French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has announced more financial assistance for New Caledonia to assist the financially-embattled French Pacific territory.

The announcement follows a three-hour meeting with a bipartisan delegation led by New Caledonia’s President Milakulo Tukumuli this week.

Lecornu said this was to serve as a lifebuoy to help New Caledonia overcome its most urgent challenges, including a near-collapse of the French territory’s pension scheme and medicare, which are both described as being on the verge of collapse.

• READ MORE: Other Kanaky New Caledonia reports

Its other aim was to help New Caledonia conclude its 2026 financial year (11 million euros) and balance its 2027 budget (50 million euros).

A major part of the announced assistance was also quoted as amounting to “400 to 600 million euros”.

He also spoke about consultations to coordinate the package’s implementation during a “Prime Minister’s mission” team at a date yet to be determined.

Since his election in July 2026, Tukumuli has expressed serious concerns regarding New Caledonia’s financial situation and the risk of what he termed a “shutdown”.

High debt level
He also expressed serious concerns at New Caledonia’s high level of debt, following loans contracted with the French government as a result of the covid crisis and, more recently, the civil unrest that took place in May 2024.

The unrest and its related effects caused 14 deaths and significantly impacted New Caledonia’s economy, with an estimated €2 billion in material damage (mostly to local businesses) and an estimated drop of 13.5 percent in the Gross Domestic Product, as well as over 12,000 unemployed.

New Caledonia’s recurrent request was also, in the face of record debt, to obtain that current loans (and its interests) be converted into into non-refundable grants.

Lecornu said most of this fresh assistance would be in the form of grants.

Apart from Lecornu, New Caledonia’s group of politicians, since Monday, have held meetings in Paris with top officials from the Finance ministry, French minister for Overseas Naïma Moutchou and both Presidents of France’s Parliament chambers, the Senate (Gérard Larcher) and the National Assembly (Yaël Braun-Pivet).

They are also scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday this week (Paris time).

The announcement was also understood to come with strings attached, in the form of assurances from New Caledonia’s government that “urgent reforms” will be carried out.

Cautious satisfaction
Reacting to Lecornu’s announcement, New Caledonia’s Congress President (Speaker) Virginie Ruffenach, who is part of the delegation, expressed cautious satisfaction.

She acknowledged the response was “very good news” and met “about 90 percent of our request” for an initial plea of 540 million euros.

But she remained cautious and said the announcement now required “clarifications”, especially on how much will be disbursed in the form of grants and how much through loans.

“We don’t want to bring more debt to New Caledonia,” she said.

She assured that New Caledonia had already passed a significant number of reforms resulting in savings of “365 million euros”.

“It’s a lot, but it’s not enough. We’re just beginning to recover. Our fiscal revenues are slightly increasing … But this needs to be accompanied for at least two years,” she told reporters in Paris.

Tukumuli earlier stressed that more loans for the French Pacific territory was just “untenable”.

“Between 2020 and 2026, we have borrowed 1.5 billion euros,” New Caledonia’s President elaborated.

“And now we have arrived at a totally unreal situation whereby in 2026, we have borrowed again to repay the 2025 loan”.

The announced commitment will however have to receive the French Parliament’s approval, as part of the French 2027 budget debates.

Throughout the week, New Caledonia’s delegation has also held lobbying talks with French MPs from caucuses across the political chessboard, only months ahead of France’s Presidential and general elections, starting in April 2027.

Indonesia’s government has indicated that a visit by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to West Papua is on track.

This comes as Melanesian Sperarhead Group (MSG) countries agreed to push Jakarta to facilitate the visit, after years of apparent inaction.

A request for the visit was made by Pacific Islands Forum countries back in 2019, but it has still not gone ahead, despite ongoing human rights violations in Papua.

• READ MORE: Melanesian countries to review Indonesia’s status at MSG if no action on West Papua visit
• West Papuan leader calls on Pacific Forum to ‘break its silence’ and denounce Indonesian military violence
• Other West Papua reports

A statement issued by MSG states from this week’s Pacific Forum leaders meeting in Palau appeared to reflect frustrations that the visit has still not been facilitated.

The statement said that if a visit by the UN Commissioner’s office was not facilitated by Indonesia in order for a report on human rights issues in West Papua to be produced by their next summit in 2027, then Indonesia’s associate member status in the MSG will be reviewed.

The full members of the MSG are: Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia’s FLNKS Kanak Movement. The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has observer status at the MSG, and Indonesia has associate member status.

‘Constructive discussion’
In a response to RNZ Pacific following the statement, a spokesperson from Indonesia’s Embassy in New Zealand said there was “no discussion to review our membership within the MSG”.

“We are always in constructive discussion on the issues deemed important by other members of the MSG, and we can also confirm that the said proposed visit is on the right path.

“As you may have [been] aware that on July 2025, we already facilitate[d] a visit from UN Special Rapporteur [for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Albert Kwokow] to Papua,” the spokesperson said.

“We can agree that this shows good intention from the government of the Republic of Indonesia to the advancement of prosperity of all Indonesians.”

Ongoing conflict in Papua
The long-running conflict between the West Papua Liberation Army and Indonesian military forces in Papua has escalated in recent months, causing mass displacement of some Papua village communities in the region around Highland Papua province.

In the latest reported violence, human rights workers told RNZ Pacific that four members of the Liberation Army had been arrested and killed by Indonesian forces in Yahukimo Regency in recent days, and another member seriously injured, while six civilians were also arrested during the incident.

The spokesperson for the embassy said that during the 62nd Session of the Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner assessed “that force must not be used to pursue territorial claims or political demands”.

“The sovereign equality of States, territorial integrity, and non-interference remain the foundation of the international order; respect for international law and the principles of UN Charter is non-negotiable.”

The spokesperson said Indonesia supports “a cooperative and non-confrontational approach to human rights issues, based on mutual respect and national ownership”.

Leaders in the Pacific have registered their concern over a nuclear-capable missile test conducted by China in July, calling on all states to provide advance warning ahead of any testing.

Nauru – one of the 18 Pacific Island Forum (PIF) members – noted its dissent from the statement.

Partners to the Forum will also be split into two tiers in future, and member states agreed to a declaration for urgent and inclusive climate action to keep 1.5 degrees of warming within reach.

• READ MORE: China risks exploding Pacific goodwill in one fell swoop of a nuclear capable missile

The Pacifc Islands’ Forum in Palau has concluded, with leaders taking part in a daylong meeting on Thursday to discuss various issues, releasing a joint statement outlining their conclusions.

Specifically, the Forum noted an intercontinental ballistic missile test that had “overflew” a number of members “without adequate notice”.

The members called on all states undertaking testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles to provide transparency and reassurance, including advance notification of at least 24 hours.

Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr, who read the statement, concluded by saying: “I might note that the Republic of Naoero [Nauru] has dissented.”

Overshadowed by tensions
The Forum has been overshadowed with the tensions between China and Taiwan.

One local told RNZ all he had been hearing about was “China, Taiwan, and how the outside world, outside countries are … making certain nations either afraid to talk or not standing up boldly.

“All I hear is about just drama, and that defeats the whole purpose.”

He said he wanted to hear more about what other countries were going through, whether that matched up with the problems facing Palau — like outmigration, cost of living, and drugs — and see what could be done by working together.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Thursday that China-Taiwan had not been a focus inside the PIF.

“It’s a piece of a conversation, but it’s not the dominant conversation.”

But another geopolitical issue was the lingering desire by many in the Forum to reach consensus on condemning the intercontinental ballistic missile test by China.

Full consensus blocked
It is understood Naoero and Kiribati, both closely aligned with China, stood in the way of full consensus on a statement earlier in August.

Even as the meeting on Thursday was taking place, China’s Foreign Ministry made accusations toward Palau, after the host of the Forum urged the group to condemn China’s launch.

“Palau has repeatedly raised this issue in an ill-intentioned attempt to hijack the position of other member states of the Pacific Islands Forum. It will not have its way,” the ministry said.

Luxon himself felt strongly about the matter, telling reporters later it was important to push back so the behaviour was not normalised.

“Given all the history in our part of the world with nuclear testing… that’s just not something we want to see.”

Luxon described Naoero as being “in the room”, and wanting to be “disassociated with the statement”.

“We said, look, that’s great, but we’re not going to not make a statement as a Pacific Island Forum because of the objection of one country, and you’d have to ask them as to what their rationale for that was.

“Suffice to say, everyone else was fully on board.”

No Kiribati representation
When pressed on whether Kiribati was also on board, Luxon said Kiribati had no representation in the room.

Even stranger was the delayed recognition during the closing ceremony of Kiribati’s representative to the Forum, David Teaboo, well after all the other leaders had received applause.

The Forum also confirmed it would run a tiered system next year, splitting around 30 partners into two streams: one for strategic partners, and one for sector partners.

“Everyone’s a partner, but we just need to make sure that we can manage it well going forward,” said Luxon.

“We have to acknowledge that as we go forward, we can’t treat them all the same or give the same sort of effort.”

Taiwan remains a development partner, and while its Foreign Minister, Lin Chia-lung, was attending the Forum this year after being invited by Palau, New Zealand’s Foreign Minister indicated on Thursday that would not be the case next year.

New Zealand adheres to the One China policy, which means it does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Foreign Minister not invited
That would prevent the Foreign Minister being invited — instead representation at a lower level would be likely at next year’s forum.

Despite the geostrategic tensions at play throughout the Forum, Luxon said PIF was at its “strongest”.

Before setting off to Palau, Luxon denied PIF was being weakened as a mechanism for resolving region-wide difficulties.

“No, I think it’s about strengthening it, though,” Luxon said.

After his hours’ long meeting on Thursday, he said he wanted to see PIF “continue to evolve and strengthen and move — it’s the arc of progress that we’re focused on”.

That work will continue into next year, as New Zealand readies itself to host the forum.

Sacked Solomon Islands Finance Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo says further resignations from Cabinet are imminent, as Prime Minister Matthew Wale gears up to fight a no-confidence motion.

The motion of no confidence is expected to be tabled on Monday, September 7.

Lilo — who shares a political party with the motion’s champion, Manasseh Maelanga — was removed from Cabinet by Wale this afternoon.

• READ MORE:  Solomon Islands PM sacks minister, accuses rivals of opportunism as no-confidence vote looms
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Speaking to RNZ Pacific on the day he was fired, Lilo denied any involvement in planning against Wale, but said he now felt obliged to support the motion.

“I’m caught in between,” he said.

“I cannot move [away] from a party member because there are only two of us, so we have to be together in this whole proposition.”

Mealanga resigned as Wale’s Home Affairs Minister on Monday, joined by Justice Minister Clezy Rore and Commerce Minister Harry Kuma. Lilo did not reveal who he knew, or expected, to quit next.

Backbench MPs elevated
Wale elevated three government backbench MPs to Cabinet within the week to replace them, rather than pulling from the opposition. Those MPs — Rexson Ramofafia, Nestor Ghiro and Alfred Tuasuila — had joined the coalition in June.

It means the government’s 33-member majority is drawn down to 29. Rore and Kuma, both People First Party (PFP) members, may be able to sway fellow party members to back the motion.

As a result, Lilo predicted that a swing against Wale was highly likely.

“I think there are valid reasons as well.”

“It boils down to the way that Cabinet has… there seems to be an absence of an operation of a Cabinet government and that raises a lot of concerns.”

Lilo noted that Wale’s coalition, formed in the rubble of Jeremiah Manele’s government in April, had never formalised terms through a signed agreement.

“It could be that the Prime Minister might have decided to run [the government] himself… in the absence of that coalition agreement.

Situation underestimated
“Then, maybe he underestimated the fact that this kind of a situation might arise.”

The motion forced Wale home from Palau on Sunday, where he was attending the Pacific Islands Forum leaders summit.

The Prime Minister has vowed to fight on, calling the defectors political opportunists with a “disturbing willingness to put petty political interests ahead of national interest”.

“The people deserve the opportunity to see whether the GREAT Coalition can deliver,” Wale said in a statement.

“The bigger question is whether ‘lack of consultation’ is being used as a convenient political justification for a move that may have been contemplated well before the current dispute emerged.”

RNZ Pacific has asked Prime Minister Wale for comment after the motion of no confidence was filed against him.

The Solomon Islands is asking its fellow Pacific Island Forum (PIF) members to reconsider the presence of dialogue partners at the regional body’s annual leaders meeting, RNZ Pacific understands.

The issue was raised at a closed meeting of the PIF on Wednesday morning in Palau, with the Solomon Islands asking members to consider whether the leaders meeting should be separate from the dialogue partners’ process, RNZ Pacific understands.

The presence of partners at the annual leaders’ meeting has been a contentious issue over the past few years.

• READ MORE: US expected to announce major fuel security deal at Pacific Islands Forum
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• Peters blasts Solomon Islands cabinet ministers for move against PM Wale
• Solomon Islands ‘dangles over the edge of political instability’ as three ministers quit
• Missing leaders won’t derail Pacific Islands Forum outcomes, says secretariat
• Vanuatu Special Envoy calls for PIF to ‘reopen’ issue of Pacific access to West Papua
• Solomon Islands PM Wale rushes home from Palau after confidence challenge launched
• Other PIF reports
• Other West Papua reports

Each year, a partners dialogue meeting is held as part of the leaders’ meeting week. In total, 21 countries are PIF dialogue partners, with key regional players like the United States, China, Japan and France among them.

Taiwan, which also has a delegation in Koror, is a development partner.

However, last year, then-host Solomon Islands banned partners from attending and deferred the dialogue partner meeting to Palau. It was held on Tuesday in Koror.

As interest in the region has grown, the presence of partner delegations, as well as NGOs and observers has increased substantially. The current leaders’ meeting was expected to bring 2000 people to Palau.

Extensive meetings, sideline events
While interest and investment in the region are welcomed by members, the sheer number of people, countries and organisations now attending the leaders’ week has resulted in an extensive list of bilateral meetings and sideline events that sit outside the official PIFs agenda.

RNZ Pacific understands several delegations from Pacific nations have struggled to keep up with the demands of the week. It is understood that a separate partner process could offer more time for members to speak directly with one another and focus on the PIF agenda.

Despite that, support for the Solomon Islands proposal among the membership is unlikely to be clearcut. The Solomons’ decision to stop partners’ attending last year divided members.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters made it clear at the time he believed partners needed to be at the leaders’ meeting because of the investment role they played in the region — a sentiment he repeated this year.

