PNG's Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko . . . his daughter was "totally devastated" by the backlash to her TikTok video. Image: Natalie Whiting/ABC News
Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister has vehemently defended his daughter against a furious backlash to a TikTok video she posted as part of PNG’s official delegation to King Charles III’s coronation.
The video posted by Savannah Tkatchenko flaunts extravagant meals in first class airport lounges and “elite” shopping experiences at luxury brands on the taxpayer-funded trip.
“We did some shopping around Singapore airport at Hermes and Louis Vuitton. For those of you that don’t know, Singapore airport shopping is so elite,” she said in the clip.
Savannah Tkatchenko attended the coronation in London alongside her father, Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko, and two other officials.
The video has garnered widespread criticism in PNG, with commentators saying money for the trip should have been spent on improving healthcare, education and other services in the impoverished county.
Speaking to ABC’s Pacific Beat, Minister Tkatchenko said critics of the video were “primitive animals” with “nothing better to do”.
He said his daughter did not actually purchase anything at some shops featured in the video.
Speaking to ABC’s Pacific Beat, Mr Tkachenko said critics of the video were “primitive animals” with “nothing better to do” 😳 https://t.co/lO1wEpBJkd
‘My daughter is devastated’
“My daughter now is totally devastated. She is traumatised by some of the most ridiculous and useless comments that I’ve seen,” he said.
“Jealousy is a curse. And, you know, these people clearly show that they have got nothing to do in their lives.”
About 40 percent of Papua New Guineans live below the basic needs poverty line, according to World Bank data published in 2020.
Tkatchenko said his daughter was selected to attend the coronation in the place of his wife, who could not make the event.
“The best next person in my family was my eldest daughter, who is a qualified lawyer by profession,” he said.
“We went to London, we attended all the meetings and events, and she represented her country without fear or favour to the highest degree and honour.”
PNG social justice advocate and former election candidate Tania Bale said the minister’s response was “tone deaf”.
Fuuurious online backlash in PNG after FM Justin Tkachenko’s daughter posted a TikTok video of her (taxpayer funded) trip to London to attend the King’s Coronation. FM has responded angrily, saying his daughter has copped online abuse from “useless” people and “primitive animals” https://t.co/e6f7GCswOJ
— Stephen Dziedzic (@stephendziedzic) May 10, 2023
‘Completely offensive’
“It’s completely offensive to the people of Papua New Guinea and the suffering that we’re going through. It shows complete contempt for us,” she said.
“There’s just a big disconnect with what I’m seeing in this video of super luxury . . . and you contrast that with how our people actually live.”
According to local media, the coronation cost PNG taxpayers 6 million kina (NZ$2.7 million) — half of which was spent on an in-country celebration attended by Prime Minister James Marape.
Tkatchenko said he could not confirm reports that PNG Governor-General Bob Dadae also took a delegation of between 10 and 30 people to the coronation, saying the trips were “completely separate”.
“We attended the coronation because of our connection with the monarchy, the connection with the Commonwealth. It’s very straightforward. It’s nothing to hide,” he said.
Lae resident Laurence, who did not want to use his last name out of fear of reprisal for speaking out, said the spending did not seem justified.
Facing ‘a lot of issues’
“The country is facing a lot of issues and that sort of money should be spent on other services in a country instead of for just a single event or trip,” he said.
The video has now been removed from Tik Tok and Savannah Tkatchenko appears to have deleted her account.
Minister Tkatchenko said the coronation visit was a success for PNG.
“I hold my head up high. We had a fantastic coronation. Papua New Guinea was represented at the highest order. The King was so impressed,” he said.
The ABC has contacted Savannah Tkatchenko for comment.
Marian Faa and Belinda Kora are ABC Pacific Beat reporters. Republished from Pacific Beat and Asia Pacific Report with permission.
Noumea Accord signatory Victor Tutugoro about the 2021 Kanak referendum boycott . . . "[The vote was] a travesty. It's not a referendum that concerns the Kanak people." Image: RNZ Pacific/AFP
By Walter Zweifel
France has been warned against attempts to abandon the New Caledonian decolonisation process pursued for more than two decades.
A veteran independence campaigner, Victor Tutugoro, made the warning on the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Noumea Accord, which has been the roadmap guiding the gradual and irreversible transfer of power from France to New Caledonia.
As one of the signatories, Tutugoro told the news site Outremers360 that “the process of decolonisation must continue. It was thought to bring back calm and serenity, it should not be thrown away today”.
