McDonalds Fiji managing director Marc McElrath . . . “The issue is that we have 16 nightclubs with six police officers [in Nadi] -- the police are overwhelmed, there are drunk people and then fights.” Image: Jonacani Lalakobau
By Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva
Drunkards urinating in public, people fighting and nightclub goers passed out on the streets are usually the first things tourists arriving in Fiji through Nadi International Airport see while being taken to their hotels.
McDonalds Fiji managing director Marc McElrath highlighted this while sharing his views at a consultation for the review of the opening of nightclub hours at Suvavou House in Suva this week.
“There are 16 nightclubs in Nadi and that is a big number for a small town,” McElrath said.
He said every day around 4am, drunkards were often scattered along the streets when nightclubs closed for business.
McElrath said they had raised the issue with the police many times.
“Tourists arriving from the USA — or wherever they come from — at 6am, when they come through Martintar, it looks like they’re driving through Beirut,” he said.
“There are people knocked out on the footpaths, drunkards fighting, people punching each other, and they urinate all over the place.
‘Doesn’t look good for tourists’
“It really doesn’t look good for our tourists.
“The issue we face in Nadi is the fact that a lot of people who come out of nightclubs at around 4am to 5am are drunk and it spills out onto the streets.”
He said the police did not have the manpower to control the issue of early morning drunkards in Nadi.
“The issue is that we have 16 nightclubs with six police officers — the police are overwhelmed, there are drunk people and then fights.”
McElrath called on the authorities to consider the safety of people while reviewing the opening hours for nightclubs.
“I understand there are special zones, and I am not an expert on these hours.
“I think the hours need to be reduced in certain areas where police can’t control the overwhelming numbers.”
Arieta Vakasukawaqais a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission from Asia Pacific Report and The Fiji Times.
The Porgera "killing fields" front page in the PNG Post-Courier yesterday . . . An attempted hijacking at gunpoint of a truck laden with market produce near Kalik airport. Inset: Barrick Gold CEO Dr Mark Bristow. Image: PNG Post-Courier screenshot APR
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby
The successful restart of Papua New Guinea’s New Porgera Limited gold mine is currently at high risk due to the security crisis in the valley.
Twenty one people have died since March 6 as Porgera, Enga Province, has turned into a “killing field” amid tensions between two ethnic groups, the Nomali and Aiyala.
Barrick Gold chief executive and president Dr Mark Bristow responded to questions raised by the Post-Courier saying that “a safe and stable operating environment is critical for the restart of Porgera Mine.
“Therefore, we see a need for an immediate intervention to address the lawlessness in Porgera as the current conditions put in jeopardy the restart of mining operations.
“Safety is paramount at the Porgera mine site. Our primary concern is the welfare of our local employees who reside in Porgera and commute to and from the site.
“As with the rest of the community, we rely on the police and other law enforcement agencies to provide law and order.
“Our local employees are directly impacted [on] by the ongoing violence and the resulting closure of vital government services, including schools and hospitals.
Support for special police operation
“We support the community’s calls for a special police operation and sustainable security solutions to the many social issues that have grown since the mine was placed into care and maintenance, including tribal violence and murder, kidnapping, hijacking, vandalism, and the widespread proliferation of high-powered firearms.”
Losses from illegal mining and theft are estimated at K100 million (NZ$46 million) a year and K200 million (NZ$92 million) from Hides Tower Lines sabotage — not including sizeable PJV security costs and the substantial ongoing costs for constant repair of fences, buildings, vehicles and other equipment and infrastructure.
Speaking to the Post-Courier, Police Commissioner David Manning said that the focus of security personnel would be to secure the surrounding communities of the mine site.
Commissioner Manning also confirmed the deployment of an extra 100 Special Services Division (SSD) officers to assist in curbing the rise in crime and to help restore normality.
“We are ready to assist, and I have had briefings with the local leaders and we will be working closely with the district development authority (DDA) to ensure we have the support but also work together in bringing back peace to Porgera,” he said.
A security brief released on Wednesday has shown that the high number of killings are in the town area.
