Latest news with #TanetiMaamau
RNZ News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Kiribati reassures it's part of Pacific family
acific Islands Forum secretary general Baron Waqa, left, and Kiribati President Taneti Maamau in Tarawa. Photo: Pacific Islands Forum Kiribati has reaffirmed its commitment to Pacific regionalism during consultations with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) secretary general. Baron Waqa has wrapped up what he called a "successful high-level" visit to the capital Tarawa. In a statement, Waqa acknowledged Kiribati's continued leadership and reengagement at the regional level, "especially amidst the current geopolitical environment". Kiribati rejoined the inter-governmental organisation in early 2023 after withdrawing in 2022. President Taneti Maamau refused to attend the annual Leaders' gathering in Suva that year, due to what he claimed was failure by the PIF to address concerns of equity, equality and inclusiveness in a number of key decisions, including the appointment of the current secretary General. Kiribati's withdrawal was touted as a sign of ongoing tensions within the regional group. Now, Maamau is pleased Waqa visited his country, saying being "on the ground" is key to understanding the extent of the country's realities. Waqa missed the University of the South Pacific (USP) Council meeting in Auckland on Tuesday for a meeting with Australia's Penny Wong. He is expected to travel to New Zealand this week to meet with the government. The PIF team also conducted a workshop with representatives from government ministries, to present on the work the Secretariat is doing in different sectors, and welcomed more collaboration when working towards regional goals. Workshop participants included representatives from the Ministry of Women, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Development. Waqa's visit comes after issue was raised earlier this year over who New Zealand's foreign minister, Winston Peters, would speak with on his planned trip to Kiribati. Taneti Maamau's inauguration ceremony on 24 June 2020 at the Parliament House in Ambo. Maamau, from the Island of Onotoa, had been re-elected after completing his first term in office from 2016 to 2020. Photo: Facebook / Office of Te Beretitenti Peters wanted Mamau because that was who he had arranged to meet with in the first place, while Mamau had delegated the role of talks to another minister, a move Kiribati maintained was in line with protocol. Australia had accepted that position not long before. The Kiribati government also stated the "New Zealand government cancelled its own proposed visit" . "New Zealand was advised that the president was still on the outer islands in the southern part of the Gilbert group attending a national commitment and will not be in Tarawa on the proposed dates." Winston Peters announced that New Zealand's government would rethink development support to the country saying the President withdrew a week before a planned visit. A New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson later confirmed it had decided against cutting assistance to Kiribati. However, they said in April the findings of the review will not be released for now.
RNZ News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
David Lambourne saga in Kiribati heading back to court
David Lambourne, standing right, sworn in as second the Judge to the High Court - Botaki ni Kabowi I Kiribati. 15 July 2024 Photo: Facebook / New Zealand High Commission to Kiribati A year's long legal wrangle in Kiribati that is keeping a judge separated from his family remains unresolved. Australian expatriate David Lambourne was a High Court judge in Kiribati but was removed by the government in 2022 . The government of Taneti Maamau claimed Lambourne had deliberately withheld judgement in a case it had brought. They also claim he was motivated, at least partly, because his wife, Tessie Lambourne, had just become the leader of the opposition in Kiribati. Lambourne has been living in Australia, seperated from his family, for the past year, after leaving knowing the government was about to deport him. Four years of legal to-and-fro have also seen the departure of a number of eminent New Zealand judges from Kiribati. They included Chief Justice Bill Hastings, who lasted less than a year in the post before he was ousted for ruling in Lambourne's favour. Three Court of Appeal judges - Sir Peter Blanchard, Rodney Hansen, and Paul Heath - who had upheld Chief Justice Hastings' ruling, were also removed. Lambourne finally received another Court of Appeal hearing last December, and its judgement, released just this week, allows him to seek further redress in the High Court. The appeal judges upheld that the government's establishment of a Tribunal, which had recommended his suspension, was valid. However, it also allowed Lambourne's appeal against the Tribunal Commissioner's refusal to grant leave to challenge the validity of its report, and has sent the matter back to the High Court, where the issue can be fully heard. The Court also dismissed the government's appeal against the Commissioner's finding that it had acted unlawfully by ordering that Lambourne's salary be withheld during the suspension period.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kiribati eyes deep-sea mining deal with China
