Latest news with #PacificIslandForum
RNZ News
17-07-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Pacific news in brief for 17 July
Fiji, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Tonga, French Polynesia and American Sāmoa have also declared dengue outbreaks. Photo: SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY A dengue fever outbreak in Samoa has claimed the life of a second child. The Sāmoa Observer reports Faith Melchior, 8, died in hospital on Monday night. She is the second child to die from dengue in Sāmoa this year - 12-year-old Misiafa Lene died in April. Fiji, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Tonga, French Polynesia and American Sāmoa have also declared outbreaks. Tuvalu and Nauru are on alert for the disease. A meeting of trade ministers from the Pacific Island Forum's African, Caribbean and Pacific States is underway in Suva. New Zealand's Nicola Grigg said it is a timely opportunity to discuss the importance of the rules-based trading system, with the World Trade Organisation at its core. She said the structure is vital for small Pacific island nations, including New Zealand. France is committing around US$20 to new undersea technology linking Vanuatu and New Caledonia, which will better prepare the Pacific for natural disasters. SMART will be the world's first Science Monitoring And Reliable Telecommunications submarine cable. French Ambassador to Vanuatu Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer said the cable will be fitted with sensors to measure sea temperature and seismic activity. He said it will help monitor climate change and - crucially - provide early warnings for tsunamis. The Vanutu Daily Post reported that the cable is expected to be in operation sometime next year. It will link Port Vila with Lifou Island in New Caledonia's Loyalty Islands group, traversing the seismically active New Hebrides Trench. Vanuatu's Electoral Commission says the verification of ballot boxes for the recent Provincial and By-Elections should be completed later today. According to the Vanuatu Daily Post , once that is done, the Commission can officially announce final results. The election was held on 8 July and attracted good voter turnout. The Commission has thanked all who participated - describing the election process as smooth and peaceful. Political parties have already begun lobbying to form new provincial governments. Fiji's HIV prevention taskforce says the country's law enforcement is actively hindering public health efforts. The United Nations reports a massive surge in HIV cases last year - numbers are up 284 percent. Around half of all cases were caused by intravenous drug use. Taskforce chair Dr Jason Mitchell told Pasifika TV there is a concerning lack of cooperation between the health sector and police. Schools in the Northern Marianas are bracing for a possible fiscal cliff, according to the Board of Education. Governor Arnold Palacios is planning substantial cuts to the education budget allocation. The government is proposing a US$40 million dollar grant but the Public School System has requested just over 49 million dollars. Board of Education has testified that if the government's proposal is implemented they could be forced to declare a state of emergency in education.
Scoop
16-07-2025
- Business
- 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
- Business
- 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".
Otago Daily Times
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Pacific relationship will ‘remain constant': Peters
Winston Peters out and about in the South Pacific. Photo: supplied When Winston Peters speaks about political engagement with the South Pacific, he walks his talk. Midway through his third stint as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Peters has once again demonstrated a commitment to the area which was a hallmark of his previous times in office. Now, as then, Mr Peters is a conscientious attender of regional conferences and forums; he has also visited 16 of the 17 other Pacific Island Forum member countries personally. Some of those countries have been visited twice or more, and Mr Peters has also twice taken cross-Parliamentary teams (with MPs from Labour and the Greens as well as National, Act New Zealand and his own New Zealand First party) to the Pacific. "That's important to send the message that even with future changes of government, our relationship with the Pacific will remain constant," Mr Peters said. He will be in Dunedin this week for a duty he has performed several times before, giving the opening speech to the University of Otago's annual Foreign Policy School. Now in its 59th year, the school is an annual gathering of politicians, diplomats, academics, students and those interested in diplomacy, to hear a range of papers on the theme of the conference — in 2025 that is "Small Powers and Strategic Competition in the Indo-Pacific" — and also to network. The foreign minister of the day usually gives the opening speech — although Mr Peters did not do so last year as the conference had a specific focus on health. He is back this year, and speaking on a topic close to his heart. "Why the Pacific," he asks. "Well, because it's our neighbourhood. No-one thinks that charity should not begin at home. Photo: supplied "The moment you then look at where you fit in the world and our level of isolation, anyone who doesn't pay attention to their neighbourhood doesn't know how the world is." While Mr Peters' reference was to geographic isolation, he also has plenty to say about diplomatic isolation. As Foreign Minister in Jacinda Ardern's first term in government, Mr Peters racked up plenty of frequent flyer points going to the Pacific. He then watched frustrated, out of Parliament and out of power, as his successor Nanaia Mahuta — to his mind — abandoned the region. While Ms Mahuta did have the reasonable excuse of the Covid pandemic cancelling many of her travel plans, Mr Peters is adamant that a vacuum was left in the Pacific which other powers sought to fill. His hectic travel schedule is an attempt to repair frayed relationships he said. "Was there a void? It was a huge void. They hadn't seen anybody," Mr Peters said. "Sadly, many of them hadn't seen anybody in New Zealand either. When diplomats take you aside, shortly after I came back in 2023, and said, we're not there, we were wandering. I said why, they said why do we bother because no-one will talk to us, no one's seen us. "I then began to realise from a leadership point of view, just how vacuous many of their claims of the leadership were. It was actually a disgrace. "And so yes, it's been hard work and it's been exhausting for us time-wise, but we've managed to fill it and we've managed to talk to others alongside us as they realised that more had to be done on the Pacific." And in South East Asia. New Zealand has just signed an enhanced partnership agreement with Vietnam and last week in a speech in Wellington Mr Peters said New Zealand was "working hard" to similarly upgrades in its relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Singapore. Coincidentally, the Foreign Policy School is also hosting a roundtable commemorating 50 years of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and Asean. Photo: supplied Not that everything has been plain sailing in the Pacific though. There has been friction between New Zealand and Kiribati over the scheduling of official visits by Mr