As of Wednesday, critical community services such as the BSP Bank, Paiam Hospital and local schools are closed again indefinitely.
Law and order crisis
The law and order crisis applies to the whole Porgera Valley and not just the mine site and its infrastructure — this also extends to other operational footprints (Hides Power Station, HTL Corridor, Riverine, and Highlands Highway).
Law and order is at the lowest point ever since the opening of the mine and this is affecting the operation of the mine, landowners, and the communities.
A security update from the district has reported:
Continued deterioration of security (law and order) in the Porgera valley;
Firearms sightings and discharges within SML/LMP continue to increase;
Multiple instances of armed holdups and theft from employees and contractors. Since January 2023 a number of supply trucks and passenger buses have been ambushed and looted between Laigam and Kairik Airport;
Security incidents involving the kidnapping of women and children have increased,
Effectiveness of MS and PNG Defence Force personnel on the ground is limited due to the absence of necessary resources and specific orders; and
Tribal fighting throughout the valley and at Hides continues, with ongoing fatalities and widespread property destruction.
The Post-Courier understands that local police numbers are down, firearms are used regularly within the valley and intrusions into restricted areas continue with armed men entering the mine site.
It is alleged there is a lack of support from the district, province and the national government for more security forces at Porgera.
The lack of leadership and support from community leaders and landowners have seen criminal elements protected and served by the clan and communities.
Miriam Zarriga is a PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.
"View Information" Indonesian "troll" page . . . some of the memes attacking West Papuan self-determination advocates as "extremists". Image: APR screenshot
By David Robie
As part of an Indonesian-backed disinformation and troll campaign against West Papuan pro-independence advocates, a Facebook page has emerged making bitter and slanderous attacks on campaigners, Papuan exiles and media people in the Pacific region.
Among the targets for this page — dubbed “View Information”, purportedly based in the Vanuatu capital of Port Vila — are Pacific Council of Churches general secretary Reverend James Bhagwan over a “false campaign” on Papua, and Australian-based Indonesian human rights lawyer Veronica Koman who is accused of being “an imposter”.
Other targets include London-based United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) president Benny Wenda for allegedly “masterminding the Wamena riots” in 2019, Canberra-based youth advocate and activist Ronny Kareni for “cultural mockery” and New Zealand academic and journalist David Robie.
I am accused of “continuously meeting” Benny Wenda to discuss issues relating to Papua and of “ignorance and prejudice”.
True, I did meet Benny when we hosted him at the Pacific Media Centre during his New Zealand visits in 2013 and 2017 and our team interviewed him at the time. Indeed, he was interviewed by several journalists and appeared on a number of programmes such as RNZ Pacific.
Benny Wenda (centre) visits the Pacific Media Centre in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, in 2017. Image: Del Abcede/PMC Toktok
He does an extremely impressive job as a tireless and impassioned advocate for his indigenous people and independence.
One of the regular themes of the View Information page is the plight of the New Zealand pilot, Philip Mehrtens, being held hostage since February 7 by pro-independence fighters of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB-OPM).
Broker negotiations
Originally the fighters wanted New Zealand to broker negotiations with the Indonesian government in Jakarta, but the military and political authorities have refused to talk, endangering the life of the Susi Air pilot.
“Philip Mark Mehrtens is a human being and deserve[s] medical attentions [sic] as we do not know under what conditions he is living in. This sepratist [sic] are abusing his freedom and holding him against his consent and will,” says View Information.
“Isn’t this an abuse of human rights?
ULMWP president Benny Wenda pictured with journalist Dr David Robie (in an “open access” for West Papua journalists tee-shirt) during the exiled Papuan advocate’s NZ visit in 2017. Image: “View Information” screenshot CP
“[These] separatists are abusing his right to freedom from being held as a captive for unreasonable grounds. He is treated as some kind of product in a grocery store.”
About the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC), View Information page claims: “PCC considers Papuans as [a] product or commodity in grocery stores.” That phrase again!
“PCC has become a parody conquistador for the religious groups in the Pacific and a sign of betrayal to the Papuans.
“Papuans are this cheap that the PCC has to sell them for money.
