Prime Minister Marape Reinforces PNG's Commitment At MSG
The summit, chaired by Fiji this year, brings together leaders from all Melanesian states and the FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front of New Caledonia) to address shared priorities such as climate action, trade, regional security, and decolonisation efforts.
Prime Minister Marape is accompanied by the higher education minister, Feo Kinoka. His attendance underscores Papua New Guinea's commitment as a founding and senior member of the MSG, an organisation established in 1986 to strengthen political, economic, and cultural ties among Melanesian nations.
Vanuatu has handed over its role as chairperson to Fiji. This transition preceded the formal opening of the MSG Leaders Plenary meeting and a closed-door Leaders' Retreat. Prime Minister Marape is expected to deliver Papua New Guinea's country statement, reaffirming the nation's dedication to strengthening MSG cooperation while reinforcing broader regional partnerships through the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
"The Pacific region stands at a crossroads. We must take a proactive approach to safeguarding our sovereignty, protecting our resources, and ensuring that our voices are heard on the global stage. Our collective efforts must also voice strongly against human rights abuses in our region and for respect for all our people and members of our Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), the Melanesian Spearhead Group community, and others."
He is also anticipated to advocate for reforms within regional organisations to ensure they remain responsive, inclusive, and capable of meeting current and future development and security challenges.
A significant aspect of Prime Minister Marape's engagement in Fiji includes high-level political talanoa consultations with the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) of the PIF. These discussions are taking place on the sidelines of the MSG Leaders' Meeting and are part of a wider regional effort led by the PIF to enhance Pacific solidarity and strategic cooperation.
The talanoa process will focus on critical issues such as regional security, climate change, fisheries resource management, political governance, national sovereignty, and the institutional reforms of both regional and sub-regional groupings in the Pacific.
Prime Minister Marape has consistently called for a reformed and united Pacific architecture, and he is expected to advocate for stronger collaboration between MSG members and the wider Pacific community. He has emphasised the importance of regional ownership, institutional capacity-building, and ensuring that regional decision-making remains grounded in Pacific cultural values while embracing innovation, inclusion, and resilience.
The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) is present at the MSG meeting as an observer, and there have been calls for West Papua to be included as a full member of the MSG. This ongoing discussion reflects a persistent aspiration for greater recognition and self-determination for West Papua within the Melanesian family.
It is understood that Prime Minister Marape will also highlight his discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron on New Caledonia. These discussions typically centre on the decolonisation process in New Caledonia and the future of the FLNKS, which is a member of the MSG, reflecting a shared regional interest in the self-determination of the Kanak people.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
16-07-2025
- Scoop
Pacific Trade Ministers To Meet In Fiji
Minister of State for Trade and Investment Minister of State for Trade and Investment Nicola Grigg will travel to Fiji this week to attend the Pacific Island Forum's Trade Ministers Meeting (FTMM). 'Trade plays a critical role in getting more money into your back pocket, helping you and your family to thrive. It drives employment, economic growth, and lifts the standard of living in NewZealand and across the Pacific,' Ms Grigg says. The Pacific Island Forum's (PIF) biennial Trade Ministers Meeting will be held in Suva on 18 July. It is a key regional event, bringing together Pacific trade ministers to discuss and shape the future of trade and economic integration. 'The Government is strongly committed to supporting Pacific Island countries to grow the positive impacts of trade. New Zealand's attendance at the FTMM signals our continued commitment to regional cooperation, resilience, and leadership in advancing Pacific trade priorities under the 2050 Strategy for the Pacific Blue Continent,' Ms Grigg says. 'This key regional meeting provides a timely platform to discuss the critical importance of the rules-based trading system, with the World Trade Organisation at its core. This structure is particularly vital for small countries like New Zealand and PIF members. We are best served by a world in which trade flows freely governed by rules. 'I will attend a Fiji NewZealand Business Council event where the Council will launch its strategy to help reach the joint NewZealand and Fiji goal of lifting two-way trade to NZ$2 billion by 2030. 'I also look forward to engaging with my PACER Plus Ministerial counterparts. PACER Plus is the largest and most comprehensive trade agreement in our region. It is helping both large and small businesses — including women-led businesses — to grow; reduce costs through e-commerce and enhance regulatory cooperation between governments, streamline customs processes, paperless trade, and provisions on investment that protect investors; and to promote cross-border investment flows. 'While PACER Plus is a trade agreement, with currently 10 parties, that also speaks to the bonds between our nations, as neighbours, partners, and family, whose interests, prosperity, and well-being are intertwined.' The goal of lifting joint two-way trade with Fiji and New Zealand was set by our Prime Ministers in June last year. The Joint Statement by the Prime Ministers of Fiji and New Zealand can be read here.
