governor Allan Bird is being put forward as the opposition’s candidate for prime minister with a vote on a motion of no confidence likely in the last week of May.

Bird is realistic about his chances but he said it is important to have such a vote.

• LISTEN TO RNZ PACIFIC WAVES: Governor Bird on PNG’s future
• Other PNG law and order reports

“I think the first thing we would do is just restructure the Budget and put more focus on things like law and order, bring that right to the top and deal with it quickly,” he said.

He spoke about what he aspires to do if he gets the chance.

Don Wiseman: Mr Bird, you had been delegated to look at the violence following the 2022 election, and it is clear that resolving this will be a huge problem.

AB: Not necessarily. It’s currently confined to the upper Highlands part of the country, but it is filtering down to Port Moresby and other places. I guess the reluctance to deal with the violence is that I’d say 90 percent of that violence stems from the aftermath of the elections.

From our own findings, we know that many leaders in that part of the world that run for elections actually use these warlords to help them get elected. And obviously, they’ve got like four years of downtime between elections, and this is how they spend their spare time. So, it’s hardly surprising.

I think our military and our police have the capability to deal with these criminal warlords and put them down. How shall I say it – with extreme prejudice. But you get a lot of interference in the command of the police and the Defence Force. I suspect that changes the operational orders once they get too close to dealing with these terrorists.

DW: Police have been given the power to use lethal force, but a lot of commentators would say the problems have more to do with the the lack of money, the lack of opportunity, the lack of education.

AB: The lack of education, opportunity, and things like that will play a small part. But again, as I said, I come from a province where we don’t have warlords running around heavily armed to the teeth. I mean, you have got to remember an AR-15, or a 4M, or anything like that. These things on the black market cost around 60,000 to 70,000 kina (NZ$20,000-25,000).

The ordinary Papua New Guinean cannot afford one of those things and guns are banned in public use — they’ve been banned for like 30 years. So how do these weapons get in? Just buying a bullet to operate one of these things is hard enough. So you got to ask yourself the question: how are illiterate people with perhaps no opportunity, able to come into possession of such weapons.

DW: The esteemed military leader Jerry Singarok compiled, at the request of the government about 15 years ago, a substantial report on what to do about the gun problem. But next to nothing of that has ever been implemented. Would you go back to something like that?

AB: Absolutely. I have a lot of respect for Major-General Singarok. I know him personally as well. We have had these discussions on occasions. You’ve got smart, capable people who have done a lot of work in areas such as this, and we just simply put them on the backburner and let them collect dust.

DW: The opposition hopes to have its notice for a motion of no confidence in the Marape government in Parliament on 28 or 29 May, when Parliament resumes. It was adjourned two weeks ago when the opposition tried to present their motion, with the government claiming it was laden with fake names, something the opposition has strenuously denied. Do you have the numbers?

AB: Obviously we’re talking with people inside the government because that’s where the numbers are. Hence, we’ve been encouraged to go ahead with the vote of no confidence. The chance of maybe being Prime Minister per se, is probably like 5 percent. So it could be someone else.

I say that because in Papua New Guinea, it’s really difficult for someone with my background and my sort of discipline and level of honesty to become prime minister. It’s happened a couple of times in the past, but it’s very rare.

DW: You’re too honest?

AB: I’m too honest. Yes.

DW: We’ve looked at the law and audit issue. What else needs fixing fast?

Well, we’ve got a youth bulge. We’ve got a huge population problem. We’ve got to start looking at practical ways in terms of how we can quickly expand opportunities to use your word. Whatever we’ve been doing for the last 10 years has not worked. We’ve got to try something new.

My proposal is actually really keeping with international management best practice. You go to any organisation this is what they do. I think New Zealand does it as well, and Australia does, which is you’ve got to push more funds and responsibilities closer to the coalface and that’s the provinces.

If I could do one thing that would change the trajectory of this country, it’s actually to push more resources away from the centralised government. We actually have a centralised system of government right now.

The Prime Minister [Marape] has so much control to the point where it’s up to him to authorise the building of a road in a particular place worth, say, 5 million kina. The national government is the federal government, if you like, is looking after projects that are as low as say, 2 to 3 million New Zealand dollars in value all the way up to projects that are $500 million in value.

So the question is: there’s got to be better separation of powers, better separation of responsibilities and, of course, clearly demarcated roles and responsibilities. Right now, we’re all competing for the same space. It’s highly inefficient with duplicating a lot of things and there’s a lot of wastage of resources. The way to do that is to decentralise.

DW: What concerns do you have about MPs having direct control over significant amounts of these funds that are meant to go to their electorates? Should they?

AB: Well, I don’t think any of us should have access to direct funding in that regard. However, this is the prevailing political culture that we live in. So again, coming back to my idea about ensuring that we get better funding at the sub-national levels is to strengthen the operational capability of the public servants there, so that once they start to perform, then hopefully over time, there’ll be less of a need to directly give funds to members of parliament because the system itself will start functioning.

We’ve killed the system over the last 20 or 30 years and so now the system is overly dependent on one individual which is wrong.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Barbara Dreaver is a familiar face on Aotearoa New Zealand television screens, beloved to some, and feared by others who have been exposed by her work across three decades.

Dreaver has been named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Years Honours list, for services to investigative journalism and Pacific issues.

Speaking after pulling a late night finishing news stories, Dreaver says it is hard to find the words.

• READ MORE: Other Barbara Dreaver reports on Asia Pacific Report

“Completely overwhelmed, really honoured . . .  I’m really pleased because my family are super thrilled.,” she says.

“That’s really what it’s about, is when the people who you love and mean so much to you, when they’re so proud, that means the world.

“It does feel awkward . . .  to be talking about myself, and as Pacific people we find that a bit hard as well . . .  because they don’t want to stick their head out of the water, they just do what they do, and now I’m getting a good taste of my own medicine.”

Dreaver was born in Kiribati, her mother’s homeland and grew up on the island of Tarawa, she also has close family in Fiji, Tonga, the Cook Islands and Solomon Islands. She says receiving the accolade will be momentous for her family, as well as honouring her parents and those who have gone before her.

“My Dad said he’s going to go and buy a new suit, and my Mum said to him, [being from] Kiribati, ‘you could hire one’, and he says, ‘my daughter is getting a medal, I will buy a new suit, and I don’t care how much it costs I’m going to save up and buy one’.

“So to have them beside me in their later years and to be blessed with that, when it’s the time of our lives when we have to appreciate every single day with the people you love, so while I love my family so much, it’s Mum and Dad who mean so much to me.”

A history of telling stories
Dreaver’s journalism background includes co-owning a newspaper in the Cook Islands, working at Radio New Zealand, before carving out a space for herself at TVNZ working her way up to being Pacific correspondent, a role she has held for 21 years.

“My job has always been about allowing Pacific voices to have airtime, or to be there and to be represented, because that’s what’s seriously lacking, not just in New Zealand, but also internationally, it’s getting Pacific voices to be heard.

“I just play a role and am one of the many parts of the jigsaw.”

She admits exposing certain stories hasn’t always made her popular with certain people.

“Instead of trying to hide an issue and pretend that it’s not really happening, I believe that we have to show the big stuff and show the problems that we have to address it.

“You can’t just hide things under the carpet because it will come out at some point. Let’s do it our way. Let’s get it out there now.

Dreaver says being truthful isn’t hard, but sometimes goes against the grain of how Pacific communities and politicians like to be portrayed.

“Sometimes we like to just say we’re all just amazing, but things don’t change if we don’t’ speak up, if we don’t put those issues to the fore, things never change, and I think that’s wrong.”

In 2008, Dreaver was locked up in Fiji then banned from returning for eight years, after questioning the then-Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.

“That was because I challenged the military commander who was pretending to be a prime minister at the time.

“Democracy and freedom of speech is everything to a journalist, so I was yelling questions to him and challenging him and it was really only a matter of time before a military dictator wants to lock up that journalist.”

Dreaver designed a journalism training programme in the Pacific, but says there is no blanket approach, remembering a workshop she ran for the Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited (PCBL).

“Melanesia is complicated, you open one layer and then there’s another layer and that’s the way I conduct myself and journalism, I never pretend that I know it, because inevitably, the minute you think you know, something happens.

“I gave some advice about door stopping someone and they said to me, ‘well, what if we get stoned?’ and was like ‘we’re going to have to rethink this’.”

An ongoing conversation, and media mission
Dreaver says the reality of TV journalism isn’t glamourous, with constant deadlines and a never-ending news cycle.

“There is no work balance, it’s extremely long hours, in fact last week I had about three hours sleep when travelling with Winston Peters on a 24-hour trip to Fiji.”

Dreaver says the Pacific’s relationship with other countries is becoming more important with global superpowers scrambling for influence in the Pacific, evident at last year’s Pacific Islands Forum in the Cook Islands.

“There were 21 countries, Saudi Arabia, Norway, all there vying for influence, and I’ve been going to the Forum since the 1990s and to see this was really disturbing to me.

“Some of the big leaders were saying ‘it’s really great because it shows interest in the Pacific’, yes, but it also shows they want something from the Pacific, so the Pacific needs to be smart about how they do this and not give in to big powers throwing around money, we’ve got to stay true to ourselves.”

Hopes for the future
Despite New Zealand’s new coalition government having no Pacific representation, Dreaver is optimistic about the future of Pacific journalism.

“Pacific journalists in this country are very strong and they’re just going to keep doing their job.

“Winston Peters . . .  there’s lots of controversies around him and some of them are well deserved, but he does like the Pacific and he upped the funding for the Pacific when he worked under Jacinda Ardern’s government, so let’s see what happens there.

“But whatever happens in this government, this is why journalism is important, and it’s people like me, like you, and it’s people like our colleagues who will hold them to account.”

Barbara Dreaver was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities. Khalia Strong is a Pacific Media Network journalist and this Public Interest Journalism article is republished with permission.

From Island girl to an airline pilot seems like the Disney fantasy Moana yet nothing could further from the truth when it comes to Silva McLeod who turned fantasy into reality with heartbreak along the way.

Born in the small Tongan village of Vava’u in the days when we watched and marvelled as jets few overhead, Mcleod never dreamed one day that she would be there in the sky flying jet planes to all manner of destinations.

In her recently released memoir,  Island Girl to Airline Pilot: A Story of Love, Sacrifice and Taking Flight, she tells her story.

The book details when and where she meets her Australian husband Ken who went to Tonga to work in building a hospital. She was working as a waitress in a bar when she first met him.

However, unlike other Palagi (white men) visiting the islands and making promises they never intended to keep, Ken — according to her autobiography that initially reads like a Mills & Boon novel — was a perfect gentleman as he slowly courted her.

“At first, it wasn’t the done thing to do… Unfortunately, the picture we have that white men come in — it’s not a very nice picture, but that’s how it was — they impregnate the Tongan girl and then nick off, and mum and dad, nan and pa will have to clean up the mess,” she writes.

“So, this is quite rare, a young handsome Pālagi came to our island, and we found a common attraction to each other. My family feared the worst … so it wasn’t very well received in the beginning.