Pacific nation Kiribati says it is exploring a deep-sea mining partnership with China, dangling access to a vast patch of Pacific Ocean harbouring coveted metals and minerals. Beijing has been ramping up efforts to court Pacific nations sitting on lucrative seafloor deposits of cobalt, nickel and copper -- recently inking a cooperation deal with Cook Islands. Kiribati opened discussions with Chinese ambassador Zhou Limin after a longstanding agreement with leading deep-sea mining outfit The Metals Company fell through. "The talk provides an exciting opportunity to explore potential collaboration for the sustainable exploration of the deep-ocean resources in Kiribati," the government said Monday evening in a statement. Pacific nations Kiribati, Cook Islands and Nauru sit at the forefront of a highly contentious push to mine the depths of the ocean. Kiribati holds rights for deep-sea mining exploration across a 75,000-square-kilometre swathe of the Pacific, in a region known as the Clarion Clipperton Zone. Through state-backed subsidiary Marawa Research, Kiribati had been working with Canada-based The Metals Company to explore the mineral deposits. But that agreement was terminated "mutually" at the end of 2024, The Metals Company told AFP. A Kiribati fisheries official said the nation was now exploring opportunities with other foreign partners. The Metals Company said Kiribati's mining rights were "less commercially favourable" than other projects with Pacific nations Nauru and Tonga. Kiribati's announcement comes as international regulators begin a series of crunch meetings that could decide the fate of the nascent industry. The Metals Company and other industry players are pushing the International Seabed Authority to set rules allowing large-scale exploitation. - 'Bending over backwards' - Kiribati, a climate-threatened archipelago home to some 130,000 people, lays claim to an ocean expanse that forms one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the world. Under incumbent President Taneti Maamau it severed diplomatic links with Taiwan in 2019, forming deeper ties to China. Chinese companies have in recent years been granted rights to harvest Kiribati's profitable fisheries -- one of the nation's few natural resources besides minerals. A visiting cadre of Beijing police have also visited the capital Tarawa to help train local Kiribati forces. Tessie Lambourne, a leading member of Kiribati's opposition, said China seemed to be seeking access to "our maritime space for its own interest". "I always say that our government is bending over backwards to please China," she told AFP. China and Cook Islands struck a five-year cooperation agreement in February to study the Pacific nation's seabed mineral riches. The deal did not include any exploration or mining licence. Companies hope to earn billions by scraping the ocean floor for polymetallic rocks, or nodules, that are loaded with manganese, cobalt, copper and nickel -- metals used to build batteries for electric vehicles. Pacific nations such as Nauru and Kiribati believe the industry holds the key to economic prosperity in a region where scarce land is already under threat from rising seas. But neighbours Palau, Fiji and Samoa are staunchly opposed, pushing for lingering environmental questions to be cleared up before anyone takes the plunge. sft/djw/mtp
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kiribati eyes deep-sea mining deal with China
Pacific nation Kiribati says it is exploring a deep-sea mining partnership with China, dangling access to a vast patch of Pacific Ocean harbouring coveted metals and minerals. Beijing has been ramping up efforts to court Pacific nations sitting on lucrative seafloor deposits of cobalt, nickel and copper -- recently inking a cooperation deal with Cook Islands. Kiribati opened discussions with Chinese ambassador Zhou Limin after a longstanding agreement with leading deep-sea mining outfit The Metals Company fell through. "The talk provides an exciting opportunity to explore potential collaboration for the sustainable exploration of the deep-ocean resources in Kiribati," the government said Monday evening in a statement. Pacific nations Kiribati, Cook Islands and Nauru sit at the forefront of a highly contentious push to mine the depths of the ocean. Kiribati holds rights for deep-sea mining exploration across a 75,000-square-kilometre swathe of the Pacific, in a region known as the Clarion Clipperton Zone. Through