While Sāmoa, represented by previous prime minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, and Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr supported the decision from then-Solomons Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele.

The Solomons proposal also comes as the 18 PIF members have been deliberating on a new partnership structure. The proposed structure would divide partners into two tiers, with the top tier having greater access to member states.

Geopolitical competition
With large delegations from China, the US and Taiwan present, geopolitical competition around the PIF has dominated headlines.

The absences of six leaders, including Solomons Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale, has also been reported extensively. Wale had to return home after landing in Koror due to a motion of no confidence in his leadership.

As a result, his Foreign Minister Rick Houenipwela will be attending Thursday’s leaders’ retreat in his place. Only the heads-of-delegations from the 18 PIF members are permitted at the retreat, which is being held at the residence of President Whipps Jr.

Melanesian countries are pushing Indonesia to facilitate a long-requested visit to West Papua by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights or have its membership in their regional bloc reviewed.

A request for the visit was made by Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) countries back in 2019, but it has still not gone ahead, despite ongoing human rights violations in the Indonesian-ruled Papua region, known internationally as West Papua.

Frustration has built up among the Melanesian countries in the intervening years that Jakarta has not yet allowed the visit to take place.

• READ MORE: West Papuan leader calls on Pacific Forum to ‘break its silence’ and denounce Indonesian military violence
• Other West Papua reports

Now the members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) say that if a visit by the Commissioner’s office is not facilitated by Indonesia in order for a report on human rights issues in West Papua to be produced by their next summit in 2027, then Indonesia’s associate member status in the MSG will be reviewed.

The full members of the MSG are: Papua New Guinea, FIji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia’s FLNKS Kanak independence movement. The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has observer status at the MSG, and Indonesia has associate member status.

The MSG has issued a statement from the current PIF leaders summit in Palau, saying Melanesian leaders “urged continued engagement with Indonesia to facilitate access by the end of Indonesia’s term as President of the Human Rights Council on 31 December 2026”.

MSG members requested the bloc’s current chair, Fiji, to write to Indonesia to allow the visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to West Papua to produce a report on human rights issues in Papua, and to have the report delivered for consideration at the next MSG summit in 2027.

2027 MSG Summit review
Leaders “affirmed that if these actions are not undertaken the Associate Member status shall be reviewed accordingly at the next MSG Summit in 2027”.

They also requested MSG member country embassies in Jakarta to “support appropriate follow-up and engagement on this matter”.

The members are also considering a proposal for MSG leaders to meet Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York last this month.

Since taking office last year, Prabowo has overseen an increase in Indonesian military deployments to West Papua where a long-running conflict with the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) has escalated in recent months, causing mass displacement of some Papua village communities in the High Papua region.

Authorities in Fiji are offering contradictory accounts of a nationwide effort to remove beggars and street dwellers from public spaces, with questions over warning notices and what support is available for those affected.

The agencies involved have been unable to clearly identify what those services are and who is responsible for providing them, or what happens to people after they are moved from their public places.

The ongoing lack of clarity has raised concerns among civil society organisations that the enforcement effort may be getting ahead of the support systems needed to make it work.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji homeless reports

Last month, The Fiji Times reported that city rangers were serving warning notices to individuals soliciting alms in public areas. The notices stated that behaviour such as persistent begging or obstructing of footpaths were offences and could lead to “enforcement actions”.

The operation has been advertised as a joint effort between the Lautoka City Council, Fiji police, and the Women, Children and Social Protection Ministry.

RNZ Pacific has repeatedly sought clarification on how the operation works in practice, on what would trigger a warning notice, what happens when someone refuses to leave, what support programmes are offered for street dwellers, and what role each agency plays.

The office of the Minister for Women, Children and Social Protection, Sashi Kiran, declined to comment on the ministry’s role in supporting street dwellers or on what programmes being offered to people being moved from public spaces.

The office of Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu would only say police were there to “ensure the safety of all parties” and would “use necessary force” if required.

When RNZ Pacific asked what that meant in practice, and what powers police would use if people refused to leave public spaces, no detailed explanations were provided.

RNZ Pacific’s specific questions to both the ministry and police remain unanswered.

‘No forced relocation’
The Lautoka City Council chairman and acting CEO Ratu Tevita Momoedonu, however, was more forthcoming, and rejected suggestions people were being forcibly removed from streets.

“There is no forced relocation here. We can’t force anybody,” he said.

He described the initiative as welfare-led, saying street dwellers were being profiled and offered relocation to shelters and rehabilitation services.

“We don’t warn people. We profile them, and we call them in meetings, and then we suggest to them the importance or the benefits of being relocated,” he added.

When asked about the support programmes being offered by the ministry, Momoedonu said they could not help.

“I can’t help you either, because the [Lautoka City] Council, we have our own jurisdictions here. We only help social welfare in profiling,” he said.

“The rehabilitation part, the relocation part, it is their (ministry and police) responsibility, not us. If they are not answering to you people, then [they] neither do us.”

Directives may be issued
While Momoedonu denied that warning notices were being used as part of the relocation effort, he did acknowledge that council notices could be issued for breaches of bylaws, and that people involved in criminal activity could be removed.

“If there are bylaws that are violated, then we can issue directives? When there are criminal elements — drinking in public place, taking drugs in public place, disturbing the peace. These are criminal elements.”

He said police assist the Lautoka City Council and welfare officers when street dwellers resist engagement, although he commented that police do not “enforce relocations”.

In Nadi, Fiji’s international gateway, a similar operation is underway.

A pamphlet from social worker Mohenesh Singh describes “Operation Loloma” as an effort to take beggars off the streets, profile and screen them, and provide “alternative means of livelihood”.

“Together, we can create lasting solutions that address the root causes of begging,” the pamphlet reads.

“The information collected will see an an individual case plan drawn up for each beggar so that the welfare of the disadvantaged individuals are taken care of by the various networks we have in the country.”

RNZ Pacific contacted Singh for comment, asking what street profiling looked like, and what support was offered for street dwellers. He declined to comment about their operation.

FCOSS ‘caught by surprise’
Civil society groups which are also involved in working on the issue say they have been left in the dark about the Lautoka initiative.

The Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS) executive director Vani Catanasiga said she first learnt about Lautoka City Council’s warning notice enforcement when contacted by RNZ Pacific.

“We were caught by surprise, so, I just heard that it was happening in Lautoka,” Catanasiga said.

“I was aware about it in Suva, sort of, efforts or clean up… but I wasn’t aware about Lautoka.”

Catanasiga said Fiji’s civil sector has repeatedly raised concerns around the lack of co-ordination between Fijian agencies that are working with vulnerable people.

The Lautoka operation, she said, could serve as a “case study” in what happens when co-ordination between involved parties breaks down.

“Unfortunately, in this case, it has to do with a vulnerable group. They’re already vulnerable, they’re already confused, they’re already in need of support, compassion,” Catanasiga said.

“When we don’t address persistent coordination challenges, it really just does a lot more harm. It exacerbates the harms that they already face.”

Absence of communication
In this case, Catanasiga said the issue is an absence of communication, and clarity in roles between the different agencies involved.

The additional lack of publicly available detail is concerning for organisations who are meant to be working with vulnerable people, she added.

She described the operations as “optics-led” and said while sympathised with the relevant authorities and people in authority trying to make a difference, the lack of transparency was concerning.

“It’s not to penalise those who want to do something about it. It’s about [asking], ‘okay, have we applied the right processes?’

“Sometimes in our effort to to do this, we miss the more essential work of doing the due diligence. And sometimes we react … a lot of our approaches are reactionary because it looks bad.

“It’s not an excuse to miss the essential steps of safeguarding [and] due diligence that we must apply to our work, particularly around social protection [and] checking on the social safety nets that are supposed to be there.”

‘Unsustainable’
Catanasiga also suggested authorities were relying on Fiji’s long-dormant law on minor offences to justify moving beggars and street dwellers from public places, targeting activities such as begging, loitering and drunk or disorderly behaviour.

“I understand there is a Minor Offences Act that was never operationalised. It was never applied.

“So, I think that they’re using that to justify the removal of people from the streets. So begging, all those sorts of activities, loitering, it’s covered under that act.”

While Catanisaga said she fully supported efforts to move homeless individuals into dignified work and safe housing, the current operations will be unsustainable.

“I’m just concerned about the back end processes that are supposed to be in place, the support system. If not, our efforts to get people off the streets is not going to be sustainable,” she said.

Moving forward, Catanasiga said the agencies involved to deal with the issue need to come together to complete the programme they have started.

“We always talk about dignity-centred approaches [to deal with vulnerable people]. This [initiative] is not dignity-centred approaches,” she said.

“We want to support our government, and more importantly, we want to support people who are in vulnerable positions.”

The United States is set to announce a fuel security deal worth US$60 million for the Pacific region, RNZ Pacific understands.

Details are yet to be finalised, but RNZ Pacific understands it was discussed at a closed dialogue partners meeting at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders’ summit in Palau on Tuesday.

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau is in Koror for the annual meeting. His trip to Palau comes after a raft of engagements in the region this year as the Trump administration’s point-person for the Pacific.

• READ MORE: Pacific leaders urged to be united behind 2050 climate action vision
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• Missing leaders won’t derail Pacific Islands Forum outcomes, says secretariat
• Vanuatu Special Envoy calls for PIF to ‘reopen’ issue of Pacific access to West Papua
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• Other West Papua reports

The US is one of PIF’s founding Dialogue Partners, alongside Canada, France, Japan and the United Kingdom.

The PIF currently has 21 Dialogue Partners, which comprise external countries and organisations that have formal relationships with PIF and support Pacific regional priorities through political engagement.

Landau made a funding announcement with NZ Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown about a new port in Penrhyn Atoll, the Cook Islands’ northernmost island.

Penrhyn, or Tongareva, is a former US military base. The US has committed US$50m to the major port upgrade, while New Zealand is contributing US$10m. The two countries are co-funding the infrastructure project.

Port plan discussed in April
Peters said the idea of a new port for Tongareva was first discussed in April, when he met Landau and his boss, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington DC.

A potential fuel security deal was also raised as part of those meetings, he said. And while the financial contribution for the Tongareva port upgrade has been finalised, the fuel security deal, which is set to be worth US$60 million, is subject to congressional approval.

The Pacific region relies heavily on diesel for power generation.

A recent study from the UNSW Institute for Climate Risk and Response identified about 80 percent of the region’s energy relied on imported oil products. Collectively, it estimated Pacific Island countries spent US$6 billion each year on imported oil products.

It also found that Palau, which is hosting this years PIF leaders meeting, spent 13 percent of its GDP (gross domestic product) on importing oil products, compared to about 10 percent of GDP on health, and 3 percent on education.

Other Pacific nations spent similar proportions of their GDP on importing oil products, the study found.

As a result, the surge in diesel prices due to the Iran War has left many Pacific nations economically exposed.

Emergency fuel measures
After the Strait of Hormuz closed, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands announced emergency fuel conservation measures, while governments in Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands and Nauru passed national response measures.

Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr, who has now taken over as chair of the Forum troika, has been championing a push for the Pacific to be the first region in the world to be completely powered by renewable energy.

“The high cost of fuel, freight, and food shows how quickly events far from our shores and far from our reach affect every Pacific household, and our dependence on imported diesel fuels is an economic risk as well as a climate one,” Whipps said in his opening ceremony address.

“The transition to renewable energy is therefore part of our sovereignty. It lowers our exposure and keeps more of our scarce resources working in our own economies.”

Significant investment is critical to that transition. The UNSW study found to replace diesel generation with a renewable option, about US$650 million each year is needed for the region.

Peters said his ongoing work with the US, and other countries from outside the region, was a big part of ensuring incoming investment into the Pacific.

In regard to the US, he said discussions began about six months around its potential role in investing in the region.

‘Good, hard look’
“We talked about them having a good, hard look at where they should be making investments and giving some substance to what they were saying… because they were having an investment conference in Honolulu to which not many Pacific Island countries went.

“And so we were looking around for some real initiatives, and here comes this one here [Tongareva port].”

The PIF leaders summit is in its second official day. The leaders’ retreat, where leaders of the Forum’s 18 members spend a day alone together, takes place tomorrow.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters has blasted Solomon Islands cabinet ministers who moved against their leader on the eve of the Pacific Island Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale has been forced home to deal with a motion of no confidence from his Home Affairs Minister Manasseh Maelanga.

Three Cabinet ministers, including Maelanga, have resigned from his GREAT coalition government.

• READ MORE: Solomon Islands ‘dangles over the edge of political instability’ as three ministers quit
• Missing leaders won’t derail Pacific Islands Forum outcomes, says secretariat
• Vanuatu Special Envoy calls for PIF to ‘reopen’ issue of Pacific access to West Papua
• Solomon Islands PM Wale rushes home from Palau after confidence challenge launched
• Other PIF reports
• Other West Papua reports

More ministers are rumoured to follow suit, including Finance Minister and former Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo, potentially tipping the numbers against Wale’s favour.

Speaking to reporters in Palau ahead of the summit’s opening ceremony, Peters struggled to hide his disdain.

“To think that a motion of no confidence was moved when you’re at a critical Pacific event concerns me about the people who moved the motion,” he said.

“For goodness’ sake, could you possibly have waited until your brothers, sisters and cousins have sorted out the Pacific in the meantime, just for these few days?”

Returned within hours
Wale, who reportedly first learned of the motion after landing in Palau, was on a plane back home within hours.

Peters said that the departure weighed heavy on fellow leaders, considering several heads of government had opted not to go.

“He had to get the next plane, and President [Surangel] Whipps Jr had to take him. That shows how saddened Whipps was by that, we all were, that Wale had to go home. But at least they’re trying.”

The leaders of Kiribati, Samoa, Vanuatu and New Caledonia are also sitting out the summit. Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka may stay at home, despite earlier plans.

Peters is in Koror for the next two days before swapping out with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. He refused to speculate on why so many Pacific leaders were not present.

However, reasons for their absence could include health, he noted.

Rabuka’s absence would mean a planned bilateral with his New Zealand counterpart on Thursday morning would not go ahead. Luxon said on Monday that he was not deterred.

Wale faces the fire
Barely three months into the job, Wale now faces a challenge strikingly similar to the one he had helped orchestrate against his predecessor, Jeremiah Manele.

It began with a mass resignation: 10 ministers in one fell swoop, complaining that then-Prime Minister Manele made too many decisions without consulting Cabinet.