Language ‘huge barrier’
“Language was a huge barrier at the beginning, because my family couldn’t speak a word of English and Ken couldn’t speak a word of Tongan.

“So how could Ken make a conversation that might help my family accept the situation? But it didn’t take long.”

Ken eventually whisked her away to Melbourne in 1980, and while her dreams were put on the backburner while the couple raised a family.

She did ultimately realise her dream to become Tonga and possibly the Pacific female airline pilot, beginning as a flying instructor, then flying for Royal Tonga Airlines, Australian Flying Doctor Service and eventually Virgin International Airlines.

And, at the time of doing this interview, she was waiting to hear about her health results to find out whether she could keep flying.

Becoming a pilot “was never really a dream, because I could never envision reaching it or getting there,” Mcleod  says.

“It was more like a fantasy because it was never going to happen.

Both ways to the beach
“Growing up in Vava’u, in a tiny little island of Pangaimotu, 200 people live there: you walk one way you reach the beach; you turn around 180 degrees you reach the beach.

“So, to dream of eventually becoming an airline pilot one day, or even just flying an aeroplane was unreachable — so I kept it as a fantasy.

“I can just visualise myself as a child running outside every time I hear a sound of an aircraft and I was there [looking] at the sky until the aircraft disappeared.

“The curiosity in me … was getting a little bit too much, running away with the thought of ‘oh wow, how clever is that, imagine the people that are flying that machine… wouldn’t it be amazing to operate such a machine, because it defies gravity?

“The fantasy was right from a young age, but it wasn’t a dream because I didn’t think that I’d get there.”

Mcleod’s world while growing up was limited, she says: “like wanting to reach for a piece of coconut but finding your arms are bound”.

At the time growing up in the 1970s in Vava’u, television and  newspapers weren’t easily accessible, so glimpses of the lives and places outside of the immediate community were limited, she says.

‘I can’t get out’
“It felt like, ‘I can’t get out’. It’s the same right across the Pacific Islands, it’s not just Tonga.

“We have such a rich culture and living in it … it’s just part of you and something I will treasure and value for the rest of my life.

“But then on the other hand, it’s restrictive because there’s nothing else to do.

“You go to school and then after that there was no university, there was no job. What could  you  do on an island? You couldn’t see a future.

“We are bound by culture, we bind by family, we bind by religion. It’s like you are free but you are bound to something.

“That’s just the way it is, and that’s just the island life, and you just grow up understanding it and it’s part of you.”

Now, with internet connectivity many Pasifika children view a more open world, she says.

Done her family duty
Settling in Melbourne and raising two daughters who are happily married with their own kids, she has done her family duty.

Then in a conversation with Ken, Mcleod spoke of her dream of becoming a pilot. However, instead of laughing, her husband told her that she could do it.

“Yes you have to be good at mathematics to be pilot and it takes hard work so no fantasy is ever easy,” she said.

Not long after, Ken became sick with cancer, and underwent chemotherapy. Mcleod focused on his recovery until her husband asked her about what it would take to get her started. He bought her a birthday present of vouchers for an introductory flight, and the rest is history.

Six years later, she earned her air transport pilot’s licence and became  the first Tongan woman to qualify as a pilot, and later a flight instructor.

The work brought Mcleod satisfaction, though she frequently faced both racism and sexism along the way, such as callers would say they wanted to speak to “Mr McLeod”.

Sexism, racism and misogynism, she has experienced it all, but as she said, “my book isn’t about that, I just wanted to tell my story through my eyes”.

An eye on Boeing 777s
As a pilot, Mcleod was “quite happy just flying 737s all around” but  followed with interest as Boeing 777s were developed and introduced, with automated fly-by-wire technology.

“I was based in New Zealand for nearly 12 months — loved my time there. That was on the 737s, so I did all of the domestic routes in New Zealand as well as all the South Pacific islands.

“At first I was based in Christchurch, then when moved Auckland a group of us pilots pooled our allowance and took an apartment at Auckland’s viaduct and we just loved it there, Ken came along and joined us,” she said.

Mcleod then  began working for the Virgin stable  and was trained to pilot 777s there — another thing ticked off her bucket list.

When she joined Royal Tongan Airlines and became  the first pilot  to speak fluent Tongan to the largely Tongan passengers over the intercom, it gave her such pride.

Defining her life
Mcleod underlines her story that flying aeroplanes does not define her life. Her journey, family, cultural identity and partnership with Ken determined her life.

Alas Ken died recently from cancer as the covid-19 pandemic swept through the world, and McLeod says that  until the end they remained both close and committed to breaking down barriers of skin colour and culture.

“I was a wife first, a mother, a grandmother, a carer, and I just call myself a worker … whatever field you have it’s no different. I just wanted to tell my story,” she says.

“And if my story inspires young Pacific women to be who they want to be, then so be it, but that was not my ambition. I just wanted to tell my story,” she says heading out the door to a nearby golf course.

•  Island Girl to Airline Pilot: A Story of Love, Sacrifice and Taking Flight, by Silva Mcleod. Melbourne: Exisle Publishing. ISBN: 9781922539618
  

Full many a gem of purest ray serene The dark unfathom’d caves of ocean bear Full many a floww’r is born to blush unseen And waste its sweetness on the desert air

— Thomas Gray , “Elegy”, 1751

Jai Ram Reddy, former Fiji statesman, judge and international jurist, has died in Auckland aged 85.

In his passing, Fiji has lost one of its most distinguished sons of the 20th century.

We mourn his passing but, in truth, we mourn for ourselves, for he has left the silken bonds of this earth to find rest and respite in the company of Fiji’s immortals. He is now one for the ages.

• READ MORE:  Helen Reddy: A tribute to my father, Fiji’s visionary Jai Ram Reddy
• Other tributes to Jai Ram Reddy

This gifted man will continue to shine as a beacon for those who fight for fairness and justice and a higher purpose in life, and for a decent country to live in.

The words of Urdu Laureate Allama Iqbal are apposite: Bade Mushkil se Hote Hain Chaman men Deedawar paya.

Men of great clarity of vision are born rarely on this earth. Jai Ram Reddy exemplified the finest traits and traditions of his people.

He was born on May 12, 1937, the eldest child in a humble, hardworking family in the heart of Fiji’s cane country.

Transcended the limits
But he transcended the limits and limitations of his time and place and circumstance to reach the highest pinnacles of his profession in law and in international jurisprudence, with a distinguished record of public service in his native country.

Reddy graduated in law from Victoria University of Wellington in 1961. After several years at the law firm of the legendary lawyer AD Patel, he joined the Crown Law Office.

Declining the offer of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution from Chief Justice Sir John Nimmo while still in his early 30s, he joined the law firm of Stuart and Company where he remained for the rest of his legal career.

Law was his passion, he used to say, and what made all the difference was that he was so good at it.

He was the finest criminal barrister of his generation. After a short, ill-fated stint as Fiji’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in 1987, he accepted appointment as President of Fiji’s Court of Appeal, to the great delight of Sir Timoci Tuivaga, the Chief Justice, and Qoriniasi Bale, the Attorney-General, who counted Reddy as one of his two heroes in the law, the other being the judicial titan Justice Ghana Mishra.

Reddy’s judicial career reached its pinnacle as a Permanent Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, ICTAR, in Arusha, Tanzania, where his judicial acumen and integrity won him accolades as a “consummate judge” respected for his “wisdom, fairness and sense of justice”.

‘A sheer privilege’
The president of ICTAR, Justice Eric Morse of Norway, wrote that it was “a sheer privilege to sit with judge Reddy on the bench”.

From law into politics which he entered in 1972 as a senator and the House of Representatives in April 1977. In Parliament he remained a commanding performer, never bested in debate, quick on his feet, withering in response, one of the best he had seen, said Dr Apenisa Kurusiqila, the Speaker.

“The Parliament will not be the same without you, Jai,” he said when Reddy left after his electoral defeat in 1999. His early years in politics were unproductive ones for him and for the people he represented, caught in the quagmire of communal wrangling, hobbled by division and disunity, and drifting.

But to his everlasting credit, he transcended that in the second phase of his career to become an honoured elder statesman, respected across the communities for his vision and essential, transparent fairness and “sincerity of purpose”.

The political reconciliation he achieved with his once arch political nemesis Sitiveni Rabuka in the teeth of rancorous opposition and deep skepticism on all sides, will remain one of the shining moments of 20th century Fijian history.

And Reddy’s evolution from a communal politician to a venerable statesman is a story for the pages of history books, too. Jai Ram Reddy was a “reluctant politician”, his critics charged. And they were right although for the wrong reason.

A vehicle for social service
Jai Ram was not in the thrall of politics, making small talk, trimming the truth, mixing easily with the crowds, glad handling. He readily acknowledged his essential shyness in public spaces. Politics for Jai Ram Reddy was a vehicle for social service, not a path to personal enrichment and accumulation.

Swami Rudananda’s influence on him was profound. Reserved and shy in public, Jai could be great fun in private. His laughter was infectious. He loved music and was a social singer in his early years.

We could talk endlessly about the Hindi movies of the 1950s, the songs and the actors he remembered. He was fond of horses and once owned one he impishly named Shabana Azmi, after the great Indian actress.

But all these private passions gave way as public duties increasingly came to consume his time. Jai Ram was an intellectual who believed in the power of ideas to change society and to enable sustainable social reform.

His enlarging vision saw a unity of purpose and common space for all the people of Fiji. “We are fellow human beings travelling in the same canoe,” he used to say.

“This country is big enough for all of us,” he said to a soldier who told him menacingly in Nadi in September 1987: “In this country, Mr Reddy, you take what we give you, no more.”

That Jai Ram refused to allow such taunts and provocations to derail or define him spoke volumes about the man. In one of the defining speeches of Fiji’s 20th century history, Jai Ram shared the deepest fears of his people with the Great Council of Chiefs in 1997: He spoke movingly of history and the making of history, of truth and destiny, words the chiefs collectively had heard for the first time from an Fijian of Indian descent leader.

“Indians of Fiji brought to these shores as labourers did not come to conquer or colonise.

“We, their descendants, do not seek to usurp your ancient rights and responsibilities. We never have. We have no wish, no desire, to separate ourselves from you.

“Fiji is our home. We have no other. We want no other.”

It was a majestic moment of truth and reconciliation, none better.

At his finest, eloquent
It was Jai Ram Reddy, the statesman, at his finest, eloquent and truthful in his thoughts. We all basked in the glory of his great achievement. But it was not to last long. He was gone soon afterwards. And we can only ponder what might have been had his vision succeeded.

“What might have been” must be among the saddest words in the English language. Jai Ram Reddy was a complex man. He had a very short fuse as some of us close to him knew well. He suffered fools badly. But no-one minded. We knew he was a person of complete, unimpeachable integrity.

He said in private what you heard from him in public. Often, he spoke from the heart.

“I have said what I felt,” he often said. Transparency of purpose defined him. He had a fine mind. He could cut through clutter in a canter. He readily won respect; he was a man who could be trusted to keep his word, as Sitiveni Rabuka has often said.

