Latest news with #Samoa
ABC News
19 hours ago
- General
- ABC News
Driven to lead: Oneata Schwalger's journey as an apsiring female coach
As the women's game continues to gain momentum in both rugby league and union, the need for more female coaches remains clear — something Oneata Schwalger has experienced firsthand on her coaching journey. A former Women's Super Rugby and NRLW player who represented both Australia and Samoa, she began coaching through her two sons and is now setting her sights on international opportunities. Tinirau celebrates major milestones, with Alex Johnston becoming the second highest try scorer in NRL history after putting down his 200th try, and Josh Papalii is well on his way to becoming the Raiders' most capped player. Meanwhile, Sam relives Super Rugby heartbreak over the weekend as Moana Pasfikia miss out on making finals.
News.com.au
a day ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘He might have cried': Nathan Cleary braces for ‘weird' showdown with Jarome Luai as great mates prepare for first NRL meeting
Nathan Cleary has beaten Jarome Luai in a World Cup final and recalls being part of 'the biggest upset in junior footy history' when they were teenagers coming through the Penrith system, but on Sunday the great mates will come up against each other for the first time in the NRL. 'It will be weird,' Cleary said after leading Penrith to victory over Parramatta on Sunday with a couple of huge plays in the final 20 minutes. Cleary and Luai were the Batman and Robin for so long, with the pair putting on the cape time and time again to thwart any team foolish enough to get in their way at the business end of the season. They won four premierships together and formed a bond for life as one of the most successful halves pairings in rugby league history, but the band has broken up with Luai now at the Wests Tigers where he's gone from the support act to the main man. It's been an interesting few months apart, with the Panthers finally getting off the bottom of the table, while Luai has seen halves partner Lachlan Galvin leave to join the Bulldogs. It sets up an enthralling clash on Sunday between two teams separated by just one point where two best friends will line up against each other for the first time since Australia beat Samoa in the 2022 World Cup final. 'I think there's just always that mutual respect there,' Cleary said. 'We don't talk all the time, but whenever we do or whenever we see each other, it's always love. You'll never be able to take away what we've been able to achieve together. It's always respect and love whenever we see each other. 'The last time I remember playing him was the World Cup final and before that, we would've been about 16 (when) he was playing for St Marys and I was playing for Brothers (Penrith). 'We had a few duels back then but obviously it's been a long time. I'm looking forward to it. 'He's an outstanding player and you want to test yourself against the best. It will be a bit weird at NRL level but I'm looking forward to it.' Cleary remembers enjoying a shock victory over Luai back when they were kids. 'I do remember probably the biggest upset in junior footy history, we beat them one day and they were stacked. They were so good. He might have cried,' Cleary laughed. 'I'm not sure that'll happen again. 'They used to beat us just about 50-0 every time they played us and one day we got them.' The battle of the sevens will test how far Luai has come as a chief playmaker, with the Samoan star taking the reins at Penrith last year when Cleary was injured. And while he'll want his footy to do the talking, Cleary won't be shocked if Luai's sharp tongue fires up on Sunday. 'Maybe, we'll see (if there's chirp). I don't really start the chirp but if he starts it then we'll see how it is,' he said. 'Last year really prepped him well for this year. His hands are on the ball a lot for the Tigers at the moment. Why wouldn't you? He's such a great player. 'Just his energy alone has lifted a lot of players around him. That's probably his greatest asset. 'I tune in for the Tigers boys I know well, obviously Tito (Sunia Turuva), Terrell May and Romey (Luai) in particular. 'I always enjoy watching them and keeping an eye out on them. It's been good to see them playing some good footy, particularly when they've got momentum, they're one of the best teams in the comp.' Sunday's showdown will be Cleary's second game back after helping the Blues to a pivotal win in the State of Origin opener in Brisbane. It was an emotional return for a man who missed last year's series through injury, and while he ran the ball brilliantly, Cleary had a very rare off night with the boot as he sprayed several conversions that he would normally nail. The Cleary of old would have obsessed over that and spent the next few days trying to fix everything at training, but he limited himself to 15 attempts on Saturday to not overstrain his hamstrings. It paid off as he landed two clutch conversions from out wide to go with a late 40/20 to see off the Eels. 'I think that's where a bit of evolution has come in,' he said, adding that 'physical reps become embedded in the subconscious' after so many years of practice. 'In the past I would have had as many kicks as I could (on Saturday), but being a bit older and looking after my body, I didn't have too many kicks. 'I need to have a few to flush it a bit, but I can rely on the training I've done. I've kicked so many goals in my life that I can take confidence out of that and rely on that a bit more. 'I just wanted to slow down a bit, and I'm glad that I had a few pressure kicks today so I could practise them.'