While Manele refused to call parliament, a group of MPs wore him down, and he gave way on 7 May. In the aftermath, Wale was elected prime minister by 26 MPs in a parliament of 50. It would take that many to oust him.

Maelanga, an early contender against Wale in the PM stakes, has now made a claim nearly identical to Manele’s challengers, saying Wale had made unilateral decisions “on matters of national importance” while neglecting “proper consultation with, or the approval of, Cabinet”.

Solomon Isands journalist Lisa Osifelo told RNZ Pacific Waves that the situation was fluid.

“We might be expecting more resignations from ministers in the next couple of days,” she said

“There were probably a lot of things that have come out in the media… political appointees, the termination and the non-renewal of contracts [in] various ministries, that has probably contributed to what we’re seeing now.”

She said it was unclear how large or influential the rebel group is — but Maelanga is likely a front-man.

Wale ‘will be regrouping’
“I know [PM Wale] will be regrouping a few of the members … maybe get back to the drawing board, renegotiate, and bring their grievances or whatever they have back to the table.”

It is unclear whether Maelanga’s grievances about “unilateral decisions” include the government’s foreign policy platform.

Since Wale took office, he pledged to review the controversial security deal signed with China in 2022, reset the Australian relationship, signed a shiprider agreement with the United States, and deepened ties with Japan and New Zealand through MoUs — promising that the Solomons was a “friend to all”.

Speaking as PIF chair in July, Wale said there was “growing consensus” among Pacific states for a regional security treaty.

At the leaders’ summit this week, Winston Peters speculated that the idea would be discussed, but that Wale’s absence was a “setback.”

The first of PIF’s leaders meetings began last night.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale’s Government for Reform, Empowerment, Accountability and Transformation (GREAT) coalition appears headed for a major test after three of his most senior ministers formally quit on Monday.

This comes after Wale, 57, who was elected to the top job just over 100 days ago, cut short a trip to Palau after East Malaita MP and Home Affairs Minister Manasseh Maelanga launched a surprise leadership challenge.

He was elected prime minister on May 15 by 26 votes to 22 against Peter Shanel Agovaka.

• READ MORE: Solomon Islands PM Wale rushes home from Palau after confidence challenge launched

State broadcaster SIBC is reporting the three cabinet ministers who resigned are Justice Minister Clezy Rore, Commerce Minister Harry Kuma and Maelanga.

Solomon Islands Governor-General’s deputy Private Secretary Maxwell Banyo confirmed the resignations to SIBC on Monday.

RNZ Pacific has approached Wale’s office for comment but has not received a response.

Solomon Islands media have described the turn of events as an “internal coalition revolt”, while regional political watchers have called it “deeply unfortunate”.

According to Maelanga, the reason for the no-confidence motion is that Wale “has repeatedly made decisions on matters of national importance without properly consulting Cabinet”.

‘Complicated’ reasons
Solomon Islands academic Dr Tarcisius Kabutaulaka said the reasons for the motion of no confidence against Wale were “complicated”.

“The fundamental questions for Solomon Islands are these: If the motion were to go through, what can a new government do in the remaining period of this Parliament?” Dr Kabutaulaka wrote for In-depth Solomons.

“How would a change of government benefit the Solomon Islands? How would it further erode Solomon Islanders’ already low confidence in Parliament and its members?

“And how would it address the country’s chronic problem of instability?”

“While Solomon Islands’ members of Parliament tussle over who rules, Solomon Islanders watch — many with disappointment and anger.

“The country once again dangles over the edge of political instability.”

With the final list of leaders attending the 55th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting in Palau still unconfirmed, the regional body’s policy hub is moving to emphasise the robustness of potential decisions and outcomes from the week.

The annual summit is supposed to bring together leaders from the Forum’s 18 member states to discuss and progress major regional issues. However, as of Monday morning, five members were going to be in Koror without representation at the top level.

Kiribati President Taneti Maamau and Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale are the two late withdrawals.

• READ MORE:  Vanuatu Special Envoy calls for PIF to ‘reopen’ issue of Pacific access to West Papua
• Solomon Islands PM Wale rushes home from Palau after confidence challenge launched
• Other PIF reports
• Other West Papua reports

Maamau has reportedly been unable to arrange travel in time for the meeting and also had a parliamentary sitting he needed to attend. His absence has raised a lot of concerns over cohesiveness of PIF following tensions over a lack of agreement among members at the PIF Foreign Ministers Meeting earlier this month.

Members failed to reach consensus on a statement [condemning China’s missile test at that meeting. The dummy warhead landed in Pacific waters near Tuvalu last month.

Naoero (formerly Nauru) and Kiribati, which have strong ties to Beijing, were understood to be the members which did not support a statement on it. Both those countries were also understood to be isolated from the wider collective for their stance in Suva.

Naoero’s President David Adeang confirmed this morning he would be in Koror.

Wale forced to return home
Meanwhile, Wale did make it to Palau, however he was forced to return home after a motion of no confidence was filed against his leadership.

Samoa, Vanuatu and New Caledonia are also not represented in Palau at leadership level. Instead, their delegations are being led by deputy leaders or senior ministers.

There is also uncertainty over Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s attendance. He has had to remain in Suva due to urgent domestic issues It sounds unlikely that he will make it.

The absence of several leaders at the meeting is being described by Australian and New Zealand media as a “regional turmoil” and a “blow to regional unity”.

But, despite the reduction in leadership-level representation, the PIF Secretariat — which is the engine room of the PIF — says progress at this week’s meeting would be significant and enduring.

Secretariat deputy secretary general Esala Nayasi told media this morning issues being tabled at the leaders’ meeting, which officially kicks off tonight, “have gone through [the PIF] officials’ meeting, and also [the PIF] Foreign Ministers’ meeting.

“So they have been quietly deliberated on, [and] their national positions that have been shared.

Come with a mandate
“We would expect, for those that are in the room — whether leaders or represented at ministerial level — they would come with also mandate to speak on their issues.

“We have comfort in our processes to deliver outcomes that is consistent and aligned on key issues.”

Nayasi was asked whether Kiribati’s decision not to send a minister could be characterised as a boycott. The Micronesian island nation is being represented by David Teaabo, the Director of Foreign Service and the former Ambassador to China.

Nayasi said that was not the view of the secretariat, and pointed to the fact Maamau was joining in a session today virtually.

“There’s no view or thought whatsoever of any case of that,” he said.

Nayasi also told reporters he would have an updated list on Tuesday morning of confirmed attendees.

Meanwhile, the meeting’s opening ceremony will be held at the Palau National Gymnasium this evening.

The week will build up to the leaders’ retreat on Thursday, where the heads of the 18 members’ delegations spend the day together without any outside parties, including their own advisers.

The 55th Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting officially kicks off tonight in Koror, Palau.

The runway leading in is already proving eventful, with at least one partner withdrawing its leader last-minute.

For those who are not acclimatised, the mugginess of Koror’s 30 degree heat is stifling.

• READ MORE: Solomon Islands PM returns home before PIF meeting to face no-confidence motion
• Pacific Elders call for climate accountability, stronger regional unity
• Vanuatu journalist denied entry to Palau while traveling to cover Pacific leaders meeting
• Other PIF reports

After five minutes in the sun, you’re sweating and whatever you’re carrying feels a few kilos heavier. Finding relief, even if it’s momentary, quickly becomes a priority.

The fury at which geopolitics is wrapped into this year’s Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders’ meeting is a lot like Koror’s heat — even though you can’t see it, it’s all-encompassing and impossible to avoid.

Already, questions have been raised over the last-minute withdrawal of Kiribati President Taaneti Maamau. Now, it is also uncertain whether Naoero (formerly Nauru) President David Adeang will be attending as planned.

Maamau’s late withdrawal, and the current lack of certainty around Naeoro’s President Adeang, goes to the heart of problems around unity and outside interference in the PIF.

Lack of agreement
At the end of the PIF foreign ministers’ meeting in Suva earlier this month, the lack of agreement from members over a statement condemning China’s missile test dominated headlines.

The dummy warhead landed in Pacific waters near Tuvalu last month.

Naoero and Kiribati, which have strong ties to Beijing, were understood to be the members which did not support a statement on it. Both those countries were also understood to be isolated from the wider collective for their stance in Suva.

The lack of agreement means the issue of a statement on the missile testing was deferred to Koror. In the last few weeks, officials across the region have been working on a statement that is due to be submitted and considered this week by leaders.

Despite that, four PIF states — Australia, New Zealand, Palau and Marshall Islands — decided to go their own way after the Suva meeting and sign a joint statement released by the US government criticising China for the missile testing.

Palau and Marshall Islands, alongside Tuvalu, are the three PIF states which have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who is representing his government in Koror before Prime Minister Christopher Luxon arrives, made his displeasure over the lack of a result in Suva clear at the time.

No reasons laid out
“They didn’t actually lay out any reasons, apart from their disagreement, and not wishing for us to make the clear statement such as ‘we are opposed to missiles being fired into the Pacific.

“That’s what the statement should have said, and we’re still waiting for that to get laid out.”

It seems that disharmony has rolled straight from Suva into the beautiful islands of Palau.

Maamau’s decision not to attend this week, and instead send David Teaabo, his Director of Foreign Service and the former ambassador to China, means any potential statement on missile testing will not have sign-off from Kiribati’s top representative or an elected official.

It also sends a clear message over Maamau’s current discontent with the PIF. And if Naeoro’s Adeang also withdraws, there will be concerns over unity and stability of the PIF — particularly as that will leave the week short two leaders from the Micronesia bloc.

Furthermore, alongside a potential missile statement, there are high hopes for leaders to agree on the specifics of the partnerships policy which was endorsed by leaders in Solomon Islands’ last year.

The policy means the PIF partners, currently 21 dialogue partners and a group of development partners, would be divided into tier one and tier two, with the top tier having greater access to member states.

Key dialogue partners
Unsurprisingly, the behemoths-in-the room on this agenda issue is where China and the US would sit. Both are dialogue partners under the current set-up and have high-level representation in Koror.

China has its Special Envoy for Pacific Island Countries Affairs, Qian Bo, on the ground, while Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau is leading the US delegation.

Taiwan, which is currently a PIF development partner, will also be jostling for a place in the tier system. It has sent its Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung to Koror, along with a large delegation to Palau.

Notably, Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has also withdrawn from his planned schedule in Koror last-minute due to urgent domestic issues, however he may still arrive later in the week for the leaders’ retreat.

Early yesterday, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale also left Palau after less than 24 hours after a motion of no confidence was tabled back home against him. Wale is the current Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, who was supposed to hand over the chairmanship to Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr in Palau.

Sāmoa, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu have also decided not to send leaders, however this was signalled in advance, and the states’ delegations are headed by deputy prime ministers or senior ministers.

With such significant issues due to be discussed this week, framed and threatened by the burgeoning geopolitical tension between the US and China, a lack of appropriate representation from PIF members does not bode well.

Genuine consensus and open debate among all members is critical in the current climate, particularly as outside interests continue to exert influence in pursuit of their own agendas.

New Zealand says its connections to its Realm countries remain strong and stable, after the first of a series of annual “family reunions”.

Christopher Luxon met with Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, Niue’s Prime Minister Dalton Tagelagi and the Ulu-o-Tokelau Alapati Tavite in Government House this yesterday, ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Palau next week.

The Realm countries will ride together this weekend to Palau for the Pacific Island Forum leaders summit next week.

• READ MORE: Other New Zealand Realm reports

“We’ve got a 140,000 Cook Islanders, Niueans, Tokelauans, living here in New Zealand,” Luxon told reporters.

“We’ve got deep connectivity between our four countries, and so it’s really important, in a volatile and uncertain world…  what more [New Zealand] can be doing.”

When the year began, the relationship between New Zealand and the Cook Islands was frosty. The Cooks had struck out in late 2024, signing a security deal with China that New Zealand had not approved of.

Amidst a myriad of issues, a breakdown in communications led to a breakdown in trust, leading to a cut in aid only restored earlier this year. Now, Prime Minister Luxon said it has been sorted.

‘Normalised our relationship’
“We’ve normalised our relationship, and we sorted the issues of the last year or so out,” he said.

Brown said one of the earlier sore points, a Cook Islands passport, has been laid to rest.

“That’s no longer part of our discussions at the moment,” he said.

“The Cook Islands has pretty well established itself internationally as a country, and as citizens of New Zealand and increasingly Australia, that’s where our status is right now.”

Prime Minister Tagelagi echoed this sentiment for his own country.

“If anything, we are so grateful for the New Zealand support, but the Pacific needs to reach out further,” he said, “so we don’t always have to rely on New Zealand.”

For it’s part, the Cooks are fielding an unprecedented level of interest from another global superpower — the United States.

No deep sea mining secret
The US has made no secret of it’s deep sea mining ambitions in the Clarion Clipperton Zone. Where this leads their relationship with Aotearoa remains to be seen, but Prime Minister Brown insists he will ensure his country benefits from any future activity.

“Decisions made on our seabed and our resources are made by the Cook Islands for the interest of Cook Islanders only,” he said.

“The Cook Islands is looking very closely at how we as a country would benefit if we moved down the road of extraction.”

In a far less fortunate position is Tokelau.

The territory was expelled from the lucrative Parties to the Nauru Agreement Vessel Day Scheme in February, and estimates of the ensuing revenue losses are massive. RNZ has previously reported that New Zealand may have a played a role in getting Tokelau kicked out, thanks to interference in Tokelau’s fisheries.

Prime Minister Luxon denied this, saying that between them, they were “putting a full court press” to get them reinstated, particularly with an appeal to PNA members in Palau next week.

Following the meeting, only Tokelau’s leader was unavailable to speak to media.

After an historic day in which the result of Bougainville’s independence referendum was finally tabled in Papua New Guinea’s national Parliament, an eventual decision on the matter is at least months away.

The Parliament adjourned after debate on Thursday on the tabling of the Bougainville referendum result from 2019 in which 97.7 percent of Bougainvilleans voted for independence

PNG’s members of Parliament will have the final say on whether to ratify the result, although it is not clear when that vote will be taken.

• READ MORE: Long time coming: After decades of struggle, is Bougainville on the brink of statehood?
• Other Bougainville independence reports

A delegation from the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) sat patiently in the gallery and watched on as MPs offered different takes on what everyone agreed was a difficult decision for them to have to make.

As the Joint Consultation Report and the Melanesian Framework documents were also newly tabled, PNG’s opposition leader James Nomane pointed out that the MPs could hardly be expected to make informed decisions when they had only just received these documents.