That, I think, lay at the heart of his life in politics and in public. Trust and integrity will be two words most closely associated with Reddy in the long years to come. In one of my last extended conversations with him in Auckland before his ailment claimed him.

He asked me how things looked in the country to which he had given the best years of life. I replied with the words of Firaq Gorakhpuri: Suraj ke nikalne men zara der lagegi. (The sun will take a little while longer to come out.) Is raat ko dhalne men zara der lagegi. (The night will take a little longer to fade away.)

Jai looked at me wordless for a while as if to say he understood.

We are grateful
And now he is gone. We are grateful and give thanks for the gift of his life which enriched us all. Jai Ram Reddy will not be forgotten.

His words and deeds will not die, nor allowed to perish on the silent shores of Fiji’s public memory.

We bow our heads in silence and respect as Mr Reddy embarks on his final journey.

May the angels light his way to Amar Lok, that sacred place of eternal rest for humanity’s immortals. Goodbye Jai, Goodbye Mr Reddy, goodbye sir.

The late Professor Brij Lal is the author of In the Eye of the Storm. Jai Ram Reddy and the politics of postcolonial Fiji (ANU Press, 2009) and most recently of Girmitiyas: Making of their Memory Keepers (New Delhi, 2021). He and his wife Padma were banned from Fiji for life. Professor Lal wrote this tribute before he died in exile on Christmas Day in 2021. Republished with permission from The Fiji Times.

Google images of a country or region can offer a wealth of information about the people and cultures that live there. Some images accurately portray reality while others present camouflage, attempting to deceive or twist our perception.

From a marketing standpoint, it’s all about selling the national identity, brands and products.

When you type “West Papua” or “West Papua genocide” into Google Image search, you are immediately confronted with some of the grossest human rights violations on Earth.

• READ MORE: Other West Papuan education reports

Images of other Melanesian island countries, conversely, display pristine, exotic beauty, presenting them as an ideal vocational playground for first-world self-exhausted tourists.

West Papua is a region where its public image is produced and controlled by those who want West Papua to mould to and represent their modern, capitalist ideals.

On the one hand, we have images of West Papua representing a hidden heaven on earth, with majestic glaciers, mountains, lush lowlands, mangrove swamps along the coastline, and coral reefs with a rich biodiversity.

On the other hand, we see images of Indonesian soldiers torturing, killing, bombing, and destroying ancestral homelands; we see images of West Papuan freedom fighters in their jungles with modern machine guns, performing their cultural rituals while declaring war on the Indonesian military.

Freeport’s gigantic hole – a graveyard for Papuans
At the centre of this tragic display of contradiction is the image of a giant gaping hole right in the middle of West Papua’s magnificent ancient glacier — a sacred home of local indigenous people.

Local elders say that this hole has become “a graveyard for Papuans”.

This hole was created by the discovery of a strange-looking, greenish-black rock on Gunung Jayawijaya (Mount Carstensz) by Dutch geologist Jean Jacques Dozy in 1936.

It took some 20 years before the discovery was brought to the attention of American geologist Forbes Wilson in 1959, who was the vice-president of Freeport Minerals Company at the time.

From 1960 to 1969, the Papuan people lived through a century of great historical significance. It began with a sense of hope and optimism as the Dutch prepared Papuans for independence in 1961.

This independence dream was taken to New York in 1962, only to be abandoned at the mercy of the United Nations, and then to Indonesia in 1963.

The controversial UN sponsored “Act of Free Choice” in 1969, which Papuans called “Act of No Choice”, ultimately sealed the fate of Papuans’ independence dream within Indonesia. It may seem that the world and UN have forgotten Papua’s dream, but Papuans have never lost sight of it and continue to die for or because of it.

The US-based Freeport-McMoRan was given the green light to begin digging this hole behind the scenes during that decade, during which Papua’s fate was controlled by world leaders in their cruel puppet show. For the newly created state of Indonesia, this was an economic blessing, but for Papuans it was a death sentence.

Over the past 60 years, this hole has taken the lives of many Papuan mothers, fathers, and children, creating an endless world of grief and mourning.

Papuans not happy, says Governor Enembe
It was these decade-old wounds and grievances that caused Governor Lukas Enembe, the current governor of Papua’s province, to erupt on February 7, 2022.

“Papuans are not happy. Papuans are not happy in all of Papua. Papuans are the most unhappy people on earth. You take note of that,” he said in a recent video posted by senior journalist Andreas Harsono on his Twitter account.

Gubernur Lukas Enembe: Kehidupan orang Papua tidak bahagia. Orang Papua tidak happy di seluruh Papua. Intan Jaya menangis, Puncak menangis, Nduga menangis, Pegunungan Bintang menangis dan Maybrat menangis. Orang tidak hidup aman di negeri kita sendiri https://t.co/VOsuJNOkpe pic.twitter.com/HvTVYo5yXx

— Andreas Harsono (@andreasharsono) February 9, 2022

Papuan Governor Lukas Enembe in the middle: Twitter image

The governor also said that some areas such as Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Star Mountains “cry” with the harsh conditions experienced by the Papuan people.

“Papuans do not live in happiness. Intan Jaya is crying, Puncak is crying, Nduga is crying, The Stars Mountains are crying, and Maybrat is crying. People are crying. People [Papuans] do not live safely in our own country. We were not born for that,” he said.

“We want to live happily. We want to live and enjoy happiness. Papuans have to live happily, that’s the main thing,” Governor Enembe said in a statement he made in a speech circulated on a video on Tuesday, February 8, 2022.

These areas, where the governor is referring to, are among the most militarised in West Papua.

Victor Yeimo, a prominent Papuan, said that over the past three years, Jakarta had sent 21,369 troops to West Papua, some of them referred to as “Satan Troops”, as reported by Arnold Belau on Asia-Pacific Report.

Sadly, this overwhelming military presence in West Papua is not a new phenomenon. Indonesia has been sending military troops equipped with western-made and supplied war machines since 1963.

The West Papua National Liberation Army of Free Papua Movement (OPM-TPNPB) is actively engaged in an ongoing war with Indonesian forces, which is being ignored by the international media.

The grace of Papuan mothers
In spite of the tragedies, grievances and the haunting images that Google displays, one story is rarely shown — The story of Papuan mothers. They are known for their resilience, courage, and indomitable will to live and work, despite the odds being stacked against them.

They are hard-working, compassionate, and strong — the backbone of Papuan society. They sacrifice everything to send their children to school and welcome foreigners with open arms.

There was a recent Tiktok video clip circulating in West Papua and Indonesia which received thousands of views and comments. The video footage featured a young Indonesian migrant weeping while singing in Papuan, the language of the Lani people of the highlands. Her name is Julitha Mathelda Wacano. She works in Tolikara, one of the newly created regions in the highlands of West Papua.

@pemilikcancer #stoprasisme #@olvaholvah.official #kobelumrasatinggaldengandorang#sadikasihselimut ## #fypシ ♬ original sound – Wizan Lewa Cidy481 – Tik Toker

The young Indonesian woman singing in the local Papuan language of the Lani people. Video: Tiktok

The following lines are translations of what she wrote on the video below:

I cannot hold this song anymore.

I am a migrant, my hair is straight,

my skin is white, but in Tolikara,

after I return home from office,

food is already prepared on the table.

Who cooks this?” she asks. Then she replied “Mama gunung dorang…” meaning the “mothers from the mountains”.

Julitha Mathelda Wacano
The emotional video depicts the experience of a young Indonesian migrant girl being cared for by people deemed “enemies” by the state in some of the most demonised and militarised areas in Indonesia, due to constant negative representation in media coverage.

She opened a window to the world of Papuan mothers, for others to see the kindness of Papuans in the face of a society segregated by racism and caste.

The video of Julitha singing in the local Lani language has received more than 1500 comments, many of which share their own experiences of the goodness of the Papuan people. Many praise the love and kindness of Papuans, while others praised God and Allah for her story.

Papuan mothers still face so many challenges
Despite their unwavering love for others, Papuan mothers struggle to compete with the might of migrant economic dominance and their modern entrepreneurial skills.

In the eyes of Indonesians, Papuans do not produce anything of value to be traded or sold on either the national, regional, or global market.

Most Papuans produce fresh food, which has its own value and merit for those seeking a healthy lifestyle.

Papuan mothers spend their days sitting in the rain, in the dirt, alongside busy dusty roads. Meanwhile, migrants sell their imported products and gadgets in high-rise buildings, malls, kiosks, and shops, with comfort and convenience.

At sunset and sometimes into the night, if the mothers don’t sell their produce, they have no place to store it — no cool room or freezer– so they either give it away or take it home to be eaten. They have to start it all over again the next morning.

Many of these mothers are torn between taking care of their children, attending constant funeral services for family members, and finding money to send their children to school to participate in the education system that fails them and demonises their identity at every turn.

All roads lead to Rome – West Papua economics
A total of Rp 126.99 trillion (more than US$8 billion) has been distributed to the provinces of Papua and West Papua since Jakarta passed the so-called Special Autonomy Law in 2021. The details of how this figure was distributed throughout the period 2002-2020 are summarized here by Muhammad Idris and Muhammad Idris on compass.com.

Fiscal figure of this type, or any reports provided by those who seek to promote the state’s interests, can be difficult to verify independently, owing to the nature of the mechanism in place by Jakarta to carry out its settler colonial activities on Papuan Indigenous lands. Nevertheless, this type of report gives us some rough insight into what goes on in the region.

Despite such an amount, the poverty rate in these two provinces is nearly three times higher than the national average. Infant, child, and maternal mortality rates are among the highest, and health services and literacy rates are among the lowest in Indonesia.

There is an “all roads lead to Rome” economic system operating in West Papua, to which no matter how much money Jakarta gives to Papuans, it will all end up back in Jakarta, with migrants, security forces, foreign companies, misfits and opportunists.

Unfortunately, Papuan mothers’ hard-earned money ends up in the same hands that control and maintain this brutal settler colonial system.

As part of the efforts to empower Papuan mothers, President Jokowi in 2018 toured the five-story building which he ordered to be constructed two years earlier in Jayapura, the capital city.

As it was dedicated to Papuan mothers, it was named “Pasar mama-mama Papua” (Market for Papuan mothers).

The building can accommodate up to 300 traders. Each floor has been allocated for “mama mama Papua” to sell their produce and to display cultural artifacts. The building also houses a school for Papuan children to learn.

Papuan mothers have unimaginable willpower and determination to compete with Indonesian settlers, who have almost total control of the economic system in West Papua.

Their lives and work are shaped by the realities of constant violence and inequality in one of the most heavily militarised regions in the world.

No matter what the odds are, Papuan mothers overcome them with grace and compassion.

This sacred power broke the heart of that young Indonesian woman living in the highlands of the Lani people.

Papuan mothers and their international students
Unfortunately, the majority of Papuan international students whose scholarship funds were threatened to be cut by President Jokowi’s administration are the sons or daughters of these mama-mama Papua.