“Rewriting a blank page, wiping everything off the table is dangerous, it’s leading the country to disaster,” he said.
After the violence in the 1980s, the accord between the pro- and anti-independence parties as well as the French state firmed up the consensus for a peaceful approach to the Kanaks’ claim for self-determination.
The proposed 20-year emancipation process of the accord concluded with three referendums between 2018 and 2021 and resulted in three rejections of full sovereignty — two of them very narrowly.
Not legitimate
However, the third and last vote in 2021 is not being accepted by the Kanaks as the legitimate outcome of the decolonisation process.
With the Kanak population being hit hard by the covid-19 pandemic, the pro-independence parties lobbied France to postpone the plebiscite but Paris refused, which prompted a boycott of the vote.
More than 96 percent voted against independence but less than half of the electorate voted.
Few Kanaks voted and as the president of New Caledonia’s Congress and signatory to the Noumea Accord, Roch Wamtyan, noted, the vote missed the point because it should have been about the Kanak people, colonised since 1853.
“It’s a travesty. It’s not a referendum that concerns the Kanak people,” he said.
The anti-independence parties hailed the referendum victory and French President Emmanuel Macron also welcomed the result, saying “France was more beautiful because New Caledonia decided to remain part of it”.
Macron said a new common project had to be built while recognising and respecting the dignity of everyone.
The accord stipulates that in the case of three “no” votes, the political partners would meet to examine the situation which had arisen.
Murky way forward
The way forward is murky as the two sides hold incompatible positions.
There is disagreement over whether the process has come to its conclusion and there is disagreement over whether the Noumea Accord provisions now enshrined in the French constitution are irreversible.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the result of the referendum in 2021. Image: RNZ Pacific/AFP
As Noumea law professor Mathias Chauchat noted last year, “there is a contradiction between the lapsing and irreversibility of the Noumea Accord. The two concepts cannot be made to coexist”.
“Either the accord is void or it is irreversible,” he added.
Tutugoro said the accord provisions must continue to be implemented.
He said the rebalancing within the territory as outlined in the accord was not complete, citing the Northern Province where he said one cannot do in 30 years what had not been done in more than 100 years.
“It should be the Kanaks, and those to whom we have given the right to decolonisation [other New Caledonian communities] to run the country today. But we are still far from it. Many decisions are made in ministerial circles or in inaccessible settings,” he said.
He went on to say that it was a mistake “to have trusted certain signatories. The accord is what it is today because some did not keep to their word. And here, the word is sacred,” he said.
Will Paris alter the provincial roll? A contentious issue emanating from the Noumea Accord is the make-up of the roll used in provincial elections, which choose the provincial assemblies that in turn make up the Congress.
At the insistence of the pro-independence parties, it was agreed that in order to be eligible to vote, an individual must be either an indigenous Kanak or a resident since 1998.
This provision was meant to set the parameters for New Caledonian citizenship.
The anti-independence parties said given the referendum outcome, New Caledonia needed to be realigned with France and the restrictions eased.
They said the restricted roll had become untenable and want France to open it for next year’s elections.
About 40,000 French citizens are excluded from provincial elections but can take part in France’s parliamentary and presidential elections.
A leading anti-independence politician and president of New Caledonia’s Southern Province, Sonia Backes, said she would quit her position in the French government if it failed to open up New Caledonia’s electoral rolls.
Anti-independence politician Sonia Backes . . . threatened to quit her position in the French government if it failed to open up New Caledonia’s electoral rolls. Image: RNZ Pacific
Citizens have same rights
An organisation of French citizens without full voting rights in New Caledonia pointed out a basic principle of the French republic was that all citizens had the same rights.
Cognisant of the possible implications of the Noumea Accord, the French government noted that “a lasting registration of a restricted and fixed electorate would raise difficulties with regard to France’s international commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and under the European Convention on Human Rights”.
Two months ago, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the 2024 provincial elections would not be able to go ahead with the 1998.
However, he has yet to announce what change his government plans and how it would be implemented.
The pro-independence parties, united under the FLNKS umbrella, keep objecting to any suggestion for change.
Its delegate at the UN Decolonisation Committee, Dimitri Qenegei, said last year that France’s intention to open up the electoral rolls was the ultimate weapon to “drown” the Kanak people and “recolonise” New Caledonia.
The Kanaks, he said, would be made to disappear and that would not be accepted, inevitably lead to conflict.