“Say no to PCC before it is too late.”
Riots ‘mastermind’
About the 2019 rioting in Wamena and across the region characterised by advocates of an independent West Papua as the “Papuan Rising” and likened to the Arab Spring: “The Papua Extremist Group (ULMWP) led by Benny Wenda is the mastermind behind the West Papua riots.
“They were designed a riot exactly one day before the UN General Assembly (24/9) began with student access campaign.”
Like most of the other claims on this FB page, there is not a single source given in any attempt to back up the hostile statements. Genuine information about the ULMWP is available here.
About the United Nations, View Information claims: “The UN has never declared there is genocide taking place in Papua or West Papua. It has addressed issues of civilians being killed by the armed separatists in Nduga Regency.”
A feature of this anonymous propaganda page is the wild and sweeping statements and allegations without a shred of evidence. No information about the “publishers” or “writers” is divulged, although it claims to provide “factual, balanced, quality and fair reporting”.
Jakarta causing confusion
Jakarta’s misinformation campaign that has been causing confusion throughout the world has been stepped up in recent months.
“Indonesian intelligence has allocated considerable funds globally, especially in Oceania, to target and discredit any person or institution sharing information about the genocide in West Papua,” says Yamin Kogoya, a regular contributor and commentator for Asia Pacific Report.
“The same thing is happening inside West Papua – the spreading of fake, false information often under the names of OPM, ULMWP and other groups advocating for a free West Papua.
“The internationalisation of West Papua’s issue has been Jakarta’s primary concern, knowing how they stole it — West Papua’s sovereignty — 60 years ago.”
Earlier this year the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) wrote to all the Doc Edge festival sponsors urging them to ensure the 2023 festival was an “apartheid-free zone”.
We told them it would be highly provocative for the festival to receive money from the Israeli Embassy particularly given the strident anti-Palestinian policies of the new far-right Israeli leadership.
SAVE THE DATES: The 18th Doc Edge International Documentary Film Festival & its associated events will be held from 24 May to 9 July 2023.
Auckland: 24 May – 5 June at The Capitol Cinema
Wellington: 7-18 June @RoxyCinemaNZ
Nationwide: 19 June – 9 July at @Docedge Virtual Cinema pic.twitter.com/pTvZTQWn1T
It seems Doc Edge is following the policy of the Sydney Festival which was thrown into turmoil in January last year over its sponsorship by the Israeli Embassy.
Sydney has since abandoned foreign sponsorship and Doc Edge has done the same this year.
Doc Edge claimed last year that it was “apolitical” but this is untrue.
Festival organisers tweeted in support of the people of Ukraine under Russian invasion and occupation but have never tweeted in support of Palestinians living under Israel’s military occupation.
Just as this country campaigned to help end apartheid in South Africa through boycotts, we are doing the same to help end Israel’s apartheid policies.
We will remain vigilant.
John Minto is a political activist and commentator, and spokesperson for Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa. This article is republished with the author’s permission.
Disappearing Palestine . . . How Palestinian land has shrunk since 1947 due to illegal action by the Israeli military and authorities. Image: Palestine Awareness Coalition
NZ hostage pilot Philip Mehrtens . . . captured by West Papuan pro-independence fighters and held for 80 days so far. Image: TPNPB/Jubi News
Jubi News in Jayapura
Captured pilot Philip Mehrtens has called on the Indonesian government to stop military operations in the Nduga highlands in a bid to rescue him while his West Papuan rebel captors have condemned New Zealand for alleged “collusion” with Jakarta.
According to Mehrtens, a New Zealander, last weekend the Indonesian military (TNI) dropped bombs on an area where he was being held along with other Nduga residents.
“Indonesia dropped bombs on this [Nduga] area last weekend, and it was unnecessary because it was dangerous for me and the people here,” Mehrtens said via a video recording made on Monday and received by Jubi yesterday.
In the 1min 38sec video, Mehrtens was seen wearing a black t-shirt and shorts. He was sitting flanked by two men, allegedly West Papuan National Liberation Army (TPNPB) members. He also said he was in good health.
“Today, April 24, 2023, it has been almost three months since the TPNPB captured me in Paro.
