Latest news with #KayaSelby
Scoop
22-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Budget 2025: Pasifika Community Braces For Impact
Kaya Selby Experts and leaders in the Pasifika community are bracing for the impact of tightened government spending. With the government injecting less new money in this year's Budget, savings from elsewhere are expected to pay for new projects. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will deliver her second Budget on Thursday. She said the Budget "is about prioritising your taxpayer money carefully and ensuring that we're actually nourishing the growth that ultimately delivers the jobs and living standards we all depend on". However, Tongan community leader Pakilau Manase Lua hopes for the best, but doesn't expect it. "If I were a betting person, I think, given the record of this government, they're going to rob the poor to benefit those that possibly are okay and better off." Pakilau said that his community wanted to see more equity measures, but the government's recent pay equity changes undermine that. "They didn't even give pay equity opportunities for women," he said. "I've got a mother and daughters and sisters that would benefit from that. It's very sad to see our most vulnerable and our most treasured workers not being honored by at least pay equity for women." There are fears that the government's savings drive could include the Ministry for Pacific Peoples (MPP), which saw its overall funding decrease by $26 million, or 22 percent, in Budget 2024. ECG Consulting's Ralph Ekila is a service provider for MPP's Pacific Business Village programme. Through that funding he is able to provide strategy, engagement and planning services to small businesses that would otherwise be unable to afford it. Based on last year's budget, Ekila is concerned that non-core services such as business support will be axed. "The hope is that whatever has been invested in right now at least remains... targeted services around Pacific health, education, and programmes within other agencies were lost." Ekila said that the more MPP was cut, the less effective it would be in terms of its service delivery. "The fear I have is that they get lost in the system and that the previous approaches have not worked. Hence, the reason why there has been an evolution in the development of ethnic, specific, targeted approaches. "It's the reason why we're starting to shift the dial, but to get to this point now, we'll either make the dial freeze or go backwards." Lua said he hoped that, in the long run, equity would not be forgotten about. "The true mark of a true civilization is how you treat your most vulnerable. Right now, we're not doing very well." Pacific Peoples Minister Shane Reti declined a pre-Budget interview with RNZ Pacific but has agreed to go on the record next week.
RNZ News
21-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Mixed feelings among Pasifika about Budget 2025
Pacific politics 26 minutes ago The Pasifika community is bracing for what is expected to be tightened government spending. From community support at home to aid for the wider region, Pasifika are hoping for the best, but many of those working in the community are feeling pessimistic about what Budget Day has in store for them. Kaya Selby has more.
Scoop
08-05-2025
- Scoop
NZ Police Chief Pledges Ongoing Support For Fiji And Samoa
Kaya Selby New Zealand's top cop has reassured the leaders of Fiji and Samoa that he has their back, as a regionwide drug crisis rolls on. Police Commissioner Richard Chambers visited his counterparts in the two island nations last week to discuss drug trafficking, customs, intelligence sharing, and corruption. Chambers said his primary commitment was that the Pacific Detector Dog Programme (PDDP), which provides trained detector dogs to the Pacific and trains handlers, would continue. New Zealand Police announced that they have recently graduated nine new detector dog handlers, many from Pacific Island nations who are now headed home. He said that New Zealand's drug detection dog training service is among the best in the world. "That resource that we put in to train, not only dogs but handlers in both countries, is very well received." The PDDP has funded detection across Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and the Cook Islands since 2018. So far, the government has spent around NZ$3.5 million on the project. However, funding for the project was scheduled to end at the beginning of this month. A spokesperson for MFAT told RNZ Pacific that "phase one of the programme is coming to a close", but that "MFAT and New Zealand Police are currently in discussions over the next phase of support." Chambers did not say how many more dogs or trainers New Zealand could offer the region. "The next step of work we do will be to quantify that. Likewise, one of the things we talked about is how can both countries at some stage maybe even stand on their own two feet." Chambers also has a detective sergeant stationed in Fiji to train local police for investigative work, and staff members in Suva and Apia working on intelligence gathering and sharing. Another topic of discussion was corruption, which Chambers warned could creep in anywhere. "It's not just about police though, it's any person or official in a role of authority that may present a barrier to an organised criminal group." "We need to be open and honest and talk about these issues, officials need to be very alert to the influence of corruption." Chambers would not comment on corruption in the Samoan or Fijian police forces.
Scoop
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Pacific Lagging On Women's Political Participation, Says UN Official
But at least discussions are beginning to take place at high levels, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Pacific regional office head. Kaya Selby, RNZ Journalist There is a long road ahead on women's issues in the Pacific Islands, but at least discussions are beginning to take place at high levels. That is the opinion of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Pacific head Heike Alefsen. The office recently celebrated 20 years since its establishment in Fiji's capital Suva in 2005, playing the role of advisor to island nations on human rights issues. Alefsen told RNZ Pacific that the region seems to stick out in terms of lack of political participation by women. 'We have countries that have zero [women] parliamentarians and [no women] in cabinet,' she said. 'Two countries that have some reserved seats in parliament and a few women in cabinet, but overall the percentage is really very low compared to most other regions of the world.' In Fiji, Alefsen noted that their number of female MPs has halved, from 10 to 5, since 2020. 'As we have seen in recent elections, the numbers can drop very quickly.' Her office is advising nation states that they should be working towards 50/50 gender parity in their governing bodies, in accordance with recommendations from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). For Fiji, as discussions about temporary special measures to boost female representation in parliament take place, Alefsen said they should be taken seriously. 'They are there to rectify entrenched longstanding discrimination and under-representation of women. 'They are not there as handouts, or to get women in that are tokenistic.' Measures could include reserving seats, either at the parliament level or within individual political parties, Alefsen said. 'It is a discussion that will need to overcome a lot of entrenched stereotypes, as to the roles of women and men in political spheres, and also what the obstacles are.' 'This would come at a time when violence against women and girls, throughout the whole Pacific region, remains a significant problem. 'About two-thirds on average of all women in the Pacific, including Fiji, experience violence,' she added.
Scoop
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Pacific Lagging On Women's Political Participation, Says UN Official
Kaya Selby There is a long road ahead on women's issues in the Pacific Islands, but at least discussions are beginning to take place at high levels. That is the opinion of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Pacific head Heike Alefsen. The office recently celebrated 20 years since its establishment in Fiji's capital Suva in 2005, playing the role of advisor to island nations on human rights issues. Alefsen told RNZ Pacific that the region seems to stick out in terms of lack of political participation by women. "We have countries that have zero [women] parliamentarians and [no women] in cabinet," she said. "Two countries that have some reserved seats in parliament and a few women in cabinet, but overall the percentage is really very low compared to most other regions of the world." In Fiji, Alefsen noted that their number of female MPs has halved, from 10 to 5, since 2020. "As we have seen in recent elections, the numbers can drop very quickly." Her office is advising nation states that they should be working towards 50/50 gender parity in their governing bodies, in accordance with recommendations from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). For Fiji, as discussions about temporary special measures to boost female representation in parliament take place, Alefsen said they should be taken seriously. "They are there to rectify entrenched longstanding discrimination and under-representation of women. "They are not there as handouts, or to get women in that are tokenistic." Measures could include reserving seats, either at the parliament level or within individual political parties, Alefsen said. "It is a discussion that will need to overcome a lot of entrenched stereotypes, as to the roles of women and men in political spheres, and also what the obstacles are." "This would come at a time when violence against women and girls, throughout the whole Pacific region, remains a significant problem. "About two-thirds on average of all women in the Pacific, including Fiji, experience violence," she added.