‘Mother of all battles’
The Caledonian Union’s Gilbert Tyuienon told New Caledonia’s La Premiere television at the weekend that getting the restricted roll was “the mother of all battles” for the Kanaks in the process of attaining the 1998 Noumea Accord.
Last month, the union’s president, Daniel Goa, warned that if France changed the roll for provincial elections, there would be a risk of there never being any election.
He added that the survival of the Kanaks hinged on the issue.
In response, the anti-independence coalition, led by Backes, lodged a complaint with the French prosecutor for alleged incitement to violence and sedition.
In defending Goa, Tyuienon said he simply stated what the party membership thought.
He warned that dialogue [with France] would be suspended if Goa was taken to court.
Since the disputed 2021 referendum, the Caledonian Union keeps insisting that any discussion has to be a bilateral one between the coloniser and the colonised people.
Sovereignty timetable
It insists on a timetable to be presented for the restoration of sovereignty taken in 1853.
Only then, it said, would it be prepared to enter into trilateral talks which included the anti-independence parties.
In the week after the 2021 referendum, Paris presented a timetable for the post-referendum process which was meant to culminate in a new referendum on a new statute for the territory in June this year.
The pro-independence parties, however, deprived the French plan of its momentum.
Only last month saw the pro-independence parties accept top level contact with the French government for the first time since the 2021 vote.
There was no tangible progress towards any new statute but agreement to continue talks in June when the French interior minister Darmanin is due back in Noumea for a second time in three months.
The provincial elections are scheduled for May next year, but it is uncertain what the roll will look like.
Journalist, author and media academic David Robie has launched an independent news and current affairs website to complement his long-established Asia Pacific Report.
While Asia Pacific Report will continue to cover regional affairs, the new website — dubbed Café Pacific, the same name as his blog which is being absorbed into the new venture — will focus on more in-depth reports and make available on open access a range of books and articles previously hidden behind paywalls.
Café Pacific will be operated on a Creative Commons licence basis as is APR.
Dr David Robie . . . editor and publisher of Café Pacific. Image: APR
Dr Robie, formerly founding director of AUT’s Pacific Media Centre and a professor of Pacific journalism, described the website project as “innovative”.
The about page says: “Café Pacific : Media freedom and transparency is the Asia-Pacific news articles archive and website of journalist and author David Robie, published with the support of Multimedia Investments Ltd in collaboration with Asia Pacific Report, EveningReport.nz and the Asia Pacific Media Network, and contributing colleagues, academics and freelancers.”
“There is a real need for an outlet such as this — specialist Asia-Pacific websites are rare,” says Dr Robie.
“It will be a rather eclectic website, but will focus on many of the critical issues that are either ignored in mainstream media or underplayed — such as climate justice, decolonisation in ‘French’ Polynesia and Kanaky New Caledonia, digital divide, education equity, environmental integrity, human rights, media freedom, podcasts, sustainable development and the crisis in West Papua.”
The website will also be a repository for Dr Robie’s past journalism, books and academic research, making publications more publicly accessible.
Dr Robie praised EveningReport.nz and Multimedia Investments managing director Selwyn Manning for his “perceptive” role in designing and developing the website.
“Selwyn has a long track record of supporting student and alternative journalism as witnessed with first Pacific Scoop and then Asia Pacific Report. And now we see it again with Café Pacific.”
Selwyn Manning and security analyst Dr Paul Buchanan will resume their popular weekly podcasts, “A View From Afar”, about current issues on EveningReport.nz and social media outlets tomorrow (May 11) at noon.
A West Papuan leader, defending himself against treason charges, has denounced “systemic racism” by Indonesian authorities in the Melanesian region in a court hearing.
Viktor Yeimo, the international spokesperson of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), presented his defence statement — pledoi — in a hearing at the Jayapura Class 1A District Court in Papua Province last Thursday.
He claimed that the treason charge against him was discriminatory and had political undertones.
Yeimo also argued that the trial conducted at the Jayapura District Court had failed to provide evidence of any wrongdoing or violation of the law — let alone treason — on his part.
The accusation of treason against Yeimo was linked to his alleged involvement in the anti-racism protests in Jayapura City on August 19 and 29, 2019.
These protests were made to condemn derogatory remarks made towards Papuan students at the Kamasan III Student Dormitory in Surabaya on August 16, 2019.
On August 12, 2021, the Jayapura District Court registered the alleged treason case under the case number 376/Pid.Sus/2021/PN Jap. The trial was presided over by chief judge Mathius and member judges Andi Asmuruf and Linn Carol Hamadi.