The students who are now spread across different continents and countries, from North America, Russia, Asia, Europe and Oceania, have united under the name International Alliance of Papuan Student Associations Overseas (IAPSAO) and strongly condemn any slight alteration in the scholarship package that would have a crippling effect on their education.

These students overcome so many obstacles, from connecting to the right people within the brutal system, to leaving home, learning new languages, and adjusting to a new cultural system.

The constant loss of their family members back home takes a heavy toll on their studies.

Ali Mirin is one such student who is pursuing a master’s degree in International Relations at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.

Mirin came from the Kimyal tribe of Yahukimo region of West Papua. He came to Australia on a student visa in 2019 to study at Monash University in Melbourne but struggled to meet the English requirements.

The university placed him in an English language course before enrolling him in a master’s programme. In the end, he was trapped between international student agencies such as International Development Programme (IDP), university and immigration departments since his two-year required study visa had almost run out, though he had yet to complete his master’s degree.

It was not clear to them why he was not in a master’s programme, but he was struggling to make sense of all the information he was receiving from these various parties.

The combination of covid-19 lockdown, passing of family members in West Papua, frustration with adjusting into a new culture, along with inconsistency in scholarship funds nearly cost everything that his mother worked for to help him achieve this level of education.

Additionally, he had to find a part-time job in Melbourne just to survive and pay rent, which nearly led to his study visa being revoked.

Mirin’s case is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the challenges faced by Papuan students studying overseas. Almost all Papuan students have dramatic and traumatic stories to share about the obstacles they faced just to receive a scholarship, let alone the difficulties of studying abroad.

Studying in first world industrialised countries like USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Germany requires tremendous amounts of money, which the parents of these students will likely never be able to afford in their lifetime.

Papuan Governor Lukas Enembe implemented a policy in 2012 that allows these students to study abroad, based on his own educational struggles in West Papua, Indonesia, and Australia.

The governor knows and understands what it is like to be Papuan (especially from the highlands) and study in Indonesia, let alone overseas.

With all these tragic circumstances Papuans have endured for decades, when the Jakarta government withdraws scholarship funds or changes its policies, Papuan students are shattered.

Papuan mothers, who Jokowi calls “mama-mama”, are the ones most affected by the news of deported or failed Papuan students who are studying abroad.

A new policy needs new minds and hearts in Jakarta
The central government in Jakarta should listen to what students have to say as they clearly stated in Asia Pacific Report on January 27.

Indigenous Papuan representatives should oversee Indonesian and foreign agents and agencies that deal with students’ affairs. Because as long as they are not Papuan, whether Indonesian, American, Australian, or British, it will be difficult for them to fully comprehend the mental trauma and cultural issues that each of the students suffer due to the conditions at home.

Papuan students fail their studies or struggle with them, not because they are unintelligent, but because they are deeply traumatised by the abuse and persecution that their families endure at home.

Most of these result from decades of violence, torture, and denigration of their human value under Indonesia’s settler colonial system in their own homeland.

Whatever the number of expert reports on success and failure stories of education in West Papua, if students’ deepest issues are not being listened to or understood, how can we help them or hope to change things for the better?

The politicisation of these students will continue to cloud Jakarta’s judgment about West Papua as it has for 60 years. Elites in Jakarta forget that these people have no agenda to colonise the island of Java, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Ukraine or build nuclear weapons.

They simply want to live peacefully in their own land and pursue their education.

Jakarta’s policies in West Papua are largely influenced by fear, and worst of all, wrong ideas and misguided judgments. They should be more concerned about a potential global nuclear war between the Western Empire and its allies, and the emerging Chinese-led eastern empire, which poses an existential threat to everyone and everything on this planet.

Indonesians target the wrong people and attack the wrong places — West Papua is not your enemy.

Images of ‘Wonderful Indonesia; and West Papua torture
I wonder if Jakarta searched images of West Papua on Google if they would like what they see. Would they see the truth — the horror, torture, abuse, murder, and exploitation of Papuans at their own hands?

Or would they see their ideals reflected back to them, the current state of terrorism that they manufactured in stolen lands.

These images do not represent the true nature of West Papua and its people, it is Indonesia that is reflected in these images.

Indonesia’s famous national promotional image of “wonderful Indonesia” that has been marketed throughout the world can be best authenticated when it uses the situation in West Papua as a mirror in which to see what Indonesia really is.

This hallmark of Jakarta’s nation-building image of Indonesia, which has been marketed around the world, can be best comprehended when it uses West Papua’s reality as a mirror to show the reality of Indonesia. In any case,

It may represent Bali or Java, but for West Papua it is just an elaborate ploy to deceive people about the terror image they have been projecting in the region.

Yamin Kogoya is a West Papuan academic who has a Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from the Australian National University and who contributes to Asia Pacific Report. From the Lani tribe in the Papuan Highlands, he is currently living in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

• Other Yamin Kogoya articles

Several hundred more cases of covid in Solomon Islands … Kiribati records first covid death …nearly 12,000 in isolation in New Caledonia … French Polynesia records first covid death in nearly four months … Federated States of Micronesia calls a halt to flights from neighbouring Guam … a partial border re-opening in the Northern Marianas … and Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape says he is “doing well” while self-isolating at home from a covid-19 infection.

• READ MORE: Other Pacific health reports

Several hundred more cases of covid in Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands recorded another 349 cases of covid 19 in the 24 hours to yesterday morning.

Health Minister Culwick Togamana said this took the number of people contracting the virus since the outbreak began last month to 3667.

He said the majority of the most recent cases had been recorded in Honiara where he said there was now very high community transmission.

Kiribati records first covid death
Kiribati has announced its first covid-19 death and 207 new cases in the community.

There are now almost 2000 positive infections, with more than 50 percent of those recorded in the last five days.

The Ministry of Health said the victim was an 80-year-old woman who had been hospitalised at an isolation centre.

The ministry said the woman had only received the first dose of her covid-19 vaccination.

Another woman, who is over 60-years-old, has been admitted and is being monitored at the Bikenibeu Isolation Centre.

The government is advising people to “take extra care and look after their elderly parents and relatives.”

Nearly 12,000 in isolation in New Caledonia
New Caledonia has recorded a further 2343 covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, raising the number of active cases to nearly 12,000.

38 people are now in hospital, including two in intensive care.

The spread of the omicron variant started a month ago and is yet to peak.

Sixty six percent of the population is vaccinated.

Since September, there have been more than 30,000 recorded infections.

French Polynesia records first covid death in four months
French Polynesia has recorded 1058 new cases of covid-19 over the last 72 hours taking the total to 2974.

One death has been recorded — the first since October, taking the death toll to 637.

More than a third of the covid-19 cases are the omicron variant.

Four people are in hospital and one person in ICU.

The proportion of the population vaccinated is 78.6 percent.

FSM halts incoming repatriation flights
The Federated States of Micronesia has indefinitely stopped all incoming repatriation flights from Guam.

FSM’s Covid-19 Taskforce said the move was in response to the high number of coronavirus infections in the US Territory.

In a statement, the taskforce said it was essential for FSM to improve its vaccination rates before restarting flights to bring back citizens stranded in its neighbouring Guam.

The government said it would provide assistance for citizens who are stuck in Guam, but not provide further details at this stage.

Covid-19 vaccines are mandatory on the islands of FSM — meaning all citizens residing in the FSM must be vaccinated.

FSM’s public health emergency has been extended until the end of May.

Partial border reopening in the CNMI
The Northern Marianas has reopened its borders for fully vaccinated people.

The changes to the border protocols were made possible with 99 percent of CNMI’s eligible population now fully vaccinated, and 53 percent having had booster shots.

CNMI’s Covid-19 Taskforce said all travellers entering the territory by air or sea would no longer be tested on arrival.

Unvaccinated travellers, however, will be required to quarantine at home and get tested at a community based testing site five days after arrival.

All visitors to the Northern Mariana Islands will also need to complete a mandatory health declaration and upload their vaccination status.

Authorities say the health and safety of residents remain the top priority of the government.

The CNMI has recorded more than 6300 cases and 23 deaths.

PNG leader ‘doing well’ in covid recovery
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape says he is “alright” and “doing well” as he self-isolates at home from a Covid-19 infection.

Marape had to cut short his visit to China after he tested positive for coronavirus in Beijing last week.

In a statement yesterday, Marape said “there is nothing seriously wrong with me” and that “vaccination has really helped”.

He said he would be taking a second covid-19 test tomorrow and depending on results would provide an update on Friday on when he would resume his responsibilities.

His deputy Sam Basil is acting prime minister while Marape recovers.

The prime minister is urging fellow PNG citizens to get vaccinated.

PNG has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the world, with less than 3 percent of the population covered.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Nearly two years since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, its global socioeconomic “headwinds” have blown many countries far off course from the aims of the climate 2030 Agenda, says the Fiji prime minister.

But fierce as those winds may be, they are “a whisper” next to the intensifying crisis brought by changing climate.

Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama made these remarks in his official opening address at the Virtual SIDS Solution Forum yesterday.

• READ MORE: Other reports on Pacific climate change

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a distinct group of 38 UN member states, including Pacific countries.

Bainimarama referred to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. Saying that without drastic cuts to emissions, the prime minister noted how the report had stated “we are on track to blow past the 1.5-degree temperature threshold, confirming our worst fears that our low-lying neighbours in the Pacific, Kiribati and Tuvalu, face an existential threat over the coming decades”.

“And it means all of us must brace for storms and other climate impacts unlike anything we or our ancestors have ever endured,” Bainimarama said.

“That is why, when we go to COP26 together, our rallying cry must be to keep 1.5 alive.

Temperature threshold
“It remains the only temperature threshold that guarantees the security of all SIDS citizens, and we must leverage every ounce of our power and moral authority to fight for it.”

Bainimarama said the terrifying scale of those global challenges “give us no recourse but collective action”.

“I believe we can meet this moment with innovation — indeed, we already are. Just one week ago, Fiji launched a micro insurance scheme for climate-vulnerable communities.

“We are supporting local farmers with climate-resilient crops and funding adaption efforts through creative financial instruments.”

He said that by harnessing the hope that such innovation offered, small island states could recoup the economic losses of the pandemic and reset course towards zero hunger, clean oceans, quality education, and sustainable cities.

The states could also realise the other noble aims of the 2030 Agenda, towards more sustainable agri-food systems, and more resilient societies.

Timoci Vula is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

New Zealand’s Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has revealed that 14 close contacts of the Northland community case have returned negative test results.

Hipkins said in a tweet today three more test results were pending.

Yesterday he announced two close contacts – her husband and hair dresser – were negative.

• READ MORE: UN labour arm ILO warns of ‘lost lockdown generation’
• What we know about the South African variant

In his tweet, Hipkins described the news as “encouraging”.

For many Papua New Guineans, Sir Mekere Morauta will be remembered as the straight shooting politician and the reformist Prime Minister, whose work came to be appreciated more than a decade later.

Up until the 1990s, Mekere Morauta’s public life was rather low key.

He thrived behind the scenes, helping to develop, shape and implement important government policies.