state-backed subsidiary Marawa Research, Kiribati had been working with Canada-based The Metals Company to explore the mineral deposits. But that agreement was terminated "mutually" at the end of 2024, The Metals Company told AFP. A Kiribati fisheries official said the nation was now exploring opportunities with other foreign partners. The Metals Company said Kiribati's mining rights were "less commercially favourable" than other projects with Pacific nations Nauru and Tonga. Kiribati's announcement comes as international regulators begin a series of crunch meetings that could decide the fate of the nascent industry. The Metals Company and other industry players are pushing the International Seabed Authority to set rules allowing large-scale exploitation. - 'Bending over backwards' - Kiribati, a climate-threatened archipelago home to some 130,000 people, lays claim to an ocean expanse that forms one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the world. Under incumbent President Taneti Maamau it severed diplomatic links with Taiwan in 2019, forming deeper ties to China. Chinese companies have in recent years been granted rights to harvest Kiribati's profitable fisheries -- one of the nation's few natural resources besides minerals. A visiting cadre of Beijing police have also visited the capital Tarawa to help train local Kiribati forces. Tessie Lambourne, a leading member of Kiribati's opposition, said China seemed to be seeking access to "our maritime space for its own interest". "I always say that our government is bending over backwards to please China," she told AFP. China and Cook Islands struck a five-year cooperation agreement in February to study the Pacific nation's seabed mineral riches. The deal did not include any exploration or mining licence. Companies hope to earn billions by scraping the ocean floor for polymetallic rocks, or nodules, that are loaded with manganese, cobalt, copper and nickel -- metals used to build batteries for electric vehicles. Pacific nations such as Nauru and Kiribati believe the industry holds the key to economic prosperity in a region where scarce land is already under threat from rising seas. But neighbours Palau, Fiji and Samoa are staunchly opposed, pushing for lingering environmental questions to be cleared up before anyone takes the plunge. sft/djw/mtp
Arab Times
28-01-2025
- Business
- Arab Times
New Zealand reviews its aid to Kiribati after Pacific island nation snubs an official's visit
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Jan 28, (AP): New Zealand is reconsidering all development funding to the aid-dependent island nation of Kiribati, following a diplomatic snub from the island nation's leader, government officials said. The unusual move to review all finance to Kiribati was prompted by the abrupt cancellation of a planned meeting this month between President Taneti Maamau and New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, Peters' office told The Associated Press on Monday. It followed months of growing frustration from Australia and New Zealand - jointly responsible for more than a third of overseas development finance to Kiribati in 2022 - about a lack of engagement with the island nation. Tensions have risen since Kiribati aligned itself with China in 2019 and signed a series of bilateral deals with Beijing. The bond between Kiribati - population 120,000 - and its near neighbor New Zealand, a country of 5 million people, might not appear the South Pacific's most significant. But the acrimony reflects concern from western powers that their interests in the region are being undermined as China woos Pacific leaders with offers of funding and loans. That has provoked a contest for influence over Kiribati, an atoll nation that is among the world's most imperiled by rising sea levels. Its proximity to Hawaii and its vast exclusive economic zone - the world's 12th largest - have boosted its strategic importance. Kiribati, one of the world's most aid-dependent nations, relies heavily on international support, with foreign assistance accounting for 18% of its national income in 2022, according to data from the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank. About 10% of development finance that year came from New Zealand - which contributed 102 million New Zealand dollars ($58 million) between 2021 and 2024, official figures show. However, officials in Wellington and Canberra have expressed frustration over a lack of engagement from Tarawa regarding development projects. Frictions escalated when Kiribati suspended all visits from foreign officials in August, citing a need to focus on the government formation process after elections that month. Kiribati switched its allegiance from pro-Taiwan to pro-Beijing in 2019, joining a growing number of Pacific nations to do so. Self-governing Taiwan is claimed by China and since the shift, Beijing has increased aid to Kiribati.