“I ask that the government be very, very clear about when this vote will take place, and make all effort to inform all leaders of the House about: yes, what happens; no, what happens?” Nomane said.

PNG’s Prime Minister James Marape said his government had a plan for the way forward for either outcome of the vote, affirmative and negative.

Setting the vote date
After the adjournment, he issued a statement saying the PNG and Bougainville governments would meet in October to set the date for the Parliament vote on the referendum.

Earlier, he told MPs to go away and digest the report documents before deciding how to vote, and to ponder the Bougainville viewpoint, while also urging Bougainvilleans to consider the perspective of PNG.

“This is not simply a constitutional or political issue. It concerns the lives, hopes and futures of our people, especially those people whose lives have been shaped by the Bougainville crisis and the Bougainville peace process,” Marape said.

Minister for Bougainville Affairs Manasseh Makiba, who tabled the referendum result and relevant consultation documents, noted that the Melanesian Framework provided for a structured pathway and orderly transition for Bougainville to assume greater powers, in the event of an affirmative vote by Parliament.

“At the heart of the framework is concept of a transitional phase that is being termed as self-government,” he said.

“Under the Melanesian Framework, an affirmative decision by the national Parliament would not result in the immediate independence of Bougainville.”

Makiba acknowledged that in the consultations, the national government and the ABG had been unable to reach consensus on the pathway in the event that the parliament does not accept the results.

But he said PNG’s government still believed a constructive pathway forward was possible.

“The first element of the pathway would be the completion of the drawdown and effective exercise of all remaining autonomous powers available to Bougainville under Part 14 of the national constitution.”

‘The real seed’
Meanwhile, a senior MP who oversaw national consultations over Bougainville, described arguments that giving Bougainville independence undermined PNG’s sovereignty as reductive.

Dr Allan Marat, the chairman of the Bipartisan Parliamentary Committee on Bougainville Matters, said the referendum issue attracted considerable debate on the issue of PNG sovereignty.

“This in turn has attracted considerable debate, and especially on the sovereignty issue of Papua New Guinea, that if we vote in favour of the 97.7 percent and grant Bougainville independence, then some of the other provinces might want to leave Papua New Guinea as well,” Dr Marat said.

“I want to express my personal belief … that this fear is an uninformed knee-jerk reaction and lacks human understanding.”

He said it was more useful to bear in mind the development of a particular political mindset of the Bougainville people, “developed from the Paleolithic period during the last Ice Age period, the early European explorers, the missionaries, the colonial period leading up to independence and on to the 10 years of armed conflict, and eventually the peace process and the referendum until today”.

“This human history and facts among the Bougainvilleans were the basis of their reasonings, giving rise to, ‘the real seed’, of discontentment in the minds of Bougainvilleans.

“This exploded into the armed conflict resulting in thousands of deaths, culminating in the conducting of the referendum and achievement of the referendum results.”

We could be about to find out whether a part of the Pacific Islands will become the world’s newest nation.

After a seven-year wait, Papua New Guinea’s Parliament is today (Thursday, August 27) expected to finally table the question of whether to approve of independence for the country’s autonomous region of Bougainville.

In a 2019 referendum, an overwhelming 97.7 percent of Bougainvilleans voted for independence — but the referendum was non-binding and PNG’s national Parliament has the final say in whether to ratify this result.

• READ MORE: ‘This is a difficult task’: PNG parliament to finally address Bougainville vote
• Flashback: Bougainville: New Zealand’s part in a guerilla war — David Robie
• Other Bougainville independence reports

They are to debate the matter from today, before later putting it to a vote, with support from a three-quarters majority of MPs being the threshold required for ratification.

The decision is no small thing. Bougainville is around 2 percent of PNG’s total landmass, or 2.7 percent of PNG’s total population.

It may seem small, but in the New Zealand context, this would be a bit like giving up, in land mass terms, the Auckland region or, in population terms, like letting go of Dunedin City.

So it is a big call for a bunch of MPs to make.

Brutal civil war
No country is comfortable with ceding some of its territory. But in this case, the context is the legacy of a brutal civil war and ensuing crisis that played out during the 1990s, which brought not just Bougainville to its knees, but PNG too.

New Zealand played a central role in mediating a lasting peace — 2001’s Bougainville Peace Agreement ultimately provided for the referendum that took place in 2019, in which over 200,000 people from an overall population of around 300,000 cast their vote.

The tabling of the referendum result in Parliament has been a long time coming, and follows a series of consultations over the years between the PNG government and the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) over how the result would be processed.

It is already clear there is some reluctance among PNG MPs to set a precedent for other parts of the country to look to break away. But it is not easy to ignore the clear call for independence from almost 98 percent of Bougainvilleans.

However, PNG’s Prime Minister James Marape has pointed out that without economic independence, Bougainville would not be able to stand on its own feet. He has hinted at allowing for a period of time in which the region works on developing that economic self-reliance before the Parliament might then revisit the question of political independence.

In the eyes of many, economic self-reliance means re-habilitating Bougainville’s large Panguna copper mine, conflict over which sparked the civil war in the first place.

Development of Panguna
ABG President Ishmael Toroama is already pursuing the development of Panguna, and has signalled Bougainville’s intention to declare independence in 2030.

The Burnham Accord, signed by both parties last year in Christchurch, included an agreement for PNG and Bougainville to be bound by any decision of the Parliament and to maintain dialogue after that over the way forward.

So if Bougainville is not granted independence now, it does not necessarily mean it will not get independence at a later point. Either way, it could be the world’s next new country.

Mark Brown’s governing Cook Islands Party (CIP) is set to return to power for a historic fifth consecutive term after securing an absolute majority of 13 of the 24 parliamentary seats following final count of the 2026 general election.

The Democratic Party, the country’s main opposition in the previous Parliament, has been wiped out after losing all its seats, with its outspoken leader Tina Pupuke-Browne and deputy leader Vaitoti Tupa both defeated.

The Cook Islands United Party secured four seats, one more than in 2022, while independents won seven seats, including three from Mangaia, two from Atiu and one each from Mauke and Manihiki.

READ MORE:

Brown, who was first elected to Parliament in 2010, will serve his fifth consecutive term as an MP. He is currently in his second term as prime minister, having taken office in October 2020 and led his party to victory again at the 2022 and 2026 elections.

According to Cook Islands News, Brown’s CIP is expected to form a government for a historic fifth consecutive term on its own.

In addition, the CIP had already received support from six independents, the newspaper reported.

“This brings the incoming government caucus to 19 seats in the 24-member Parliament, giving them an unprecedented supermajority.”

Brown told CIN on Tuesday local time, that according to advice from Crown Law, “the Prime Minister has held his warrants because he’s won his seat and now commands a majority”.

He also confirmed that all Cabinet ministers who retained their seats would remain in their positions.

Brown said once the chief electoral officer issued the official Gazette with the final count, the successful members of Parliament would be named, formally “endorsing” the government.

Final results:

• Tupapa Maraerenga: Tamaiti Maru Willie (CIP) – 617, Rota Tama Williams (CIUP) – 227, Edward Victor Drollett (Demo) – 117
• Takuvaine-Tutakimoa: Mark Brown (CIP) – 312, Davina Hina Te Raurea Joan Hosking-Ashford (Demo) – 115, Venetia Mere Jacqueline Tuara (CIUP) – 91
• Avatiu Ruatonga Palmerston: Albert Taaviri Kaitara Nicholas (CIP) – 376, Teina Rongo (CIUP) – 226
• Ruaau: Tim Tunui (Shadow) Varu (CIUP) – 370, Arama Joseph Wichman (CIP) – 301, William (Smiley) Heather (Demo) – 44
• Akaoa: Robert Stanley Heather (CIUP) – 324, Teakaau Tex Tangimetua (CIP) – 68
• Murienua: Teariki Heather (CIUP) – 344, Nooroa Baker (CIP) – 169, Samuel Mataroa (Demo) – 17
• Titikaveka: Sonny Williams (CIP) – 363, Elizabeth Iro (CIUP) – 238, Sholan Ivaiti (Demo) – 189
• Ngatangiia: Tutaka Ama (CIP) – 272, Mapi Ioteva (CIUP) – 241, Itinga Maoate (Demo) – 65, Chris Denny (Progressive) – 18
• Matavera: Taneao Ngamata (CIUP) – 240, Vaitoti Tupa (Demo) – 231, Aneru Tautu (CIP) – 166
• Amuri-Ureia: Toanui Isamaela (CIP) – 165, Nicholas Henry (IND) – 98, Terepai Maoate (Demo) – 106, Tumutoa Nicholls (CIUP) – 25
• Arutanga-Reureu-Nikaupara: Tereapii Maki Kavana (CIP) – 179, Maitoe Henry (CIUP) – 113, Tekura Bishop (IND) – 91
• Vaipae-Tautu: Teokotai Herman (CIP) – 241, Teariki George (Demo) – 139, Teariki Tangua (CIUP) – 81
• Teenui-Mapumai: Rose Toki Brown (IND Enuamanu) – 81, Charles Amaru Koronui (IND) – 23
• Tengatangi-Areora-Ngatiarua: Te-Hani Brown (IND Enuamanu) – 95, Puai Wichman (IND) – 47
• Oneroa:Rimmel Poila-Mokoroa (IND) – 77, Wesley Kareroa (Demo) – 64, Teina Tearii (CIP) – 66
• Tamarua: Tetangi Matapo (IND) – 34, Ngatamaroa Ngatokorua (CIP) – 23
• Ivirua: Agnes Armstrong (IND) – unopposed
• Mauke: Stephen Matapo (IND Party) – 175, James Beer (IND) – 21
• Mitiaro: Tuakeu Tangapoto (CIP) – 60, Makara Murare (CIUP) – 35, Paul Allsworth (Demo) – 2
• Rakahanga: Levi Teinaki (CIP) – 32, Tina Browne (Demo) – 27
• Penrhyn: Vaine Wichman (CIP) – 71, Sarakura Tapaitau (IND) – 50
• Pukapuka-Nassau: Tingika Elikana (CIP) – 146, Dr Kirianu Nio (IND) – 140
• Manihiki: George ‘Maggie’ Angene (IND) – 56, Akaiti Puna (CIP) – 51, Puapii William (IND) – 15

New Caledonia’s President Milakulo Tukumuli on Monday outlined the urgent issues facing the French Pacific territory.

In a special address at New Caledonia’s Congress, Tukumuli, who was elected president of the collegial multiparty government on July 31 following provincial elections, said he gave his government six months to tackle the most pressing issues facing New Caledonia.

After this, he said his government would start to focus on other issues.

• READ MORE: Other Kanaky New Caledonia reports

He said the most immediate urgencies included necessary efforts to salvage the territory’s pension and health insurance schemes, currently facing a short-term risk of total collapse.

He added, if nothing was done, more than 40,000 New Caledonian pensioners could find themselves pensionless “within a few months”.

New Caledonia’s healthcare system was also under direct threat with a cumulated current deficit to the tune of US$420 million.

Another urgency was to examine the local political system’s expenditures in order to reduce costs.

First ‘fix the canoe’
“The fall is now receding, but recovery has not started yet. When a canoe is taking water, it’s not time to take stock of what is onboard. You begin by fixing the hull and restoring the course,” he told local Congress members as part of his general policy speech.

“I did not request this position just to manage impotency,” he said, stressing that New Caledonia was still recovering from the damage caused by the 2024 civil unrest.

On the crucial nickel mining sector in New Caledonia, where most of the stakeholders and operators are still searching for new investors, Tukumuli said his government would support any “coherent” offer by “solid” and “durably engaged” stakeholders.

But he said New Caledonia’s economy also needed to reduce its long-term dependency on nickel through other economic sectors such as tourism, agriculture, the blue economy or digital-based projects.

“Let’s make sure that a future New Caledonia remembers us as those who have chosen to put it back on its feet”.

He said economic recovery must include “social justice”.

“These are the two sides of the same coin: wealth without justice does not hold. And justice without wealth cannot last”, he told the Congress, saying one of his priorities was to bring New Caledonians a “dignified life”.

Mending the multiethnic social fabric
Being the first New Caledonian government president of Wallisian heritage, he also mentioned the need for all citizens of all ethnic heritages to “feel at home”.

“Our country is made of all these components, the Kanak people, first inhabitants of New Caledonia. But also women and men who came from Europe, Tahiti, Wallis and Futuna, Asia, Vanuatu and elsewhere, and who, generation after generation, have also made this land theirs and know no other one.

“The events of May 2024 have reopened fractures that we knew were there, but preferred not to see.”

He said New Caledonia’s social cohesion cannot be dictated, but “is built also within our institutions, through the words we use and the way we speak to each other”.

Political reactions
Reactions from across the political chessboard were generally positive, including in the pro-independence ranks.

Pro-independence member for Kanaky-NC (mostly consisting of members of Union Calédonienne) Omaira Naisseline said the speech was “responsible”, but that her political group remained “attentive”.

On the pro-France side, Congress members (who have struck a coalition pact with Tukumuli’s Eveil Océanien party), hailed Tukumuli’s “truthful and responsible” roadmap.

“It’s a make or break situation. We’re up against a wall,” Congress member for pro-France Les Loyalistes-Rassemblement told the media after the speech, saying his party would support Tukumuli’s government reform efforts.

Congress President (Speaker) Virginie Ruffenach (pro-France) said the address was “very pragmatic” and “tough”.

Bipartisan delegation in Paris next week
Tukumuli also confirmed he would lead a bipartisan delegation to Paris next week, with the main objective being to renegotiate with the French government the terms of massive loans contracted in the past few years.

This included loans contracted as a result of the covid crisis, and later following the massive damages incurred during the May 2024 unrest, which resulted in 14 deaths, more than 2.2 billion euros (NZ$4.3 billion) in material damage, thousands of jobless and a drop of some 13.5 percent in New Caledonia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Despite French assistance packages, New Caledonia was still short of over 100 million euros (NZ$196 million) just to finish the 2026 financial year.

The delegation (which will consist of Tukumuli, some of his government members, Congress members and New Caledonia’s two MPs from the French National Assembly) mainly aims at convincing the French government to turn the massive loans into non-refundable grants.

“The loans have avoided total collapse, but they have also generated a debt course that we cannot sustain. Our debt has now reached a level New Caledonia has never seen before”, Tukumuli said on Monday.

Speaking shortly after his election in July, he described the situation as a very real short-term risk of “shutdown”.

“We’re not asking for charity … New Caledonia will not pass 2027 without fresh financial support from the French State,” he said on Monday.