• READ MORE: Loss of an outstanding leader – Sir Mek dies at 74

He was the first graduate in economics from the University of Papua New Guinea and with it came important responsibilities, both for his people and the country.

In 1971, he began a career in the public service as a research officer with the department of Labour. A year later, he took up a job as economist in the Office of Economic advisor.

When Papua New Guinea became  self-governing in 1973, the government of Chief Minister Michael Somare sought out its best and brightest to help run the young democracy.

At 27, Mekere Morauta was thrust into a position of power and responsibility with his appointment as Secretary for Finance – a post he held for nine years.

Important influencer
He was always an important influencer in the banking and financial sector of Papua New Guinea.

In 1983, he was appointed managing director of the Papua New Guinea Banking Corporation.  He held the position for another 9 years until his upward transition to a new job as the Governor of the Bank of Papua New Guinea.

It was during this short stint as the central bank Governor that he shot to prominence as an outspoken enemy of the corruption that was infecting PNG government institutions.

Sir Julius Chan was Prime Minister then and in a foreign documentary about corruption in Papua New Guinea, Mekere Morouta spoke out describing the rampant corruption and “systemic and systematic.”

He was removed one year into the job.

Scott Waide reflects on his association with Sir Mekere Morauta, former #PNG prime minister who died earlier this week. “The ease with which Sir Mek explained economic theory brought it to life. He was a guru, a brilliantly articulate economist politician” https://t.co/XAhDvtyTdM

— Keith Jackson AM (@PNGAttitude) December 25, 2020

The period from 1994 to 1997 was politically turbulent.

The international attention on government institutions and the corruption highlighted by key figures in Papua New Guinea, including Sir Mekere, caused many Papua New Guineans to demand a change in leadership and management.

The seeds had already been planted.

South African mercenaries
In 1997, when the government of Sir Julius Chan opted to bring in South African mercenaries to end the Bougainville crisis, PNGDF commander Brigadier-General Jerry Singirok called for the prime minister to step down and riots broke out.

It was months before the elections and when Sir Julius was voted out of office, a new group of political leaders, including Sir Mekere Morouta  were voted in.

For the next three years, the country faced deep economic trouble.

The decade long closure of the Bougainville mine, a severe drought and high unemployment and government institutions in desperate need for reform… this was the scenario in 1999 when Sir Mekere took over from Bill Skate as prime minister.

In the next three years, Sir Mekere had the most impact on Papua New Guinea’s political and economic future.

In 2000, the Mekere government introduced sweeping reforms in the finance and banking sector.  He introduced legislative reforms that strengthened the superannuation funds and banks, effectively eliminating much of the political interference that these institutions had long been burdened with.

Through the reforms, Nasfund and other superfunds which were  on the brink of collapse, were revived and strengthened

In the political sphere, constitutional changes were made to strengthen political parties and other institutions of state.

As Papua New Guineans come to grips with the void left by Sir Mekere’s passing on December 19, the impact of his decisions at the turn of this century will continue to be felt decades into the future.

Scott Waide is a leading Papua New Guinean journalist and a senior editor with a national television network. He writes a personal blog, My Land, My Country. Asia Pacific Report republishes his articles with permission.

A journalist who sailed on board the bombed environmental ship Rainbow Warrior, was arrested at gunpoint in New Caledonia while investigating French military garrisons in pro-independence Kanak villages, and reported on social justice issues across the Pacific has stepped down as founding director of the Pacific Media Centre.

Professor David Robie, 75, an author, academic, independent journalist and journalism professor at Auckland University of Technology, retired this week after more than 18 years at the institution.

He has been working as a journalist for more than 46 years and as an academic for more than 27 years.

• READ MORE: Pacific journalism, media and diversity researchers tackle challenges ahead
• Gallery: PMC celebrates Pacific ‘reset’ vision and farewells founding director

As well as playing a role in critical moments of history as a journalist in the region, his students have also covered landmark events that helped shape some Pacific nations, especially in Melanesia – such as the 1997 Sandline mercenary crisis in Papua New Guinea and the George Speight attempted coup in Fiji in May 2000.

Gallery: #PMC celebrates #Pacific ‘reset’ vision and farewells founding director @DavidRobie #cartoons #education #JournalismMatters #independentjournalism #MediaFreedom @RSF_en @AUTuni @ShailendraBSing @USPWansolwara https://t.co/56DNxlLOa8 pic.twitter.com/fQ6RKIYDDu

— Pacific Media Centre (@pacmedcentre) December 5, 2020

But a journalism or academic career were not always clearcut pathways for Dr Robie. During his studies in high school, he was heavily involved in outdoor pursuits and he became a Queen’s Scout.

At the time he was thinking of becoming a professional forester and he was recruited by the NZ Forest Service at 17 in 1963 as a forester cadet with a view to studying for a BSc and then forestry science.

But the same year he was selected to represent New Zealand at a World Jamboree at Marathon Bay, Greece – the site of a famous battle between the Athenians and the Persians in 490 BC.

Future options
This brought his future options to a head.

“At school I was interested in three things – writing, art and mapping/outdoors. So, that’s why I initially wanted to become a forester,” he says.

But going to Greece changed everything. He started his science degree course while working part time at the NZ Forest Service publications division at its headquarters in Wellington. He then realised he was more interested in writing.

“I realised that I didn’t want to spend my life talking with trees, even though I love trees,” he says.

At the end of the year, he became a cadet journalist at The Dominion (now the Dominion Post). Shortly after he became the youngest subeditor at the newspaper.

He later went to Auckland to work as assistant editor on Auto Age magazine, had a short stint on The New Zealand Herald as a subeditor before moving to Australia to join the Melbourne Herald.

While working there in 1968, he was strongly influenced by the student riots in Paris and took a serious interest in politics over the student protests against Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War.

Youngest editor
At 24, he became the youngest editor of a national Sunday newspaper, the Sunday Observer, which campaigned strongly against the Vietnam War.

In his mid-20s, Dr Robie migrated to Johannesburg, South Africa, and was appointed chief subeditor of the Rand Daily Mail, the country’s leading newspaper crusading against the apartheid regime.

Even though Dr Robie’s social justice views as a journalist became shaped while he was working at the Sunday Observer in Melbourne, this was not risky as in South Africa.

“In South Africa, we were really pushed hard. I probably learned most of what I have learned in my career as a journalist in South Africa.

“Mainly because of the threats and experiences. I worked with a number of ‘banned’ and inspirational people, like photojournalist Peter Magubane.

“I was threatened many times and on one occasion I drove Winnie Mandela’s two daughters from their home in Soweto to a multiracial school in Swaziland because Winnie, being banned, could not travel.

“I drove the girls 360 km through roadblocks to take the children to school,” Dr Robie recalls.

Threats against journalists
The late Winnie Mandela was the wife of imprisoned anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela who became President of South Africa 1994-1999 and died in 2013. The two daughters are Zindziswa Mandela and Zenani Mandela-Diamini.

While working in South Africa, Dr Robie learned a lot of things he had never experienced in New Zealand – the vital need to campaign for social justice, threats against journalists and jailings, and the role of human rights journalism.

Subsequently, he travelled overland as a freelancer across Africa and ended up in Nairobi, Kenya. There, he worked as group features editor of the Aga Khan’s Daily Nation for a year before travelling to West Africa, Nigeria and across the Sahara Desert to Algeria and France.

In Paris, he camped in the Bois de Boulogne forest until he found a garret to live in a refurbished 17th century building in Rue St Sauveur in the heart of the city.

He worked for Agence France-Presse global news agency for three years and covered the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games when there was a black African walkout in protest about New Zealand playing rugby against white South Africa.

While working for AFP, he gained familiarity with French foreign post-colonial policies, and especially the nuclear testing issue in the South Pacific.

He says it was ironic that it took travelling to France for him to “wake up” to the Pacific right on New Zealand’s doorstep.

Foreign editor
Dr Robie returned to New Zealand in 1979 and became foreign editor on the Auckland Star. He started doing trips to the Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Tahiti, Vanuatu and elsewhere as a freelance in his holidays. He thought he might as well go fulltime freelance to do the stories he was interested in.

In 1984, he set up the Asia Pacific Network which he ran for 10 years from his home in Grey Lynn.

He became a chief correspondent for Fiji-based Islands Business news magazine covering investigative and environmental stories and decolonisation issues. He also reported for the Global South news agency Gemini, The Australian, the New Zealand Times, RNZ International and other media.

In 1985, he sailed on board the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior for 11 weeks and took part in the evacuation of islanders from Rongelap Atoll.

French secret agents bombed the Rainbow Warrior on 10 July 1985 and he wrote the book Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior – the first of 10 books.

In early 1987, he was arrested at gunpoint near Canala, New Caledonia, for taking photographs of “nomadisation” style military camps design to intimidate Kanak villagers seeking independence.

In 1993, Dr Robie was appointed as a lecturer and head of journalism at the University of Papua New Guinea. His students published the award-winning fortnightly newspaper Uni Tavur and they covered the 1997 Sandline crisis when the military commander arrested foreign mercenaries hired by the PNG government to wage war against rebels on Bougainville in a “coup that wasn’t a coup”.

PJR launched
While at UPNG, Dr Robie launched Pacific Journalism Review, the only specialised research journal to investigate media issues in the South Pacific, Asia-Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand.

As a journalist and journalism educator, he raises concern that “most media organisations send someone to cover a particular event – they go in and they come out. Quickly. It is parachute journalism. Unfortunately, it is not a good way to cover things.

“Often journalists who work on a parachute basis don’t have enough background. They don’t have enough information or the sources to get a deeper understanding of the complex nuances,” he says.

After serving Papua New Guinea as a journalism educator for more than five years, he shifted to the University of South Pacific in Fiji.

In 1998, Dr Robie began his new journey as head of USP’s journalism department. He was teaching while actively writing news articles, academic journal articles, and books.

“One of the lessons I learned as a journalism educator is that a journalism project is the best way to learn,” he says.

He cites the George Speight attempted coup in Fiji in May 2000 when his students covered downtown riots in Suva, the seizure of the elected government in Parliament at gunpoint by Speight’s renegade soldiers, and a protracted siege as an example.

The PMC Project – A short documentary by Alistar Kata. Video: PMC

Crisis website updates
The students updated their website Pacific Journalism Online several times daily at a time when the mainstream newspapers did not have websites and they produced the Wansolwara newspaper that the university tried to confiscate.

“What we were doing was contributing to empowerment. To me, empowerment is really important. It isn’t just about writing a good story, and things like that. But empowering giving people the information that they need to make decisions in a democracy,” he says.

Dr Robie also gained his PhD in history/politics from the University of the South Pacific. After serving the country for five years, he moved back to New Zealand.

Since 2002, Dr Robie has worked at AUT and became director of the Pacific Media Centre in 2007 and remained editor of Pacific Journalism Review.

