Australia and the Pacific
Australia's marriage-equality debate reverberates through the Pacific
Harriet Smith is an intern in the Melanesia Program, Lowy Institute.
As the LGBTQ+ community in Australia continues the struggle for marriage equality, some are asking what…
Mapping Pacific aid: Facebook, India and money laundering
Mapping China’s opaque aid program in the Pacific Islands was more complicated and time-consuming than I had anticipated. I made peace with this fact when I found myself building…
Pacific links: Fiji's budget, Ok Tedi restructure, renewables, holiday reading and more
Matthew Dornan takes a look at Fiji’s 2016 budget. He notes that while the overall economic situation in Fiji is sound, the major policy reversals and long list of ad hoc…
Pacific Island links: COP21, New Caledonian nickel, PNG education system and more
The outcomes of the Paris climate change talks have been praised by Pacific Island leaders. PNG’s Minister for National Planning, Charles Abel, spoke to Pacific Beat about the…
Aid & development links: new C'wealth chief, metadata census, fundraising costs and more
The Commonwealth has announced its first female secretary-general, Baroness Patricia Scotland. The Baroness’ first task should be to beef up the effectiveness of their aid work…
Pacific Island links: AFP in PNG, female MPs, Vanuatu election, remittances and more
A former AFP officer posted in PNG has made a number of allegations about the conduct of local police and the AFP presence in PNG, claiming the AFP's actions are constrained by…
The rebuild Fiji democracy project: set back by threat to police independence
Fiji's 2013 constitution calls for a separation of powers between military and police (Photo: Getty)
Fiji’s Police Commissioner Ben Groenewald ended his contract this week. The…
Trouble in New Caledonia over links with China
Nickel mine at Thio, Southern Province, New Caledonia Photo: DeAgostini/Getty Images
In August the economy of the nickel-rich French territory of New Caledonia ground to a halt…
Turnbull's new cabinet is great news for the Pacific
On Monday, Prime Minister Turnbull unveiled a new cabinet with sweeping changes to the front bench. The most important point for the Pacific is that Julie Bishop retains her…
Could PNG teach Australia a thing or two about political stability?
Australian officials used to fret about the so-called 'arc of instability' of Melanesian nations in our neighbourhood, with particular concern about regular votes of no confidence…