New Zealand is supporting an internal review of Fiji’s national security and intelligence system, amid claims by the United States of Chinese infiltration.

The Fijian government announced a six-month partnership with the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) that it said would “assess the existing intelligence structure and develop evidence-based options for reform”.

Its focus will be on information-sharing between countries, which, on Fiji’s part, requires a reform programme “to address fragmentation” across government agencies.

• READ MORE: China denies US allegation of malicious cyber activity in the Pacific
• Other Fiji security reports

“The review will examine potential changes to intelligence functions, governance, workforce and operations, including the risks, benefits and requirements for implementing the proposed changes,” the Fiji government said in a statement.

“The reforms will also focus on ensuring appropriate oversight and accountability to support a sustainable national intelligence system.”

In a threat assessment report released in August, the NZSIS said it had identified individuals carrying out “espionage and foreign interference activities in the Pacific” on behalf of “a foreign intelligence service”.

It also made note of long-running Chinese espionage activities in New Zealand, calling it “the only country we have detected doing it at scale”.

Last week, the US State Department designated hotel owner Zhao Fugang – a prominent figure among the Chinese diaspora in Fiji – for “significant corruption”, claiming Zhao actively pays bribes to Fijian citizens to “advance China-based government, business, and criminal interests”.

On Wednesday, the Chinese embassy in New Zealand denied further allegations by the US that China backed malicious cyber activity specifically targeting a Pacific regional body based in Suva, and that Chinese Communist Party-sponsored cyber crime was commonplace in the Pacific.

RNZ Pacific’s requests to the US Embassy in Suva for comment on both matters have gone unanswered.

Attendees at a Māngere candidates forum say they want clearer answers from those seeking to represent the electorate, particularly on issues affecting local communities.

With New Zealand heading to the polls for its general election in less than a month, the panel on Monday brought together candidates vying for the Māngere seat.

It included Lemauga Lydia Sosene (Labour), Michel Mulipola (Greens), Rosemary Bourke (National), Vicky Hau (NZ First), Dr Timoti Te Moke (Independent), Kelvyn Alp (NZ Loyal), Hine Afeaki (NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party), Ben Lane (The Opportunity Party), and Alani Fisher Taione (People’s Party).

• READ MORE: Other 2026 NZ election reports

They tackled questions on a number of issues ranging from the cost of living and healthcare to climate change, immigration and Pacific development.

But many Māngere residents said they left “wanting more” from the candidates.

Zane Wedding said more “direct debate” between candidates as well as more insightful discussion around policy details would have been beneficial.

“I felt like I was getting sold the same thing from all of the different parties,” he told RNZ Pacific.

‘Discussion’ important
“Discussion is one of the most important things, not just being talked at. And there was a lot of talking at tonight (Monday).

“It’s really easy for people to say ‘we’re addressing the cost of living’, but it was really the ‘how’ that didn’t get discussed enough.”

He also felt some candidates did not quite capture the complexity of South Auckland communities.

“There was a little bit of, just tagging South Auckland with this brush of — and I know that we are a part of an impoverished demographic — we’re part of the lower decile areas.

“But South Auckland is very diverse. We have to remember that,” he said.

“It is good to speak to Pacific issues, but Pasifika people are not just people on the benefit. Pasifika are people who are holding amazing jobs, running small businesses, all of those types of things.

“Sometimes I think the discussion focused on the lower decile demographic that only represents some of us, an important some of us, but only some of us.”

Concrete proposals
Teisa Unga shared similar concerns, saying she hoped to hear more concrete proposals from candidates.

“I wanted policy answers from these candidates and what they actually want to do, and tangible answers,” she said.

“What I wanted more from the candidates was a reality check. Do they really understand their constituents? Do they really understand the reality of the people who live in Māngere?”

Unga attended on behalf of Living Wage Aotearoa, pressing candidates on whether they would continue supporting the Living Wage for government-contracted cleaners, caterers, and security guards.

She said the issue was particularly significant for working families in the Māngere electorate.

“A lot of cleaners and security guards depend on that to make bread and butter and put petrol in the car to take people to school,” Unga said.

She said most candidates supported continuing the policy.

“I only counted the no’s, which was New Zealand First and National, which was no surprise because if you go on our website, they have shown that they don’t commit to it,” Unga explained.

Doctor a ‘standout’
Despite general criticism, Independent candidate Dr Timoti Te Moke was repeatedly mentioned by attendees as one of the “standout” candidates.

“I think the only person that I was really impressed with was the doctor, just because of the way he spoke and what he actually spoke about, what resonated with, I guess, our experiences as Pacific people here, and also in our healthcare,” Unga said.

Māngere newcomer Tofilau Nina Kirifi-Alai said the forum was a useful introduction to the candidates, but many of her questions went unanswered.

She was disappointed candidates did not directly address concerns she raised during the panel, about the government stripping away Pacific initiatives and programmes.

“My main concern was that Pacific initiatives have been completely tampered with … and so I wanted some answers.”

She accepted candidates would often follow party positions, but insisted there needs to be a greater focus on genuinely addressing local community concerns.

“There should be a good awareness of Māngere, what matters and how it could be improved,” Kirifi-Alai said.

Lack of transparency
Youth climate advocate, Nele Kalolo-Curricus, agreed that there was a lack of transparency and clear-cut answers from candidates.

During the panel, she asked candidates whether they would support community-led renewable energy projects, phase out fossil fuels and commit to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

She said voters were looking for more than “values-based” messaging.

“People want to hear actual actions,” Kalolo-Curricus said.

“We have spent so much time hearing politicians talk about what they believe in. We want to know what they do.”

She noted that climate change and the cost of living were closely connected for many Pacific families, particularly those supporting relatives living overseas.

“Whatever impacts our home over there also impacts Māngere,” she said.

Backing up values
She said that while she is “non partisan,” the standout candidates were those who backed up their values with specific policy proposals.

“The thing that made candidates stand out the most to me was candidates who answered with actual policies,” she said.

“There’s so many politicians who come to political debates and start attacking each other or start virtue signalling, saying what they believe in.”

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has slammed New Zealand’s abstention on a vote on global pandemic preparedness at the United Nations, describing it as “humiliating”.

New Zealand was among five countries that did not vote for a UN declaration designed to strengthen national, regional and international co-operation in the event of a future pandemic.

The United States, Israel and Argentina voted against the Political Declaration on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, while New Zealand and Paraguay abstained.

• READ MORE: General Assembly adopts pandemic declaration, but not by consensus

The other 153 member states of the UN voted for the declaration, which called for “stronger national, regional and international cooperation, guided by science, equity and respect for human rights, and it welcomes last year’s landmark adoption of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Pandemic Agreement”.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said “New Zealand supports the aim of strengthening global health systems and improving pandemic preparedness and response.”

But it said: “New Zealand does not support language welcoming the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement…It is very important to New Zealand that its sovereign decision making on health is protected.”

The UN said the declaration was “political and non-binding”.

Helen Clark — a former senior UN official — called the vote “humiliating for NZ” in a social media post.

“How low can NZ go?… This results from [New Zealand First]’s courting of the anti-vax vote,” she said.

How low can #NZ go? UN General Assembly just agreed on a Political Declaration on #Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness & Response. 153 voted for; 3 against; NZ & Paraguay abstained. This results from NZ 1st’s courting of the anti-vax vote. Humiliating for NZ
https://t.co/EryndJWTAV https://t.co/zZkl9AqqpE

— Helen Clark (@HelenClarkNZ) October 12, 2026

“As New  Zealand noted at the time of the adoption of the Pandemic Agreement by the World Health Assembly [2024], any future decision on whether or not to sign and ratify the Pandemic Agreement will be informed by a full National Interest Test under domestic procedures,” MFAT said.

The International Health Regulations (IHR) define countries’ rights and obligations in handling public health events and emergencies that have the potential to cross borders, a statement on the Ministry of Health website said.

New Zealand was a signatory and had been since its establishment.

But earlier this year, New Zealand told the WHO Director-General it was rejecting the amendments.

Political reaction
In a statement on social media, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said his party “ensured the National Interest Test was included in the coalition agreement to keep our sovereign decision making with New Zealand, not Geneva”.

“We believe it is essential to New Zealand that its sovereign decision making on health is protected,” Peters said.

Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins called the vote “an embarrassment to New Zealand”.

“Frankly, I am astounded that New Zealand has shown such cowardice in an important vote before the UN,” he said.

It was another example of Christopher Luxon “letting Winston Peters embrace conspiracy theories as New Zealand government positions”, Hipkins said.

National Party leader Christopher Luxon initially tried to skirt questions about the vote, saying: “It wasn’t a Cabinet decision, you’ll need to direct further questions to the foreign minister.”

But he then appeared to disagree with Hipkins that it was an “important vote”.

“There is literally, every day, a number of declarations that go through the UN — of major and minor significance and importance. Important ones come through a Cabinet decision-making process,” Luxon said.

“But in this case, this is one that is up to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to make a call on.”

National MP Matt Doocey said National ministers supported voting in favour while formally recording their reservations. However, a Cabinet decision was not required, and Winston Peters made his decision as Foreign Affairs Minister.

Luxon said he thought New Zealand’s standing in the world was “much more enhanced than it was three years ago”, when asked what kind of light he thought the abstention put the country in.

Controversial, profanity-laden remarks made by the head of the Fijian Teachers Association (FTA) while defending Indigenous chiefs and threatening to “roast” critics in earth ovens have sparked a major political storm.

On Monday, FTA general-secretary Paula Manumanunitoga made a Facebook post weighing in on the constitutional reform debate currently dominating the country.

It comes as Fijians prepare to mark their 56th Independence Anniversary on Saturday.

• READ MORE: SODELPA calls for calm following Manumanunitoga’s inciteful comments
• Fiji’s Online Safety Act – why it poses risks for journalism
• Other Fiji free speech reports

Manumanunitoga specifically challenged those who he believed questioned the place and role of iTaukei chiefs in the governance of Fiji.

“Saying they do not have a place in the administration of this country, didn’t anyone tell you how and why you’re here in this country instead of your original country?,” he wrote in all capital letters in the post.

“How quickly you have forgotten how you have come to exist here in Fiji? You and your kind are here because of the decision our chiefs made to cede Fiji to Queen Victoria of Great Britain in October 1874.

“So shut the [expletive] up and mind your own business before we catch you and roast you in earth ovens !!!! You’re free to go anywhere, do whatever business you like but do not be disrespectful to belittle our chiefs or become thick-headed by whatever you’ve achieved in this country.”

Widespread criticism
His post, which is public, remains online and has attracted widespread criticism from political figures and the public.

Major political leaders have condemned Manumanunitoga’s remarks, calling them “disgraceful”, “disturbing” and “racially divisive”.

The Fijian government has remained silent on the comments with no statements made by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka or his Information Minister Lynda Tabuya, who is usually vocal against harmful and divisive digital communications.

However, Fiji’s Women and Children’s Minister Shashi Kiran has called for his resignation, to which Manumanunitoga has also hit back, saying Kiran had not released any statements when “they were swearing at our chiefs”.

Fiji’s parliamentary opposition leader Inia Seruiratu and the National Federation Party leader Professor Biman Prasad have both called for Fiji police to investigate his statements.

Seruiratu wants police to determine whether Manumanunitoga has committed any offences under Fiji’s laws relating to threats, incitement to violence and communal antagonism.

“No individual, regardless of their position, ethnicity or standing in society, should be above the law,” he said.

Free speech ‘with responsibility’
Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa) leader Aseri Radrodro said while Manumanunitoga was entitled to his views “freedom of expression must be exercised with responsibility, maturity, and respect”.

“There comes a time when we must draw a clear line between standing up for our traditional leaders and resorting to hostility, vulgarity, and explicit threats against our fellow citizens,” Radrodro said.

He warned that such rhetoric risks creating deep ethnic divisions among Fijians.

“Our chiefs are integral to our history, identity, and the fabric of our nation, and they should not be subjected to personal attacks or contempt. However, defending our chiefs does not require threatening others or telling our fellow citizens to ‘shut up’ and leave.”

The United States has designated a prominent Chinese businessman in Fiji for “significant corruption” on behalf of China-based actors.

Zhao Fugang, owner of the Yue Lai Hotel in Suva and the Overseas Chinese Service Center located within it, is alleged to be a senior member of a syndicate involved in drug smuggling, money laundering, and human trafficking, according to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

In a statement on Wednesday (Thursday NZ time), the US State Department said Zhao actively pays bribes to Fijian citizens to “advance China-based government, business, and criminal interests”.

• READ MORE: Chinese Communist Party-backed businessman in Fiji is a top Australian criminal target

“His actions constituted significant corruption and adversely affected US interests in Fiji,” the statement read.

The designation renders Zhao and his immediate family ineligible for entry into the US.

An OCCRP investigation in 2024 revealed that the hotelier has been in the crosshairs of Australian and other Western intelligence agencies since mid-2023.

It said his business interests stretch from tourism to property development, and his personal relationships have extended as high as former Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama.

Stayed silent
Zhao has stayed silent on those allegations.

He has established himself as a prominent figure in Fiji’s social scene, often seen at Chinese cultural and celebratory events alongside key government figures — both during the Bainimarama era and under the current administration.

RNZ Pacific has asked Zhao via his hotel for comment. RNZ Pacific has also requested comments from the Chinese Embassy in Fiji and the Chinese Association of Fiji.

Meanwhile, other US corruption designations in the Pacific this year have included Palauan politicians Hokkons Baules — also for alleged links to China — and Anderson Jibas.

Papua New Guinea has committed around US$5.5 million ($25 million kina) to Tuvalu over five years in aid of its coastal reclamation efforts.

PNG’s Prime Minister James Marape made the announcement at the Pre-COP31 climate meeting in Tuvalu.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Tuvaluan Prime Minister Feleti Teo in Funafuti, Marape confirmed that funding would be allocated from each annual budget over the five-year term.

• READ MORE: Other COP climate reports

He said climate change is playing out in real time in the atoll nation, and that even a relatively small amount of investment will make a significant difference.

“It would buy them two or three more generations of life, if they buy 10 soccer fields in land reclamations wherever you can,” Marape said.