Peters, and a state visit by Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown to China earlier this year to sign a partnership agreement also raised alarm bells. News of New Zealand's response — pausing nearly $20 million of core sector support funding for the Cook Islands — emerged last week. One of the themes of the Foreign Policy School is great power competition between China and United States in the region; the gathering takes place at a time when Chinese interest in the Pacific is as high as ever, and as the US is cutting its aid programmes worldwide, including to the region. Just as the former presented challenges to New Zealand, the latter presented opportunities Mr Peters said. "We should always be, though, doing a review of our offshore aid and our offshore expenditure. America is having a massive one at this point in time. And then the second thing you've got to remember is it is their money, taxpayers' money. I think that there's some reasons to be confident that we'll have a greater engagement." To that end, New Zealand's Pacific international development co-operation programme has been revamped to focus on fewer, bigger, projects — an emphasis which it hoped means that they will be done better. Projects include efforts to build climate and economic resilience, strengthen governance and security, and to lift heath, education and digital connectivity. Although not one of Mr Peters' portfolios, he has been an advocate for greater defence spending, and has urged that with the Pacific very much in mind. Quite apart from any actual or perceived security threats, Mr Peters well knows that NZDF forces deploy to the region for many reasons, and that the greater role New Zealand can play in surveillance and emergency recovery the more the country is appreciated by its neighbours. "When you are seeking to talk to people, remember that they don't just talk to you, they look over your shoulder to see what's behind you, or they look at your record. If they find that you're all words and no action, then your level of influence is massively reduced. So that's the first thing," he said. "Then the second, right across the board ... we are actually expressing the need for greater defence spending. It's important. And remember this, though it's a commitment, the timing of the purchase, the optimisation of that purchase, and the interoperability of those purchases are critical. "So it's not all here right now, it's going to happen, but at least we've made the commitment, and therefore other countries who are forced to make a commitment will take us more seriously." • The University of Otago Foreign Policy School, June 27-29.
Scoop
21-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Christopher Luxon Concludes China Trip: 'No Evidence' Of Collaboration With Russia, Iran Or North Korea
Christopher Luxon has wrapped up his trip to China, dismissing suggestions the superpower is working with Russia, Iran or North Korea to undermine the West - as alleged by NATO's top official. The prime minister says he also stressed to China's leaders that engagement in the Pacific must advance the region's interests, but refused to say whether the recent Cook Islands crisis was raised by either side. Speaking late Friday at New Zealand's embassy in Beijing, Luxon said he was leaving "very, very convinced" the bilateral relationship was in "a really strong place and in good heart". The comments followed a day of top-level meetings at the Great Hall of the People, capping a three-day visit to China, Luxon's first as prime minister. The prime minister and his officials now fly on to Belgium and then to the Netherlands, where he will attend the annual NATO summit. Asked about NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte's recent warning that China is working together with Russia, Iran and North Korea, Luxon noted the "Dutch directness" - but indicated a "difference of opinion". "We haven't seen evidence of those four powers coordinating in a way, actively against the West," Luxon said. "We've seen bilateral associations, say, between Russia and North Korea, with respect to the war in Ukraine. We've seen bilateral arrangements between Iran and Russia as well, but we haven't seen evidence of a wholesale force." The rest of the delegation was now returning to New Zealand on the air force 757. Cook Islands questions linger The talks came a day after revelations NewZealand suspended nearly $20 million in funding to the Cook Islands, after its agreements with China earlier this year. Luxon repeatedly refused to say whether that issue, or any other, was discussed behind closed doors. "We need to respect that they are private diplomatic conversations that need to be respected in the privacy of the sanctum." A media statement issued at the end of the trip said Luxon had raised "the need for engagement in the Pacific to take place in a manner which advances Pacific priorities". Pressed to clarify, Luxon said the concern had been well-canvassed: "Making sure that… all major powers that aren't part of the Pacific family… respect the centrality of the Pacific Island Forum." While none of China's leaders directly mentioned the Cook Islands crisis, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun earlier said China's cooperation with the Pacific nation "should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party". Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown on Friday labelled the funding pause "patronising" and pointed out he had not been consulted on any agreements New Zealand entered with China this trip. Luxon denied any double standard, but said he had "nothing more to add" on the subject. "I'm not going to get into it. I've spoken ad nauseam about the Cooks and the challenge." The prime minister's statement also said he raised "rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific" including the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. Final talks with Xi and Li Before speaking to reporters, the prime minister took part in an official welcome ceremony at the Great Hall and then a sit-down with his counterpart, Premier Li Qiang. In opening remarks, Li spoke of global turbulence and the need for "mutually beneficial cooperation". He said he had been "deeply impressed" by Luxon's friendship and hospitality during his 2024 visit to Wellington. In response, Luxon said the international challenges made ongoing dialogue more important "even where we differ". The meeting ended with the signing of 11 agreements, promising cooperation in areas including customs, food safety, and tourism. Luxon - and the wider business delegation - then stayed on for a banquet dinner at the Great Hall. Earlier on Friday, Xi said the bilateral relationship had experienced "many ups and downs" but remained respectful and at the forefront of China's Western ties. Luxon meanwhile described the bilateral relationship as "long-standing" and of "great consequence" to New Zealand. "The world looks to China as a major global power to play a constructive role in addressing many of the challenges that are facing us all," he said. Speaking to RNZ before departure, Luxon said he had established "good rapport" with both leaders during their previous meetings. The prime minister last met Xi in November at the APEC summit in Peru. At the time, Luxon characterised their conversation as "warm, positive and constructive" but noted clear differences over the AUKUS defence pact and missile testing in the Pacific.