Witnesses ‘proved innocence’
When reading his defence statement, Yeimo said that all witnesses presented by the prosecutor had actually proven the fact that he did not plan or coordinate the demonstrations against Indonesian racism that took place in Jayapura City.
Video of Viktor Yeimo’s defence presentation. Video: Jubi TV
“At the August 19, 2019 action, I participated as a participant in the action against racism, and took part in securing the peaceful action at the request of students until it was over,” Yeimo said.
During the hearing, Yeimo argued that the witnesses produced by the prosecutor had actually corroborated his innocence. Their testimony had shown that he did not organise the protests in question.
Yeimo maintained that he had simply participated in the protests as a supporter of the cause and had helped ensure their peaceful conduct.
“During the protest on August 19, 2019, I merely acted as a participant and helped maintain a peaceful demonstration until it ended,” Yeimo said in his defence.
Yeimo highlighted the testimony of Feri Kombo, the former head of the Cenderawasih University student executive board in 2019, who affirmed that Yeimo was not involved in the planning or coordination of the anti-racism protests.
Kombo was summoned as a witness on February 7, 2023, and testified that Yeimo had only given a speech at the event when requested by the protesters, and that the speech was intended to maintain order among them.
Delivered speeches
“I delivered speeches expressing my disappointment with the acts of racism in Surabaya. This aspiration is protected by the country’s laws as a constitutional right,” Yeimo said.
“As stated by the state administration expert witness and the philosophy expert witness, this right has a scientific basis.”
In addition, Yeimo stressed that he had never been involved in participating, let alone planning, in the protest that occurred on August 29, 2019, which was confirmed by all the witnesses presented in the trial.
Yeimo admitted that he had taken photos and videos in front of the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) office and the Governor’s Office, but did not join the protest.
Yeimo clarified that he captured photos and videos to share with journalists and the public outside of Papua since the internet network was cut off by the central government at the time.
He added that President Joko Widodo had been found guilty of unlawful acts by a judge in the State Administrative Court in relation to the internet blackout.
Response to racism Yeimo said that the anti-racism demonstration was a spontaneous action taken by both Papuan and non-Papuan people in response to the racial insults that had been directed at Papuan students in Surabaya.
“The 2019 anti-racism protest that spread throughout Papua was a spontaneous response by Papuans and non-Papuan sympathizers from various backgrounds including private sector workers, students, farmers, military and police, and others.
“Everyone was reacting to the racist remarks in Surabaya. The demonstration in Jayapura was organised by students and the Cipayung group, and there was no planning, conspiracy, or treason as alleged.
“My speech was to represent the Papuan people who felt outraged by the racist insults. I deny all accusations that link me to my organizational background and other activities that have no direct connection to the facts of the anti-racism protest,” Yeimo said.
Yeimo stated that during the protest on August 19, 2019, he spoke about the issue of racism and discrimination in Indonesia. He emphasised that these problems were not merely personal issues but rather systematic problems that were perpetuated for the benefit of the ruling economic powers.
“It is evident that racist views have led to Papuans being treated differently in all aspects of their lives. The negative stigma attached to Papuans is what led the mass organisation and state apparatus to attack the Papuan Student Dormitory in Surabaya.”
In his statement, Yeimo’s arguments revolved around the issue of racial discrimination that Papuans have faced and how it is seen as a normal occurrence that the State tolerates.
Papuans standing up to injustices
He highlighted that when Papuans stood up against these injustices, they were met with accusations of provocation and charged with treason.
“This trial case proves it. Racism really exists in all these accusations and charges. Could the State explain why the Papuan race is a minority, with only 2.9 million people remaining, while in Papua New Guinea there are already 17 million Papuans?” Yeimo asked.
In his pledoi, Yeimo not only defended himself against the treason allegations but also criticised Indonesia’s lack of development in Papua.
He raised questions about why the poverty rate in Papua remained the highest among all provinces in Indonesia and why the Human Development Index in the region had consistently been the lowest.
Yeimo pointed out the contrasting approaches taken by the Indonesian government in resolving the conflict in Aceh and in Papua.
Differences with Aceh
While the Aceh conflict was resolved through peace talks, Papua’s aspirations for independence have been met with violence and imprisonment.
Yeimo questioned why the government treats the two regions so differently.
Yeimo said that although Indonesia had enacted several laws to address issues of discrimination, freedom of expression, and special autonomy for Papua, these laws do not seem to be enforced in Papua, and their implementation did not benefit the indigenous Papuans.