Tuvalu consists of low-lying atolls encompassing a total land mass of 26 sq km, making the country highly exposed to sea level rise and environmental degradation.

“Let’s rally behind them (Tuvalu), let’s help them preserve their sovereignty, and let’s move on in this instead of going to COPs with no serious commitments,” Marape said.

‘Talk fests’
Teo acknowledged PNG’s contribution, stating that the financial resources will be used to secure the island nation’s highly vulnerable coast line.

But he noted that while international bodies recently adopted a political declaration on sea level rise at the UN General Assembly, declarations alone cannot physically fix eroding coastlines without substantial capital.

Marape also criticised the lack of actionable progress at global climate forums, referring to them as “talk fests” with few serious commitments.

He said he would not attend the global COP-31 summit in Türkiye next month, choosing instead to focus resources on regional solidarity and localised adaptation projects.

The PNG leader also issued a formal appeal to industrialised nations, including the United States. China, Japan, India, and the United Kingdom, to provide direct financial assistance to small island states facing immediate existential threats.

Target call
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Pacific cannot afford to lose sight of the 1.5 degrees C target as rising seas, extreme weather and El Niño conditions intensify across the region.

Albanese has been in Tuvalu and Fiji attending the Pre-COP climate meetings with other leaders from the Pacific region.

The Post-Courier reports him saying Pacific nations must convert their shared concern about climate change into collective action.

He argues the 1.5 degrees target on global warming remains vital as sea levels rise and extreme weather worsens.

Albanese said Pacific leaders should speak with a united voice to demand stronger global action ahead of COP31.

President Moetai Brotherson says French Polynesia’s future cannot remain solely a French domestic matter.

Brotherson has addressed the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation, or C-24, which was established in 1961 by the UN General Assembly as its subsidiary body devoted to the issue of decolonisation

He said the French territory proposes what he called a simple programme of work.

• READ MORE: Other French Polynesia independence reports

This includes a comprehensive programme of information and education on the options available; a UN visiting mission to hear the people directly; and an agreed pathway towards a democratic act of self-determination, “ultimately allowing the Mā’ohi people to express their choice freely through a referendum – no predetermined outcome, no unilateral imposition”.

Brotherson told the committee he favours dialogue over litigation, but dialogue cannot mean indefinite waiting.

Brotherson has previously reiterated his support for greater political sovereignty for French Polynesia, telling PMN in March that economic development and resilience must come first and that the pathway toward greater sovereignty must be gradual and carefully managed.

He told the UN that French Polynesia is not asking for “yet another bilateral discussion” within the French institutional framework, where France sets the rules.

“We are not asking France to decide our future; we are asking France to stop preventing us from discussing how we will decide it.

“Our future cannot remain solely a French domestic matter.

‘True decolonisation dialogue’
“We are asking for a true decolonisation dialogue grounded in international law, involving France, the institutions and political forces of French Polynesia, with the United Nations associated with the process.

“The UN role is to guarantee that our right to self-determination is respected.”

President Moetai Brotherson’s full speech at the UN. [In English]

Brotherson said the Pacific region knows the consequences of leaving political questions unresolved for too long.

“The recent history of Kanaky New Caledonia reminds us that dialogue must come before violence, not after it. This is neither a comparison nor a threat. It’s a responsibility to preserve peace.”

Brotherson said when French President Emmanuel Macron took office, French Polynesia had already been inscribed on the UN decolonisaiton list for four years.

“When he leaves office, 14 years will have passed. Fourteen years during which France could have chosen dialogue.”

France’s ‘direct dialogue’
France’s representative at the C-24, Jay Dharmadhikari, said Paris favoured a constant direct dialogue between state bodies and the Polynesian territory.

“This dialogue emerges through regular contact at all levels. The state is fully committed to and engaged in these,” he said.

Dharmadhikari — whose words were translated in the UN meeting room — said French Polynesia had a great deal of political autonomy under the French Constitution.

“French Polynesia … has many competencies in almost all domains. More specifically, this means that Polynesian people have full autonomy to determine the public policies within the archipelago, within the fields of the economy, education, health, tourism, work, and culture.

“Only the key competencies, such as defence, regalian competencies remain the remit of the French government.”

He said the head of the French state and government will conduct consultations with all Polynesian stakeholders, “taking into account messages that have been conveyed and the demands expressed”.

France retains control over defence, currency, and aspects of foreign policy.

The C-24 draft resolution on French Polynesia’s independence called on France “to initiate a dialogue with the Government of French Polynesia in order to facilitate rapid progress towards a fair and effective self-determination process, under which the terms and timelines for an act of self-determination would be agreed, and to consider developing, in close cooperation, a constructive programme of work for the Territory”.

Cracks are starting to show within Sitiveni Rabuka’s coalition government ahead of a looming general election and a potential national referendum, as Fiji prepares to mark its 56th anniversary on Saturday.

This follows the National Federation Party (NFP) and the Social Democratic Liberal Party (Sodelpa), both the minor partners that helped Rabuka return to power, publicly calling out the prime minister for fast-tracking a constitutional reform process.

NFP leader Professor Biman Prasad, who said earlier that his party fully supported the joint parliamentary process to review Fiji’s proposed Constitution (Amendment) Bill to change the 2013 Constitution, shifted his stance after Rabuka pre-emptively announced a referendum date.

• READ MORE: Jale Moala: Words matter in politics, especially at a time like this in Fiji
• Other Fiji constitution reports

“We (NFP) have said all along very clearly that the new constitution, once and if it is passed and approved, the implementation of that constitution should not be rushed,” Dr Prasad, who was one of three Fiji deputy prime ministers, said on Monday.

However, in a statement yesterday, he declared that the NFP “outrightly rejects” Rabuka’s attempt to fast-track the process, comparing the approach to the previous Voreqe Bainimarama administration’s unilateral implementation of the 2013 Constitution.

He said Rabuka’s announcement was inconsistent with Section 160(3) of the 2013 Constitution on holding a referendum.

“This is not how to formulate a genuine, meaningful, and fair constitution for all our people,” Dr Prasad said.

“It is now clear that [Rabuka] is pre-empting the outcome even before the bipartisan special parliamentary committee, which was unanimously agreed to by Parliament last week, has met and started scrutiny and consultation with the people on the draft constitution bill.”

“The prime minister must reconsider his position and respect the people.”

The election and referendum timelines
Fiji is expected to hold elections by February 6 at the latest as the Rabuka administration’s term legally comes to an end on December 24. Rabuka has delayed announcing an election date, previously telling RNZ Pacific that it depends on the constitutional reform process.

The prime minister prematurely announced the referendum date for December 9 after the government’s Constitution (Amendment) Bill passed its second reading last Friday. He also announced that he would write to the Electoral Commission to suspend all election-related campaigning until after the referendum.

During the crucial second reading, the government secured 38 votes (out of 53) in favour of the bill to meet the required two-thirds majority of 36 MPs needed to progress the legislation to the next stage.

The Electoral Commission has stated that it would “give the matter serious consideration” before making any decision.

“We will deliberate and consider the extent of the discretion provided under section 15(2) of the National Referendum Act 2026 that provides guidance when the discretion is activated, and whether it should be exercised, including the reasons for and against doing so and the potential impacts of either approach,” it said in a statement.

Demand for ‘constitutional order’
Sodelpa is calling on Rabuka to “immediately respect constitutional boundaries” regarding the national referendum process.

“The rule of law and constitutional order in Fiji cannot be subordinated to executive convenience or political scheduling,” Sodelpa leader Aseri Radrodro, who is also Rabuka’s Education Minister, said in a statement.

The party said no one was above the law and that all parliamentarians must make decisions that prioritised the Fijian people.

Some of Fiji’s leading civil society organisations have warned that the Electoral Commission cannot lawfully suspend general election campaigning at this stage.

Fiji’s opposition condemned the announcement, saying that Rabuka was “putting the cart before the horse”.

Justice Minister Siromi Turaga has defended the process, stating on Monday that the government would systematically inform the Fijian people about the bill.

But Dr Prasad said parliamentarians cannot do a deal on the constitution behind closed doors.

Back to the people
He said the government must first go back to the people to ask them what they think about the constitution bill.

“That will take time,” he said.

“All our citizens must understand what the draft constitution says and what it means for them. We could never do this in 30 days.

“If this process must be finished after the next election, so be it.”

Dr Prasad said announcing a referendum was not Rabuka’s decision, as under the law, only the president could do that.

“And only after the bill has been passed by Parliament. How does the Prime Minister then expect the people to vote for a constitution they have barely seen?”

“This announcement [of a] referendum and the process is wrong. The whole point of a new constitution is to bring our people together. It is not to divide us further.”

More than 723,000 eligible Fijian voters have registered to cast their vote at the general election.

New Zealand has turned down an invitation by Canada to join a multi-billion dollar Defence Bank.

The Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) is currently under development. Its purpose is to finance the defence industries of its member states, which contribute capital to be re-invested.

Led by Canada, committed countries include Ukraine and Türkiye, alongside several European neighbours.

• READ MORE: Other NZ defence reports

According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) advice released under the Official Information Act, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney invited his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon to take part in negotiations over the bank’s charter in late April, and eventually to buy in as a partner.

MFAT officials advised ministers against taking up the offer in late July, noting an initial contribution of $100 million, with costs expected to run up from there.

“There would also be ongoing resourcing implications associated with the DSRB’s governance,” it noted.

In a statement, MFAT told RNZ that the government’s decision was communicated to Ottawa in late August.

Defence spending up
It comes as the country plans to increase defence spending to 2 percent of GDP ($12 billion) over eight years, under a 2025 Defence Capability Plan (DCP). Budget 2026 allocated a total of $3.5 billion for the current fiscal year.

Along with the DCP is a “Defence Industry Strategy”, which lacks any mention of overseas borrowing.

“Available evidence suggests that (the defence industry) would derive greater benefit from measures that improve market opportunities… than from the establishment of a dedicated defence financing mechanism.”

The bank has a capitalisation goal of approximately 100 billion euros (about NZ$201 billion) by the end of the year, aiming to be operational by early 2027 with headquarters in Canada.

In early July, it was announced at a NATO summit that Albania, Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Romania, Türkiye, and Ukraine had committed to joining the DSRB. It also hopes to bring in Australia, Japan, and South Korea as members in the Indo-Pacific.

While New Zealand turned down Canada’s offer “at this time”, it appeared that the door remains open for future membership.

“We will continue to monitor developments,” MFAT said.

Vanuatu’s government has condemned a “shameful, racist, and neo-colonial rant” made by a pro-France New Caledonian lawmaker.

Nicolas Metzdorf, a French politician from New Caledonia and a member of France’s National Assembly, made a social media post over the weekend calling out Vanuatu for “denouncing French sovereignty over Matthew and Hunter Islands at the UN”.

In a two-page letter intended to be satarical, Metzdorf mocks and ridicules Vanuatu’s economy, passport scheme and political ties with China, and shares a map depicting a redrafting of borders between Vanuatu and the French territory.

• READ MORE: Other New Caledonia and Vanuatu reports

Metzdorf also addresses Vanuatu PM Jotham Napat as leading the “Condominium of the New Hebrides” — Vanuatu’s colonial-era name for the joint British-French ruled territory.

“Because of its insulting, neo-colonial and mocking tone towards Vanuatu as a sovereign nation, the Public Relations Officer has taken the liberty to respond, as the Government of Vanuatu will not, and should never stoop so low as to dignify such correspondence with a formal Prime Ministerial reply,” Vanuatu’s Ministry of the Prime Minister said in a statement.

“The letter should be condemned in the strongest terms for what it is: a shameful, racist, and neo-colonial rant that has no place in the 21st century.”

The statement said Vanuatu was not the New Hebrides, Matthew and Hunter islands were not France’s, and Metzdorf’s offer “is exactly what colonialism always was”.

New Caledonia’s ‘own corruption’
“Do not lecture us about financial transparency, governance or humanitarian aid. This is coming from a deputy of a territory whose own financial mismanagement and corruption is well known, where after 170 years of colonisation, real people of [New Caledonia’s Indigenous Kanaks] still do not own their own country,” it read.

“You send us aid after a cyclone that your climate policies helped make worse, and then you expect gratitude and obedience.

“Vanuatu is a sovereign nation. We are not a French province. We are not an experiment for you to study. We are not a rock for your companies to exploit.”

The statement said Metzdorf’s letter should be condemned by France and should be forwarded to the Pacific Islands Forum and to the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation as evidence of the “colonial mindset” that still existed within the French legislature.

Samoa’s Prime Minister La’aulialemalietoa (La’aiuli) Leuatea Schmidt has apologised for a historical video in which he used the term “Heil Hitler”.

“I have been made aware of historical video footage reported in the media relating to a private family gathering in Savai’i in 2007,” La’auli said in a statement today.

“The footage shows me using the words ‘Heil Hitler’ and participating in a gesture associated with Nazi Germany in a private family gathering — not intended for the public.

• READ MORE: The PM’s ‘Heil Hitler’ moment — Samoa Observer
• Other Samoa media reports

“Whatever the context or intention at that gathering 20 years ago, I recognise that those words and gesture were inappropriate and capable of causing offence and hurt and I apologise for using them.”

The prime minister’s apology comes following a report by the Samoa Observer on Sunday.

The newspaper reported that in “previously unseen footage”, recorded when La’auli was the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, he uttered the words: “Raise your right hand, Heil Hitler!”

RNZ Pacific has independently verified the footage through its correspondent in Apia.

Crowd of 13
In the clip, Laauli leads a crowd of around 13 people visible in the footage in raising their right hands and saying, “Heil Hitler!”.

“I reject Nazism, antisemitism, racism and all forms of political extremism,” La’auli said in this statement.

“They do not reflect my personal beliefs, nor the values of the government or people of Samoa as in the public record of statements I made since becoming Prime Minister.”

He said Samoa was a constitutional democracy founded upon respect for human dignity, the rule of law, its traditional institutions and freedom of expression.

“My government remains committed to those principles.”

La’auli said he considered the matter as addressed.

“Our country faces important economic and social challenges. My responsibility as Prime Minister is to continue the work already laid out to strengthen our economy, creating opportunities for our people and serving all of Samoa.”