End of an era … @PacificMediaCentre Annual Review 2020. #newsmedia #journalism #journalismeducation https://t.co/WB8N2wsL3c pic.twitter.com/CNPmAE6Pe0

— David Robie (@DavidRobie) December 21, 2020

He became an associate professor in 2005 and a professor in 2012. During his academic career, Professor Robie gained a number of awards nationally and internationally, including the 2015 AMIC Asia Communication Award in Dubai, Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2011, the PIMA Special Award for Contribution to Pacific journalism in 2011 and the PIMA Pacific Media Freedom award in 2005.

Dr Robie was also an Australian Press Council fellow in 1999, and has been on the editorial boards of Asia-Pacific Media Educator, Australian Journalism Review, Fijian Studies, Global Media Journal and Pacific Ecologist.

He is currently the New Zealand representative of the Asian Media, Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) and a life member. He is also editor and publisher of Asia Pacific Report, and his books are listed at NZ Pen.

One thing can be sure. Social justice will remain high on his ongoing agenda.

Laurens Ikinia is a Papuan Masters in Communication Studies student at Auckland University of Technology who has been studying journalism. He is on an internship with AUT’s Pacific Media Centre.

A man from humble beginnings has shown his character, as a man substance with a great love for academia and his students.

In a wide-ranging interview with Breakfast at Fiji One late last week, he has revealed himself to be a distinguished scholar with a love for USP and it students.

“I love Fiji, and I think it’s one of the best places in the world, and I’ve lived in a lot of places in the world so you know I think it’s absolutely fantastic,” he said at the start of the interview.

READ MORE: University governance, academic freedom and institutional autonomy in the Pacific

“The people here are just amazing…. And I also think if you just think about how we’ve managed the covid-19 crisis. This is just an incredible place to live,” he said.

The Kenyan-born academic studied for his bachelor’s and Master of Arts from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, and later gained his PhD from Flinders University in South Australia.

He has a wide academic and administrative experience as he has previously served as the professor of the politics at Adelaide University; visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley; professor with the Goldsmiths College at the University of London, where he also served as the director of the Centre for Postcolonial Studies and professor at University of California San Diego.

Prior his appointment as the vice-chancellor and president of USP, he served as the pro vice-chancellor for research and innovation at the University of Portsmouth.

Prolific author
Professor Ahluwalia is a prolific author, both in terms of volume and prestige. He is the sole author of four books, Politics and Post-colonial Theory: African Inflections, Post-colonialism and the Politics of Kenya, Plantations and the Politics of Sugar in Uganda, and Post-structuralism’s Colonial Roots.

He is also an editor or co-editor of several journals, including three Routledge journals, Social Identities, African Identities and Sikh Formations. However, in Fiji, he is a university administrator vice chancellor and president responsible for more than 18,000 students and approximately 1000 staff. But how did he get to Fiji?

What is his story? Revealed is Professor Paul Ahluwalia an academic, a husband, a father to a hip-hop rapper and lawyer, and a proud grandfather.

“I think if I strive for something. It is for being open for being transparent and for being African. There’s music in my family’s history and so you know it just happens that he’s [his son] has chosen this particular medium.

“And so, I’m very proud of him. He’s a very good musician. And he’s always trying to do something innovative.

“The thing about my granddaughter is that I’m absolutely excited that I haven’t had an opportunity to see her. Physically, simply because of the travel restrictions, but once I’m able to travel to Australia again you know I just very looking forward to.

“She’s gorgeous… But then everybody says that about their grandchild,” he says with the pride of grandfather.

Favourite colour blue
Yes, his favourite colour is blue, and he played a bit of sport in his younger years.

“I watch a lot of sport. When I was younger, I played a lot of field hockey. But, but now I really love cricket.

“And I guess since I’ve been in Fiji have become an absolute fan of rugby sevens”.

Not for him is the Kenyan rugby team No.1. He backs the last Olympic champions – Fiji.

“I absolutely support Fiji. No, no question about it.”

And, again coming from an Indian family, he was either expected to go into medicine or law but found his career in becoming an academic and administrator.

“I had no idea that I was going to become an academic. Again I come from a traditional Indian family, so they wanted me to be either a doctor or a lawyer.

Only career path
“This is a problem with Indians they always think that that’s the only, only career path. And that’s not meant in any derogatory way, but that I think that’s what my parents wanted and, of course when I went to university.

“I had a mentor, a professor who basically said, there are other things you can achieve in an email to me. So that’s how I became an academic, I never thought I’d become a vice-chancellor,” he said.

Administration was by pure accident, he said, because his initial ambition was to be a very good academic.

“I was able to accomplish a lot in my academic career. And I sort of fell into administration, almost by accident.

“Once I became an administrator, became a pro vice-chancellor then I thought, Okay, well you know, I always believe that you can strive for anything and so that’s when I decided that I must become a vice-chancellor.”

However, he misses the interaction with students that an academic got from entering a lecture theatre or tutorial.

“I genuinely love students and students are my passion. I’m here for them. And if every opportunity I get I’ll speak to a student,” he said in the interview.

More time with students
“They’re the reason why the university exists. So, I have absolutely no problem. I actually wish I had more time to spend more time with students,” he said.

“At heart I’m an academic, I really miss that interaction with students. I miss being able to walk into a classroom and having a tutorial or giving a lecture,” he said passionately.

He has a vision for the 12-nation USP.

“We’re already a very good institution, we have now 52 years of history. But my vision is that we want to become one of the great universities of the world.

“We’re going to be part of global rankings, where our staff have done the hard yards. They are really good researchers here. I think once we can enter those global rankings, we deserve the recognition.

“Pockets of our university already have that. Our MBA is globally recognised for what it is. And I think there’s so many other parts of the university, where we have excellence.

“We want to celebrate and show the world what a great regional university can accomplish

Praise for USP staff
He could not overlook praising his staff for their hard work and commitment.

“The trick is that you have to have a really good team working with you and I’m very lucky that my immediate staff in the office here is fantastic.

“They just are amazing people who have that experience and they’ve kept me honest; they make sure that you know that.”

He was getting a bit philosophical and wistful for USP’s students of the day.

“The young people today are so lucky. They can have exposure to so many things. And the communications revolution makes it easy for them to communicate to reach out to people across the world.

“I think it’s just such an exciting time to be young. And I think that the world is really their oyster, they can do whatever they want.

“Even with covid-19 presenting some difficulties, I think the resilience that I see in the Pacific is something that amazes me.

“And I think our young people can do anything. And they must believe in themselves. There will always be things which don’t fall into the place where you want it to, but it’s persistence and resilience that just gets you there.”

Whether those are qualities which carries the day for him, he will find out on Friday when USP Council meets to decide his fate.

Becoming a journalist wasn’t always on the radar for a young Pasifika reporter from Auckland who covered the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ summit in Nauru earlier this month.

Auckland University of Technology alumni Mabel Muller is now a journalist for the Pacific Media Network (PMN).

She graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor of Communication Studies, majoring in journalism. But that wasn’t her goal at first.

READ MORE: Pacific Islands Forum at Nauru – background

“It was my dream to pursue performing arts,” she says.

“But career pathways like that aren’t always supported by Pasifika people and after I talked about it with my parents my Dad wasn’t keen on me doing that.”

Muller was born in Tonga and grew up in Mangere while attending Marcellin College.

She says she was left trying to decide what to do instead of studying the arts after it not being the preferred choice of her parents.

Passion for talking
“That discouraged me going down that pathway, but I still had a passion for talking.

“I couldn’t pursue acting, so I thought communications might be the answer to my problem.”

Initially the goal was to major in television, but Muller didn’t make the top 20 cut off.

“Journalism was my second option and I got put there by default, but I grew to love it in my last year.”

Muller says in an interview with Asia Pacific Report that while studying she became quite aware of the way Pasifika people are represented by the media and she was “fired up”.

“Once I learnt how often [Pasifika people’s] stories were perceived in mainstream media, I was so determined that I wanted to be part of the group that changes that.

“I wanted to be part of the movement that flips the switch of Pacific perception in society through media.”

Hesitant to step out
However, straight after graduation Muller was hesitant to step out and apply for jobs in the media.

She says that during her final year there were only a few students in her major who were of Pasifika descent.

“I guess being a minority in our major made me feel inadequate as a journalist compared to others.

“Obviously English is their first language and so of course they’d be better at writing than me.”

Almost a year on from graduating, Muller says she couldn’t stay away from journalism any longer.

“I applied everywhere, and I kept getting declined even though they were only junior reporting roles.”

Through connections she found out about an opening as the receptionist for PMN, applied and got the job.

Neutral position
“It was awesome because being a newbie in the industry as it was good for me to be in a neutral position where I could get a feel for what things were like – especially in the Pacific context.”

Seven months after working for PMN, Muller was shifted from reception to the newsroom.

“They were like we can’t have a journalist sitting at the front desk doing nothing and not putting her skills to good use.”

During university, Muller didn’t realise her broadcasting papers might come in handy someday in her work.

“When I came [to PMN] I thought, oh gosh, all that I learnt in radio journalism, I actually need to apply here.”

Muller says she wants to produce stories that are positive, although she won’t shy away if some hard-hitting truth needs to be told.

“I always want my stories to improve the lives of Pacific people, to inspire, build, uplift and empower.

Accountability ‘biggest value’
“Sometimes there are stories we have to report on which don’t do those things and that can be uncomfortable.

“But at the end of the day that won’t stop me because accountability is one of the biggest values of journalism.”

At the start of September, Muller was flown to Nauru where she reported on the Pacific Islands Forum for PMN.

“I saw the aftermath of years of colonisation through phosphate mining and the damages on the island through that.”

She says the experience was “overwhelming” and overall not what she expected.

“I’m used to going back to the islands and it being rich in land and being plentiful of food.

So, going to Nauru and seeing they didn’t have that was so shocking.”

Nauruan viewpoint
Muller believes something that needs to be voiced more is the Nauruan people’s viewpoint, rather than just the government and the refugees.

“Journalism is about balance and giving everyone a voice.

“The Nauruan people play a big part in their story because that’s their island.”

Aged just 23, Muller has only scratched the surface but aims to shut down as many stereotypes as possible along the way.

“I hope one day to look back and see that I’ve been part of that change in perspective that we’re not just sports players.

“We are more than just crime, obesity and non-communicable disease statistics.”

Leilani Sitagata is a reporter on the Pacific Media Centre’s Pacific Media Watch freedom project.

• Mabel Muller reporting live from Nauru
• Nauru Forum’s refugee focus from media slammed for ‘disrespecting’ Pacific

Educator and kuia Tui O’Sullivan has recently retired from Auckland University of Technology after close to 40 years of service.

Born and breed up North in the heart of Ahipara, she says choosing to do tertiary study was the right choice for her.

“Growing up as a young girl you were told to pick from three directions – academic, commercial or homecraft,” O’Sullivan recalls.

“I never had a burning desire to become a teacher, but it just seemed like the best fit for me to follow that path.”

Over the years, O’Sullivan (Te Rarawa and Ngati Kahu) gained a Bachelor of Arts, Master’s in Education (Māori), a Diploma in Ethics and a Diploma in Teaching.