RNZ News
a day ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Samoa electoral commissioner seeks court extension
Photo: RNZI Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia Samoa's Electoral Commissioner says his office has filed an affidavit to the Supreme Court, seeking legal direction and an extra six weeks to complete the electoral roll ahead of an early election. The move follows the announcement of the formal dissolution of Parliament , which comes into force Tuesday, 3 June. The Constitution requires a general election to be held within 90 days. The regular general election had been scheduled for April 2026. Toleafoa Tuiafelolo John Stanley said the Electoral Act does not address what happens in the event of an early election. "That's why we're going to the Supreme Court for a legal direction for the Office of the Commission," he said. "Where we are currently, 53 percent of eligible voters have registered so far... so we haven't closed our rolls. "We are seeking declaration from the court, an order from the court, to give us guidance, because we are going to change all our election timetable. "We're also submitting, as well our new timeline... four months and two weeks." He confirmed that an affidavit was being filed to the Supreme Court "to seek their direction for the Office of the Electoral Commission with a new electoral timeframe" and to request six additional weeks "to complete the electoral roll to make sure our roll is ready in order to conduct an open and fair election". Since the announcement of the early election, voter registration centres across Samoa have seen an increase in foot traffic. "[Thursday] was almost 500 registered voters, and that was in Upolu," Toleafoa said. "It's the same thing with Savai'i. I mean, we've been singing this song since last year, when the registration was open in April last year, up until now, and people are now flooding in, as they know there's an early election." Toleafoa said that overseas diaspora will only be able to vote by returning to Samoa in person. The online portal is open for resgistration but voters will have to travel to Samoa for fingerprinting biometrics. He said the act needs a revamp. "Align it with the Constitution, and also make sure to cover this kind of situation... the current electoral law contradicts against the three months of the Constitution."
RNZ News
a day ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
These Pacific Islands are building walls to stop rising seas. Will it work?
By Doug Dingwall and Adel Fruean , ABC News A seawall under construction at Ebeye in Marshall Islands. Photo: Supplied: Hall Contracting The sea used to wreak havoc as it crashed into Simeona Tapeneko's village in Samoa. Water would flood the houses in Lauli'i, on the north coast of the country's most populated island, overwhelming an old seawall built offshore. "Many things - including our homes - were severely damaged," Tapeneko said. "The waves also destroyed the graves of deceased family members." When builders laid the last rock of a new seawall there in May, ending six months of construction, Lauli'i breathed a collective sigh of relief. Tapeneko said the $1.9 million wall, funded by the New Zealand government, would protect the homes from storm surges. "Families are happy and feel secure with its height," he said. Simeona Tapeneko has seen rising sea levels damage his village. Photo: ABC News / Adel Fruean It's one of many Pacific Island communities building seawalls to defend themselves against rising sea levels. One of Marshall Islands' most populated islands, Ebeye, is buttressing its coast with a wall of rock shipped from Dubai and funded by the World Bank and Green Climate Fund. New seawalls also protect low-lying atolls in Tuvalu, and more will appear in Kiribati, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Fiji and other island nations, many with funding from the Australian government and international development organisations. They're a source of hope for countries grappling with sea level rise - which scientists say will continue even if the world limits global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial times. Coastal engineers say places like the Netherlands have long used engineering to hold back the sea from low-lying lands - and that the Pacific could do the same. But researchers in climate change adaptation say seawalls are usually a costly, short-term fix in a region with limited money. "A seawall along an eroding coastline is really only a stopgap measure, because we know that [sea level rise] is projected to continue well beyond the end of this century, perhaps by about another 200 or 300 years," Patrick Nunn, a University of Sunshine Coast climate scientist, said. Lauli'i residents feel safer now the village has a new seawall. Photo: ABC News / Adel Fruean Not far from the shores of Lauli'i, its old seawall sits mostly submerged in water. Leota Vaimauga, a village chief, estimates it lasted for 10-15 years before it was overwhelmed by the sea. And while he's relieved the village has a new seawall, he expects Lauli'i will need to replace it in another decade, depending on the weather and the stability of the new barrier. Climate adaptation researchers say seawalls have a clear downside that makes them hard to sustain in rural areas. "You have to keep elevating them, have to keep extending them, and so they're very economically costly," Jon Barnett, a climate adaptation researcher at the University of Melbourne, said. "They're an all-or-nothing strategy that really needs to be considered well in advance and thought through." Most seawalls in rural coastal areas are funded and built by local communities, and have been too expensive to maintain, researchers say. Professor Nunn calculates that on average, the structures will collapse after 18 to 24 months. Photo: Supplied / Hall Contracting A study he co-authored in 2021 describes the Pacific's rural coastlines as "littered with the remains of collapsed seawalls". Climate adaptation researchers also say seawalls have side effects, like diverting erosion to other parts of the coast, forcing waves to scour the seafloor at their seaward side, and pooling water on their landward side. Professor Nunn said rural villages in the Pacific's higher volcanic islands could better use the labour and resources spent on seawalls on a longer-term solution - relocating further inland and upslope. But he said seawalls can offer important psychological benefits for communities losing land to rising seas. They also provide time for them to consider