“I am alive and well. I live with the people here, sit together, walk together, rest together, there is no problem with me,” Mehrtens said in the poor quality video, alternating between two languages, Bahasa Indonesian and English.
In a written statement, TPNPB spokesperson Sebby Sambom urged President Joko Widodo to immediately stop military operations in Nduga and asked Indonesia to open negotiations.
‘Negotiations, not military operations’
“We emphasise that the release of Philip Mark Mehrtens must be through negotiations, not through military operations. Therefore, Indonesian President Joko Widodo must stop military operations in Nduga immediately, otherwise they only jeopardise the pilot’s life,” Sambom said.
TPNPB-OPM leader Jeffrey Bomanak . . . “Your [Australian and New Zealand] governments helped Indonesia to steal the land that has never been theirs.” Image: SBS screenshot APR
In a separate statement received today by Asia Pacific Report from the Free Papua Movement (OPM) leader, Jeffrey Bomanak, the pro-independence fighters called on New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins to “resign” over a failure to press the Indonesian government for a negotiated solution.In the statement dated April 28 and addressed to the New Zealand and Australian parliaments, Bomanak said:
“My people have been in a war of liberation from Indonesia’s illegal invasion and annexation for six decades. Our fallen number hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children.
The Free Papua Movement-OPM statement today. Image: OPM
“Your governments helped Indonesia to steal the land that has never been theirs. You call it ‘Cold War geopolitics’. We call it collusion and complicity in six decades of Indonesia’s crimes against humanity.
“You call it ‘national interest”. We call it being a wilful accessory to allow you to plunder a vulnerable people … an accessory in the manipulation of events for the economic rape of our ancestral lands.
“You call it ‘foreign policy’. We call it treachery and deceit of the same people who were your friends and allies during the Second World War.
‘Why are you afraid of Indonesia?’ “Our rights to freedom and nation-state sovereignty are no different to yours … no different to the valiant Ukrainian people, whom you have no problem supporting.
“Why are you so afraid of Indonesia? Why can East Timor be liberated and not West Papua?”
There was no immediate NZ government response to the OPM statement.
Earlier, Sambom said the video containing the Mehrtens testimony was also addressed to the New Zealand government and Mehrtens’ family.
“We initially made a video showing Mehrtens in good health for the New Zealand government and the pilot’s family in New Zealand. However, because Indonesia is bombing the Nduga Region, we want the people to know,” he said.
Mehrtens has been held hostage by the TPNPB for 79 days since he was arrested on February 7.
The Indonesian government so far has increased the status of military operations.
Indonesian military (TNI) commander Admiral Yudo Margono announces that the operation to free the Susi Air pilot in Papua has become a “land combat alert” operation during a media conference at Yohanis Kapiyau Airbase, Timika, Central Papua on Tuesday. Image: Rabin Yarangga/Jubi News
‘Land combat alert’
On April 18 in Timika, TNI commander Admiral Yudo Margono upgraded operations in Papua to a “land combat alert”.
Admiral Margono said the operation was upgraded after the TPNPB attacked TNI troops on April 15.The casualties were unconfirmed as the military admitted one soldier had been killed while the rebels claimed up to 13 dead and several captured.
He said the increase in the status of this operation aimed to awaken the combat instincts of TNI soldiers.
“The land combat alert means the operation is increased,” Admiral Margono said at the time at Yohanis Kapiyau Air Base in Central Papua’s Timika.
A military observer from the Institute For Security and Strategic Studies (ISSES), Khairul Fahmi, said the combat alert in Papua meant that all troops were ready to fire.
“’Combat alert’ is the term for the condition of the troops ready for battle. This means that soldiers are allowed to shoot their weapons at any time whenever the threat is present,” Fahmi said.
“The troops no longer need to hesitate to open fire if there is an obstacle or attack.”
NZ pilot Philip Mehrtens who has been held by pro-independence West Papuan fighters for more than two months . . . Indonesian military operations have led to several deaths in clashes. Image: TPNPB
Jubi News in Jayapura
Church leaders across denominations in Papua have urged President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to stop military operations and to promote a humanitarian approach with negotiations in handling the Papua conflict instead.