“Coming from a town where you didn’t know names, but everyone was Aunty or Uncle, Auckland was by far a change of scenery.”

O’Sullivan was appointed as the first Māori academic at AUT (then ATI followed by AIT).

Evening classes
She says she taught evening classes on literacy twice a week and had many people from the Pacific wanting to improve their written and oral skills.

“A number of them were members of church groups who wanted to polish up for competitions involving writing and speaking.”

Alongside the night classes, O’Sullivan was involved in the formation of the newspaper Password.

“We formed a newspaper which explained certain things about living in New Zealand, among other things like the Treaty of Waitangi and Māori culture.”

O’Sullivan says there was an increasing number of immigrants to her English classes and Password helped with their immersion into a new culture.

While working in general studies, she says she helped teach communications English and basic skills to full time students, predominantly young men.

However, women started to come along to O’Sullivan’s teaching and the numbers slowly grew.

First women’s group
O’Sullivan was part of the creation of the very first women’s group on campus.

“A senior lecturer approached a couple of us women staff asking if we could keep an eye out for the young women and be an ear should they need that.

“From there Women on Campus developed which looked after the interests of women students and staff members.”

She said they switched the name of the group over the years because what they originally chose didn’t have a ring to it.

“We were called Women’s Action Group for a while, but WAG didn’t sound too good.”

Another first for the university was the establishment of the Ngā Wai o Horotiu marae in 1997 which Tui said she’ll forever remember.

When the marae was officially opened more than 1000 people turned up to celebrate the momentous occasion.

Emphasis on diversity
The marae opening signified AUT acknowledging the Treaty of Waitangi and further emphasised the diversity within the university.

“The majority of staff here have had this willingness and openness to support and promote success for Māori and Pacific students.”

When asked what was one of the most gratifying times for her during her time at AUT, O’Sullivan simply says applauding the young people who cross the stage.

“I always seem to end up with lots of those lolly leis because people end up with so many, and they get off-loaded to me.”

O”Sullivan says that over the years she’s never missed a graduation for her faculty regardless of how many there are.

“Seeing students wearing their kakahu or family korowai, and others who have grown to learn more about their whakapapa and their place in the world.

“Those are the most rewarding times for me.”

O’Sullivan was the equity adviser for the Faculty of Creative Technologies and lectured in Te Tiriti o Waitangi and community issues. She was also a strong advocate of the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) and a foundation member of the advisory board for AUT’s Pacific Media Centre from 2007.

She insists she hasn’t left a legacy but has been part of an ever evolving journey that AUT is going through.

• A virtual tour of Ngā Wai o Horotiu marae

By Lucy Kopana in Lae

Following a growing number of illegal settlements in Papua New Guinea’s second city of Lae, police have announced they will organise a stakeholders meeting next week to address the issue.

Many squatter settlements have been established on state land around the city and local residents have become concerned.

Lae police boss Commander Anthony Wagambie Jr said this would be treated as a law and order issue because the areas “become breeding grounds” for criminals.

He said many of the “perpetrators of petty crimes” live in these areas.

The port city of Lae is the capital of Morobe province and had a population of almost 150,000 at the 2011 census, but has expanded rapidly since.

Lucy Kopana is a reporter in the Lae bureau of EMTV News. This article is republished with permission.

Field was banned by the military regime in 2007. He told NewstalkZB that he has still not been properly advised on the lifting of the ban.

“It’s all part of an interesting game that he [Bainimarama] is playing, because I have not been advised.”

“It’s a curious thing to do and it should be noted that the domestic media in Fiji is still governed by military decrees so I don’t know what it all means.”

TVNZ’s Barbara Dreaver has also been blacklisted from Fiji since 2008.

She has previously expressed in Asia Pacific Report that journalists should not be banned in any democratic country.

“The people of Fiji deserve to have their stories told no matter who they are or who they vote for.”

Usual manner

The Fiji government is said to have 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.

The Fiji Times reported the announcement was made by Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama earlier this week who said the ban on foreign journalists was established because he believed they were not objective in their reporting.

“The government originally instituted these bans because it believed that some journalists had crossed the line from journalism to political advocacy and had inserted themselves into the domestic political debate.

“But the government reminds foreign journalists of their universal obligation to report events fairly and in a balanced manner.”

• Barbara Dreaver: Fiji’s journalist blacklist is a disgrace

A major solar energy project in Manu’a, American Samoa, will bring the island nation a step closer to having one hundred percent renewable energy.

American Samoa Power Authority’s renewable energy project manager, Mike Langier, discussed the Manu’a projects at the American Samoa Economic Development Authority Board.

He said at the moment gallons of diesel is shipped to American Samoa for power.

“On average we are shipping around 55 to 60 barrels of diesel over to those islands a week.

‘It is not the cleanest method’, he said.

“When we reduce our diesel consumption to almost zero, at least for the generators, it will be pretty amazing.”

The biggest project is based in Ta’u and would supply 1.4 megawatts of power.

The system consists of solar photovaltaic panels which converts sunlight directly into electricity. It will also include six-hours of battery storage, three back up generators and provide for 100 percent of Ta’u’s power supply.

On Ofu, a smaller size solar project is being built.  It will provide 80 percent of power for Ofu and Olosega.

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!

The choir which includes members from Fiji and the Solomon Islands is led by well-known performing arts creative, Igelese Et, who is also the Head of Performing Arts at the USP Oceania Centre in Suva.

An elated Ete said this contract is a feat of great magnitude and acknowledgement to the talents of the people of the Pacific.

“It is fair to say that a Hollywood Disney animation is the ‘olympics’ of the entertainment world,” he said.

The choir will attend the global premiere of Moana in November-“rumour has it the Hollywood megastar Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson will be attending,” Ete said.

The week-long seventh Pacific Women’s Network on Violence Against Women (PWNAVAW) meeting, which ended last Friday, brought together practitioners and policy-makers in the field.

Key areas

They identified key areas that needed improvement in order to provide better support systems for womens and girls who have or are currently experiencing any form of violence:

• Increased services for survivors of violence against women and girls
• Improving access to justice through better working relationships with police forces and sensitive and urgent response from police personnel
• Increased and ongoing training in gender equality
• Urging Pacific governments to put global conventions on women and girls into practice

Network members agreed that to move commitments forward specific actions needed to take place within sorcery related violence, culture and religion, disability and organising male advocates for womens humans rights.

The committee also called for the meeting to be held every two years, instead of the usual four-years, because of the breadth of work that remains.

More than 60 women and men from around the Pacific attended the meeting which was held in Singatoka from the 12th-19th August, 2016.

It is organised by the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (FWCC) and funded by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division has said the Australian government has ignored Indonesia’s human rights abuses and particularly those in West Papua.

He published an article through online newspaper, The Conversation, in which he stated that when the Australian Attorney-General, George Brandis, visited Indonesia this month he failed to mention the ongoing oppression and human rights abuses in West Papua by the Indonesian government.

“Brandis’ Papua trip report references visits to ‘border facilities and a traditional market’ and reiterates Australia’s recognition of Indonesian sovereignty over Papua, but makes zero mention of human rights,” the article stated.

He referred to Brandis’ trip to Indonesia, which began in Papua, as a “blind eye” on Indonesia’s human rights abuses.

“[It is] an unfortunate reflection of the Australian government’s tendency to rarely raise concerns publicly about human rights violations in countries with which it co-operates on border protection matters or has significant trade relationships,” the article reported.

The full article can be read online at The Conversation.

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.

Businessman and landowner leader of Hides PDL 1 of the PNG LNG Project, Larry Andagali, has set a deadline for government officials to meet with landowners and address the demands that have led to the lock down of the Project this week.

Andagali called on Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and senior government ministers to be in Hides Nogoli camp before August, 12, 2016 to start the negotiation process.

He has issued a media release and said Hides landowners will not re-open until the Licensed Based Benefit Sharing Agreement (LBBSA) is reviewed and a new agreement is negotiated and executed.

O’Neill confirmed he is away of the issue and would send a ministerial government team to meet with disgruntled landowners in Hides.

The PNG LNG Project sites were locked down this week with landowners demanding the government pay overdue royalties that are owed to them.

The group have cut down trees to block the roads and stop vehicles from entering into the project site.

Andagali said all Hides wellheads will remain closed until landowners and people of Hela get their fair share of the PNG LNG Project.

‘This time around we are now calling on ExxonMobil as an operator to come as a party on their community investment programs and sponsorship programs for Hides and Hela children,’ he said.

In the meantime he has called on the people of Hides to remain calm and protect the LNG project facilities without using any form of force and weapons.

• Don’t use force to resolve LNG shut down, warns PNG opposition

Pacific Islands Development Forum Secretary-General Francois Martel says he is extremely concerned at the low level of ratification of the Paris Agreement to date, with only 22 countries and 1.0 percent of emissions.

“The report confirms our worst fears that time is not on our side and that projections on climate impacts were very much underestimated,” he said.

“This is why Pacific leaders need to remain vigilant and champion the ratification and implementation of the Paris Agreement globally.”

The State of the Climate 2015 report released online by the American Meteorological Society also disclosed how important it is for Pacific leaders to continue their advocacy for climate action at COP22 and beyond.

Martel added that Pacific nations together represented nearly one-fifth of the planet and this would send a strong message to the rest of the world if such a treaty could be agreed upon and ratified by the most vulnerable nations on Earth.

“Pacific leaders did it before to pledge allegiance against nuclear arms so we should now look at fossil fuels in the same light.

“This report for the Pacific reminds us of the urgency and confirms that climate induced impacts will destroy our nations. The Pacific Islands should continue to be at the forefront of that battle,” he said.

‘Broke records’
The report also confirmed that 2015 surpassed 2014 as the warmest year since the mid-to-late 19th century.

Climate indicators in the report show patterns, changes, and trends of the global climate system, several markers such as land and ocean temperatures, sea levels and greenhouse gases broke records set just one year prior.

Last year’s record heat resulted from the combined influence of long-term global warming and one of the strongest El Niño events the globe has experienced since at least 1950.

Furthermore a Guardian article published this month has stated that limiting global temperatures to below the 1.5 degree target, negotiated in Paris last year, and measured in relation to pre-industrial temperatures, would be extremely difficult.

The article published figures based on Met Office data by meteorologist Ed Hawkins of Reading University that showed the average global temperatures have been more than one degree above pre-industrial levels for every month except one this year.

By Peter S. Kinjap in Port Moresby

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has directed a police investigation into the killing of a first year student at the University of Technology (Unitech) that happened earlier this year.

Graham Romanong was brutally murdered on June 25, 2016 in his dorm room on the university campus.

O’Neill issued a prime ministerial directive for Police Commissioner Gari Baki’s personal commitment to fully investigate, arrest and prosecute all persons involved in planning, financing and the eventual killing of Romanong.

Made accountable

He assured the deceased’s relatives and a huge crowd on August 1 at Umbimi village, outside Mendi town, Southern Highlands, that all individuals who were involved directly or indirectly would have their day in court.

A crowd of 5,000 people were present when O’Neill announced that those responsible would be made accountable for their acts.