New Caledonia’s Congress has to vote its 2027 budget before the end of 2026.

“This budget will have to be sincere and balanced. It will greatly depend on France’s financial support. What we are proposing is a contract of responsibility with known amounts and reciprocal commitments. New Caledonia will pursue its reforms”.

Even though the delegation’s trip to Paris does not include further negotiations on New Caledonia’s future political status, Tukumuli also called on politicians to remain mobilised in view of future institutional talks with France about the French territory’s future political status.

“Uncertainty about tomorrow does not authorise us to remain motionless today”.

The general feeling among the current majority of New Caledonia’s politicians is that those talks, which have currently stalled earlier this year due to a rejection from the French National Assembly, would be likely to resume after France’s presidential and general elections, starting in April 2027.

Papua New Guinea’s prime minister has urged the nation to appreciate the gravity of the decision on Bougainville that Parliament is to debate this week.

The PNG Parliament resumed on Tuesday and from Thursday MPs will debate whether to ratify the 97.7 percent vote by Bougainvilleans for independence in their 2019 non-binding referendum.

PNG’s national MPs have the final say, in adherence with the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement (BPA), which was signed following Bougainville’s civil war and related crisis of the 1990s, and ultimately provided for the referendum.

• READ MORE: Other Bougainville independence reports

“The referendum was legitimate, peaceful and overwhelming in its result, and we respect the voice expressed by the people of Bougainville,” Prime Minister James Marape said in a statement.

As the referendum result is finally to be tabled in Parliament, Marape cautioned MPs and the public not to create division over the issue through threats, fear, regionalism or hostility.

“Every member of Parliament will have the opportunity to speak. Every member will ultimately have to exercise his or her responsibility according to conscience, guided by the Constitution and the interests of our country.”

‘Not an ordinary debate’
“This is a difficult task but duty demands that we do this,” Marape said, while also praying with other MPs for wisdom to guide their deliberations on the issue.

He said Papua New Guineans should appreciate the gravity of the matter because the decisions on Bougainville will have implications for future generations.

“This is not an ordinary parliamentary debate. It concerns our Constitution, our sovereignty, our national identity, the aspirations of the Bougainville people and, above all, the peace that our people have worked so hard to maintain.”

It remains uncertain whether this week’s debate will culminate in a vote on whether to ratify the refendum result as soon as the debate finishes, or whether it will be scheduled at a later point.

Earlier this year, the Parliament set a three-quarter majority threshold requirement for ratification.

The Autonomous Bougainivlle Government (ABG) has said it plans to declare independence in 2030, while it works to prepare for independence in the meantime.

Larger audiences across radio and digital platforms have combined with stronger trust in RNZ than other outlets, new data suggest.

RNZ’s results in the closely watched GfK radio survey were released on Tuesday morning.

After a fall in the first survey of the year, RNZ National bounced back up to 509,200 listeners. Commercial talk station Newstalk ZB dropped fractionally to 656,900 in the same survey. Music stations The Breeze (597,100), and More FM (521,900) both had higher audiences than RNZ National.

• READ MORE: Other RNZ media reports

RNZ Morning Report still trails Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast in the hotly contested weekday morning slot, but the gap between the two shows closed in the latest survey. While Hosking shed 14,000 listeners, Morning Report gained 6300, leaving it still 101,700 adrift.

At the other end of the weekday schedule, both RNZ’s 4pm-6pm Checkpoint (down 3000 to 226,400) and ZB’s 4pm-7pm Heather du Plessis Allan Drive were marginally down (down 1700 to 272,500).

RNZ Concert was slightly up to 163,800. Commercial radio as a whole was down 65,000 to 3.43m on the same survey.

Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith has demanded an improvement in RNZ’s radio audiences. RNZ’s newly-appointed board chair Brent Impey has also stated the public broadcaster is “coming after” Newstalk ZB, in a much more aggressive stance than his predecessor Jim Mather.

Results slow to move
GfK results are, by their methodology, relatively slow to move. RNZ’s improvement against the industry trend in this survey mirrors results from the same time last year, which preceded a fall back again in the first survey of this year. A long-term trend of sustained audience growth for RNZ is not yet evident. Total commercial radio audiences have also not consistently grown in recent GfK surveys.

RNZ’s website, however, has had much stronger and more consistent audience growth. After a redesign of its homepage, the audience in July according to Nielsen was 1.78 million, up 8.3 percent on June and the highest ever recorded for rnz.co.nz.

The result put it 69,000 unique users shy of nzherald.co.nz, which trailed Stuff (up 3 percent to 2.2 million).

RNZ’s website audience has more than doubled in three years from 880,000 in July 2023 to the record 1.78m result last month. Growth on social platforms has been strong too, with over 1.1 million followers across RNZ’s main accounts engaging heavily in a mix of investigations, daily news, current affairs, culture and sport.

The audience growth has come at the same time as RNZ consolidates its position as the most-trusted news source for New Zealanders.

A survey by Verian for RNZ asked people if how strongly they agreed they could trust different media brands.

• 57 percent agreed they could trust RNZ
• 53 percent agreed they could trust TVNZ
• 48 percent agreed they could trust NZ Herald

Following brands
Stuff (45 percent), Whakaata Māori (39 percent) and Sky TV (36 percent) followed. All brands scored higher for trust than in most previous surveys dating back to 2020.

RNZ chief news officer Mark Stevens said the results confirmed RNZ’s approach to delivering quality, original and relevant news, information and entertainment across platforms was working.

“The news media is under regular attack from politicians and commentators trying to undermine the public’s trust in what we deliver every day,” Stevens said.

“But at RNZ, we’re focused on our core job of delivering the kind of public interest journalism our audiences value.

“We know we have to work hard to earn and keep the trust of our audiences and we have more to do. But it’s very pleasing to see RNZ continuing to set the standard for trust.”

Papua New Guinea’s Central Province is feeling the brunt of prolonged drought caused by the El Niño weather phase.

Central and the National Capital District which is located within it, is extremely dry, its communities struggling with damaged crops and water sources in short supply.

Port Moresby communities meanwhile have been experiencing frequent water outages due to malfunctioning of the city’s water infrastructure.

• READ MORE: Other El Niño and the Pacific reports

There has also been at least one bad bout of frost, which has worsened the crop damage.

The ongoing weather disruptions have prompted the Central Province government to conduct an assessment of the scale of the province’s food and water security problems.

The National Disaster Centre warned months ago that the El Niño phase could increasingly impact many parts of the country, and other regions such as the Highlands and Western province have been suffering for months.

Fires common sight
Now much of PNG’s central region is tinder dry, and fires are a common sight in the arid hills around the capital

And further into Central Province, many water sources have dried up, forcing closures of schools.

The Central Governor Ruffina Peter said the provincial executive has allocated 5.3 million kina (NZ$2 million) to respond to the drought and help communities.

But she indicated that 40 million kina would be needed to begin to respond in full.

A whale-watching boat carrying several New Zealand Anglican Church delegates capsized and sank in Tonga on Saturday.

RNZ Pacific understands several passengers were briefly hospitalised, but there were no serious injuries.

Paramedics from New South Wales, who were in the country for a Rotary International training event, led the rescue.

• READ MORE: Questions swirl after NZ church delegates’ unlicensed whale-watching boat capsizes in Tonga

“Before leaving, the bishops, chaplains and leaders of the group led a prayer, thanking and blessing the team for the help and support they had provided,” a Rotary statement read.

“It was a very special and humbling moment for our team, and certainly not something we expected when we started the day.”

The Diocese of Polynesia had recently finished their General Synod in Nuku’alofa, with delegates present from across New Zealand and the Pacific.

Fiji is now in a generalised HIV epidemic, which means the virus is firmly established and spreading within the general population.

The number of people living with HIV in Fiji has risen sharply over the past decade.

Fiji’s Health Minister Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu declared an HIV outbreak in January 2025.

• READ MORE:  ‘We’re doing something about it’ – Fiji’s health minister defends HIV response
• Other HIV in Fiji reports

The number of Fijians living with HIV had risen to at least 9000, or nearly 1 percent of the population, as of March, according to the head of Fiji’s HIV response.

The figures indicate that Fiji has a higher HIV prevalence rate than Australia and New Zealand, where the rate is estimated at 0.1 percent.

In Parliament this week, the Health Minister revealed that new infections continued to rise, with an estimated 1700 in 2025, roughly three times the level in 2018.

“2026 UNAIDS estimates indicate that about 9100 people were living with HIV in 2025, and possibly as many as 12,000, up from fewer than 700 in 2010,” he said.

“[For] adults from 15 to 49 years, prevalence has reached 1.6 percent, crossing the threshold that defines a generalised epidemic.”

Dr Lalabalavu said his ministry had increased testing and treatment, but Fiji had not yet reached the point where new infections were declining.

He said the government was expanding HIV testing, treatment and prevention, including PrEP, a daily medicine that helps prevent HIV.

The minister noted that high-risk drug use, in particular sharing of needles and syringes, was playing a significant role in the rapid rise of new HIV infections in Fiji.

“We have not yet reached the turning point,” he said.

Papua New Guinea’s Foreign Minister says he expects the issue of West Papua will be discussed at the upcoming Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders meeting in Palau.

This comes as the issue of human rights abuses and conflict in Indonesian-ruled Papua region, often known internationally as West Papua, appeared to have slipped off the regional agenda.

After the PIF foreign ministers met in Suva earlier this month, there was no mention of West Papua in the meeting’s outcome statement.

• READ MORE: Other West Papua reports

Most of the talk was about regional security arrangements and the region’s response, or lack thereof, to a recent Chinese nuclear-capable interballistic missile test into Pacific waters.

West Papua is a standing item on the Forum’s agenda, but has generated a decreasing amount of discussion in the past several years as Indonesia strengthened ties with Pacific Island countries.

However, PNG’s Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko has indicated to RNZ Pacific that the West Papua issue will be discussed by Pacific leaders in Koror next month.

There has been little to no apparent progress after Forum leaders last year tasked the Forum Secretariat to work constructively with Indonesia on a proposed visit to West Papua by PIF leaders envoys in 2026, in consultation with the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat.

Stalled PIF progress denied
Tkatchenko denied that Indonesia had stalled progress on a proposed visit by Forum leader envoys to West Papua.

“No, I don’t think [Indonesia had stalled progress] at all,” he said.

“Indonesia is very open to the situation now. I think it’s just making a time and date and making it happen. I’m sure it can be brought up in the next meeting in Palau by the leaders, and if they need to work on that, so be it.”

However, there has also been a clear lack of action on a PIF resolution in 2019 to request Indonesia grant access to West Papua for the UN Human Rights Commissioner to come and look into alleged abuses.

Tkatchenko said Indonesia’s government under new President Prabowo Subianto has been open about Papua issues.

However, he said the escalating violent conflict between Indonesian military and West Papuan independence fighters in recent months had not came up for discussion in Suva.

“Well nothing was mentioned at the Pacific Island Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting in that regard, but I did make it clear that we respect the sovereignty of Indonesia, and we did elevate them for the leaders to ensure that Indonesia was in a strategic relationship with all Pacific Island Forum’s members.”

The Foreign Minister suggested Indonesia’s role at the Forum could be a growing one, “as they hold 20 million Melanesians in Indonesia, which is bigger than all of the Pacific Islands and us put together”.

“So, they hold a very important place when it comes to the representation of Melanesians in the whole of the Pacific, and especially in the Pacific Island Forum. So, that was put forward and mentioned, and the leaders will discuss that in Palau in the next coming weeks.”

PNG relationship with Indonesia
Tkatchenko said that from a PNG perspective, they had made it clear to their neighbour that they were willing to help Indonesia address its problems in Papua, if they would like help.

“And we have the indications through the new president of Indonesia and the Foreign Minister’s discussions with myself that things are moving forward for the betterment of West Papuans now and into the future.

The PNG minister was reluctant to point fingers at Indonesia over the unrest in its Papuan provinces, particularly Highland Papua.

“We have our own issues, too. I mean, we’ve had massacres and very unfortunate tribal wars and conflicts between our own people in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea that would equal or outdo what is happening in Indonesia.

“So we have our own law and order problems that we are also trying to address in that regard.

“But any human rights violation, of course, is always a worry, depending on what the circumstance is. And you know, they are our brothers and sisters, and we are concerned. And if the Indonesians need our assistance, so be it.”

Pacific Islands Forum leaders are due to meet in Palau at the start of September.

Cross-border help
Meanwhile, Tkatchenko said PNG Foreign Affairs officials had been in Jakarta finalising a cross-border treaty, which allows for help to PNG’s Ok Tedi mine in Western Province near the international border.

“The Ok Tedi mine at the moment’s in a bit of strife where the river has now basically dried up and has now gone from a river to a creek. So, the freight, bringing all the freight and goods and fuel to Ok Tedi has now ceased because of the river not being able to access proper water depths to flow the boats and barges up to the appropriate points.

“We have now got a road going through and bridges going through Indonesia for them to access fuel and goods and everything in from Indonesia.

“We have all agreed, and and this is also working with all the West Papuan landowners and the Indonesians, and of course our agreement that we have signed just recently.”

Extreme weather patterns continue to hit the Pacific region with some of the highest parts of New Guinea experiencing snow this week.

Reports from West Papua say parts of the highlands region have been blanketed by snow and ice in recent days.

This includes parts of Lanny Jaya regency — Go, Balum Kuyawage, and West Wano districts. In the case of Kuyawage, the snowfall follows a pattern of drought and frost over recent weeks.

• READ MORE: Indonesian wildfires — poor air quality detected in six provinces in 2019 — David Robie talks to TRT World News
• Other West Papua reports

Snow is not unusual for West Papua’s Jayawijaya mountains, where the world’s only glacier in a tropical region exists.

However, snowfall is rare in other parts of this region and usually means crop failure and food insecurity for local communities.

At the same time, other parts of New Guinea, including Papua New Guinea, are experiencing severe drought as a result of the El Niño weather phase.

In South Papua province on the Indonesian side of the giant island, rampant clearance of lowland forest and wetlands for agriculture projects has created dangerous fire hotspots, exacerbated by El Niño.

A new satellite fire-monitoring platform, Firewatch, had detected more than 96,000 hotspots across Indonesia as of late last month.

All up, an estimated approximately 103,000 ha of land burned nationwide during the first half of 2026.

And as El Niño tightens its grip, forecasters warn the fire risk could increase more.