Meanwhile, the Samoa Observer is currently banned from all government press conferences. The news outlet is also banned from covering or taking taking photos of La’auli.

Fiji’s prime minister has called on global leaders coming to the country to see and listen to the people on the climate frontlines as the pre-COP31 meeting is gets underway today.

Sitiveni Rabuka addressed an interfaith church service yesterday ahead of the meeting this week.

He said climate finance must reach the communities that need it — “not someday, but now, and as an act of justice, not charity”.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji climate crisis reports

While Australia and the Pacific’s joint bid to host COP31, the United Nations annual climate summit — lost out to Türkiye — it was agreed the Pacific would host the pre-COP meeting.

A leaders’ event will also be held in Tuvalu.

The main COP gathering will be held in Antalya, Türkiye, from November 9-20, with Australia serving as the president of negotiations.

The Fijian government said in a news release that regional leaders, ministers, diplomats, faith leaders, youth, civil society organisations, NGOs, community members and children gathered for the service yesterday.

It said the prayers and performances reflected the realities of Pacific people already living with the increasing impacts of climate change.

“The Pacific is waiting for a Jubilee. We carry a burden we did not create,” Rabuka said.

Palau wants apology
Meanwhile, Palau’s climate change coordinator is calling for an apology from major greenhouse gas emitters.

Xavier Matsutaro spoke to Pasifika TV ahead of the pre-COP meeting.

He said there had been a lot of talk on the mechanics and principles of it, but it was time for major emitters start the healing process by apologising for causing loss and damage to begin with.

“I think when harm is caused from human to human, from person to person, the appropriate thing to start with is an apology.

“Then when the resource, when the means to address it, comes, then it will be much more meaningful. And we have nott had that dialogue at all.”

New Zealand’s Green Party has pledged to make public transport free for eligible groups and cap bus and train fares at $2 for everyone else.

It says its transport plan offers fast, frequent and affordable services.

Under the Greens’ policy, public transport would be free for children, students, apprentices, Community Service Card holders and Total Mobility users, while everyone else would pay a maximum fare of $2.

• READ MORE: Other NZ elections reports
• Elections policies so far

It would also build mass rapid bus and light rail services in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, offer more frequent inter-regional bus services, strengthen rural bus services and allow councils to pedestrianise more inner-city areas and increase safe walking and biking spaces.

The party has also promised overnight passenger trains from Auckland to Wellington, as well as bringing back the Southerner between Christchurch and Dunedin and extending Te Huia to Tauranga.

“In the middle of a fossil fuel crisis, these common sense investments will save New Zealanders money, stress and time,” said co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick.

“It’ll cut emissions and improve quality of life.”

Million+ CRL trips
Swarbrick and transport spokesperson Julie-Anne Genter addressed media in Auckland on Sunday from outside Maungawhau City Rail Link station.

Swarbrick referred to the more than a million trips that have been taken on the CRL since it opened last month.

“What that tells us and shows us so clearly is that when we build transport infrastructure that makes it easy, affordable, and even fun to get around, people will use it.

“But right now, too many New Zealanders are driving around with the fuel light on, hoping and praying that petrol prices will drop,” she said.

Swarbrick said the government could not control oil shocks like that caused by the Middle East war — but it could make investments that reduce the cost of living and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

She described the party’s plan as “straight up common sense”.

Swarbrick said meaningful change could be made immediately, but some parts of the plan like light rail networks could take a decade or so.

Infrastructure Commission assurance
The major investments would go through the Infrastructure Commission’s assurance process, she said.

The entire plan would cost around $23.9 billion: $21 billion for mass rapid transit and rail investments, $1.3 billion for capped and free fares, $75 million for electric buses, $290 million for councils to expand walking and biking spaces, $824 million for public transport improvements and $406 million for inter-regional buses.

“What we are proposing today is to meet the needs not only of our immediate cost of living crisis, but also our medium and longer term needs to build infrastructure that is fit for purpose for the future. Yes, that will cost money,” Swarbrick said.

She cited the Greens’ wealth tax as a way of paying for some of it, but said the party’s full fiscal plan would be laid out in the next few weeks.

But Public Transport Users Association national co-ordinator Jon Reeves questioned the viability of the Greens’ plan.

He supported cheaper fares, but said the proposal sounded like wishful thinking.

“I’d like to see some of these things come true. On a $2 fare for everyone, it’s good, it may change the attitudes of some people into using public transport but how many is the question,” he said.

“The other area is who is going to fund it?

NZ ownership
“When we do give out free transport to someone, someone else has to pay for it. Does it come at the cost and the expense of running services?” he said.

Reeves said one way to reduce the cost of public transport would be to bring services back into New Zealand ownership to keep profits in the country.

“In New Zealand multinational corporations are pretty much the ones who operate all the services, whether it’s Auckland or Wellington trains or the bus services around the country. They’re all majority owned by overseas foreign companies,” he said.

“We need to bring it back to New Zealand and cut out the middleman, bring that money back and make it stay here so we can invest in more public transport and give cheaper fares to users.”

Fiji’s lawmakers have passed legislation allowing the rollout of a needle exchange programme aimed at containing the rapid rise of HIV from intravenous drug use.

The HIV/AIDS (Amendment) Bill 2026, which will introduce evidence-based harm reduction programmes, is being hailed as a “lifeline” for the country.

Fiji now joins Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea as the only Pacific nations with a formal needle and syringe programme.

• READ MORE: Fiji declares HIV emergency as 1 in 60 Fijian adults live with HIV
• Other Fiji HIV reports

Following the passing of the Bill by Parliament on Thursday, Fiji’s Health Ministry described it as a “monumental milestone” in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Fiji has one of the fastest-growing HIV rates in the world, with the government declaring an HIV emergency last month as one in 60 Fijian adults is now living with the virus.

“To be clear: this does not legalise illicit drugs,” the Ministry said in a Facebook post.

“It legalises compassion. It builds a protective bridge of healthcare to the most vulnerable among us.”

Grounded in human rights
The Health Ministry said the legislation was grounded in human rights, confidentiality, and freedom from discrimination.

“It allows our frontline health heroes, pharmacies, and peer outreach workers to distribute sterile equipment, condoms, PrEP, and life-saving counselling safely and without fear.”

Fijian Health Ministry Dr Atonio Lalabalavu said the Bill sets out what harm-reduction may permit.

“This includes the free distribution of skin-penetrating instruments, including needles and syringes, condoms and condom lubricants, Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and other means of HIV prevention,” he said.

“It may also provide facilities for the safe return and management of used items, targeted counselling, information in HIV/AIDS awareness and materials, and referrals to HIV treatment, rehabilitation, mental health and other health and social support services.”

The Bill also allows other measures to be approved by the health minister on the recommendation of the HIV/AIDS Board where those measures are necessary, Dr Atonio added.

An environmental group in American Samoa is taking legal action against the United States government over its plans for deep-sea mining near the territory.

Fa’asao Amerika Samoa and the Conservation Council for Hawai’i filed a lawsuit in August, challenging the US government’s assessment of the potential risks to marine life from the proposed mining.

The US is proposing to lease more than 12.5 million hectares of seabed around American Samoa, with the lease sale scheduled for November 19.

• READ MORE: Other Pacific deep-sea mining reports

According to the court complaint, the US has never before opened its waters to deep-sea mining.

The proposed leases would initially run for 20 years, with the possibility of an extension if mining moves into production.

Questions of threats to endangered species
Fa’asao Amerika Samoa spokesperson Seumalu Elora Raymond told RNZ Pacific Waves that the lawsuit is challenging a decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service, which claims the proposed leasing activity was not likely to affect threatened or endangered marine species.

Seumalu said the group was concerned that the US had not done enough to assess the risks.

“Many of these endangered species are also, you know, really important sacred creatures for Samoan people, like whales and sea turtles and sharks,” she said.

“These are our creatures of legend and they’re all completely going to be affected by deep-sea mining, so our lawsuit says like you did not do a proper analysis of how the continuous release of heavy metal contaminated sludge into the ocean would affect all these creatures.”

“Go back and do that work again.”

The US government said the move is part of President Donald Trump’s push to boost production and access to critical minerals.

Resistance to mining lease proposal
The proposed lease area is in the eastern part of the American Samoa Outer Continental Shelf, about 167 km from the Manu’a islands and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, known by its traditional name Muliāva.

The US government’s environmental assessment noted the issues raised by the American Samoa Government.

It said Governor Pulaali’i Nikolao Pula called for “continued dialogue” and requested that no activity proceed without territorial consent.

The assessment said there were more than 76,000 submissions during its initial public consultation.

Deep-sea mining issue resonates
Seumalu said deep-sea mining is an issue Samoans should be thinking about whether they live in the islands or overseas.

“When you look at the map of where they’re proposing to mine, it’s 31 million acres around Muliāva but if you look at it, it stretches all the way around all of our islands and it’s much bigger than the entire stretch from Manu’a to Falealupo (Savaii, Samoa).”

She said there have been ongoing protests against the proposal in American Samoa.

Temukisa Auina Penehuro Hauma, 71, has become the first woman to be appointed the Governor-General of one of the world’s smallest nations.

Tuvalu has had 10 substantive governors-general — all of them men — since gaining independence on 1 October 1978.

Hauma, who will be King Charles III’s representative for Tuvalu, took the oath of office and oath of allegiance in the capital Funafuti on the eve of the country’s 48th Independence Day yesterday.

• READ MORE: Other Tuvalu reports

“I look forward to leading the nation and empowering our people, especially the women of Tuvalu,” Hauma was quoted as saying in a Tuvalu Government Media statement.

Hauma is from Vaitupu and Nanumaga and brings more than three decades of experience in education, including 12 years as a headmistress, the statement read.

It said Hauma had served as president of the Tuvalu National Council of Women since 2016 and contributed to important national initiatives, including the review of the Constitution and work towards establishing a Tuvaluan dictionary.

Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo described Hauma’s inauguration as a “historic moment for Tuvalu”.

The new president of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) wants to strengthen the region’s newsrooms.

Neville Choi, who is also president of Papua New Guinea’s Media Council, told RNZ Pacific that the PINA secretariat needed greater support, accountability and transparency.

Choi said strengthening the PINA secretariat was his initial focus as president.

• READ MORE: Other Pacific media reports

He also wants to see national media associations empowered.

“Because the national media associations should be the contact point for all the media in each of the countries,” he said.

“Those are the two main things: strengthening; in any way we can to strengthen and provide more accountability and transparency to the PINA Secretariat, and give them more help and assistance, and see what they need.”

He said the Pacific’s media organisations were facing rapid changes brought about by advancements in technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI).

AI widely discussed
The use of AI was a widely discussed topic at the PINA Media Summit in Fiji last week.

“Understanding how AI works, and effectively using those and incorporating those into our newsroom workflows, AI is just the start of it.

“We feel in PNG that AI is still a tool, and that we need also need to strengthen the human oversight over all of our newsroom processes, which is the core of what we do.”

Choi believes larger media organisations have a role to play in supporting smaller media outlets facing challenges.

He said while “media in the Pacific is now stronger than it [once] was, it can get stronger”.

“We can be more united. We have a lot of small island state media who are still doing it tough,” he said.

“They have a lot of challenges, and the bigger media organisations within the region can help them by empowering them, providing mentoring and training – that’s one of the main focuses also for PINA.”

Meanwhile, PNG’s Media Council and National Broadcasting Corporation have jointly agreed to host the next Pacific Media Summit in Port Moresby.

Pacific Islands leaders have used their addresses to the United Nations General Assembly to urge Indonesia to allow the UN human rights chief access to West Papua.

Pacific Islands Forum countries in 2019 requested that Indonesia allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Papua to assess claims of widespread rights abuses.

No visit has resulted, leading to frustration for various Pacific governments.

• READ MORE: ‘They just have to get out’ – civilians pay the price for West Papua conflict
• Other West Papua reports

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale made a passionate plea to Indonesia at the UN, urging it to allow the UN human rights chief to have access to West Papua.

“Solomon Islands respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Indonesia, and we value our friendship with its government and people,” Wale said at the UNGA.

“It is precisely because of that friendship that we speak with candour. Reports of human rights violations in West Papua have persisted for far too long. They must be independently verified, not left in dispute.”

Earlier this month, Solomon Islands and other countries in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) said that if the UN rights chief’s visit 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 would be reviewed.

“We therefore renew the call of Pacific Islands Forum Leaders for the government of Indonesia to facilitate, without further delay, the long awaited visit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to West Papua.

“Such a visit is an act of confidence between friends, and an affirmation that there is nothing to fear from the light.”

Indonesian diversity
Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine added her country’s voice to the push for action on West Papua.

“The Marshall Islands affirms the region’s Pacific Islands Forum communiqué position regarding West Papua, including the 2018 invitation by Indonesia to the UN Human Rights Commissioner,” Dr Heine said.

A response of sorts was given by Indonesia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Sugiono: “As a nation of more than 280 million people, Indonesia has learned that diversity is not something to overcome; it is something to manage, respect and turn into strength to democratic participation, dialogue, and respect for differences,” he said.

“We preserve our unity from Aceh to Papua, from Miangus to Roti. Indonesia is one people, Indonesia is one nation.”

Completing decolonisation
Meanwhile, Wale also called for the international community to complete the work of decolonisation in parts of the world including the Pacific.

“Solomon Islands reaffirms its longstanding support for the right to self-determination of the Kanak people of New Caledonia and the Maohi Nui people of French Polynesia,” he said.

Wale said the UN decolonisation process must offer more than hope.

“It must provide practical pathways to the full emancipation of peoples in Non-Self-Governing Territories, and to their freedom to determine their own political future and development aspirations.”

A young mother who gave birth to triplets in a remote part of Papua New Guinea was successfully evacuated, but all three of her babies died before help could reach them.

Manolos Aviation carried out this morning’s emergency medical evacuation from Onga-Waffa in Markham Distict, bringing the mother into Morobe Province’s capital, Lae, shortly after 10am before she was taken to hospital for further treatment.

The woman had given birth prematurely to triplets at about eight months into her pregnancy.