“Isn’t that a structured crime against us Papuans? Can the government answer these questions? Or do the answers have to come from the muzzle of a gun?” asked Yeimo.
“Why is the government avoiding solutions recommended by state institutions such as the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, the National Research and Innovation Agency, and others who present the studies on Papua problems?”
Linguist witness competence in Yeimo’s trial questioned During the hearing, Viktor Yeimo’s legal team, represented by the Papua Law Enforcement and Human Rights Coalition, presented a defence read by advocate Emanuel Gobay.
Gobay argued that the prosecutor’s conclusion that Yeimo had committed treason relied solely on the testimony of a linguist witness who lacked the necessary expertise to prove the elements of the crime of treason as outlined in Article 106 jo Article 55 paragraph (1) to 1 of the Criminal Code, which Yeimo had been charged with.
“As a matter of fact, during the trial, the prosecutor never presented a criminal expert witness. Instead, the prosecutor relied on a linguist and then concluded that Viktor Yeimo was guilty of treason,” said Gobay.
According to Gobay, Yeimo’s legal team had presented multiple expert witnesses who explained the components of the treason offence, which included the elements of intent, territorial separation, and participation.
“All elements mentioned in Article 106 are not proven based on the testimony of both the prosecutor’s witnesses and the expert witnesses we presented,” Gobay said.
Gobay expressed the hope that the judges would review all the facts presented in Yeimo’s trial.
He asked the judges to re-examine the data provided by legal philosophy expert Tristam Pascal Moeliono, human rights expert Herlambang P Wiratraman, conflict resolution expert in Papua Cahyo Pamungkas, and criminal law expert Amira Paripurna.
Ultimately, Gobay made a plea to the judges to exonerate Viktor Yeimo, stating there was no proof of the alleged offences.
He requested restoration of Yeimo’s reputation and the State to bear the trial costs.
Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma's President Reverend Ili Vunisuwai (right) with Fiji's Assistant Minister for Women Sashi Kiran in Suva . . . "seeking forgiveness". Image: Methodist Church In Fiji and Rotuma/RNZ Pacific
By Rachael Nath
The Methodist Church of Fiji is seeking forgiveness from the descendants of Indian indentured labourers, or Girmitiyas, for the transgressions of the last 36 years.
The racially motivated violent coups of 1987 and 2000 and the military coup d’état of December 2006 have left a permanent scar on race relations within the country.
The 1987 and 2000 coups were supported by the church’s then-leadership.
But in a historic move, the church is launching a 10-year campaign to heal the wounds of the past — starting with an apology to coincide with the inaugural Girmit Day celebrations next Sunday.
Reverend Ili Vunisuwai is leading the official apology at the national reconciliation service on May 14 as the head of the largest Christian denomination in Fiji.
“The time is right to launch a campaign for national reconciliation and give the people of all races a chance to confess their weaknesses,” Reverend Vunisuwai said.
“Let’s seek forgiveness from those they regard as their enemies. We strongly believe that by confession with pure hearts and humility, our transgression can be forgiven,” he said.
‘Dark days of social upheavals’
“As we look back, the dark days of social upheavals of coups of 1987, 2000 as well as 2006, and then, unfolding events of hatred and discrimination, which resulted in fear and uncertainties, I think there’s a lot to be done by the church to bring the two races together.”
The timing of the event has much significance as the country of under a million people marks 144 years since the arrival of the first of more than 60,000 indentured labourers or Girmitiyas as they later came to be known.
Girmitiyas were brought to Fiji between 1879 to 1916 by British colonial rulers to work in plantations across the island.
As a result of the indentured labour system, Fijians of Indian descent make up the second largest ethnic population in Fiji today — slightly over 34 percent, while the iTaukei or indigenous people comprise 62 percent.
Chair to the Girmit Celebrations, Assistant Minister for Women Sashi Kiran, is calling the apology efforts a start of a peaceful future for the nation.
‘We acknowledge the pain’ ‘I’m very humbled, and I’m very, very touched at the strength of the Committee and of the leadership of the Methodist Church,” Kiran told RNZ Pacific.
“They’re willing to look at the problem in the eye and say, ‘Well, let’s talk about it. We apologise, we can’t change the past, but we are sorry for the hurt that we have caused’.”
But while Kiran accepts the apology from the church, she acknowledges that many in the Indo-Fijian community may not be ready.
“Any pain cannot be underrated,” she said. “What people went through was their pain, and it’s their journey so by no means can we judge what people are feeling or going through”
“We acknowledge the pain. We acknowledge the pain of the past,” she added.