Attempts to free New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens who was taken hostage by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TNPPB) on February 7 were highlighted.
Mehrtens also pleaded for an end to military operations in a video released by his captors earlier this week, saying: “Please, there is no need, it is dangerous for me and everybody here.”
Among the clergy voicing the appeal to the President were Bishop Yanuarius You of the Jayapura Diocese, GIDI President Reverend Dorman Wandikbo, president of the West Papua Baptist Churches Fellowship Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman, chair of the Kingmi Synod in the Land of Papua Reverend Tilas Mom, chair of the GKI Synod in the Land of Papua Reverend Andrikus Mofu, and moderator of the Papua Council of Churches Reverend Benny Giay.
The pastors said this concern stemmed from the fear of civilian casualties following the recent upgrade of Papua military operation status to a “ground combat ready” alert by Indonesian military (TNI) commander Admiral Yudo Margono last week.
“We do not want civilian casualties, therefore, with utmost respect, we ask the President of the Republic of Indonesia to strongly order the military commander to withdraw troops from Papua,” said Bishop You on Wednesday.
The Papuan clergy from the Interdenominational Church in the Land of Papua who made the appeal . . . Reverend Dr Socratez S Yoman, Reverend Dominggus Pigay, Bishop Yanuarius You, Reverend Dr Benny Giay, and Reverend Dorman Wandikbo. Image: Yuliana/Jubi
“And it is necessary to take a humanitarian approach, through negotiations.”
91 extrajudicial killings
Amnesty International Indonesia noted that from 2018 to 2022 there were at least 91 cases of extrajudicial killings involving the Indonesian Military (TNI), police, prison officers, while the TPNPB had killed at least 177 civilians.
Meanwhile, the number of security forces members who were killed in the same period was 44 with 21 TPNPB dead.
Data from the Institute for Policy Analysis and Conflict Studies (IPAC) also shows that the number of violent incidents related to armed conflict in Papua from 2010 to 2021 continued to increase, exceeding 80 cases in 2021.
In these violent cases, at least 320 people were killed, with as many as 98 percent of the deaths (316 people) occurring in Papua Province.
The victims are mostly civilians (178), followed by security forces (92) and members of the armed group (50).
Research from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) also revealed that violence in Papua is four times greater than the Indonesian national average.
This is ironic considering Papua has the highest ratios of security forces per population compared to other provinces.
Special envoy to free Susi Air pilot The church leaders asked President Jokowi to appoint a special envoy to negotiate with the TPNPB to release pilot Mehrtens.
“President Joko Widodo should appoint a team of special envoys to negotiate with the TPNPB, such as in the settlement with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on August 15, 2005,” said Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman.
“That is an example the current government can follow.”
Another negotiation alternative, said Yoman, is through the church.
“Let the negotiation team from the church approach TPNPB leader Egianus Kogoya,” he said.
Reverend Dorman Wandikbo said that because of the armed conflict, both Indigenous Papuans and non-Papuans had lost access to basic services such as housing, health services, schools, and churches.
“Today there are more non-organic troops in Paniai, Dogiyai, Deiyai, Intan Jaya and Nduga than in 2018.
Children ‘can’t go to school’
“Children cannot go to school because schools are used by the military, as well as the community health centers, pastorate houses, and churches.
“Papuans cannot stay at their home, many have fled to the forest due to concerns for their safety,” said Wandikbo.
Reverend Benny Giay said that their demand for solving the Papua problem without weapons was in line with President Jokowi’s public statements.
He hoped that Jokowi would fulfill his commitment.
“We as church leaders have followed the political development in Papua since August 2019,” he said.
“After all, the president himself in his speech on June 15, 2021, talked about solving the Papua problem without weapons.
“Even before that, on September 30, 2019, he had spoken his intention to meet with the TPNPB,” said Reverend Giay.
PNG media reports in the aftermath of the shooting say angry relatives and opportunists looted several stores with police shooting two men inside a local hardware shop in Kimbe town.