Scoop
10-07-2025
- Scoop
Vanuatu Seeks Visa-Free Access To Australia Before Renewing Strategic Pact
Vanuatu and Australia are set to re-sign an important strategic agreement in September, but its ratification may be stymied by immigration demands. The Vanuatu Australia Nakamal Partnership Agreement, a framework for development cooperation between the two nations, was first signed in 2022 to "jointly address critical priorities", covering security, trade and development. Local media have reported Prime Minister Jotham Napat wants visa-free access to Australia otherwise "the deal is off". Napat inherited the Nakamal agreement from previous Vanuatu Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau. At the time, Penny Wong signed the agreement for Australia as foreign minister. Wong still holds this portfolio. The Lowy Institute's Pacific geopolitical expert Mihai Sora said Napat was pushing for change in an environment that favoured Pacific nations. The Nakamal deal was part of Australia's ongoing efforts to demonstrate its role as the region's primary security provider, he said. "The context right now in the Pacific is of intense competition for influence, for access [and] for being the preferred partner whether it's in the development space or the security space or the economic space. "So, this gives individual Pacific countries a great deal of leverage to essentially get better deals from traditional partners and get better deals from new partners as well." Australia's strict visa regime has been a long-standing political issue in the Pacific region. Leaders from different nations have repeatedly asked for free movement of people across the region in recent years. Currently, all Pacific national must get a visa to enter Australia. The costs of that, and prolonged processing times were common complaints. In New Zealand, changes to visa requirements were ushered in at the weekend. Now, Pacific nationals with visitor visas can enter the country multiple times within a 24-month period. Previously, an individual had to apply for a visa each time they wanted to come to New Zealand. In November, a 12-month trial aimed at making it easier to go from Australia and New Zealand for nationals from Pacific Island Forum (PIF) countries is also due to begin. Under the trial anyone from a PIF country with a valid Australian visa will be able to enter New Zealand for up to three months with just an electronic travel authority. The electronic travel authority is what's issued to nationals from countries on New Zealand's visa-waiver list. Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has also told RNZ Pacific: "Australia is pleased to be working with the Vanuatu government on the Nakamal Agreement to elevate our bilateral relationship". Sora believes Napat had focused on visa-free access as a negotiating tactic. While he thought Australia was unlikely to concede to the demand, he said some change in immigration rules was possible. "There are a number of ways to reform the existing visa regime that that makes it an easier process for Pacific nationals seeking to enter Australia, whether it's for short term or longer term," he said. "It could be to do with the cost of those processes, which as we know, are very, very high particularly for individuals that are coming from low-income households. He said the time it takes for those applications to be processed can also be "hugely disruptive". "It can take many, many months and there's plenty of examples of people's plans…[basically] evaporating because it's just taken too long for a visa to be processed," he said. "The ask may be seen as unrealistic and unreasonable, but the end result - after negotiations - it may be…possible to see some improvements at least in the practical effect of how that visa regime is experienced by not just ni-Vanuatu but other Pacific Islanders seeking to travel to Australia." A spokesperson from DFAT said Australia was looking forward to continuing work with Vanautu on the agreement, which focused on "boosting our economic, security and people-to-people connections".
RNZ News
10-07-2025
- RNZ News
Marape's forest promised dismissed as 'empty gesture' by PNG advocacy group
Logging ship, Turubu Bay, East Sepik (taken from cover image of 'The FCA Logging Scandal' report). Photo: Oakland Institute A community advocacy group in Papua New Guinea says Prime Minister James Marape's promise to stop issuing new forestry licences will do nothing to stop illegal logging destroying the country's remaining forests. Marape reportedly told the Green Climate Fund in Port Moresby that no new forestry licences will be issued after 16 September, PNG's 50th anniversary. He pleaded with the international community to act urgently and decisively to preserve the world's oceans and forests, calling them the lungs and lifeline of our plant. But ACT NOW campaign manager Eddie Tanago calls this an empty gesture because current licences will allow logging for many years to come, especially with the government failing to enforce its own rules. "Stopping new licences will not stop the illegal logging that is destroying our forests and will not stop the human rights abuses by foreign logging companies and their tax evasion and money laundering," he said. Tanago said licences already in play will remain valid for decades and the prime minister's promise will not stop these licences being extended in the future. He said at least one-third of current log exports still come from areas that were issued logging permits in the colonial era, 50 years or more ago. According to ACT NOT, these are permits that have been repeatedly renewed without the consent of the current generations of resource owners. Tanago also points to ample evidence show logging companies routinely operate outside their logging permit boundaries, but the authorities never action to stop them. He said the National Forest Board placed a moratorium on issuing new Forest Clearing Authority (FCA) licences more than two-years ago, but one-third of log exports are still coming from these FCA areas. This is despite the published evidence that the FCA licences were obtained under the guise of bogus agriculture projects and the logging is illegal. ACT NOW said the PNG Forest Authority has proved to be totally incapable or unwilling to enforce Papua New Guinea's forestry laws and as a result illegal logging and associated forest crimes remain unchallenged. Tanago said if if Marape is serious about preserving the country's forests, "then he should order a full public inquiry into the FCA logging scandal and order the suspension of all log exports until the legality of individual licences has been independently verified."