• READ MORE: Other PNG medical emergency reports

Despite the efforts of health workers at the local health facility, all three babies died within hours of each other. The clinic had limited resources and was unable to provide the level of specialised neonatal care required by the premature babies.

Manolos Aviation chief executive and pilot Captain Jurgen Ruh said the outcome could potentially have been different if the medivac team had received the emergency call earlier.

“None of the babies survived. One of the babies died last night and the other two died this morning at nine o’clock,” Captain Ruh said.

The tragedy again highlights the difficulties faced by mothers and newborn babies in remote parts of Papua New Guinea, where geographical isolation, poor transport links and limited medical resources can turn complications during childbirth into life-threatening emergencies.

Echoes earlier evacuation
For Manolos Aviation, the case also carries echoes of an earlier evacuation involving another mother of triplets.

In May 2017, the company evacuated 25-year-old Rose Andy and her newborn triplets — two boys and a girl — from the remote village of Sikami in Obura-Wonenara District, Eastern Highlands Province.

The mother was suffering serious complications following the birth and was bleeding when the call for assistance was made.

Captain Ruh and a medivac nurse flew into the remote community, stabilised the mother and babies and transported them to Angau General Hospital in Lae. All three babies survived, and after four weeks at Angau, the family was cleared to return home.

Manolos Aviation’s medical evacuation work has since expanded considerably, with its MAMA Medevac programme providing emergency air transport for patients from some of the country’s most isolated communities.

One of its most high-profile recent missions involved conjoined twins Tom and Sawong, who were born at Braun Memorial Hospital in Finschhafen in October 2025.

Within two days of their birth, Manolos Aviation evacuated the twins to Angau Memorial Hospital before they were eventually transferred to Australia for highly specialised medical treatment.

Doctors later carried out a complex separation operation in Sydney. Tom, who had severe medical complications, did not survive, but the operation saved Sawong.

Police are considering charges against Greenpeace protesters who occupied a state-owned ship in protest at seabed mining.

A group of activists boarded the Earth Sciences New Zealand owned-Tangaroa in Wellington Harbour on Saturday morning, Greenpeace said.

One of the activists was dressed as US president Donald Trump and flew an American flag from railings on the ship, while another held a banner saying “Don’t Mine the Moana”.

• READ MORE: Q&A: New Zealand complicity in US deep sea mining
• Other deep-sea mining reports

However by early afternoon police said they had removed five protesters from the ship, and were considering charges.

Spokesperson Juressa Lee said the RV Tangaroa had just returned from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific, between Hawai’i and Mexico, where it surveyed deep sea minerals for the company Glomar Minerals, which the environmental pressure group said could lead to a “minerals grab in the Pacific”.

Lee said they did not want a state-owned vessel being used for commercial exploration of the seafloor for a company intending to conduct sea-bed mining, and warned seabed mining could be used to feed into Project Vault, a US government plan to stockpile minerals for military purposes.

“These activists, and thousands of others, don’t want to see our environment destroyed for the purpose of war,” Lee said.

Deep-sea mining destructive
Greenpeace believes deep-sea mining is destructive to marine environments — stripping the seafloor and risking “irreversible damage” to the ocean, she said: “The New Zealand government seems to be aligning with Trump’s imperialist extractive agenda, instead of standing with our Pacific neighbours”.

Minister for Resources Shane Jones said Greenpeace was trying to scare people, and the boat could be used for mineral research. The protest was nothing more than a “parasitic stunt” to raise funds, he said.

“Tangaroa is run by an independent board and a government-owned agency obviously driven to generate revenue as a part of its scientific mandate, and from time-to-time I’ve no doubt the Tangaroa is used for both domestic and international purposes — no one should be surprised by that.”

Jones said the Tangaroa had highly-educated staff doing the work, and their livelihoods should not be “hijacked by Greenpeace”.

“I think Greenpeace are trying to scare and catastrophise and intimidate Kiwis, well Kiwis are about to vote, and they’re going to vote for resource development within guardrails.”

Earth Sciences told RNZ they provide independent scientific research to both national and international organisations, including “internationally recognised expertise in deep-ocean environments, marine ecology and marine geology”.

Questions about the Earth Sciences team’s work for this client should be directed to the company, they said.

Scientific surveys
“Our work includes scientific surveys that collect and analyse data to improve understanding of the deep-sea environment, including its biology and ecology,” Earth Sciences said.

“This research contributes to the scientific evidence needed to understand these environments and the potential impacts of activities within them. This enables stakeholders and regulatory agencies to base decisions on robust scientific evidence.”

RNZ has asked American seabed minerals company Glomar Minerals for comment.

Earlier, Glomar said a team from their subsidiary UK Seabed Resources (UKSR) left Tahiti on July 29 to head to the Pacific Clarion-Clipperton Zone to survey for polymetallic nodules in its licence area.

It was running the 65-day survey with Earth Sciences NZ, on the RV Tangaroa, which it said was “one of the most capable deep ocean research vessels in the world”.

“UKSR’s two International Seabed Authority CCZ licence areas cover approximately 133,000 sq km of deep seafloor, an area comparable in size to Louisiana, covered in polymetallic nodules containing manganese, cobalt, nickel, copper, and rare earths in a single ore,” the company said.

The research was “moving the company closer to the integrated dataset needed for commercial recovery”.

The research findings would be shared, adding to Glomar’s record of transparency and contributions to marine science, Glomar chief executive Chris Williams said.

Earth Sciences was formed last year, when NIWA and GNS science merged.

More than 125,000 people are reported to have been displaced in West Papua as armed conflict escalates, but the real number is likely much higher.

A recent report from the Human Rights Monitor said military operations and armed violence have been particularly intense in the central highlands of Indonesian-ruled Papua region this year.

Indonesian security forces have been in an ongoing fight with small groups of guerilla fighters with the West Papua Liberation Army (TPNPB) in the mountainous interior of Papua.

• READ MORE: Wenda calls on ‘brave’ Pacific to raise West Papua at UNGA after six killed in new Indonesian massacre
• Papuan civilians shot in latest security forces violence in Yahukimo
• Other West Papua reports

A senior lecturer and researcher on South East Asian conflicts said it was the civilians caught in the middle who ended up suffering the most.

Caught in the middle
Hipolitus Wangge, an Indonesian who is currently a senior lecturer at Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Political Science Department, said many indigenous displaced people (IDPs) flee their home villages, and are forced to live in the jungle with limited access to supplies.

He said “the cycle of violence in West Papua” has shown no signs of ending anytime soon and fears that even more people will be displaced.

“So both sides are busy claiming victories and asserting control over the area and its people, which just keeps the tension going,” Wangge said.

“Without any signs of talks or mediations, communications, building trust, people living in these conflict zones will continue to be caught in the middle.”

The Human Rights Monitor report documents dozens of armed clashes during the second quarter of this year directly impacting civilians: with drone attacks, shoot outs between forces, and villages burnt down.

Recent reports from Yahukimno regency show that civilians continue to be victims of shootings by security forces. Wangge said that those not killed or injured in the conflict often have to run away.

“You will find districts like Mimika, Nduga, Yahukimo, Puncak, Intan Jaya — those are the so-called hotspots of the conflict. They have been trying to live outside the kind of major battles.”

As the report explains, once these civilians have been displaced to makeshift forest camps, the lack of healthcare resources in particular results in even more deaths.

“Many of IDPs are still living in jungles. So they have to survive during these constrained situations living in the jungle with very limited basic supplies,” Wangge explained.

Victims on both sides
Wangge said people on both sides can feel trapped between Indonesian forces and the West Papuan freedom fighters struggling for independence.

He noted a particular risk for civilians following reports of Papuans who are suspected of being spies for the Indonesian security forces being tracked down and killed.

“They cannot just choose between one side or the other, because both sides also have some potential or capacity to target these civilians,” he explained.

“So they just have to get out and then try to find some safety because of the fear, because of constant trauma, because of the instability in highlands of West Papua.”

For the indigenous people, the consequences of the conflict are immediate: a home abandoned, a village emptied, a family separated, a community forced into the jungle in search of somewhere safe.

But Wangge notes the exact scale of displacement is impossible to establish as outside access to West Papua is heavily restricted.

The reported figures of more than 125,000 displaced people come from accounts by family members, churches or other stakeholders involved. Wangge believes there are many displaced people unaccounted for.

“It’s even higher than the actual number, the ones that have been reported in the media, but nobody knows in this situations because there is no access.”

Lack of access
For several years, Indonesia has rejected calls from the Pacific Islands region for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to send an independent fact-finding mission into Papua.

The 18 members of the Pacific Islands Forum have repeatedly urged Indonesia to grant access since 2019.

Similar calls have also come from the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), made up of Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia’s Kanak independence movement FLNKS.

But despite these numerous requests, this access for the UN rights commissioner has still not been given, and Wangge is not confident the visit will happen any time soon, despite claims by Jakarta that it is on track.

He said “Indonesia is adamant that the West Papua issue should be dealt with domestically, claiming its not up for regional debate”.

“So, it’s clear there is a need to finally address this long-standing conflict. But from my chats with some Indonesian diplomats, it looks like the UN visit is not going to be a priority.

“Instead, the Indonesian government will probably go for bilateral talks. Indonesia in this regard seems more interested in talking with Pacific countries or organisations than in real dialogue with Papuan political leaders and organisations.”

Hipolitus Wangge said he expects the situation to only worsen as the year progresses, with talks of more Indonesian military infrastructure to be built in the Highlands and southern parts of Papua.

As the Pacific Islands region reels from a series of recent maritime tragedies, a regional climatologist says it is imperative that boat operators take extra caution in a time of turbulent weather.

There have been dozens of fatalities from incidents at sea in recent months in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu among other Pacific countries.

Although an official or confirmed death toll is not yet known for Vanuatu’s MV Matui tragedy on September 11, it is likely that dozens of people died.

• READ MORE: Vanuatu ferry disaster: ‘It’s a miracle anyone survived,’ says rescuer

A common factor in this and other maritime tragedies in the Pacific over recent months has been rough seas and weather conditions, and coincides with a time when the El Niño phase is getting into full swing across the Pacific.

El Niño has caused extreme heat in parts of the world, extensive drought in the Western Pacific and disruptions to ocean currents through the tropical Pacific.

A senior climatologist with the Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Philip Malsale, said El Niño had created a lot of movement of warm waters towards the Eastern Pacific, as a high pressure system moved up closer to the equator, with an active monsoon trough over the Western Pacific as well.

But he told RNZ Pacific that El Niño was not necessarily directly to blame for the rough seas and marine conditions in which various boats had got into trouble.

“Well there is some connection, but not directly. I think it is more related to the weather conditions — but also we need to take into account our season now,” Malsale said.

“We are in the winter season when we have the strong trade winds that are persistent at this time of the year.

“We have the high pressure system move up to the towards the equator, and we have dominant southeast trades (tradewinds), those kind of systems can also cause high pressure gradient over the countries, and it influences a lot of the weather synoptic situations across the countries like Tonga, Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea.”

Regional met talks
Malsale, who is from Vanuatu, last week joined regional counterparts in Tonga for the 8th Pacific Meteorological Council Meeting.

A big point of discussion was how to strengthen weather and climate services and make warnings more effective, at a time when some boat operators choose to ignore them and go out to sea, endangering lives.

Malsale and other weather experts are underlining that taking these warnings seriously is absolutely critical for people going to sea.

“We have mandated organisations such as the national weather services in countries. So boat owners or shipowners, captains should reach out to the national met services, find out what the current situation is, before they can plan the trip over to the islands.”

Vanuatu’s government is considering linking marine weather warnings to permissions for which boats can operate under particular conditions.

“Just because the warning is too general, but we can link that up to certain boat size or ships capacity,” Malsale said.

“So you put a certain warning, on which category of ship that is referred to in terms of not sailing or not carrying passengers to other islands.

Climate extremes
Discussions at the Met Council summit also focused on the ongoing wider challenges of climate change and the more extreme conditions it brings.

“There was agreement among all the Met Services to put this as a priority as well on the latest science to help the COP negotiators from the Pacific,” Malsale said.

“This is one area of services that that the national Met services want for our donors to continue to provide funding for.”

Weather experts have warned that the El Niño phenomenon developing in the Pacific Ocean is already the strongest ever recorded.

Malsale said the peak is still to come later this year and into 2027.

“That’s the forecast like to peak between probably November and January 2027. But these are only the indicators that we’re monitoring, but the impact can peak later on during the year.

However, he added that with cyclone season just around the corner, there could be even more impactful weather in store for the Pacific.

Fiji’s prime minister is not giving any hints about when exactly the country will head to the polls.

The island nation is expected to hold its fourth general election under the 2013 Constitution by 6 February 2027 at the latest.

Under Fiji’s current electoral system, the entire country forms a single national constituency, with more than 723,000 registered voters on the electoral roll as of June 30, according to the Fijian Elections Office.

• READ MORE:  Sweeping changes to Fiji’s governance recommended by Constitution Commission
• Other Fiji elections reports

However, a major constitutional review report released publicly on Tuesday has recommended sweeping changes to Fiji’s governance.

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s government has indicated that a potential change to the country’s supreme law is on the cards by Christmas Eve.

In an interview with RNZ Pacific in Savusavu, northern Fiji, Rabuka said he did not yet have an election date.

“No, we have not set a date for the elections,” he said.

Parallel parliamentary work
Rabuka said that once the government settled on a “definitive date”, he would advise the president, who would then issue a writ for the election.

The prime minister said that an election date would need to be considered alongside the parallel parliamentary work being undertaken to amend the constitution.

“[The election date] will have to be worked out considering all the work that is now going to be taken through Parliament … the processing of the amendment of the [2013] Constitution and the preparation time required by our elections officials.”

Rabuka also confirmed that Fiji was due to conduct its national census next year.

“Without the figures from the census, which is due next year, we will have to have an intelligent projection of the census figures from 10 years ago and see if we can work out a map on constituencies etc, if they are going to be incorporated into the determining features of our elections.”

However, he has also told local media that the February 6 deadline remained unchanged.

“There have been suggestions [to extend the deadline for the elections], but it is outside the law as I see it now,” he said in response to a question from fijivillage.com.