A 26-day deep sea expedition in the Cook Islands by a United States scientific agency has uncovered new information about marine life and seabed minerals within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ship Okeanos Explorer returned to Rarotonga this week after carrying out research in the western Cook Islands where little to no prior data exists.

The expedition conducted 14 remotely operated vehicle dives, collecting more than 400 samples and sub-samples, exploring seamounts, abyssal plains and areas of the Manihiki Plateau.

• READ MORE: Other NOAA exploration reports

Researchers aboard collected more than 23 biological specimens, some of which are believed to be new to science.

The information is being gathered at a time when the US administration has made no secret of its desire to explore the potential of minerals on the Cook Islands’ deep seabed.

Evaluating potential
US Geological Survey scientist Amanda Demopoulos said building an understanding of underwater life will help form a baseline that the local community can reference when making decisions about resources in their oceans.

But the ecologist pointed out the information can also impact on the wider region, as the wider Pacific Islands grapples with whether to allow deep sea mining for valiuavble polymetallic nodules on the deep seabed.

“Countries have borders, but our ecosystems do not. By working together across international borders and boundaries, we can better understand how the full deep-sea ecosystem functions,” Demopoulos said.

The expedition also confirmed the presence of extensive polymetallic nodule fields in parts of the Cook Islands ocean territory that scientists did not expect.

NOAA’s deputy assistant secretary Erik Noble said the findings provided important baseline data for future decisions about seabed resources.

“High-quality data is the essential first step towards evaluating resource potential. That baseline data collected on this cruise has given us concrete advancements in understanding deep-sea marine ecosystems.

“And yes, it confirmed the presence of rich polymetallic nodule fields, vast fields in this region, even in places where they were not expected, even from our own scientific team.”

Building relations
Noble said he wanted to build on the expedition through further relations.

“The US is looking forward to long-term, lasting partnerships with nations that are actively committed to using world-class science to move forward’

“Specifically, using this foundation of data to build out a secure, responsible critical minerals industry for the future. The goal is to see this data translated into active economic development, strengthening global supply chains and creating real-world opportunities.”

He announced a new science fellow position will be established at NOAA though the US Embassy in New Zealand — with the person to be based in the Cook Islands to support and guide scientific and regulatory processes.

Cook Islands caretaker Prime Minister Mark Brown, fresh off a resounding victory in the country’s election last week, welcomed home the vessel and its crew.

“What has returned to these shores is more than a research vessel. It is knowledge,” he said.

Brown said the expedition showed how much remained unknown about the Cook Islands ocean.

He described it as a “humbling and inspiring” experience to sit alongside scientists as they sent an ROV, remotely operated vehicle, below the waves and watched its discoveries in real time on screen.

“It reminded me that, even as an ocean nation, there is still so much about our own waters that we are only beginning to understand, and that understanding matters.”

The new US Ambassador to the Cook Islands, Jared Novelly, said more than 60,0000 people around the world tuned in to the expedition’s ROV dives through live-streams.

“People around the world followed this expedition live. They watched scientists become genuinely excited about sand, rocks, and the occasional deep-sea creature that appeared surprised to be on camera. The discoveries were shared as they happened.”

Earlier expedition
The expedition builds on earlier work by the Okeanos Explorer that helped the Cook Islands establish its rights over a much larger area of seabed.

A Cook Islands public servant Joshua Mitchell said the vessel was instrumental in gathering evidence for the Cook Islands’ revised extended continental shelf submission to the United Nations.

In 2017, the Okeanos Explorer mapped unusual underwater ridges known as the Spurs, which extend from the Northern part of the Manihiki Plateau.

“The expedition was a resounding success. We sent the coordinates through to the Okeanos Explorer, and they mapped it thoroughly using sophisticated multibeam equipment. They even flew an ROV up and along the feature, broadcasting the high-definition footage in real time for all to see.”

“I’ll never forget sitting at my desk one day when Alan messages me and tells me to click on a link to follow the ROV expedition.

“What I saw unfold on my screen was just incredible: soft corals, invertebrates, and all manner of unusual sea creatures. The Spur was teeming with life, an amazingly diverse ecosystem some 4000 metres down in the deep.”

Mitchell said the information ultimately formed part of the Cook Islands revised submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

In 2025, the UN accepted the technical arguments and endorsed it’s claim, adding 396,900 square kilometres of extended continental shelf — and expanding the country’s total national jurisdiction to more than 2.3 million sq km.

Mitchell said this also makes the Cook Islands the first Pacific Island nation to finalise all of its maritime boundaries and extended continental shelves under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

For him, the Okeanos Explorer returning to the Cook Islands for its most recent expedition is very special.

“She represents opportunity for people from two different nations working together for the betterment of both countries.

“She represents the importance of scientific knowledge to the ultimate expression of sovereignty in our maritime space, our Marae Moana, and she represents legacy from inspiring school kids in a classroom on a remote atoll to someday become marine scientists and researchers themselves.”

Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority
The Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority commissioner Beverly Ataera said that having NOAA taking members of her team on board for the expedition has helped build local scientific capability.

“One of the things I particularly value about this expedition is that the Cook Islanders have not simply been observers… That capability that you shared with them will remain in the Cook Islands forever. This is how we build long-lasting capability.”

While there is significant concern in the Pacific Islands region about the potential environmental impact from deep sea mining, Ataera said the sort of knowledge gained in the NOAA expedition could only help better inform the debate.

She believes the value of the expedition lies not only in what it discovered, but what it allows the Cook Islands to do next.

“They help us to understand our ocean a little better. They help us to identify what we know and what we don’t know yet, and where we need to focus our efforts to learn a little more. And that matters enormously for us in the Cook Islands.

“If we are going to make good decisions about that ocean, those decisions must be grounded in good science and good information.”

Ataera concluded by reiterating that the information gathered must also be made accessible to Cook Islanders.

The expedition data, video logs and sample analysis will be processed and shared with the Cook Islands government and wider scientific community.

The governor of Papua New Guinea’s Western Highlands Province says his province is unprepared to deal with the severe impacts of the El Niño weather event being experienced across the country.

During an El Niño event, warmer ocean waters affect rainfall and wind patterns, often bringing drier-than-usual conditions and a higher risk of drought to the western Pacific.

Western Highlands Governor Wai Rapa is warning that the PNG government does not have the finances or the resources to manage the situation.

• READ MORE: Other El Niño reports

Rapa told the PNG Post-Courier there had been no communication from the national government.

He said the current dry season was “on another scale” and compared to previous dry seasons.

Rapa told the newspaper that the river from which the province’s capital city got its water supply had also dried up.

“We haven’t got the resource to put up with the dry season,” Rapa was quoted as saying by the Post-Courier.

“We Highlanders look after animals especially pigs and this dry season will greatly affect our animals. When we go deep into the dry season, we will face a lot of challenges,” he added.

The concerns raised by Rapa come despite the national government saying preparations for the dry season are underway.

In late-June, PNG Prime Minister James Marape instructed all provinces and districts to prepare for the possibility of a severe dry season linked to El Niño.

A statement from Marape’s office on June 22 said: “The Prime Minister said Cabinet was examining appropriate Financial and Administrative arrangements to support Provincial and District Governments to prepare for, mitigate and respond to Disaster situations arising from prolonged dry conditions.”

Marape also urged Papua New Guineans to remain calm, saying: “This is a time for preparedness, not panic.”

Access remains the biggest challenge for humanitarian workers in the Pacific Islands region, but humanitarians are not targeted as they are in other parts of the world, according to World Vision.

To mark World Humanitarian Day, World Vision, an international Christian humanitarian and development organisation, is highlighting the unprecedented risks faced by global humanitarian workers in recent times.

There has been a threefold increase in deaths of humanitarian workers over the past three years, with over 1000 deaths — mainly in Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan.

• READ MORE: Other Pacific humanitarian aid reports

World Vision said in such parts of the world, humanitarians and medical personnel were targeted by states they were trying to assist.

World Vision’s Hanna Taylor-Moller told RNZ Pacific that in the Pacific, humanitarian agencies were not seeing the lawlessness and disregard for international humanitarian law that they were experiencing in other parts of the world.

Different challenges
Taylor-Moller said that there was a different suite of challenges facing humanitarian workers in the Pacific, a region of often remote islands spread across a wide region.

“When we are responding to things like climate-induced or climate-driven cyclones, it’s making them worse,” she said.

“But because we are responding to a lot of these areas by boat, small planes in the case of Papua New Guinea, access is the biggest challenge we are facing in the Pacific to reach the communities who really need it, who will often be a very small number of people in very very remote locations.

Climate-induced crises in the Pacific, particularly the impact of the El Niño cycle on cyclones and storms, present particular challenges for humanitarian agencies in their efforts to get help to communities.

“When you try and convey to people the work we do, people often like to hear these big numbers of the thousands of people reached, but the reality in the Pacific is that you’ll go to huge effort to literally get food, supplies, soap, clean water to quite a small number of families in remote locations,” she explained.

Daunting logistics
The logistics can be daunting, as humanitarian agencies set out to get clear information immediately following, for example, a natural disaster.

Taylor-Moller said often the internet or phone connectivity was very low in the Pacific Islands, making it hard to get the details out.

“The first port of call in a in a crisis is to find out what the needs are. And that’s the first thing, trying to get people out to an area to assess it, local people who speak the language, who know the terrain, getting to find who’s injured, who’s in need of shelter, water, supplies, getting that information back — and then getting the necessary supplies out to these remote locations.

She said while humanitarian workers were operating in the Pacific often with a much higher degree of safety compared to what they were seeing in other countries and other responses.

“But the logistics are definitely a challenge. A lot of lot of sea, open water travel. Not as easy with the roads, that’s for sure.”

The Fiji Police Force has yet to charge any suspects four months after the alleged murder of the reportedly infamous Jone Vakarisi while he was in military custody.

Vakarisi, 37, who was widely known for being on the wrong side of the law and reportedly linked to criminal networks, died on April 17 after being taken for questioning by soldiers to the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) headquarters in Suva.

His death was initially attributed to pre-existing conditions by the RFMF commander Ro Jone Kalouniwai, who was later forced to issue a “correction” when police classified Vakarisi’s death as murder after a copy of Vakarisi’s death certificate was leaked online, exposing massive blunt force trauma to his head and chest.

• READ MORE: Fiji police confirm murder probe launched into death of man in military custody
• Other Fiji police reports

Vakarisi’s sister Melehola Tagaga told RNZ Pacific Waves at the time that he begged for his life at the military barracks in Suva before allegedly being “bruatlised to death”.

Several weeks later in May, Kalouniwai admitted that the RFMF was “at fault” for Vakarisi’s death, describing it as an “unintentional” and “regrettable” incident.

However, more than 120 days after Vakarisi’s death, an active murder investigation remains open, while no one has been charged or presented in court.

In late July, the Fiji Sun reported that the case file on Vakarisi’s death was expected to be forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

investigators ‘completing interviews’
“Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu confirmed yesterday that investigators were completing interviews with those involved before finalising the file,” the newspaper reported on July 21.

“I can state that people need to trust the process that we are following. Investigation has been done,” Tudravu was quoted as saying.

Earlier this month, the police commissioner told local reporters that investigators continue to carry out house-to-house inquiries, collect witness statements, and examine forensic evidence as the probe intensifies.

He also called for “patience, understanding, and continued public support” for the joint police and military taskforce.

Local and international human rights groups condemned Vakarisi’s death in military custody, saying it reflected a “culture of impunity” within Fiji’s military forces.

Amnesty International’s Pacific researcher Kate Schuetze said the RFMF’s shifting excuses regarding Vakarisi’s death raised “more questions than answers”.

Dozens of large demonstrations by West Papuans to mark a key anniversary of their homeland’s incorporation into Indonesia have been met with mixed and sometimes violent responses by police.

Saturday was the anniversary of the infamous 1962 US-brokered New York Agreement under which Papua’s former colonial power, the Netherlands, agreed to transfer power over the territory to Indonesia.

The agreement lacked any genuine consultation with West Papuans.

• READ MORE: West Papua protesters face Indonesian police crackdown over independence calls
• Indonesia at 81 – who owns the Land of Papua’s future?
• Other West Papua reports

Peaceful demonstrations on Saturday in Sentani and Jayapura in particular were met with forced dispersal by police as well as alleged beatings, the use of rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons, leaving a number of demonstrators injured.

The demonstrations were organised by the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) and took place in several cities across Indonesian-ruled Papua region as well as other parts of the republic, including Jakarta and Makassar.

Human rights defenders report that while all of the demonstrations were closely monitored by police forces, in most cases they went without incident.

But they say forced dispersal and violence reported in several locations were a serious concern because they involved violation of the participants’ rights to express their opinions peacefully.

Sustained injuries
Seven members of the KNPB were reported to have sustained injuries as a result of police actions to disrupt the demonstration in Sentani.

In Jayapura, several students from Cenderawasih University were injured as police forcibly dispersed their demonstration.

In Makassar, a KNPB member was reportedly struck by a wire arrow fired by a member of an alleged community-based militia group.

In several areas, demonstrations were reported to have proceeded well, with no initial reports of forced dispersal, including in main centres of Merauke, Yahukimo, Wamena, Nabire, Sorong, Manokwari and Timika.

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New Zealand’s spy agency says it is increasingly coming across espionage activity in the Pacific — and has identified individuals connected to an unnamed foreign intelligence service.

The NZSIS reports that individually, Pacific states remain vulnerable to attempts at subversion, both in politically, and in the community.

Security specialist Professor Al Gillespie told RNZ’s Midday Report on Friday that China had been singled out as a regional threat like never before.

• READ MORE: NZSIS singles out China for spying in New Zealand ‘at scale’
• China denies espionage, foreign interference in New Zealand
• New Zealand’s Security Threat Environment 2026
• Other Pacific espionage reports

“In previous reports you’ve seen it also making that point about Russia, or about Iran. But they’re not mentioned this time. But China is,” he said

“And it’s mentioned not just with regards to domestic interference but also with influence in the Pacific. And so they’re trying to shine a light on what may be going on.”

The NZSIS said in its Security Threat Environment 2026 report that regionalism and consensus were the best safeguards, which is why foreign actors sought to sow division.

Diaspora groups targeted
Meanwhile, the SIS also said diaspora community groups in New Zealand were being unfairly targeted by foreign states and their proxies seeking to limit their democratic rights and freedoms.

Gillespie said China was unfortunately not the only country that undertook this activity.

He said SIS staff spent a lot of time talking to different communities about how the agency functioned and how it would handle threats so people could feel confident about coming to them with their concerns.