whether to relocate, researchers and coastal engineers say. It's something Queensland University of Technology climate change adaptation researcher, Annah Piggott-McKellar, observed in one Fiji village that relocated after building a series of seawalls. "Land is… a way of life. It's a part of who people are," she said. "So trying everything that's possible before making that decision to move is important." But Dr Piggott-McKellar said there was also a risk that seawalls give false hope. "Having that realistic conversation and understanding of what a seawall might be there to do is going to be important." Leota Vaimauga says Lauli'i's old seawall no longer protects the village. Photo: ABC News / Adel Fruean For the Pacific's low-lying atolls, new seawalls come with fanfare. In Marshall Islands, 65,000 tonnes of rock shipped from the United Arab Emirates will form a new 1.81 kilometre barrier on the seaward side of Ebeye island. Hall Contracting, which is building the multi-million-dollar seawall, said it was due to be completed by December. "The houses in Ebeye are built right up against the ocean … in large storm events those houses can be affected," company chief executive and director Cameron Hall said. "This seawall will protect them." Hall said seawalls have an important role to play for Pacific Island nations as sea levels rise. "Civil engineering is a powerful thing. In my opinion, there's no reason why [it] should be confined to developed countries," he said. "It's a problem that developed nations have created … and if there's an engineering solution, why wouldn't we do it for them?" The work is logistically challenging, requiring builders to move machinery to remote atolls, and source material for the seawalls. In Tuvalu, Hall Contracting dredged sand from the lagoon by the capital Funafuti to build seven hectares of new or "reclaimed" land protected by a seawall of sandbags. It also constructed a seawall of interlinked hexagonal concrete blocks along part of the coast at Nanumea, another Tuvalu atoll. It's all part of Tuvalu's coastal adaptation project, funded by the Tuvaluan and Australian governments and the Green Climate Fund, aiming to keep the nation inhabitable. But a group of Nanumeans is championing a proposal to save their home for the longer-term. Local engineer Truman Lomi has worked on a concept for the Nanumea Salvation Seawall Project for years. It involves building a barrier around the entire island - rather than just a section. He said the barrier would protect the entire coast from large, powerful waves. For now, it requires funding for a feasibility study. The Ebeye seawall will protect the island using rocks from a large quarry in the UAE. Photo: Supplied: Hall Contracting His granddaughter Ashleigh Chatelier, a member of the Nanumea Salvation Seawall group, said the project also carried a message about Tuvalu's ability to adapt to climate change. "We're not helpless. We are resilient, we have the skill set, we have the tools," she said. "Unfortunately, we are restricted in terms of the funding of this project, but the reality is that this is a community-led resilience project and it essentially has come from the roots of Nanumea." Countries have long used engineering to protect, or reclaim, land from the sea. In the Netherlands, dams and dykes keep vast, low-lying areas from flooding. The Maldives, in the Indian Ocean, has reclaimed land from rising seas, although at huge financial and environmental costs. "An engineering solution is possible," Francois Flocard, coastal engineer at the University of New South Wales' Water Research Laboratory, said. "It's [about] understanding, as a community and as a society, where does it make sense to be applied?" Professor Barnett says there are other options for communities where seawalls are too costly to build and maintain. One is to try restoring and conserving ecosystems in a way that lets islands respond naturally to sea level rise. "That doesn't mean they're going to be easy to live on," he said. "Shorelines are going to change, the topography of islands is going to change. Some bits are going to erode, some bits are going to grow. "But the adaptation options there are probably much cheaper." Reclaimed land at Tuvalu's capital, Funafuti. Photo: Supplied: Hall Contracting The massive Afsluitdijk is more than 32 kilometres long and has protected the Netherlands for 90 years. Photo: SANDER KONING / KONING PHOTOGRAP / AFP Some Pacific Island nations are also creating nature-based barriers, using mangroves, sloping rock walls and vetiver grass to block rising seas. In some ways, Professor Barnett said, all action is good action compared to the paralysis on climate change adaptation in some countries. Leaders in countries like Tuvalu are being told there is only decades until their nations are uninhabitable, he said. "There's no rule book. No country's ever had to face this problem before. Now, what do you do?" Professor Barnett said. "You've got to protect the capital. You have to have an airport. You have to have a hospital. You have to have schools. "It seems perfectly reasonable to engage in the kinds of urban defensive strategies." -ABC
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Samoan opera star returns home for enduring classic La Bohème
This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions. 130 years on, Puccini's La Bohème remains an enduring classic and beloved opera. At the heart it's a simple story of four friends and their lovers; passionate artists and thinkers whose daily struggles compound and their hardships become tragedies. New Zealand-Samoan baritone Benson Wilson has returned home to appear on stage as Schaunard; one of the quartet of friends. Now based in London, Benson has been firmly establishing himself as a promising baritone in the opera world. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and won the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Award before relocating over there. In 2016, he's won the Lexus Song Quest and more recently - the Dame Malvina Major Foundation Mina Foley Award. He's performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and has studied and performed multiple languages including Russian and German. It's not his first time in this role; he made his professional debut at Festival Opera in 2016, playing Schaunard. He speaks to Culture 101 about returning home to play a familiar character with NZ Opera. La Bohème is at Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre until the 6th of June before performances in Wellington and Christchurch.