Fiji’s Constitution Review Commission wants a new governance system for the country and the coup immunity provisions of the 2013 Constitution repealed.

Its also recommending giving the Great Council of Chiefs constitutional recognition, scrapping the current electoral system, replacing the current parliamentary system, and pushing the military to focus on external defence.

These are among the recommendations contained in a review report which was tabled in the Fiji Parliament and made public on Tuesday.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji constitution reports

The Constitution Review Commission’s 236-page report, which includes a new draft constitution, was endorsed by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s cabinet last week.

The report rolls back many of the defining features of the Fiji’s 2013 Constitution.

Since gaining independence from Britain on 10 October 1970, Fiji has had four constitutions.

Hinted at Christmas Eve
The cabinet maintains that tabling the commission’s report in Parliament does not mean government had accepted or adopted all of its mission’s recommendations.

However, the Fiji government has already hinted the country could have a new constitution in place by Christmas Eve.

The Constitution Review Commission was set up in March and, after conducting nationwide consultations on Fiji’s 2013 Constitution, it delivered its report to the president on August 30.

Among the most notable features in the report, the commission is recommending the removal of broad immunity protecting people involved in past coups.

The report also sets out the commission’s recommendation of a new constitution and sweeping changes designed to overhaul Fiji’s governance.

Different political system
It has recommended replacing the country’s current single-chamber 55-seat Parliament with a two-house legislature.

The proposal would see the creation of a 60-member bicameral legislature made up of a 41-member House of Representatives and a 19-member Senate.

The commission recommends a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system.

This would be a hybrid model featuring constituency-based, or first-past-the-post, along with proportional party-list seats, enabling both local accountability and national proportionality.

The commission also recommends establishing an independent Constituency Boundaries Commission and abolishing the single national constituency.

Investigative journalist and author Nicky Hager has released a new book called Dirty Work: The Taxpayers’ Union and New Zealand’s Hard Right, an “exposé” of the Taxpayers’ Union (TU) — “the latest front for New Zealand’s radical right,” he says.

Hager argues the Taxpayers’ Union used anti-Māori rhetoric as a political tool — especially during its Stop Three Waters campaign — and shifted the 2023 election campaign to the right.

He claims both Act leader David Seymour and National leader Christopher Luxon pivoted toward this rhetoric to gain votes.

• READ MORE: Journalist Nicky Hager releases latest book Dirty Work on Taxpayers’ Union
• Other Nicky Hager reports

Hager called Dirty Work the third part of a trilogy which began with The Hollow Men. The third part of the trilogy has focused on the TU.

He argued the TU arranged a “multi-million-dollar” campaign that helped move New Zealand’s 2023 election “to the right”.

The key characters were the co-founders, Jordan Williams and David Farrar, and a sister organisation called Hobson’s Pledge, set up by Don Brash, he wrote.

Hager said the book was the story of how a “campaign of racist politics unfolded,” alongside the “continual attacking, mocking and smearing of their political opponents”.

Hager said the story was about democracy. He said the book (and its predecessors) show “how easy it is to spin and manipulate” and how “our defences as a society (news media, electoral laws and so on) are inadequate to protect the public”.

He said the “rise of unregulated social media and dramatic collapse of traditional media have only made this problem worse.”

RNZ has asked those featured in the book for comment.

Taxpayers’ Union says it is under attack
Shortly after the book’s announcement, Williams sent supporters an email saying the book was “full frontal attack” on the Taxpayers’ Union, himself, and Farrar.

“Hager calls himself a journalist. But yet again he has ignored the most basic principles of fair journalism: put serious allegations to the people accused and give them a reasonable opportunity to respond,” Williams said.

He said Hager did not put the allegations in the book to the Taxpayers’ Union, nor did he seek an interview or give the TU the opportunity to “correct errors or provide missing context” before publication.

“Instead, he released his accusations at a carefully choreographed media event, in the middle of an election campaign, knowing that the headlines would be written before we could even obtain a copy of the book — let alone check its claims.”

Williams said the Taxpayers’ Union would work through the book carefully.

Concern is mounting among Fiji civil society over signs the government may extend the length of Parliament in order to push through constitutional changes.

Fiji’s government has hinted that a new constitution could be in place by Christmas Eve.

Cabinet has endorsed the Constitution Review Commission’s report to be presented in Parliament and has supported a request for a special sitting this week.

• READ MORE: Fiji targets new constitution by Christmas Eve as watchdog warns of ‘self-coup’ risk
• Other Fiji constitution reports

In a joint statement, leading civil society groups warn that a rushed constitutional process could amount to a “self-coup” if it delays the next general election.

Elections are due to be held by February 2027, but the Rabuka-led government has not announced a date yet.

The civll society groups have called on MPs across party lines to reject any constitutional timetable that risks taking Fiji beyond the democratic life of the current Parliament.

The groups include the Centre for Democracy and Dialogue, the Fiji Council of Social Services, the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, FemLink Pacific, the Pacific Centre for Peacebuilding, and the Social Empowerment and Education Programme.

They called on the government to guarantee that “if any major change to the electoral system is proposed, it must be subject to a clear transitional provision stating that the next general election will proceed under the existing electoral framework”.

“The people of Fiji will be given adequate time, clear information and a meaningful opportunity to consider any proposed Constitution before any referendum is held.”

Over the years, 21-year-old Siaosi (George) Lavelua (Kolomotu’a, Makave) has often made the trip north to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds with freshly made ‘otai in tow.

His whānau business, Lav’s ‘otai — dealing in the much loved Polynesian drink that typically mixes coconut and fruit — is the longest-serving ‘otai operation in Tāmaki Makaurau.

It has become a familiar fixture at Waitangi celebrations, Auckland night markets and various community events across the region.

• READ MORE: Other Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori reports

“It’s something I’ve grown up around my whole life. Wherever there’s a big event, we’re usually there serving ‘otai and meeting people,” Lavelua said.

Over the years, events such as Waitangi have become extra special for Lavelua — a Tongan who has dedicated over five years of his life learning te reo Māori.

“When I was able to go up there [Waitangi] and then converse with a bunch of different people in te reo Māori, just seeing the connections and friends and people that you can make just through speaking te reo, it definitely, yeah, made me very appreciative to be able to learn the language,” Lavelua said.

Lavelua grew up in central Auckland, speaking Tongan at home with his parents.

Year 9 student
His reo journey began as a year 9 student at Auckland Grammar School, and was initially an opportunity for him to spend class time with other tauira Māori and Pasifika.

“For the first three years of my schooling, in every other class except Te reo Māori, I was the only, like one or two Pacific or Māori people in my classes,” Lavelua said.

“I just wanted to be with other people from the Pacific, and so then I took te reo Māori.”

Lavelua loved it so much that he stuck it out until year 13, and quickly realised the merging similarities between the Tongan language and the Māori language.

“As I started to learn the language, I noticed that there were so many similarities in terms of, like, old Tongan,” he said.

“There was quite a lot of words or the same sentence structure that mirrored exactly what I was learning, what I speak at home. And so it just made my journey a whole lot easier.”

While it wasn’t an ‘easy journey, Lavelua said it was well-worth the investment.

Crossover
Online, he has began sharing content speaking te reo Māori.

People often comment on how impressive his trilingualism is, something Lavelua said reinforced his own appreciation for the Tongan language.

“Since I grew up speaking Tongan, it was always sort of something on like a back burner, it wasn’t necessarily something that I thought too much about,” Lavelua said.

That changed as he watched how people responded to his reo, including Māori who frequently tell him of their desire to learn and speak their own language one day.

“It’s really a deeper love for my own language and my own culture. And just seeing how blessed I was to retain that.”

“Growing up, I’ve always had such a deep respect for the Māori culture and Māori people,” he said.

“I think it’s a beautiful thing what Māori had done here in New Zealand, and Aotearoa, being able to retain the culture and traditions and languages, even all the way up to religion, and that’s something that we certainly didn’t really have in other parts of the Pacific, being very Christianised and things.”

Principles resonate
The values between cultures cross over, too, Lavelua said.

When asked which te ao Māori principles resonate, he landed on whanaungatanga.

“Hospitality and that sort of relationship they have with other people … it’s about the home, it’s the relationships of those around us, the community, the environment,” he said.

And Lavelua said that point is one of the real lessons he came to learn while learning te reo Māori.

“There are some people who very distinctly categorise Māori and Pasifika as two separate categories, or two separate people,” he said.

“But then definitely through learning te reo and learning a lot more about the culture, you really see that overlap and like that true understanding that you actually are one people at the end of the day.”

One of the biggest surprises on his journey so far has been understanding the historical relationships between Pacific and Māori.

Lavelua began reading Pacific history, and came across accounts of Pacific sovereigns — he points to King Tāwhiao, alongside Tongan and Hawaiian royalty — who would write to one another as colonisation took hold.

“They all had actually been writing letters between each other to sort of help each other maintain their own sovereignty,” he said.

“Seeing that back in the day, specifically with these leaders that we had in our communities, it was definitely heartwarming to see and really opened my mind on just how interconnected the Pacific really is, and how interconnected the Pacific should be.”

Journey
Now based in Brisbane, working across marketing and hospitality, Lavelua said distance from Aotearoa has sharpened the meaning of events such as Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, and what they mean to him.

It’s a good reminder, he said, to celebrate the week, identity, and community.

He also has advice for other Pasifika and non-Māori who are thinking of undertaking their reo journey.

“Just give it a crack, just give it a go. I don’t think that anybody can ever be perfect in a language. I definitely wasn’t perfect when learning te reo Māori, I’m still not perfect at this point, but that’s definitely something that holds a lot of people back.

His favourite whakataukī encompasses this message well.

“Tūwhitia te hopo, mairangatia te angitū! Feel the fear and do it anyway. I think that’s fitting when it comes to learning languages, or anywhere in life.”

• Last week was Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori — Maori language Week

Thousands of people have marched in central Auckland to protest against the New Zealand coalition government’s proposed Conservation Amendment Bill.

The bill is intended to modernise the management of conservation land, enabling more development, but Greenpeace executive director Dr Russel Norman said it would allow the government to sell off conservation land, weaken environmental protections and put short-term profit ahead of the future.

Dr Norman said today’s protest was an unmistakable warning to the government.

• READ MORE: Greenpeace protests Conservation Amendment Bill in downtown Auckland
• Don’t put a luxury resort on Rangitoto Island
• The conservation areas I care most about are under threat
• Other New Zealand conservation reports

With an election looming and political parties in campaign mode, the Fiji government has hinted that a new constitution could be in place by Christmas Eve.

The move has been described by a local civil society organisation as a “grave threat” to democracy and the rule of law, while one of the minor parties in the Sitiveni Rabuka-led coalition government has distanced itself from “any attempt to rush constitutional reform”.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Fiji government said Cabinet had endorsed the Constitution Review Commission’s (CRC) report to be presented in Parliament and had supported a request for a special sitting on 22 September.

• READ MORE: Other Fiji Constitution reports

The CRC, established in March this year, conducted nationwide consultations and received submissions on Fiji’s 2013 Constitution before submitting its report and a draft constitution bill to the country’s head of state on August 31.

According to the government, the commission’s report identifies areas for reform of the 2013 Constitution.

Rabuka and other critics have long argued that the 2013 Constitution was imposed by the Bainimarama administration following the 2006 military coup.

The constitution also introduced equal citizenship for all Fiji nationals and formally adopted “Fijian” as the common national identity for all citizens, regardless of ethnicity.

“Cabinet’s decision to table the report does not constitute acceptance or adoption of all the commission’s recommendations.

‘Detailed consideration’
“The Cabinet Subcommittee on the Review of the Constitution will continue its detailed consideration of the recommendations, including their practical, legal and policy implications, and will report back to Cabinet on the way forward. This will include consideration of any transitional arrangements that may be required.”

It added that the proposed process provides that the CRC’s report will be debated in Parliament during its sitting from September 28.

“Subject to the passage of the Bill and subsequent parliamentary processes, a referendum is proposed to be held between November and mid-December 2026.

“If approved through the required processes, the new Constitution is proposed to come into effect by 24 December 2026.”

However, the Centre for Democracy and Dialogue, formerly known as Dialogue Fiji, has warned that the proposed timeline to introduce a new constitution by December 24 raises serious constitutional, legal and democratic concerns.

The centre’s CEO Nilesh Lal said the government’s proposed timeline would plunge Fiji into a period of “undemocratic rule”.

Lal said the democratic authority of Fiji’s Parliament was time-bound.

“It is derived from the mandate given by voters at a general election and expires after a defined period, 4 years in the case of the current Parliament,” he said.

‘Legally impossible’
He said a constitution coming into force in late December could make it “legally and administratively impossible” to hold a general election within the required period following the dissolution of Parliament under Fiji’s 2013 Constitution.

“If constitutional reform is used to delay the next election, extend Parliament, or allow the executive to govern beyond the life of an elected Parliament, it would amount in substance to an autogolpe, or self-coup,” he said.

Rabuka’s former deputy PM and National Federation Party (NFP) leader Dr Biman Prasad said his party would not support a “rushed process”.

“We have had constitutional upheavals in this country,” Dr Prasad told FBC News.

“In fact, we have had four constitutions and constitution-making process ought to be open, transparent and accountable. It must be the document that has the broad support of our people.”

Opposition: Rabuka ‘acting recklessly’
Fiji’s opposition leader Inia Seruiratu has also weighed in on the issue, urging the government to slow down and explain to the Fijian people “why it is necessary to have a new Constitution in force by Christmas Eve”.

“The people must be given adequate opportunity to understand what is being proposed, what they may gain, what they may lose and how the proposed Constitution will change the way Fiji is governed,” he said in a statement on Friday.

He warned that Rabuka and his Cabinet were “acting recklessly”.

“I am calling on the government to slow this process down,” he said.

The Labour Party is promising visa-free travel to Aotearoa New Zealand for Pacific Islanders.

Deputy Leader Carmel Sepuloni said Pacific Island Forum countries would be allowed in on an NZeTA for three months at a time — like 61 other countries, if the government changes.

She told RNZ Pacific it was a long-overdue decision that recognises cross-border connections.