The Chinese Embassy rejected the new NZSIS report, saying that it includes what it says are multiple “false allegations against China”.

In a statement on Friday, the Chinese Embassy in Wellington said the NZSIS report included baseless and fabricated accusations.

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Thousands have toured the metro City Rail Link’s deepest station — Karanga-a-Hape Station — ahead of its opening next month, and the station and its surrounds have come alive with music, performances and queues of people lining up to order food at St Kevin’s Arcade.

The event today drew in not just Aucklanders, but also visitors from other cities.

Karanga-a-Hape Station has New Zealand’s longest escalator, taking passengers 33 metres beneath Pitt Street.

• READ MORE: Other City Rail Link reports

Other artistic features include a ceiling shaped like three kauri snail shells, in homage to the kauri forests that once covered the Karangahape ridgeline before urbanisation.

Thirteen-year-old Aizu Rive, who has visiting his Auckland grandparents — coming all the way from Tokyo — said he likes the architecture of the station, including the ceiling designs.

The young rail enthusiast said he was excited that New Zealand now had a metro network.

“Feels very nice, because New Zealand is getting bigger too, it’s getting similar with Japan so it feels very nice,” he said.

Train ‘getting bigger’
“The train is getting bigger in New Zealand, and I love trains, so it’s really good for me,” he added.

Mary Thompson, who’s come from Te Aroha in Waikato to visit the station, said opening of Auckland’s City Rail Link will make it easier for her to do day trips to Auckland.

“Coming up to Auckland, it’s always been a pain with parking, this, we just grab one [train] from Pukekohe, come through a day out, a good journey,” she said.

Thompson said she was pleased with the art at the station.

“I just think you only have one chance to make it beautiful, nobody retrofits a building to put art in it, and the spaces are so pretty.

“I’m just happy it’s got brightness and light, and after living overseas, some of the stations are rather dingy and horrid, and this is just lovely,” she said.

Meanwhile, a family of four living on Vincent Street, near the Karanga-a-Hape Station said the CRL’s opening would make a big difference for their school drop offs.

Four bus trips a day
Arrenda Maryzona currently makes four bus trips a day to drop off and pick up her kids from their school in New Lynn.

With the new Karanga-a-Hape Station connected to the Western Line, she can now take the train directly to New Lynn and cut down her travel time by half.

“It will make my life easier, because I can commute easily and I can spend less time than now, I will be so happy,” she said.

The new inner-city rail network has cost $5.5 billion and taken a decade to build.

Auckland Transport says the CRL is expected to double the number of Aucklanders who live within a 30-minute train journey of the city centre.

• City Rail Link opens on September 13.

The Fiji High Court has ruled that the Commission of Inquiry report into the appointment of Barbara Malimali as FICAC Commissioner, in its entirety, is null and void.

Justice Dane Tuiqereqere also found that the COI report was unlawful, and that its adverse findings were irrational and it has been quashed

It has also been found that President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu and Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka failed to provide the applicants with natural justice.

• READ MORE: Judge rules COI report is unlawful and null and void, and President, PM and COI breached principles of natural justice
• Other COI reports

Malimali challenged the report with former Attorney-General Graham Leung, and lawyers Wylie Clarke and Laurel Vaurasi.

Local media said the judge has determined that the President, the Prime Minister and the Commission of Inquiry, breached principles of natural justice for not giving the applicants the opportunity to respond to the adverse findings against them.

Fiji Village News said Justice Tuiqereqere ruled that the work of the Commission of Inquiry after 1 February 2025, including the report, is ultra vires or unlawful.

He found that the extension of the Commission of Inquiry beyond 31 January 2025 was ineffective.

As a result, the actions of the Commissioner after that date, including the completion of his report dated 1 May 2025, were unlawful, Fiji Village News stated.

Justice Tuiqereqere has also found that adverse findings and recommendations against the applicants including Malimali, former Attorney-General Graham Leung and lawyers Wylie Clarke and Laurel Vaurasi were unlawful, including those relating to a meeting at the FICAC office on 5 September 2024.

‘Praise God for the win’
The applicants had further challenged the decision by the President, on the advice of the Prime Minister, to release the Commission of Inquiry report publicly.

Malimali and her lawyer Tanya Waqanika are on the island of Kadavu and responded to the ruling in a Facebook post, saying justice had been served.

“Praise God for the win,” Waqanika said in her post.

“It has been a hard battle fighting to clear Barbara Malimali’s name from the COI taxpayer funded $4m (and counting) crocodile hunting failed expedition.

“Barbara Malimali and me are here in my village and we just received the news that we WON our HBJ No 9/26 Judicial Review case against the Fiji Government (well, all the Respondents names are Govt representatives).

The judge also said the COI Chair, David Ashton-Lewis, should have provided a draft of the adverse findings against the applicants to them and an opportunity to respond before compiling the report.

The Commission of Inquiry was the brainchild of Rabuka.

In June, the High Court rejected the Prime Minister’s attempt to stall its ruling that the country’s former anti-corruption chief was illegally sacked.

In February, Justice Dane Tuiqereqere found that the President — on the advice of the Prime Minister — “unlawfully” dismissed Barbara Malimali, the head of FICAC

Samoa’s opposition leader, Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi has been arrested and charged with defamation towards Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt.

Local media is reporting that the charges relate to allegations made by Tuilaepa during a media conference last week.

During the conference he called the prime minister a liar and also alleged he and his government were misusing public funds.

• READ MORE: Tuilaepa charged over press conference

The Court Registrar confirmed Tuilaepa faced four charges of defamation and one charge of harassment using means of electronic communication.

He has been released on bail this morning.

A leader of the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) and an economist, he served as the sixth prime minister of Samoa from 1998 to 2021.

Leaders of a church that owns a historic abandoned building in central Auckland have been in talks with Auckland Council about the possibility of demolishing it.

The once-grand, two-storey Carlile House in Auckland’s Grey Lynn was built in 1886 and has had many uses over its long life — including as an Anglican children’s home, and an alternative school.

But in recent decades it has fallen into ruin and the church that owns it do not have the money to restore it to its former glory.

• READ MORE: Auckland MP considers members bill to strengthen protections for historic buildings

RNZ looks at the history and future of the building as part of our Abandoned Auckland series.

Architect and Grey Lynn local Graeme Burgess looks over a barbed wire and corrugated iron fence at the historic Carlile House on Richmond road in Grey Lynn.

“Right now, because of the fence running through here it actually feels so guarded, and it’s like something that nobody can actually appreciate.”

The building was grand in size and stature, but Burgess said after years of neglect it was heart-breaking to see the state it had ended up in.

‘Slowly falling apart’
“[It’s] difficult to watch something so grand and so wonderful slowly falling apart. But there are reasons why it’s in the state that it’s in at present. And those reasons are incredibly complex.”

The United Church of Tonga, which owned the building, did not have the money to do it up.

The church did not want to be interviewed for this story, but said it was working through its options for the building, and would put forward a plan in coming months.

Auckland Council said it had been approached about the possibility of demolishing the building by the church, but as it was a Category 1 Historic Place, that was prohibited.

Graeme Burgess hoped the church and council could find a way to make use of the place.

“I would hope that’s not the discussions they’re having. I hope that the discussions they’re having would be about how the place can be retained to the greatest extent possible.”

Local artist John Reynolds, who has lived opposite Carlile House for decades, was less optimistic — given the roof of the building had partially caved in.

“At the current rate of decay, in 18 months it’ll be collapsing in on itself, if not before.”

No restoration interest
Reynolds believed the church had no interest in restoring the building, and the council had not done enough to help find a resolution.

In 2019, Auckland Council offered to buy the building, but the church declined.

At the time it was estimated re-developing it would cost $10 million to $20 million.

Reynolds would like the large property to be turned into social housing.

“It could be many houses, and it could be housing for people that needs housing. It could be a win for the community, a win for the church, and actually a win for the heritage nuts.”

Local historian Tania Mace said Carlile House was originally built with money bequeathed by early Auckland businessman Edward Costley.

‘A frugal life’
“He lived a very frugal life, he never owned his own home. In the end when he passed away he made a number of bequests and this was one of them. And the people of Auckland were shocked to find he was extremely, extremely, wealthy.”

It was originally a training facility for disadvantaged young boys to learn technical skills.

Later it was an Anglican children’s home, the headquarters of an evangelical outreach mission, an alternative school, and briefly a remand home, before eventually being bought by the United Church of Tonga in the late 1970s.

Auckland Council compliance manager Adrian Wilson said the heritage of the building should be protected by its owners, but the council had no power to compel this.

Preliminary results are starting to come in for the Cook Islands general election.

As of 10pm local time, preliminary results indicated the incumbent Prime Minister and Cook Islands Party leader Mark Brown had easily won the Takuvaine-Tutakimoa seat.

Brown had 269 votes, while the next best placed was Davina Hina Te Raurea Joan Hosking-Ashford of the Democratic Party with 103.

In other preliminary results for leaders of the main parties, Teariki Heather, the leader of the United Party won the Murienua seat with 320 votes, more than double that of the second placed Cook Islands Party candidate, Nooroa Baker.

• READ MORE: Polling booths open in Cook Islands election
• Other Cook Islands elections reports

In an upset, the Democratic Party leader Tina Browne — the opposition leader in the past term — has lost Rakahanga by just three votes to Levi Hitarahera Teinaki of the Cook Islands Party who had 24 votes.

There are 11,000 registered voters in the Cooks, and voting stations opened at 9am on Wednesday morning, Cook Islands time (11am Thursday NZT) and closed at 6pm.

There are 24 constituencies in the Cooks, 10 on the main island of Rarotonga, and the other 14 spread across the Pa Enua, or outer islands. Thirteen seats are needed for a majority to form a government.

A total of 63 candidates were confirmed for the 2026 general election, down from the 71 who contested the 2022 election. This year’s lineup includes 49 men and 14 women.

Weather delays Northern Cooks poll
With independents making up 20 per cent of candidates, should no party claim the 13 seats needed for majority, the independents could hold the power over who forms government.

There has been a delay in the Northern Cooks, as bad weather meant electoral officers were unable to get ashore in Nassau.

Officials have announced the island’s polling will be postponed to Thursday afternoon local time.

Issues front-of-mind for voters included the cost of living, water tariffs, seabed minerals and foreign relationships.

Polling is open in the Cook Islands where 11,000 registered voters will elect their leaders for the next four years.

Voting stations opened at 9am on Wednesday morning, Cook Islands time (7am Thursday NZT) and will close at 6pm.

There are 24 constituencies, 10 on the main island of Rarotonga, and the other 14 spread across the Pa Enua, or outer islands.

• READ MORE: Cost of living, water tariffs, mining on Cook Islanders’ minds ahead of election
• Other Cook Islands elections reports

Thirteen seats are needed for a majority to form a government.

A total of 63 candidates were confirmed for the 2026 general election, down from the 71 who contested the 2022 election. This year’s lineup includes 49 men and 14 women.

With independents making up 20 percent of candidates, should no party claim the 13 seats needed for majority, the independents could hold the power over who forms government.

One seat has already been won this election, with Mangaia’s Ivirua candidate Agnes Helen Armstrong running uncontested as an independent.

There has been a delay in the Northern Cooks, as bad weather meant electoral officers were unable to get ashore in Nassau.

Officials have announced the island’s polling will be postponed to Thursday afternoon local time.

The issues for voters
The local newspaper, Cook Islands News, ran a poll which found a majority (50.5 percent) of respondents across the Pa Enua and Rarotonga identified the cost of living and inflation — including fuel prices, water and power bills, housing, transportation and consumer goods — as their primary concern.

Editor Rashneel Kumar told RNZ Pacific Waves last week that global conflicts, contributing to resource restraints and costs, have a flow-on effect on local customers.

“With the Middle East conflict, obviously, we have seen a impact on small island nations, and Cook Islands is not spared as well,” he said.

“We end up the supply chain, so we do absorb a lot of additional cost — and by the time the goods land here, the prices does have an impact as well as price of energy through the increase of petrol has affected the people.

“So cost of living obviously is number one issue.”

Water tariffs, seabed minerals and foreign relationships have also been heavily debated topics of interest.

Tributes have flowed in for the renowned Solomon Islands journalist George Atkin, who has died.

As well as being a former correspondent for the then-RNZ International and ABC Pacific, Atkin was a leading figure in journalism in Solomon Islands and in the Pacific Islands region.

He was the first president of the Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI), serving from 1985 to 1989 and was a respected member of the country’s media fraternity.

• READ MORE: Remembering a Pacific media pioneer — George Atkin Aeta’i

The veteran journalist worked for numerous mainstream media outlets such as the Solomon Star newspaper, Island Sun newspaper and the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation.

A prominent Solomon islands media figure, Robert Iroga, said Atkin was an editor, journalist, storyteller and mentor who understood the power of the pen.

“He understood that journalism was not simply about filling pages or broadcasting news. He understood that words could change policies, challenge governments, expose wrongdoing and even force leaders to resign,” Iroga said.

Some of the region’s best known names in the news media sector have also paid tribute to Atkin on social media.

A Pacific legend
Alexander Rheeney, a former editor of both PNG’s Post Courier newspaper and the Samoa Observer, said Atkin “was a legend and well respected by the media fraternity and the public”.

TVNZ’s long-time Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver said Atkin “leaves a legacy that will be remembered”.

RNZ Pacific manager Moera Tuilaepa-Taylor said that Atkin “was a true professional and understood all the complex layers of politics in his country”.

George Atkin died in his home village of Tawatana in Arosi 1, West Makira.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale has announced that a review of his country’s security agreement with China has begun.

Wale has said he was only permitted to read the 2022 agreement one day before an official meeting in Canberra in May this year, shortly after he was elected prime minister.

Highlighting the lack of proper disclosure at the time of the agreement, when he was opposition leader, Wale told Parliament this must never happen again.

• READ MORE: Pacific Islands Forum fails to reach consensus on anti-missile statement against China
• Other Pacific security pact reports

As such, he has called on the current opposition leader Manasseh Sogavare, who was prime minister at the time of the China agreement, to support the review.

This comes after Sogavare alleged a lack of transparency over a new agreement that Wale’s government has signed with the United States which allows the US Coast Guard to have greater access to the Solomons.

In response, Wale said there would be ‘no more secrecy’ on agreements that bind the nation

“I call on the Leader of the Opposition to support the review, this House must support the principle that no treaty should stand without the informed consent of Parliament.