Police commander Chief Superintendent Peter Barkie has confirmed the arrival of Mobile Squad 18 to assist in easing tensions in the province.
Provincial Chairman for Law and Order John Rova said: “We are trying to address the issue and allow normal businesses to commence and operate and allow for outside communities to travel in to receive basic services.
“After the PEC meeting, we have agreed that a curfew will commence at 8pm and go until 5am every day and we will try to monitor the movement of residents because of law and order issues.”
Full investigation promised
Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr . . . says those who seek to escape custody do so at their own risk. Image: PNG govt
The PNG Post-Courier reports Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr saying Corrections officers are mandated by law to ensure that the orders of the court are adhered to and that they are stopped.
But he said any death was regrettable, and he offered assurance that when seeking to prevent a prisoner from escaping, the last thing that anyone wanted was for loss of life to occur.
He promised a full investigation.
“There are several points that I think is important to I make,” he said.
“The first is that the men who escaped were in custody because of the crimes that they had committed.
“In Papua New Guinea, our criminal justice system is underpinned by the Criminal Code that mandates that when individuals commit certain crimes that they must serve time in prison.
“In this sense, those individuals in prison are re-paying their debt to society.
“The second point I would make is that our corrections system is focused on rehabilitation and preparing those detained for re-integration to society.
“It is a requirement that prisoners participate in rehabilitation and re-integration programmes before they can become eligible for release.
“Those that seek to escape custody before serving their term of imprisonment are demonstrating contempt for our laws.”
Some escapees on remand However, Papua New Guinea’s Correctional Services Commissioner has confirmed that seven out of the 24 prisoners who tried to escape were not yet convicted of an offence.
Commissioner Stephen Pokanis said the ages of the prisoners who tried to escape was between 22 and 40.
He said the court system was often slow, which meant someone could be on remand for years while they waited for their court session.
“Time spent in prison as a remandee sometimes goes up to even eight years. For them I do not know but I would think they would have been in prison for maybe two to three years or more,” he said.
RNZ Pacific is investigating reports that a number of the prisoners who were shot had already turned themselves into authorities.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with Asia Pacific Report and RNZ.
A two-year investigation by Inland Revenue has found New Zealand's ultra-rich pay tax at less than half the rate of the average person. Image: 123rf/RNZ
By Anneke Smith
One of New Zealand’s wealthiest people says he supports a capital gains tax, as new research lays the groundwork for a fresh tax debate.
A two-year investigation by Inland Revenue has found New Zealand’s ultra-rich pay tax at less than half the rate of the average person.
The findings come as no surprise to many, including one of the 311 richlisters who responded to the government survey.
The man, who did not want to be named, made his fortune on untaxed capital gains but supports taxing those gains — saying it was only fair to bring New Zealand into line with other countries.
However, he said a more broad-brush approach — like a capital gains tax on all properties beyond the family home — would do more for the government’s revenue.
“You could take all the money off [rich listers] and it would fund the government for a day. The government spends about $100 billion a year and taxes about $100 billion a year, so anything that happens needs to materially contribute to the revenue side of things. Otherwise, it’s just the politics of envy.”
Revenue Minister David Parker . . . the tax report is not an excuse to attack the rich. Image: Angus Dreaver/RNZ
In a speech on Tuesday, Revenue Minister David Parker described the report’s findings as “ground-breaking” but would not venture any suggestions as to how the government might respond.
Answers – for the future
“What, if anything, do we do about that [disparity] here in New Zealand? We’re not providing the answers today. That is for the future.”
Other political parties have split down ideological lines with National and ACT on one side and the Greens and Te Paati Māori on the other.
National leader Christopher Luxon on Tuesday came to the defence of New Zealand’s uber-wealthy, arguing they already pay their fair share of tax.
“It’s not the wealthy that are the problem here… this government has pumped up asset values and the wealthy have done well,” Luxon told reporters.
“The top 2 percent of New Zealanders are paying about 26 percent of all our income taxes and I think that is entirely fair.”
National Party leader Christopher Luxon . . . uber-wealthy people “pay their fair share” of tax. Image: Samuel Rillstone/RNZ
Luxon said National would deliver “middle working-class New Zealanders” a tax cut, while Labour was “softening us up for a tax grab”.