• READ MORE: Other Pacific-New Zealand travel reports

“We’re talking about seamless travel between Pacific countries and New Zealand … and a recognition of the cost and burden that the current system puts on New Zealand Pacific families,” Sepuloni said.

“Our relationship has matured enough for us to be able to move to a place that they have access to the same electronic system that 60 other countries have. It’s the right thing to do.”

It comes after New Zealand First promised a two-year clemency period for Pacific overstayers last week. Pacific Islanders’ share of the total overstayer population has increased this year, according to Immigration New Zealand (INZ).

In February, Winston Peters accepted a petition by Samoan activist Arthur Anae to make visa-free travel a reality. He said last week that it “possibly could happen in the future”.

“The first thing you’ve got to do is regularise what it means … you leave at the end of that specific time, or before,” he said.

“As I said in that speech months ago in the forecourt of Parliament: cousins don’t rip off cousins.”

The Green Party has also signalled its support for the visa waiver. National would not be drawn on its position, saying the party would announce its immigration policy in due course.

Pacific overstayer rates on the rise
Visa overstayers in New Zealand have decreased over the year, but the share of Pacific Island visa overstayers has risen, according to INZ figures released Thursday.

INZ noted approximately 26 percent of overstayers were from Pacific Island countries, up from 25 percent last year. Meanwhile, the overall overstayer population is down 8.7 percent.

It is estimated out of an overstayer population of 19,153 currently in the country, 2541 are Tongan, and 1462 are Samoan.

Of arrivals on a temporary visa from June 2023 and 2026, 2.14 percent of Tongans overstayed, as did 1.25 percent of Samoans. These figures are well above the average of 0.13 percent for all arrivals.

According to INZ, no Pacific Island countries have been able to enter the country visa-free since 2003, when the waiver for Tuvaluans, i-Kiribati and Dei-Naoero (formerly Nauruans) was removed.

Before then, Tongans, Samoans and Fijians were kicked off the waiver in 1987, less than three months after being added, with more than 5200 arrivals, and fewer than half of those leaving once their visa expired.

Since then, INZ has regarded Pacific nationals as high-risk overstayers, despite the fact the US, China, India and the United Kingdom had overstayer numbers comparable to Tonga and Samoa — only their rates were lower because their total legal arrivals were higher.

Not addressing overstaying
When asked whether it would make overstaying more likely, Sepuloni said the policy announced on Thursday was not meant to address overstaying.

“The expectation is that the rules still apply … and our expectation is that people will follow them,” she said.

“By and large, our Pacific people follow the rules. It’s not like we have our people coming from the Pacific, and they are overwhelmingly choosing to break the rules. It’s the complete opposite, actually.”

As for NZ First’s clemency policy, Sepuloni said she thought it had not been thought through very carefully.

“I’ve dealt with a lot of immigration cases as an electorate MP, and there are always individual circumstances that don’t fit in a box.”

“It worries me that they’re saying they’ll give this two years clemency, and at that point, if you are not regulated, they will deport you, and you will never be allowed to come back.”

Anae: I’m over the moon right now
Despite the Labour policy more closely aligning with its stated goal, Anae said he was still backing New Zealand First.

“What New Zealand First has said is something that we’ve been raising for some time: the unfairness on the overstaying numbers,” Anae said.

“I’ve always treated [Labour] equally as everybody else … I think the problem that I’ve had with them is their lateness in making a statement.”

He said he felt as though there was momentum behind a political consensus on visa-free travel.

“What I’m thinking right now is this: we know Winston’s going to support us. Now we know Labour is there and I’m sure the Greens and Te Pāti Māori will support us, which means we have the numbers.”

He said for Pacific people seeking to attend weddings and funerals whose visas were not processed in time, or for those wrongly deported due to administrative errors by INZ, this could bring closure.

“We are asking for justice. We want to be treated equally as anybody else. Nothing more, just to be the same.”

A US foreign policy think tank is proposing a major shift in America’s military strategy in Asia that would put Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and other Pacific islands at the centre of Washington’s regional military posture.

Defense Priorities, a Washington-based think tank, said the US should move much of its military presence away from the “first island chain”, including Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and the Philippines, and concentrate more forces along the more distant “second island chain”.

The proposal identifies Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands as locations where US forces could be positioned farther from China’s coastline.

• READ MORE: Other US military in the Pacific reports

Under the proposed strategy, Tinian in the CNMI could become one of several smaller air bases used to disperse US personnel and military assets across the Pacific.

In an explainer titled A second island chain strategy for Asia, Defense Priorities researcher Jennifer Kavanagh said the US already has at least 8000 military personnel along the second island chain, most of them on Guam.

Rather than significantly increasing that number, the think tank proposes spreading personnel across Guam, Palau, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and smaller airfields such as Tinian.

It said these locations could host intelligence and combat-support units, air defenses, drones and small groups of Marines equipped with mobile anti-ship missiles.

Specialised planes
The strategy also calls for fighter aircraft and other specialised planes to operate from the second island chain, while submarines would remain based on Guam and naval vessels would rotate through the region.

Defense Priorities argues that shifting forces farther from China’s coastline would make US bases more survivable while reducing the risk of Washington becoming involved in a major conflict with Beijing.

Guam would remain an important logistics hub and base for long-range military assets, but spreading forces across the wider Pacific could make the US military less dependent on the island.

The proposal comes as the US military is already investing in infrastructure in the Northern Marianas, including facilities on Tinian to support increased military operations.

But the Defense Priorities proposal goes much further than expanding military infrastructure in the Pacific.

It calls for the United States to eventually end its mutual defence alliances with South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, and Japan and replace them with narrower security partnerships.

It also recommends Washington adopt an explicit policy of non-intervention over Taiwan.

The think tank proposes removing most US Army and Marine Corps deployments from Asia and significantly reducing American air and naval forces in the region.

Defense Priorities said the changes could be phased in over three to eight years, with most completed by 2030 and the transition finalised by 2035.

It argues that concentrating a smaller US military presence farther east would continue to protect American access to Asian markets and trade routes without maintaining large forces close to China.

The recommendations are those of Defense Priorities and do not represent an announced change in US government or Pentagon policy.

A “horrendously high” number of babies in Fiji are dying due to HIV related complications, says a health researcher, as the prevalence of the disease grows there.

The New Zealand government website SafeTravel says people travelling to Fiji should avoid activities that could increase their risk of infection.

In March this year, it was estimated 9000 Fijians were living with HIV and officials said high risk drug use was adding to the rapid rise.

• READ MORE: One in 60 Fijian adults now living with HIV
• Other Fiji HIV reports

Victoria University senior health researcher Sharon Mclennan told RNZ Checkpoint the situation in Fiji was “pretty bad” and had been driven partly by increased drug use.

“You see a lot of needle sharing going on, and that has been the fuse that lit this incredible increase in HIV.

Years of underfunding of the health service had also contributed to the problem, she said.

Mclennan said there had been a rise in mothers testing positive and babies being born with HIV.

“About one baby per week is being born and around about one baby per month is dying of HIV related complications… it’s horrendously high, it’s very high.”

Mclennan said there had been a push to get more people tested for HIV, but there remained issues with the availability of tests and social stigma.

“People don’t want to talk about it, because then they’ll be found out for behaviours that are not socially acceptable and they may get shunned or questioned.”

Fiji did not have a needle exchange programme, Mclennan said, but it was being discussed and planned for.

New Zealand had a role to play in helping Fiji deal with the problem, Mclennan said.

“Last year New Zealand gave $4 million towards Fiji’s Ministry of Health for support for HIV, we can certainly step that up. We can step up technical assistance.”

That included supporting Fijian people and their families living in New Zealand, she said.

“There’s a lot of movement between here and the islands… and so making sure that our Pacific populations know and are aware of HIV testing and treatment services here.”

Most New Zealanders travelling to Fiji were unlikely to be at risk, she said.

“I think the risk if you’re travelling for a family holiday over the school holidays is pretty low. But it’s still good to see that the government is taking notice and providing New Zealanders with some advice.”

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said New Zealanders travelling to Fiji should get comprehensive travel insurance, and register their details on SafeTravel.

An Australian pilot who helped locate survivors after a ferry disaster in Vanuatu says: “it is a miracle anyone survived”.

After the ferry MV Matui sank in rough seas on Friday morning, two have died and more than 30 people remain missing.

The ferry departed from Santo at 6am on Friday for Ambae, approximately 96 km away. However, it capsized in large waves.

• READ MORE: One dead and more than 30 missing after ferry sinks off Vanuatu coast in rough seas

According to Luganville MP Matai Seremaiah, the vessel sank at about 9:30am.

Tragically, confusion around the vessel’s status and misinformation meant that it was more than 30 hours before help arrived. Reports suggest 15 people survived the sinking.

Although the current confirmed death toll stands at two, more than 30 people remain missing. One body was recovered over the weekend but another could not be brought back due to bad weather.

Dr Mark Turnbull, a pilot and doctor based on Gaua Island in Torba Province, was one of the first people in the air looking for survivors. Turnbull said he was contacted by an individual to help start the search for survivors:

“The government is pretty slow, even the shipowner was very slow, but there was one individual who was particularly motivated to help,” he said.

“The weather was rough and it wasn’t possible for very small boats to go out, and so they had to send fairly substantial looking ‘smallish’ ships.”

Return to refuel
Dr Turnbull would conduct an aerial search, return to refuel, and then resume the search.

From the air, he was able to see debris and objects floating, which had obviously come out of the vessel.

“We saw drums of fuel, we saw flotation stuff, lots of these lifejackets that had been separated from the people somehow, then this big tank they were hanging onto, and some wheels [and] inner tubes some people had been holding onto as well.”

He told RNZ Pacific about the “big black tank”, a 1000L agricultural tank that had fallen off the ferry.

Dr Turnbull said that a group of survivors told him that they had been clinging to the tank, and during the first night 5 people had died. Apparently, the second day they were in the water, the survivors let go of the tank and went separate ways to seek rescue.

The survivors Turnbull spoke to were weak and extremely dehydrated from their ordeal. Almost all of them had swollen eyes from exposure. One of the survivors had very swollen lips and had been attacked by fish “he was feeling wounded and weak”.

Dr Turnbull said that one of the survivors had swum all the way from where the ferry sank to Santo to raise the alarm that the vessel had sunk. Until then, it was believed that it was merely adrift. This raised the urgency level of search and rescue efforts.

‘Dire situation’
He said that the terrible weather conditions would have made survival in the water very difficult.

“It was a dire situation, terrible weather, hard to do search and rescue because the wind was so horrific, up to 30 knots and sometimes gusting to even higher than that”

After talking to survivors, Dr Turnbull said that the vessel was probably hit broadside by a large wave.

This had happened very suddenly, so there was no time to evacuate properly before the passengers and crew found themselves in the water – without proper survival gear.

He said without a working liferaft people were scrambling for “little bits and pieces” to hold onto to stay afloat.

“It’s amazing that anybody survived that, for them to travel such a long distance was incredible, it was truly incredible, the distance they travelled was massive, it was huge.”

“Those conditions through the night, with the waves pounding at them , it’s really amazing that anybody survived.”

Dr Turnbull said he hopes this will be a turning point for search and rescue procedures in Vanuatu because the initial effort to locate and rescue survivors in this instance was very poorly coordinated. Private citizens had to step forward and coordinate the rescue attempts before official rescue efforts were organised.

“I hope this is an opportunity for the leadership of that area of Maritime search and rescue. That they will come up with a much more coordinated plan. We were not sure exactly who reported the ferry’s GPS coordinates, as things were poorly organised.”

Dr Turnbull, who operates the Wings of Hope Flying Doctor Service, said most of the search and rescues have since been called off, but he was aware of some still happening.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters says he was under no obligation to consult with Cabinet before making an offer to Pacific Island Forum (PIF) member nations to host the annual leaders meeting in 2027.

It comes after Treasury released documents showing, in March, they advised Finance Minister Nicola Willis to gut Peters’ NZ$30 million proposal to fund PIF, saying the “value for money of the bid is not clear”.

It was noted that this, in part, was because “Cabinet approval was not sought before announcement of the hosting initiative,” and therefore it was “more difficult to assess the strategic alignment” with the government’s wider ambitions to cut down the size of the public service.

• READ MORE: Pacific Islands Forum leaders in Koror — heavy on reaffirming but light on tasking
• Other Pacific Islands Forum reports

The offer to host PIF was made to Pacific countries in August.

Peters told RNZ Pacific that he gave Prime Minister Christopher Luxon a mid-year heads up, and had no reason to tell Cabinet at that point.

“Treasury can write what it likes,” the minister said.

“You don’t know whether or not [PIF] are going to be taking up your offer. So, what would you discuss with Cabinet, unless the Forum first agrees?”

Hosting obligations
He also noted that hosting obligations were on a rotating basis between PIF members, and that it was New Zealand’s turn.

“Every Cabinet minister should understand that, even if they weren’t told.”

Documents showed Willis had sought an “inflation adjusted” figure to host PIF, and offered Peters NZ$10 million — comparable to the cost of hosting in 2011. A figure of $20 million was ultimately agreed by May.

“Treasury can write their papers as they do about every other portfolio, but in the end it’s about the ministerial negotiations, minister by minister,” Peters said.

“They’re not in charge of foreign policy, we are – and our reach overseas depends upon the skills of our foreign policy team, and the resources we give it.”

RNZ Pacific reported in July that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) had planned for operating costs of $30 million – the same as the original bid.

This was noted as a specific fiscal risk in MFAT’s submission, but was not disclosed in Treasury’s Budget Economic and Fiscal Update.

Cutback not specific
Peters would not say what was likely to go as a result of the cutback.

“We were always going to be very cautious about our expenditure … you can easily waste money in these circumstances.

“Our plan is to have a very efficient, very meaningful PIF hosting experience in this country using all of our past knowledge, and make sure that when it’s over, we have done our responsibility to the max.”

Treasury wrote that the final amount was ultimately agreed on “to reflect that the Forum has increased in scope and importance since 2011”.

A historic cemetery in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, has been vandalised devastating families and local community members.

