Pacific Islands

Baby BRIs It is now almost three years since Prime Minister Scott Morrison muscled up to China’s infrastructure building Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with $3 billion in varied funding to create an Australian alternative mostly in the Pacific. So, it was notable to see that when the Council of

China’s increasing attention to the Pacific region has created an uncomfortable bind for Australian foreign policy: should Canberra try to compete on economic grounds, knowing that it can’t outspend Beijing, or find another way to differentiate itself? Last week, former Department of Foreign

The third and final self-determination referendum in New Caledonia will take place on 12 December – the date settled after a week of ministerial consultations in Paris commencing last month between loyalists, independence advocates and the French government. This ballot will decide whether the

Papua New Guinea will conduct its tenth national election in 2022. A by-election held this week for the Port Moresby North West (MNW) electorate provides a preview of what to expect next year. In PNG, a by-election is required when a vacancy occurs more than a year before the return of writs

Fiji’s capital Suva has been in and out of Covid lockdowns over recent weeks, and my Netflix got a workout. I watched a TV show called “Cooked with Cannabis”. Admittedly there were a few baked hippies, but the cooking was good. Jokes aside, the show revealed the sophisticated and

A video recently surfaced on social media in Papua New Guinea, featuring a group of about 20 men, gathered around their apparent leader, declaring war on Indonesia. “People of East Sepik,” the leader says, referring to one of the two provinces which stretch along PNG’s northern coastline

When we look at progress in decentralisation in Papua New Guinea over the last 20 years – the sole continuous and overriding policy priority of successive governments – many challenges remain to improve downstream service delivery. Programming for “social accountability” shifts the focus

At present, Port Moresby’s sports fields are silent. The Covid-19 pandemic has temporarily halted what would ordinarily be a gathering in the Papua New Guinea capital of deafening crowds to enjoy high-spirited games. Hopefully once the virus is brought under control, the excitement will return.

The recent stoush between the Australian government and social media giant Facebook, with its eight-day-long ban of local news from its platform, had results that were not confined to Australia. Facebook’s block of Australian news also highlighted the vulnerability of information security in the

The tragedy of 51 people murdered and many more injured two years ago by an Australian-born far-right extremist was commemorated in Christchurch this week by the New Zealand government along with family and friends of the victims. For the community – in New Zealand most importantly, but also in

Corruption is one of the biggest challenges in Papua New Guinea, according to Transparency International PNG. In 2020, the government successfully established the Independent Commission Against Corruption to protect government systems and provide whistleblowers a mechanism for reporting complaints.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact globally, with more than 114 million cases and 2.5 million deaths. With 1365 cases and 14 deaths, Papua New Guinea has fared better than most, even though experts believe the infection rate is much higher than reported. The recent rise in reported

Last week, the issue of depriving an individual of their citizenship because of terrorist activity made headlines once again. An alleged Islamic State member, Suhayra Aden, had been detained by Turkish authorities crossing from Syria into Turkey and was being readied for deportation to New Zealand.

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, the first Maori woman in that role, hit the ground running in her first few months in office. Not only did her appointment break barriers for Indigenous women in international affairs, she has also begun to outline a stunning example of what an

Following the publication of this article I have written an apology.  The bloc of Micronesian nations have had a toddler’s tantrum after missing out on their choice to be the next Secretary General of the Pacific Island Forum. “But it was my turn!” So off stomps Nauru – protectorate

Pacific nations have mostly escaped the heavy death toll and hospital bed shortages faced by Western countries battling Covid-19, but the pandemic has dealt a disproportionately severe blow to the region’s economic ambitions. But with the rollout of vaccines and economic recovery in sight in China

Next Wednesday, 3 February, leaders from 18 Pacific states and territories will convene online for a Pacific Islands Forum “Special” Leaders Retreat. The agenda is a brief one – to appoint a new Secretary General of the Forum to replace the formidable Dame Meg Taylor, whose six-year tenure

The growing synergy among the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue powers of Australia, Japan, the United States and India has provided a crucial impetus to the security architecture of the Indo-Pacific. Bilateral ties between these four states have also seen positive growth, largely a result of “like-

  So was this serious? Or have the past month’s political events been a cunningly disguised economic rescue package for Papua New Guinea’s resort and restaurant industries? It was more than a month ago that PNG was thrown into political crisis when Deputy Prime Minister Sam Basil led a

Another season of turmoil has swept politics in Papua New Guinea. The Supreme Court has ruled the recent budget sitting to be unlawful, ordering the parliament to resume on Monday while the prospect a no confidence motion in Prime Minister James Marape hangs in the air. But for all the raucous

The recent move to cut billions of pounds from the United Kingdom’s foreign aid budget was long feared by advocates. As result, one minister has flagged her resignation, and others have made threats to cross the floor. The reduction of the UK’s aid spend from 0.7% to 0.5% of gross national

  That late November 2020 would herald a period of potential political instability in Papua New Guinea was a given. It has been 18 months since James Marape ousted Peter O’Neill as the country’s prime minister, and a grace period protecting Marape from a vote of no confidence is due to