ACT leader David Seymour criticised the study as a “politically-driven fishing expedition to find people with money and take it from them”.
‘Fishing expedition’
“[Parker’s] fishing expedition wasn’t about gathering information,” he said. “It was about creating a narrative that he can ride to more taxes on Kiwis.”
On the other side of the argument, Green revenue spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick put up an empassioned argument for a comprehensive capital gains tax or wealth tax.
“The super rich in Aotearoa are much much richer than we thought them to be,” Swarbrick said.
“To allow millionaires to continue to not pay their fair share after this explosive evidence is a political choice. Poverty is a political choice.”
Te Paati Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi . . . “It’s just absolutely shocking, cruel and very unkind” that New Zealand’ ultra-rich pay tax at less than half the rate of the average person. Image: Samuel Rillstone/RNZ
Te Paati Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi told RNZ there was no excuse for inaction.
“It’s just absolutely shocking, cruel and very unkind. Until they do something about it Labour, National and ACT will continue to be the bullies at school picking on the poor people.”
The government was yet to announce a new tax policy but is promising to bring one to this year’s election campaign and Parker has signalled it will be informed by this latest research.
Hostage NZ pilot Philip Mehrtens as he appears in a new low resolution video . . . "There is no need [for Indonesia's bombs], it is dangerous for me and everybody here." Image: TPNPB screenshot APR
RNZ Pacific
New Zealand hostage Phillip Mehrtens, who is being held by pro-independence fighters in West Papua, appears well in a newly-released video.
It comes as concerns were expressed for the pilot as fighting between Indonesian security forces and his captors, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), intensified last week.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said he had received reports of the increased military confrontations and again called on the pro-independence group to release Mehrtens.
In the new video, which is poor quality, Mehrtens called on Indonesia to stop airstrikes in Nduga, saying they were unneccesary and put his life and the lives of other innocents at ris
The video statement was released by the TPNPB central command and purportedly filmed on Monday in Nduga.
The video received by RNZ Pacific shows Mehrtens sitting between two West Papuans — he speaks first in Bahasa Indonesian and then in English. He said:
“Good afternoon, today is Monday the 24th of April 2023.
“It’s almost three months since OPM [the Free WEST Papua Movement] kidnapped me from Paro. As you can see I am still alive. I am healthy, I have been eating well, drinking. I live with the people here.
“We travel together as required, we sit together, we rest together. Indonesia’s been dropping bombs in the area over the last week.
“Please, there is no need, it is dangerous for me and everybody here. Thank you for your support.”
The TPNPB issued a statement accompanying the video file urging Indonesia to stop its military operation to try and rescue Mehrtens and calling on New Zealand to mediate and initiate negotiations for his release.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with Asia Pacific Report and RNZ.
An archive photograph of Phillip Mehrtens with his West Papuan captors pictured in late February 2023. Image: TPNPB/RNZ Pacific
New Caledonia’s largest pro-independence party has been told that France is “panicking” and afraid of losing New Caledonia.
The head of the Caledonian Union Daniel Goa briefed the party in Koumac after a week of meetings of a cross-section of New Caledonian politicians with the French government in Paris earlier this month.
Goa said Paris kept reneging on earlier undertakings by pressing ahead with efforts to undo the 1998 Noumea Accord on the territory’s decolonisation in order to maintain its international influence.
He said there was major incomprehension on part of the French government of what the bilateral talks in Paris were supposed to be about.
Goa said Paris wanted concrete decisions in circumstances favouring the French government.
However, Goa said the decolonisation process and New Caledonia’s accession to sovereignty would be discussed in New Caledonia.
He again warned France against opening up the restricted electoral roll used for provincial elections.
Bid to extend voting rights
Anti-independence parties have urged Paris to extend voting rights for the 2024 elections after the 2021 referendum saw a majority of voters reject full sovereignty.
The pro-independence side, however, largely abstained from the vote in 2021 because of the covid-19 pandemic and still refuses to recognise the result as the legitimate outcome of the decolonisation process.