An Australian-based researcher, who has led the restoration project at the Nikao Cemetery in Rarotonga for 10 years, says those responsible for vandalising the headstones need to be prosecuted.

It was reported this week that a number of headstones were knocked over, including the headstone of researcher Cate Walker’s mother.

• READ MORE: Other Pacific vandalism reports

Walker was notified by the Cook Islands Investment Corporation this week, who sent pictures of the damaged headstones.

Speaking to RNZ Pacific Waves, Walker said the vandalism was something she never expected could happen in the Cook Islands.

“Cemetery vandalism has never happened before,” she said.

“We were just completely shocked and hurt and devastated because everybody there knows the amount of work that we have put into that cemetery over the last 10 plus years.”

Largest burial site
Nikao Cemetery, facing the Rarotonga International Airport and sitting right along a beach, is the largest burial place site for Cook Islands soldiers who served in the First World War.

It is also the final resting place of expats, tourists and cancer patients, including Walker’s mother Gloria Walker who lost her battle to cancer in 1978.

Walker took an interest in the cemetery over a decade ago when she noticed that some of headstones were being washed away and needed saving. Since then a group of volunteers have regularly kept up the site’s maintenance and restoration efforts.

The restoration project has also prompted Walker to research the Cook Islands’ role in military history.

She said when she started her research, she had no prior knowledge of Cook Islands wartime history but from clearing the cemetery from overgrowth she has identified around 200 soldiers. The veterans buried in Nikao are mostly from the Pa Enua, or the outer islands.

Following its clean up, the cemetery has attracted families to visit and reconnect with their loved ones. In July, Walker and her husband Paul Morrissey were awarded Honorary Permanent Residence in the Cook Islands for the project.

Walker suspects there was more than one person involved in the vandalism. Among the damaged headstones was a soldier whose photograph that had been installed by his family was destroyed.

Mortified by desecration
The desecration of the photograph had mortified Walker.

“Someone has defaced that soldier’s picture, that photo of a soldier on that headstone. That’s a sign of someone who is very sick in my opinion, to do that and to desecrate soldiers in general,” she said.

“I mean that just goes against everything that everyone has learned about respect and respect of our veterans in particular.”

Walker said she had not heard whether the Cook Islands Police had launched an investigation but said they needed to find who was responsible.

“This is not the culture of the Cook Islands, I am highly doubtful that it’s someone who was born and raised in the Cook Islands. So if the police can find these individuals, they need to be dealt with hard by the law.

“They need to be assessed and get the help that they need to move forward with their life, apologise to families and the community, actually the whole community.”

Despite the incident, Walker said the response from the community had been heartwarming and a working bee was planned for the weekend.

She said she hoped there would be a large turnout to help with the cemetery’s team of volunteers and that the vandalism would never happen again.

Naoero, formerly known as Nauru, has opened its embassy in Jerusalem, becoming the third Pacific Island nation to do so.

Naoero’s Vice-President Lionel Aingimea said it sent a message to the world about where the island nation stood.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Israel had committed to sending Naoero medical equipment and water purification systems.

• READ MORE: Why most Pacific government’s stand with Israel
• Other Pacific and Israel diplomacy reports

Sa’ar visited Suva in June after the Fiji government opened its own embassy in Jerusalem last year in a ceremony attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Papua New Guinea opened an embassy there in 2023.

Sa’ar said earlier this year that Samoa was also expected to open its Jerusalem embassy this year.

Aingimea said opening an embassy in Jerusalem was a “major political decision”.

‘Strengthening of Israel ties’
“We see opening an embassy here in Jerusalem not only as a strengthening of our ties with Israel, but also as a message to the world of where we stand,” he was quoted as saying in a statement released by the Israeli government.

“There was never a thought in the minds and hearts of Naoero that we would open an embassy here in Jerusalem this year,” he said.

“What changed it? It was born in discussions between myself and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in Fiji. I took it to Cabinet, and Cabinet endorsed it. It was an easy decision to make.”

He added that Naoero’s support for Israel had been “unwavering”.

“Naoero is historically one of Israel’s most reliable and consistent diplomatic allies at the United Nations.

“The United States stands at 93 percent of its votes supporting Israel, the Federated States of Micronesia at 88 percent, and Naoero at 71 percent. Mark my words: that 71 percent will increase very quickly.

“True friends stay consistent through both good times and hard trials, and that is who Naoero is to Israel.”

On the second day of the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting in Palau, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked about the potential participation of Torres Strait Islanders in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) — one of the forum’s three sub-regional groups.

Albanese, alongside his ministers Chris Bowen and Pat Conroy, was holding a press conference at the leaders’ meeting venue in Koror. Bowen holds the climate portfolio while Conroy is Australia’s Minister for Pacific Island affairs.

Conroy responded on behalf of his prime minister.

• READ MORE: West Papua: The Pacific’s new test of Indonesia’s sovereignty narrative
  
• The Pacific’s cocaine highway: will Australia’s $600m deal really help?
• Other Pacific Islands Forum reports

“I was honoured to be the first Australian minister to attend a Melanesian Spearhead Group as an observer in Fiji [in June 2025],” Conroy began.

“Obviously, there’s a process that is going through where the Melanesian Spearhead Group consider whether Australia would be an observer at the MSG. We’re obviously keen to make that happen because we see value in having the people of Australia as an observer through the Australian government at the Melanesian Spearhead Group.”

No mention of the people of Torres Strait Island was made, even after the reporter attempted a follow-up question.

The MSG, which as a starting point acknowledges Torres Strait Islanders as part of its Melanesian family, holds a different view.

The group’s newly appointed Director-General Dr Anna Naupa, speaking to reporters the previous day, said the MSG’s preference was for Australia to include its Melanesian communities, like Torres Strait Islanders, when engaging with it.

“Because of our attention to our Indigenous Melanesian peoples, very much that is the preference, is that we bring and we connect our communities with each other,” Dr Naupa said.

It is a difference in outlook that reflects some of the wider challenges to Australia’s engagement in the Pacific region.

Sometimes the subtleties and nuances of regional politics can be lost or completely dismissed by the Australians.

Climate contradictions
Other times it feels like Australia does not fully appreciate — outwardly at least — how closely watched it is by smaller Pacific nations.

For example, one of the major developments at the leaders’ meeting was the release of a report from the UN Environment Programme, which stated that overshooting the Paris Climate Accord goal of 1.5C was now unavoidable.

It came a day after Albanese’s government supported the opening of a new fracking project in the Northern Territory.

It was also confirmed during the week that Albanese’s government had approved the expansion of an open-cut coal mine in Queensland.

Vanuatu’s Climate Minister Ralph Regenvanu, fresh from a climate media briefing on the UN report release, pointed the finger squarely at the Forum’s largest member in Koror.

“Australia is a great partner for the Pacific in helping adaptation and renewable energy pathways, and that’s all good,” he said.

“But as I said … in the press conference, fossil fuels remain the primary driver [of rising temperatures]. And if you expand fossil fuels, you’re not recognising the declaration you signed up to yourself, which is Boe, which says it’s the greatest single threat to the peoples of the Pacific.

“So that is a contradiction that Australia needs to find a way out of,” Regenvanu said.

Climate featured heavily
Similar to previous years, climate change featured heavily in the leaders’ meeting communique this year.

Leaders signed off on the Belau declaration for urgent and inclusive climate action to keep 1.5C within reach through it. As part of that, the Boe Declaration was recalled.

Leaders also reaffirmed that “climate change remains the single greatest threat to the security, livelihoods, wellbeing and future of the peoples of the Pacific”.

For his part, Albanese did not miss a beat when questioned about whether his government’s commitment to the climate crisis was geniune.

“We all need to do more,” he told reporters.

He also made the point that Pacific leaders understood Australia’s current reliance on fossil fuels and “have respect for the position that we’ve taken” — directly contradicting Regenvanu’s words.

“They also understand with the transition [away from fossil fuels] — because they’re dealing with it as well — that the transition can’t happen overnight, that it requires strategies and policies to be put in place,” Albanese said.

It’s not new for countries in the Pacific to have different outlooks — but when it comes to these regional big issues, there’s a gap between the Australian view and those of the Pacific islands that may suggest a lack of understanding of the latter by the former.

Security arrangements
In regard to traditional security, Australia’s been building an array of treaties and bilateral agreements with different partners across the region over several years and particularly in recent months.

These include the Ocean of Peace Alliance or Veitacini Treaty with Fiji, which other parties may eventually join, the Nakamal agreement with Vanuatu, the Pukpuk treaty with Papua New Guinea, the Nauru-Australia Treaty and the Falepili Union with Tuvalu.

Despite that, it will likely have come away from this year’s forum feeling slightly short-changed because there were signs of a handbrake being applied on this security stuff, amid concerns from Pacific islanders about where it’s all heading, and how quickly it’s going that way.

As part of the Forum’s peace and security agenda, the Joint Heads of Pacific Security (JHOPS) which is headquartered at Australia’s Department of Defence, has been tabled under the review of the regional architecture.

The JHOPS brings together the heads of police, military, customs and immigration agencies from across the region. Japan and the US are observers.

Civil society group Pacific Action Network on Globalisation (PANG) has raised serious concerns about the insertion of JHOPS and a regional deployment framework into the forum-led security architecture.

Its main concern is the lack of scrutiny over the process, and the potential legal structures that may result which lock Pacific nations into security arrangements they hadn’t foreseen or agreed to.

Further consultation needed
In Koror, PANG along with the Pacific Regional NGO Organisations Alliance was represented by Joey Tau.

He told RNZ Pacific he was pleased leaders had only agreed in principle to recognise JHOPS as part of the Forum-led security architecture, noting in the communique that further consultation would be needed.

Similarly, the Waqa Moana maritime security initiative targeting illicit drug trafficking, backed heavily by Australia, was only agreed to in principle by leaders, with the overall decision seeking more consultation.

To add to that, the proposal from the Solomon Islands for a regional security treaty, which Australia’s said it was open to, has been kicked down the road. Leaders chose to note the proposal and acknowledged further consultation among members.

Overall, as Tau, pointed out, there are still major questions over the direction of the reform of the forum’s regional architecture, and the processes and people guiding it.

“We’re in a state where, not only external parties, but member states who are part of the whole architecture are driving security agreements, compacts, initiatives, without proper consultation,” he said.

For Australia, which has steadily increased its activity and engagement in the region, particularly around security, it may be questioning where exactly the speedbumps emerged at last week’s Forum leaders’ summit.

The resourcing it brings will always afford it a seat at the table, and there is no doubt its investment in the Pacific in areas such as sport, particularly rugby league has gone down well.

But understanding how to discuss contentious issues and negotiate in Pacific circles are not skills that come automatically with “big ticket” agreements and promises — they are honed through relationships, experience and being in the room.

Time in the region will also let you know that more often than not, decisions turn on a dime, as the absence of several leaders from the forum showed last week. It’s all part and parcel of politics in the Pacific region.

Labour is calling the government’s stance on Israel an “embarrassment” to the country, and says it is failing to meet its responsibilities under the Genocide Convention.

Britain, France and Canada are set to ban imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, with British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband saying Israel is turning a blind eye to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

However, New Zealand has not followed suit, with Foreign Minister Winston Peters saying New Zealand has not traditionally used trade measures to address foreign policy issues.

• READ MORE: Peters’ ‘hot air’ over Israeli settlement trade ban rules out of step with world
• Palestine Forum condemns NZ for talk, no ‘meaningful action’ over illegal Israeli settlements
• NZ joins call to end Israeli settlement expansion, but not import ban
• UK, France, Canada to ban imports from Israeli settlements — NZ critical but stops short of joining
• UK bans goods from Israeli West Bank settlements in ‘comprehensive reset’: What that really means
• Other Gaza, Palestine reports

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said that if Labour was in government, New Zealand would be joining the sanctions against Israel.

He said the government’s position on Gaza had also been “weak for the last three years” and it was failing to fulfill its responsibilities as a signatory to the international protocol against genocide.

“The current government’s position on Israel is an embarrassment to the country,” he said.

“We should be sanctioning Israel along with like-minded countries like the UK, Canada, and France. These are our friends who are now saying that what Israel is doing is wrong and they should be sanctioned for it.”

He said Labour would also be formally recognising Palestine.

“New Zealand’s missing in action when it comes to taking a principled stance on what’s happening in Gaza. There is an unfolding genocide happening.”

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said the foreign minister’s statement was the government’s position.

‘There is an inconsistency in what we’re saying’, says academic
Waikato University law professor Alexander Gillespie said the government was wrong not to join the trade sanctions, saying there was an inconsistency in New Zealand’s approach.

“The Europeans have it right. New Zealand’s response is that we don’t like blanket bans, and that with the 38 settlers that we’ve got travel bans on, that that’s a targeted approach,” he said.

He said when it came to Russia and Ukraine, it was justifiable to do so with an International Court of Justice opinion to support it, and New Zealand did use trade to influence foreign policy.

“So there is an inconsistency in what we’re saying right now.”

He said imposing sanctions on Israel would take “a considerable amount of work” but “if they want to do it, they can do it”.

“You’ve just seen that with 12 other countries that have joined together to do it, but where New Zealand’s positioned itself is with Australia where we’ve decided not to do that right now, and there will be political reasons for that.

“Partly it’s got to do with the non-recognition of Palestine, because if you recognise Palestine, you ultimately agree to the self-determination of the Palestinian people, and that would mean you’ve got to do more against illegal annexation than other countries.”

He said New Zealand had good rhetoric around supporting a two-state solution but the measures taken against Israel were “nowhere near as strong as … other countries”.

He pushed back on the suggestion that imposing sanctions could escalate the situation for those in the Palestinian Territories, saying “I don’t think you could escalate the situation much more than where it is now”.

Where it might get complicated was if US President Donald Trump decided to back Israel and introduce further trade tariffs against countries sanctioning the occupied territories.

‘Remember what happened last time’, says ACT
ACT leader David Seymour noted while the government was concerned about settlements that breached international law, New Zealand was “a trading nation — we don’t generally use trade bans to make political points”.

He said the conflict in the Middle East “changes at such a rate of knots I don’t think anyone really knows where it’ll be at next week”.