O’Neill thanked Romanong’s relatives, tribesman and the Kambiri people for not taking the law into their hands by seeking revenge.

“When Graham Romanong died you did not take revenge and I thank you for that.

“You acted in a civilised and matured manner and demonstrated leadership in containing what could have exploded into major ethnic conflict resulting in loss of lives and destruction to properties.

“We can’t be like them [killers], because it is a primitive act, barbaric and animalistic behaviour,” the Prime Minister stressed.

At around 10pm on the night Romanong was murdered, a group of men armed with bush knives attacked him; an apparent targeted act.

Tension on campus

Tension amongst the government and university students began earlier this year in May when students began boycotting classes as a protest to demand O’Neill to step down over corruption allegations.

Violence then escalated when police officers opened fire on students while they attempted to hold a peaceful protest march to Parliament.

The universities were closed and it was only announced last week that some institutions would resume the second semester at the end of the month.

However it is not clear whether the protests are related to the attack on Romanong.

The Kiribati National Olympic Committee (KNOC) has confirmed the country will be represented in athletics and weightlifting at the Rio Olympic Games this month.

Chief-executive-officer of KNOC, Rota Onorio, told Radio Kiribati News that athletes Karitaake Tewaaki and John Ruka would compete in the 100m athletics event.

Commonwealth Games gold medallist David Katoatau will be competing in the weightlifting 105kg category.

The Minister of Sports David Collins and other sports officials will accompany the team in Rio.

This will be the island nations fourth appearance at a Summer Olympic Games. Kiribati first competed in 2004 when it was held in Athens.

The Olympic Games will be officially open in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 5 and close on August 21, 2016.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference last year – more commonly referred to as “COP21”, may have been praised as a “historic turning point” in reducing global warming by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and world leaders alike, but many remain unconvinced world leaders actually care about climate change.

Speaking to Asia Pacific Report earlier this year, both Greenpeace captain Pete Willcox and colleague Sophie Schroder said that world leaders were still hiding behind fossil fuels.

Some may also say that journalism itself is guilty by omission due to what many educators see as poor coverage of climate change.

Such issues were the topic of conversation among panelists and delegates alike at the 4th World Journalism Education Congress (WJEC) when it entered its second day.

Professor David Robie of the Pacific Media Centre set the tone of the panel discussion, questioning what the role of the media and indeed media education was in a post-COP21 world.

He asked whether media currently was giving enough emphasis to the issue, but more importantly to the human rights issues that sit within climate change.

This was a theme readily engaged with by the panelists, Professor Crispin Maslog, chairman of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre in Manila; Dr Hermin Indah Wahyuni of Universitas Gadjah Mada; National University of Samoa’s Misa Vicky Lepou; and Jose Maria Carlos from the Philippines.

Although speaking to journalism education and climate change in their respective countries – the Philippines, Indonesia and Samoa – all of the panelists said the media was failing in reporting climate change.

Current coverage lacking

Although coverage was not wholly lacking, the panel stressed, improvements are still needed.

Dr Wahyuni said this was the case as current framing centred on a “impact-victim frame” which only built a “easy causal relationship” between disasters and climate change.

Although Carlos also noted that this was the case in his discussion, he said that despite a “high level” of climate change coverage throughout Asia, gaps remained in the “depth of understanding” of the issue by the Filipino public.

He highlighted that this was a concern noted not only by academics and non-governmental organisations, but also journalists themselves.

Misa said the current lack in climate change coverage culminated in a “top-down” effect in newsrooms, in which editors refused to take notice of the issue because it was not “sexy” enough.

She highlighted that this seemed to be the case in Samoa, where climate change was the lesser covered topic in three of its newspapers compared to business.

Misa noted this “reflects the priorities” in the daily news agenda worldwide.

Calls not new
However, this is not the first time such issues have been noted, nor calls for new media strategies in relation to climate change made.

Several academics, journalists and non-governmental actors debated the issue in May for Asia Pacific Report.

Although unable to reach consensus on a precise strategy moving forward, all stressed the importance of changes being made.

Future solutions?
The panelists also did not simply lament the current state of climate change journalism.

Dr Maslog, Dr Wahyuni, Carlos and Lepou all posed possible solutions to the current crisis.

Dr Maslog said that “training on the job” should take place for media practitioners into environmental and disaster reporting.

Dr Wahyuni said the media should continue to act as an observer, but stressed that in doing so it should “keep up with science”.

Carlos agreed, saying “good principles” should continue to be stressed.

Misa said, however, echoing points made by her fellow delegates throughout the WJEC regarding student journalists being at the heart of improvements, said the introduction of a climate change module into the journalism curriculum would “bring life to journalism education”.

Both panelists and delegates agreed, however, that “so much needs to be done”.

In the face of a lack of “political will” from both politicians and journalists alike regarding climate change however, all acknowledged that it may be an uphill battle.

World leaders still ‘hiding behind fossil fuels’, says Rainbow Warrior skipper

Call for new media strategies for climate change journalism

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade chief executive Dr Brook Barrington made that point in Dunedin on Friday in an opening address to more than 100 people at the University of Otago’s 51st annual Foreign Policy School.

Dr Barrington’s address was devoted to “The Art of Diplomacy in a Digital World”.

And the latest three-day school focuses on “Global Politics: From State to Social Media”, and explores the complex relationship between states and both “old” and “new” news media.

Dr Barrington said our diplomats were seeking to make New Zealanders “safer and more prosperous”, but faced some challenges in an “information-saturated world”.

“It’s not enough for us to punch above our weight.”

New Zealand had also sought to move up to a higher weight class through helping develop new international rules.

Lines of communication between states were now ‘‘many and varied”, and the BBC, CNN and Twitter ‘‘outpace diplomatic reporting”.

Communication revolution
The communication revolution could be “used for ill”, and he noted that Islamic State (Daesh) published more than 100,000 tweets a day as part of its recruitment drive.

But this technology could also be “used for good”.

The 2007 Saffron Revolution in Myanmar had been built and sustained through digital network technologies, as “citizen journalists flooded cyberspace with images of monks leading large, peaceful demonstrations against the government”.

His own view was that diplomacy, when it mattered most, was often practised as a “private art and not as public theatre”.

But the ministry’s digital presence and use of social media increased New Zealand’s “soft power” and provided a “new means to engage with an international audience”.

New Zealand’s UN Twitter account had more than 8000 followers and was “one of the most connected and influential in the UN”, putting New Zealand in the same category of connection as the US, Germany, France and the EU.

And in the short time UN Development Programme administrator Helen Clark has been a candidate for the role of UN Secretary-general, she had gathered more than 10,000 followers on Twitter.

Speakers at the Foreign Policy School included Panama Papers investigative journalists Nicky Hager and The Guardian’s Luke Harding; TV3’s Mike McRoberts; Maori Television’s Maramena Roderick; and Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie.

• 51st Otago Foreign Policy School
• Earlier story

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

New Zealand’s 2016 budget offered Auckland nothing in the way of vision or hope and it continued the National government’s threats against the Auckland Council. Threatening the council with over-riding its democratic processes if it fails to release land for housing is a bullying tactic aimed at diverting attention away from the fundamental problems with housing in the region.

Even the Minister of Social Housing recognised the fact that this was going to be a “hopeless” budget for Auckland which explains why she rushed out her own mini budget on the eve of the non-event to demonstrate that at least one member of the government was aware that Auckland had a major housing crisis.

As the major population centre for New Zealand and the country’s portal to the global economy, Auckland matters! Over half of New Zealand’s population lives within a 200 km radius of Auckland and it is this size and population density that enables the region to provide business with economies of scale in production, marketing and sales.

More than any other factor it is the population base that defines the character and potential of Auckland. Apart from small and belated adjustments to the tax system for small business entities there were few policies in the budget to generate hope among the business sectors of Auckland.

Beyond business there was a virtual drought of initiatives that demonstrated government barely recognised, let alone valued, the working people of the region or its future generations.

Social deficit
The mini budget delivered by the Minister of Social Housing targets one aspect of the region’s social infrastructure. It fails, as the budget itself fails, to deal with a region containing one-third of New Zealand’s population including local board areas within Auckland that are larger than most provincial cities and regions.

As we highlighted in a recent report on the governance of Auckland, the social deficit has become a major concern for the region. It is deficit characterised by widening disparities of income and wealth, distinctions between “work rich” and “work poor” households, and increasing numbers of families and households living with the stress of insufficient money for basic necessities and limited access to affordable housing.

The challenges faced by different populations and groups in Auckland is graphically illustrated by the Pacific Island communities of the region who have few accumulated assets, limited employment opportunities relative to other population groups, and because of difficulties in acquiring affordable housing they are increasingly reliant on rental accommodation.

Pacific people came to this country with high expectations for themselves and their children. The adult members of these Pacific families played a significant role in the New Zealand economy during the 1960s and 1970s and they continue to make a contribution to many aspects of New Zealand life today from sport to fashion, from the creative industries to engagement in the tourism and service sectors.

Yet the age structure of Pacific populations means that they face additional challenges with nearly half of Pacific people being under 20 years of age. In Auckland, nearly 25 percent of children under the age of 10 live in Pacific households and 40 percent of those are living in Manukau.

Socially bankrupt
These were the families singled out by Minister Bennett as the families who might benefit from her $5000 subsidy aimed at encouraging them to leave Auckland – a socially bankrupt policy that would take households away from their family and friendship networks and from the support systems they have established in Auckland.

When you move from the social deficit facing Auckland to the state of the region’s physical infrastructure and utilities then we are confronted by a history of neglect. Central governments over several decades lacked any long-term spatial vision leaving the region with a major infrastructure liability and a transport shambles.

On top of these legacies, Auckland has recently had to accept the additional costs of migration and tourism with inadequate funding, a deteriorating housing and accommodation stock and totally inadequate compensation.

To make matters worse the deficit that has been incurred by Auckland’s physical infrastructure and utilities has been exploited by moneylenders and dealers speculating in land and housing and locking a generation of young families out of the housing market.

Where were the policies in this year’s budget aimed at controlling the unbridled power of capital and greed controlling land and housing in Auckland? Where was the commitment from central government to playing its part in addressing the regional deficits in both the physical and social infrastructures?

Where was the vision capable of matching the late Dove-Meyer Robinson who sought to build a rapid rail system in Auckland only to have his aspirations neutralised by central government? Where was the enthusiasm and support for Auckland council’s objective to build “the world’s most liveable city”? What Auckland got from the budget and in subsequent statements from Cabinet Ministers was threats to over-ride the regional government based on a flawed argument with no substance, no evidence and no credibility.

Auckland deserves a more considered response and that means a comprehensive range of policies that address the needs and aspirations of the region rather than a negative party strategy based on pork barrel politics. A desire to work in collaboration with the Auckland Council was sadly missing from last week’s budget.

Professor Ian Shirley is director of the Policy Observatory of Auckland University of Technology. This analysis was first published by the Policy Observatory and is republished by Asia Pacific Report with permission of the author.

The Policy Observatory

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

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