Under the terms of the Noumea Accord voting in provincial elections is restricted to indigenous Kanaks and those who have been residents in the territory since 1998.
About 40,000 French citizens are excluded from provincial elections but can take part in France’s parliamentary and presidential elections.
Goa warned of what he called irreversible solutions if France imposed a change to the rolls, adding that there would be a risk of there never being any election.
He said the survival of the Kanaks hinged on this issue.
Caledonian Union’s Daniel Goa . . . France needs to choose between moving in the direction of history or ending up in the “rubbish bin of colonial history”. Image: RNZ Pacific/AFP
Goa said opening the roll to recent arrivals would create a new imbalance and extinguish the Kanaks’ vision of politics.
‘Colonial state’ opposed
He stressed that the Kanaks would no longer allow the colonial state to impose itself.
He said the French state was pushing the Kanaks to their last entrenchments, but they would be present in their own way to take responsibility to liberate their country.
Goa said the Kanaks’ sovereignty was no longer negotiable, adding that the land is not a land of France and will never be a land of France.
He said it was a shame to imagine the worst, but France was going against the “wind of history” as the United Nations kept calling for the eradication of colonialism.
Goa said France had to choose between moving in the direction of history or ending up in the “rubbish bin of colonial history”.
He put Paris on notice that a refusal to restore the territory’s sovereignty would drive the Kanak people to seek support elsewhere.
Goa said France did not and would not recognise the Kanaks’ rights, which would prompt the pro-independence camp to turn to new allies.
France ‘lonely in Pacific’
He said all major powers were around the Pacific rim but France, as only a small European country, was lonely in the Pacific.
Goa said the French army never defended New Caledonia when it was threatened, but only killed Kanaks, plundered their land, carried out punitive expeditions, brutally treated and displaced Kanak populations, and killed their elders.
He also castigated President Emmanuel Macron’s China policy, asking whether France could be trusted.
Goa said France still wanted to give the illusion of existing in a concert of nations but the President, out of clumsiness, had betrayed his European and American allies by pledging allegiance to China.
He said in the Pacific context, France would on one hand “sell” New Caledonia to China and on the other hand, France kept saying not to deal with China in whatever way, brandishing the “Chinese threat” as the worst thing that could happen.
Goa said with the French presidency and the country adrift, there was a risk for New Caledonia to be dragged into a void.
Southern Province president Sonia Backes . . . threats of action in case of changes to the rolls “unacceptable”. Image: RNZ Pacific
Backes slams Goa’s speech
Daniel Goa’s speech was criticised by a leading anti-independence politician, Sonia Backes, who regarded Goa’s comments about the electoral rolls as a call to violence.
Backes, president of the Southern Province and a junior member of the French government, told La Première television that Goa’s threats of action in case of changes to the rolls were unacceptable.
She also took issue with Goa’s warning that the Kanaks would ally themselves with other powers, should their ambition to attain independence be thwarted by France.
Backes said the anti-independence coalition had referred the speech to the public prosecutor for alleged calls for violence and sedition.
She wondered if Goa considered that those opposed to independence had no place on this world and could not be asked to discuss the future.
Backes said the other side needed to explain itself.
Institutions not functioning
She said her side had an interest in finding a consensus because New Caledonia’s institutions no longer functioned.
She added that it was no longer possible to have 45,000 people excluded from the rolls and do nothing for them while waiting for a possible consensus on how to open the rolls.
Noumea’s marina . . . the anti-independence parties want Paris to realign the territory with France. Image: Johnny Blades/RNZ Pacific
After the rejection of full sovereignty in three referendums and the expiry of the Noumea Accord, a new statute for New Caledonia has to be created.
While the pro-independence parties want Paris to give a timetable to full independence, the anti-independence parties want Paris to realign the territory with France.
After this month’s talks in Paris, discussions will be continued in Noumea in June when French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin plans his next visit.
His ministry said in May he would go to the United Nations in New York to discuss the situation in New Caledonia.
The territory has been on the UN decolonisation list since 1986, based on the Kanak people’s internationally recognised right to self-determination.