“If that is the standard, then it must apply to every agreement this country has signed and not just some,” Wale said.

Wale, who has overseen a foreign policy reset that observers note has the Solomon Islands pivoting back to the west, also stressed that China remains an important partner for his country.

He said Solomon Islands remained “friends to all and enemies to none”.

Disagreement from some China-aligned Pacific Islands countries has prevented regional countries within the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) issuing a joint statement against missile testing in the Pacific.

At their meeting in Suva on Friday, PIF foreign ministers failed to agree on a unified statement against China after it fired a nuclear-capable missile into Pacific waters last month, despite deep concern among most countries about Beijing’s actions.

It is understood there was a majority of countries represented at the meeting who wanted a clear joint regional statement condemning such missile testing in the nuclear-free Pacific.

• READ MORE: Pacific foreign ministers to discuss Solomons’ idea for regional security treaty
• No Pacific consensus on China missile test condemnation
• Other Solomon Islands reports

However, the Forum’s usual Pacific decision-making by consensus could not be met because Kiribati and Nauru were opposed to a strong statement condemning the testing.

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters told media some Pacific nations were using the consensus system because they were more concerned with external partners’ wishes than those that belong to the Pacific Islands Forum, something he described as an “unusual view”.

“They didn’t actually lay out any reasons, apart from their disagreement, and not wishing for us to make the clear statement such as ‘we are opposed to missiles being fired into the Pacific’.

“That’s what the statement should have said, and we’re still waiting for that to get laid out.”

Some governments have pointed out that China is not the only country testing nuclear-capable missiles in the Pacific. The US regularly conducts tests into the Marshall Islands.

Peters said that testing in the Marshall Islands was done with the country’s consent.

Security agenda
The PIF Foreign Ministers Meeting was held to set the agenda for the annual Leaders’ Meeting in Palau later this month.

A Solomon Islands proposal for a regional security treaty was one of the discussion points, although it’s clear more consultation is required on the matter.

The Solomon Islands’ Foreign Affairs and External Trade Permanent Secretary George Hoa’au told RNZ Pacific that there was already a range of regional security mechanisms in the Forum fale.

“The missing part is to have a common thatched roof over them,” he said.

“The proposal for this single security treaty by Solomons is to provide an umbrella on top of what is already regional MOUs which are non-binding.”

A proposal from the Solomon Islands government for a regional security treaty is being considered by the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) foreign ministers in Suva on Friday, RNZ Pacific understands.

The treaty proposal forms a key agenda item at the day-long annual meeting — the outcomes of which help determine what will be discussed at the Forum leaders’ meeting in Palau at the end of the month.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale, who is also PIF chair, began promoting the concept of a regional security agreement soon after he was elected leader by his country’s Parliament in May.

• READ MORE:  No Pacific consensus on China missile test condemnation
• Other Solomon Islands reports

The idea gained pace in early June after Wale visited his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Canberra.

In an address he delivered at the PIF headquarters in Suva last month, Wale highlighted the need for the region to consider “bold ideas that strengthen our collective security and provide greater certainty for future generations”.

He also told ABC there was “a growing consensus” among leaders he had spoken with of “gaps that such an architecture would help plug”.

However, political experts warn a collective security treaty could change regional decision-making processes and norms by introducing mandatory consultation.

Currently, decision making and policy processes on regional security through the Forum are guided by principles enshrined in regional declarations like Biketawa, Boe, and the Ocean of Peace.

This regional cooperation is not underpinned by an international legal agreement, except in certain instances like nuclear issues, which are covered by the Treaty of Rarotonga, and fisheries surveillance under the Niue Treaty.

The PIF, through its 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, describes this type of political cooperation as the “Pacific Way”. It involves “consensus-based decision making, whilst respecting sovereignty and the principle of non-interference in national affairs”.

Converting political commitments into obligations
According to RNZ Pacific sources, those pushing for the Solomons security treaty intend to codify the existing regional security legal and policy framework, including the three declarations mentioned above.

Codification would involve setting rules that govern regional security cooperation.

Massey University Centre for Defence and Security Studies associate professor Anna Powles said the existing Forum architecture and declarations and agreements, like Biketawa, preserve sovereignty and substantial national discretion.

“The proposed treaty would convert political commitments into obligations under international law, which poses a series of questions from what obligations it creates, whether decisions remain consensual, and whether it regulates existing bilateral security partnerships.”

Dr Powles emphasised the need for governments to carefully consider what was being put on the table through the proposed agreement.

This included which decisions governments were agreeing to share, the obligations they were committing to, and whether the proposed treaty could restrict their ability to respond to national circumstances.

“Depending on what the Wale proposal contains and seeks to do, a treaty in the current geopolitical climate could risk narrowing the Pacific concept of security from the Boe Declaration, which recognises climate change as the existential threat.

“There will be concern in parts of the region that the proposed treaty could become another geopolitical instrument through which certain states seek to limit their competitors.”

Wording to be ‘critical’
Regarding shifts in the policy and decision-making processes, Dr Powles said the wording of the treaty would be critical.

“A formal collective security treaty could change regional decision-making and consensus by introducing mandatory consultation,” she said.

“Governments might be legally required to notify and consult other members about an emerging security threat, or a proposed security arrangement with an external power.”

The key question would then be who or what country would be given a formal role in determining whether an issue constituted a regional security concern, she said.

“The treaty would need to establish how collective action is authorised. If consensus is retained, every member would continue to have an effective veto.

“Members could be required to notify or consult the region before entering bilateral security agreements involving foreign police, military personnel [and] bases, or strategic infrastructure.”

Dr Powles also suggested a stronger version of the treaty may be needed to achieve this, which would have the potential to “significantly reduce individual governments’ freedom of action” and “probably be the treaty’s most politically contested feature”.

“The key distinction is between consensus over adopting the treaty and decision-making after it enters into force, or if the treaty simply consolidates existing declarations, preserves consensus and makes participation in regional responses voluntary. Its principal effect would be to give existing commitments a more durable legal form.”

‘Competing priorities’ around regional security
Pacific historian and Auckland University of Technology lecturer Dr Marco de Jong highlighted the potential trade-offs around a regional security treaty.

“There are a range of competing priorities when it comes to the formulation of a treaty.

“On the one hand, it may be to codify long-standing norms and principles, which have guided regional security cooperation thus far.

“Alternatively, it might be to embed, and serve as a chapeau for, the emerging regional security architecture, which is predominantly being driven by Australia,” he said.

“Another option is that it might seek to elevate the types of confidence-building or transparency mechanisms, and strategic-trust mechanisms, which have been in bilateral agreements to the regional level.”

Dr De Jong said those scenarios meant vastly different things for the region.

“All three of those potential purposes are in tension when it comes to genuine, Pacific-led regional security.”

Both Dr De Jong and Dr Powles urged careful consideration and discussion on the treaty proposal.

“For instance, what problem does a treaty solve that existing declarations cannot?” Powles asked.

“Which provisions or obligations would be legally binding? How will the tradition and spirit of consensus be upheld? Who will pay for the operationalisation of the treaty? Where does oversight sit? Will the Pacific Islands Forum have oversight? How will disputes be resolved, and can a state withdraw?”

Following Friday’s meeting, regional leaders are due to gather in Palau for the week-long PIF Leaders’ Meeting beginning August 30.

This is expected to be one of the Forum’s largest leaders’ summits, with dialogue partners set to attend — a departure from last year where then-host Solomon Islands excluded dialogue partners.

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The US Shiprider Agreement signed by the new-look Solomon Islands government has been subject to fiery criticism in Parliament.

The opposition leader Manasseh Sogavare continues to attack the agreement which he describes as an affront to the sovereignty of Solomon Islands, but the Prime Minister Matthew Wale insists the country’s rights as a sovereign nation remain protected.

The latest exchanges came during parliamentary debate on the Governor-General’s Speech from the Throne, when the King’s representative lays out the government’s policy programme, effectively on the government’s behalf.

• READ MORE: Other Solomon Island reports

The debate included a focus on foreign policy, an area of apparent flux in the country since Wale wasted little time after being elected in May in moving to strengthen ties with Australia and the US.

These relations had been tested after Solomon Islands in 2019 ditched its longstanding diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in order to forge close links with China.

Visiting Canberra recently, Wale discussed the idea of a Pacific regional security treaty with Australia. He also visited the US and Japan where he bolstered ties.

In Washington, Wale forged a Ship Rider Agreement to allow the US Coast Guard into Solomon Islands waters, alongside local police, for joint maritime enforcement and surveillance efforts. That agreement was then signed last week in Honiara.

“Solomon Islands remains a friend to all and an enemy to none,” Wale said during the debate.

“This government has deliberately reset our foreign relations, and the visits made to our friends were necessary to restore our standing as a reliable partner to each of them — they have been rewarding.”

China relations ‘remain important’
Wale said that the proper test of foreign policy was what it delivered for Solomon Islanders, adding that by that measure he felt the reset had begun well.

“In that same vein, our relations with the People’s Republic of China remain important to our development, and this government reaffirms our continued commitment to the One China principle, the foundation on which our bilateral relations are established.

“This is settled policy for the Solomon Islands government, and it will be honoured with the same consistency we bring to all our friendships.”

From Matthew Wale’s calm tones, the debate’s energy ratcheted up several knots with a typically fiery speech by Manasseh Sogavare which lasted around an hour.

The former prime minister, under whom the Solomons made the switch to China, has been highly critical of Wale’s recent pivot to the west.

‘Open to question’
He questioned the constitutional authority and protocol surrounding the signing of the Ship Rider Agreement with the US last week, as he claims it was not signed by the minister responsible for treaties and agreements.

“A treaty signed by a person who, on the face of the standing instruments of the state, does not hold responsibility of the House of the business of government under which the treaty falls, is a treaty whose authenticity is an act of this government is is at least open to question.”

Sogavare is concerned that the Solomons is waiving certain powers to the US as the Ship Rider Agreement relates to the 1991 Status of Forces Agreement with the US, which is still in force and governs the status of American armed forces in Solomon Islands.

Status of Forces
“Under that old agreement, United States forces present under authorised duties are exempt from Solomon Islands passport and visa requirement.

“United States equipment, supplies, and government properties enter the country free of duties, taxes, and charges,” Sogavare said.

“United States military authorities may exercise criminal disciplinary jurisdiction on Solomon Island soil.

“This nation has on the face of the 1991 text, already agreed to waive its primary criminal jurisdiction, except in cases of what he termed particular importance.

“A certificate of a United States commander is sufficient proof that the conduct occurred in the course of official duty, subject only to review inside United States military chain of command.”

The opposition leader said the agreement had been forged without proper transparency or oversight by Parliament.

“The point is that the framework, substantial operational benefits, and substantial legal protection accrued to the United States while Solomon Islands applies supplies the sovereign jurisdiction gateway, bears the diplomatic consequences of any incident in our waters, and remains institutionally exposed on questions of accountability, evidence, custody, and claims.

“That is the framework this House has never debated.”

Wale has denied that the Ship Rider Agreement compromises the country’s sovereignty.

The New Zealand Greens co-leader has been kicked out of the House, after challenging what she called the Speaker’s “double standards”.

Chlöe Swarbrick says there is a specific issue with the Speaker’s treatment of the Green Party compared to the “Right Honourable Winston Peters”.

The opposition used Question Time on Tuesday to canvass both Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s comments about small businesses, as well as his handling of Foreign Minister Winston Peters after he told Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan to “go back to where you’ve come from” during a tirade in Parliament last week.

• READ MORE: Other Green Party reports

Peters came under scrutiny by Labour leader Chris Hipkins, questioning Prime Minister  Luxon.

At one point Hipkins suggested former prime minister Helen Clark had “quietened him down when she dumped him from Cabinet.” Peters then rose, requesting Hipkins withdraw the comments because it was a “lie”.

The Speaker, Gerry Brownlee, said he would take a look at the Hansard and “come back to the House” on the issue.

Chlöe Swarbrick then requested a point of order, seeking guidance from the Speaker on the use of the word and accusation of a “lie”.

“You have punished me — personally — multiple times for the use of that word.

“I’m seeking your guidance as to whether this rule applies universally, or there’s one rule for us and another for him” she said, pointing at Peters.

Every situation different
Brownlee said every situation was different, and he would consider the issue later.

But later in Question Time, Swarbrick asked her own questions of the prime minister regarding official advice he’d received about the impacts of AI data centre.

She continued with questions about whether the “Data Grid AI centre” would raise electricity prices, and whether the government had commissioned cost-benefit analysis on the consenting of AI data centres.

Luxon said the advice the government had had was that “it won’t put an upward pressure on electricity prices” and they were taking more advice on the issue regarding a cost-benefit analysis.

Finally, Swarbrick asked:

“How many hyperscaled AI data centres does he understand might be consented before we receive the official cost-benefit analysis and understanding of impact on our energy grid and electricity prices?”

Luxon responded saying there were “around about 60 data centres in New Zealand today” and three expected to “come on stream”.

PM heckled on data centres
During the answer, Swarbrick heckled the prime minister, asking if he knew the difference between a data centre and an AI data centre.

The Speaker interrupted, saying she had already asked her question.

“You can raise it in a different way, but don’t do it across the floor of the house,” Brownlee said.

Brownlee was about to move onto the next question, when a number of MPs raised their voices and he interjected again.

“Everyone is making far too much noise in here, and then turning around expecting me to interpret what a whole 123 people are saying — it’s ridiculous!”

Swarbrick then raised another point of order, and said “respectfully, the problem is your double standards”.

Brownlee responded by saying “the member will leave the house”.

‘Winston Peters is being treated differently to everybody else’
Speaking to reporters after she left the house, Swarbrick stood by her comments saying it was “well documented”.

She said the Greens had written to the Speaker and met with him “multiple times” about the “demonstrable fact” there was uneven standards being applied, “particularly in the context of the Green Party, and when it comes to the behaviour of the Right Honourable Winston Peters.”

Swarbrick gave the example of Peters being “allowed off the hook” for accusing the other side of lying.

“This is something which Gerry Brownlee has consistently told me that I have to stand up, withdraw, and apologise for, and a standard that he’s also applied to Labour members of the House.”

She acknowledged the Speaker had a “difficult job”, but the “baseline thing” he can do was “apply the same standards to members across this house”.

“Winston is so frequently heckling when people are asking questions.

“Winston Peters is being treated differently to everybody else, and I guess it should just be a baseline expectation that all of us in this place have that the rules should be applied fairly.”