“We’ve got eight weeks before the next election, but it does remind me that just before the last election, we saw that absolutely barbaric and disgraceful attack by terrorists of innocent people at a music festival, and if we’re going to talk about the run-up to the election, sometimes we should remember what happened last time.”

Govt ‘just find excuses not to do something’, say Greens
The Greens’ Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teanau Tuiono said the government’s statement was weak, and trade sanctions would be a good step forward.

“What has our government done? Nothing. All it does is follow what the US does, and as Israel’s strongest ally as well, and we don’t hear anything from this government as well.

“There was an opportunity for the government to do something meaningful when other like-minded countries were recognising the state of Palestine, and this government dipped even though the official advice to the Minister for Foreign Affairs was to recognise the state of Palestine — and he didn’t.

“It’s a weak statement. It’s a pattern of behaviour of weak non-action from the government, and it’s disappointing.”

Greens co-leader Chloe Swarbrick has had a member’s bill in the ballot since December 2024, and has been pleading for support on it from across the aisle — which would see it skip the biscuit tin ballot — for well over a year.

With Labour promising its support, Swarbrick a year ago was punished by Parliament’s Speaker for a week after saying if they could find “six of 68 government MPs with a spine we can stand on the right side of history”.

An Australian senator says the release of terms for a controversial deportation deal between Australia and Naoero (formerly Nauru) raises more questions than it answers.

The Australian government has released an agreement to deport more than 350 refugees and asylum seekers to Naoero, known as the “NZYQ cohort”.

Shrouded in secrecy, the government has been hesitant to release the deal, offering details in bite-sized pieces over the course of last year.

• READ MORE: Other Australian offshore refugee reports

One such revelation came from Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in August 2025, when he said the deal gave Naoero AU$2.5 billion over 30 years.

Green Party Senator David Shoebridge, who has led efforts to hold the government to account for grievances over the NZYQ affair, told RNZ Pacific the release only scratches the surface.

“The government has been far from forthright,” Shoebridge said.

“[It has] resisted and made multiple privilege claims for basic information that we have sought about not just this agreement: there’s another whole memorandum which sets up the financial arrangement … they are continuing to resist producing that document.”

High Court ruling
Australia turned to Naoero and its long-standing offshore processing arrangements with the Pacific country to solve a problem created for it by a High Court ruling in late 2023.

A stateless man who had been in Australia for more than a decade — known anonymously as NZYQ — had sued the Federal government for his treatment in a detention centre where he had been held indefinitely.

The court found that the government had no legal right to detain a stateless person within the country: that was the job of the judicial branch. It resulted in around 150 detained refugees being automatically freed — the “cohort”.

The deal with Naoero thus became a work-around: keep the cohort off Australian streets, without the use of detention.

The Australian Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC), which represents deportees traumatised by their experiences in offshore processing, said the deal was not worth the paper it was written on.

“The Nauru deal has been in effect for just over a year, and we have already learned about the involvement of organised crime in propping it up,” HRLC director Sanmati Verma said.

“[Australia’s] willingness to scapegoat migrants shows they have no real solutions to offer.”

The details
As per the agreement, signed in August of last year, Naoero is under obligations that can be sidestepped only with Australia’s consultation. But as the only country contracted to process Australian detainees, Naoero may have some leverage.

Under the terms, Naoero is only able to unilaterally refuse a “proposed person” under exceptional circumstances, accepting them “without any reservation in relation to age, past offences, health conditions or other characteristics”.

If somebody is declined, it has to be due to “a serious and immediate risk to the public health or national security” of the country.

Once there, it is agreed that the person would not be detained, separated from the community, or generally restricted in movement, with the right to leave at any time. They are given work rights and an oligation to “modest” cost of living support.

Once they have received a long-stay visa, which has a 30-year term, they would become a “settled person” with a commitment from Naoero not to send or return them to another country where they would be in danger or at risk of chain refoulement.

But their status as a “settled person” depends on their having that visa, which Naoero could work with Australia to amend.

Shoebridge said if Naoero had a change of heart, this could kneecap the protections as given.

“[Deportees] are just protected as long as Nauru feels it’s in their interest to protect it,” he said.

“As soon as another Nauruan government comes in and decides they want to remove work rights, or they want to take away any obligation to provide basic sustenance, or they want to create a detention camp to put people into … it just has to give the Australian government notice and an opportunity to consult.”

He said the lack of connection that the deportees have with Naoero could make this more likely.

“The idea that we’re deporting people who we’ve found to be refugees to a country to which they have no connection, which has almost no economic capacity to deal with them, and which gives them almost no future to hope for: this is a new level of bastardry from Australia.”

Nothing new
The released document reveals nothing new about the broader arrangements outside of NZYQ

Environment Minister Murray Watt wrote last week that the government had reconsidered withholding the document “due to recent events”, with it being an “action to mitigate the potential harm.”

“The Minister [Burke] is now satisfied that the public interests weigh towards releasing this document,” he wrote in a cover letter, the government having argued the opposite for months.

Officials have been scrutinised by the senators, including Shoebridge, under an inquiry into offshore processing that kicked off earlier in the year.

It canvassed the legacy of the old Manus Island offshore detention facility in Papua New Guinea, and the long-running opaque arrangements with Naoero that continue today.

The inquiry heard testimony from traumatised detainees, who recalled the harassment and constant danger they faced in these offshore processing centres throughout the 2010s.

“It’s disastrous for their physical health, or their mental health, we’ve seen man epidemic of self-harm and tragically some people taking their lives,” Shoebridge said.

“We know what happens because past experience has told us this, and in order to deal with a political problem that the government thinks it has here, they’re willing to do that harm to yet more people.”

Australia also deports individuals to New Zealand under Section 501 of the Australian Migration Act.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders summit in Palau last week that that this, and the NZYQ deportations, had in no way contributed to a transnational organised crime crisis in the region.

“If people who aren’t Australian citizens commit crimes in Australia, we’re entitled to implement Australian law, just as other countries are,” he said.

“The objective here is to do everything we can, working with out partners and neighbours, to reduce crime… including with our friends.”

A leading West Papua pro-independence group has questioned Indonesia’s assertion that a proposed visit by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to West Papua is “on track”.

The West Papua National Committee (KNPB) is urging Indonesia to put its words into action on the proposed visit with a clear date, genuine access and meaningful engagement.

This comes after Melanesian countries last week urged Jakarta to facilitate the long-requested visit or have Indonesia’s status as an associate member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group reviewed.

• READ MORE: West Papua: The Pacific’s new test of Indonesia’s sovereignty narrative — Ali Mirin
• UN human rights commissioner visit to West Papua on track, says Indonesia
• Other West Papua reports

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

In the intervening years, frustration has built up among the Melanesian countries in particular that Indonesia has not yet allowed the visit to take place.

In response to last week’s statement from the MSG, the Indonesian government told RNZ Pacific that the visit was on track, without elaborating on details.

“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,” an Indonesian spokesperson said.

Concrete, verifiable action
The KNPB’s international spokesperson, Victor Yeimo, said that for the Papuan people, Indonesia’s statement about the visit being on track must now translate into concrete, verifiable action.

“If the visit is genuinely on track, we respectfully ask: What is the timeline? What practical arrangements are being made? And when will the High Commissioner be able to visit West Papua and engage directly with the Papuan people?” he asked.

“The question is whether the United Nations’ highest human rights official will now be given meaningful and independent access to assess the wider human rights situation.”

Yeimo said that in Papua the High Commissioner should be allowed to engage freely with Indigenous communities, victims of human rights violations, displaced persons, civil society, churches, human rights defenders and other affected communities.

“Such engagement should take place without intimidation, surveillance or reprisals, and without restricting who communities are able to speak with or what concerns they are able to raise.

“The Papuan people do not ask the international community simply to accept our narrative. Nor do we ask it simply to accept Jakarta’s narrative,” Yeimo said.

“We ask the United Nations to come, listen directly and assess the situation for itself. That is the purpose of an independent human rights assessment.

For 20 years, West Papuan activist Paula Makabory has not set foot in her ancestral homeland. Her family still lives in West Papua, but she has not seen them since she left in 2006.

Speaking to RNZ Pacific Waves from Melbourne, Makabory said she did not know what would happen if she attempted to return.

As Pacific leaders push Jakarta to allow a long-awaited United Nations Human Rights Commissioner visit to West Papua, Makabory, who is an executive member of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), said the leaders needed to apply more pressure on Indonesia.

• READ MORE: West Papua: The Pacific’s new test of Indonesia’s sovereignty narrative
• UN human rights commissioner visit to West Papua on track, says Indonesia
• Other West Papua reports

In 2019, Pacific leaders requested that Indonesia allow a team from the UN Human Rights Office to visit West Papua to conduct an independent investigation into the alleged human rights abuses in the region.

Seven years later, the request for the visit has been unfruitful.

But this year during the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Palau, the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) stated that if Indonesia did not allow the visit to happen, they would review its associate membership status in their 2027 summit.

In a statement sent to RNZ Pacific, a spokesperson for the Indonesian embassy in New Zealand said there had been no discussion of a review on its membership within the MSG. They also stated that the UN visit was “on track”.

Makabory said she would believe the visit was happening when Indonesia made good on its commitment.

“I think it’s going to be great news if it comes to action for real, because it has been a couple of years that Indonesia is still not talking or even inviting the United Nations human rights commissioner, or her office to visit West Papua to conduct an independent investigation,” she said.

Makabory said the prime ministers of Fiji and Papua New Guinea needed to negotiate a firm timeline with Indonesia for the visit, otherwise Indonesia would “never open the door”.

Melanesians ‘need to stand up strong’
Makabory said the situation in West Papua was worsening, with humanitarian and environmental concerns at a crisis point.

According to Makabory, there are more than 125,000 Indigenous Papuans who are internally displaced across multiple regencies, including Nduga, Intan Jaya, Puncak, Yahukimo, Pegunungan Bintang, Jayawijaya, Maybrat, Teluk Bintuni, Yapen Islands and Tambrauw. The displacements, she said, was the result of military operations, aerial bombings and armed conflicts.

There are more than 80,000 Indonesian security forces operating in West Papua who Makabory alleges are responsible for extrajudicial executions, civilian shootings and disrupting peaceful protests.

Makabory also raised concerns about the expansion of the Merauke food estate and mining operations, saying they are destroying Indigenous land and contributing to deforestation and environmental damage.

In addition to the UN human rights office, Indonesia needs to allow other international groups, such as humanitarians and foreign journalists, to enter, Makabory said.

She added that this could only happen if the MSG used its influence with Indonesia rather than signing deals.

“I think the MSG countries or leaders as guardians of our region, they need to stand up strong. They need to see that West Papua belongs to Melanesia, and they need to protect their own kind.”

A review of Indonesia’s associate membership in 2027 on the condition that no visit would happen was not strong enough, according to Makabory. She said the MSG should take it a step further and suspend Indonesia.

Despite being barred from returning to West Papua, Makabory told Pacific Waves it is her homeland and nothing compares to it. She said she believes that the spirit of the Melanesian brotherhood and Pacific islanders will lead to a path that will “save West Papua”.

New Zealand’s Tibetan community said it was shocked to see the devastation caused by last week’s catastrophic flash flood near the Nepal-China border.

The community said the disaster had also highlighted ongoing concerns about the impact of increasing infrastructure construction and deforestation on the Tibetan Plateau.

“It’s absolutely shocking and very sad but it also reminds us how fragile our environment is, especially in Tibet,” said Gadhen Paljor, president of the Auckland Tibetan Association.

• READ MORE: Rescue efforts continue as Nepal-China flood death toll rises to 1280
• Not if, but when next? — Nepali Times editorial
• Other Nepal reports

Paljor was born in the Himalayan mountains while his parents were fleeing Tibet.

He has been living in New Zealand for the past 25 years.

Paljor said Auckland’s Tibetan community held special prayers for the victims of the flash flood.

He said a Tibetan refugee settlement in Nepal had been washed away in the floodwaters.

“One of the settlements had about 11 households, and it has all been swept away sadly,” he said.

Construction impact
Paljor was worried about the impact of increased construction and deforestation in the Tibetan region.

In late 2025, China approved construction of what is set to become the world’s largest hydropower dam on the Tibetan Plateau.

The South China Morning Post said the dam would be situated in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo, where the river drops 2000 metres over a 50 km stretch, creating immense hydropower potential.

Paljor said he had not heard much news from Tibet since the flash flood because information was reportedly being tightly controlled.

Concerns about access to information had also emerged before the floods.

Nepali and Chinese officials met in Kathmandu three months ago to discuss the risks posed by floods, glaciers and weather hazards.

The May 27 meeting called for stronger cooperation, including joint monitoring, glacial lake inventories and hazard mapping.

Limited risk data
But two Nepali officials told Reuters they received less information than they wanted from China about glacier risks and water levels, raising concerns that limited data sharing could hamper disaster preparedness.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Nepal rejected the allegation, saying China had been providing Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology with key data daily.

“China has always upheld the spirit of humanitarianism, fully supported Nepal’s disaster response decision-making, and taken concrete actions to safeguard the lives and property of our two countries,” the spokesperson said.

“China will continue to help Nepal to overcome the difficulties and rebuild our homes.”

State news agency Xinhua said on Thursday that 21 deaths in China had been reported in the disaster, with another 541 missing.

Meanwhile, rescue teams in Nepal have recovered more than 1250 bodies, and more than 5000 are missing, according to media reports.

Five missing from NZ
Five New Zealanders remain among the missing in the disaster: Dejan Kuzmic, Shweta Mhatre, Mihir Patel, Kinnari Patel and Suhasini Reddy.

However, more than half a dozen New Zealanders narrowly escaped the deadly flash floods after their Auckland-based tour operator decided to cross the Nepal-China border a day earlier than first planned.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Friday there had been no change to the status of the five missing New Zealanders.

“Challenges on the ground mean that new, verified information is going to take time to emerge,” the spokesperson said, describing the situation on the ground as being “very bleak”.

On Thursday, a spokesperson from the ministry said New Zealand had extended an offer of technical expertise to aid Nepal’s response effort, in addition to humanitarian assistance worth $2 million announced on August 28.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.