Methodist Church of Fiji’s Apisalome Tudreu and Fiji’s Assistant Minister for Women Sashi Kiran . . . “We ask you to please open your hearts and open your inner feelings” plea to Fijians . . . “Let’s work on healing.” Image: Methodist Church In Fiji and Rotuma/RNZ Pacific
However, she admits that events of the past cannot be undone, and the way forward is through healing.
“In the interest of healing the nation, in the interest of future generations that they born into a healed nation…we ask you to please open your hearts and open your inner feelings,” she appealed to Fijians.
“Let’s talk about it [past atrocities], and let’s work on healing and come into that space.”
She said it was also “okay” for those people who still “need time” to heal from the racial troubles, adding “at least we begin to talk about this.”
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who has publicly apologised for his actions in 1987 repeatedly, accepts that many will still remember the dark past that made him notorious worldwide.
“The man that we did not want to know about, we shied away from his name, addressed us…and he does not bite, he’s not an angry young man,” Rabuka told the 12th World Hindi Conference in Nadi in February.
“He is just an old man who understands the feelings of the descendants of the Girmitiyas who are now his age, looking at their grandchildren and children growing up in the land they now call home.”
RNZ Pacific asked Reverend Vunisuwai why it has taken the Methodist Church of Fiji 35 years to apologise to the Indo-Fijian community?
“The current government has allowed the celebration of the Girmitiyas, and that’s probably a good time for national reconciliation regarding all the upheavals of the past 30 years or so.”
King Charles III and Queen Camilla wave from the balcony at Buckingham Palace after the coronation yesterday. Image: Al Jazeera screenshot APR
ANALYSIS:By James Mehigan
The coronation of King Charles III is an ideal time for Australia and New Zealand to take stock of the British monarchy and its role in national life — including certain myths about what becoming a republic might mean.
In particular, there is a common assumption that both nations must remain monarchies to retain membership of the Commonwealth of Nations. It might sound logical, but it’s entirely wrong.
There is no basis for it in the rules of the Commonwealth or the practice of its members. Australia could ditch the monarchy and stay in the club, and New Zealand can too, whether it has a king or a Kiwi as head of state.
Yet this peculiar myth persists at home and abroad. Students often ask me about it when I’m teaching the structure of government. And just this week a French TV station interpreted the New Zealand prime minister’s opinion that his country would one day ideally become a republic to mean he would like to see it leave the Commonwealth.
The United Kingdom’s first coronation in 70 years. Video: Al Jazeera
What does ‘Commonwealth’ mean? The implication that breaking from the Commonwealth would be a precursor to, or consequence of, becoming a republic relies on a faulty premise which joins two entirely separate things: the way we pick our head of state, and our membership of the Commonwealth.
It would make just as much sense to ask whether Australia or New Zealand should leave the International Cricket Council and become a republic.
The confusion may derive from the fact that the 15 countries that continue to have the British sovereign as their head of state are known as “Commonwealth Realms”.
What we usually refer to as the Commonwealth, on the other hand, is the organisation founded in 1926 as the British Commonwealth of Nations. This is the body whose membership determines the competing nations of the Commonwealth Games, the highest-profile aspect of the Commonwealth’s work.
King Charles III is the head of state of the 15 Commonwealth Realms and the head of the international governmental organisation that is the Commonwealth of Nations. The Commonwealth has 56 members — but only 15 of them continue to have the king as head of state.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said Monday he personally favors his country becoming a republic, though it’s not a change he intends to push for as leader. https://t.co/1XEiFFtqPTpic.twitter.com/aftsZ0hHmV
Joining the Commonwealth club To be fair, confusion over who heads the Commonwealth is nothing new. A 2010 poll conducted by the Royal Commonwealth Society found that, of the respondents in seven countries, only half knew the then queen was the head of the Commonwealth.
A quarter of Jamaicans believed the organisation was led by the then US president, Barack Obama. One in ten Indians and South Africans thought it was run by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Given the king’s overlapping leadership roles and the different use of the word in the contexts of Commonwealth Realms and the Commonwealth of Nations, these broad misunderstandings are perhaps understandable.
In fact, it was this ambiguity that allowed for the development of an inclusive Commonwealth during the postwar years of decolonisation.
However the confusion arose, it is also very simple to correct. The Commonwealth relaxed its membership rules regarding republics when India became one in 1950.
According to Philip Murphy, the historian and former director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, this decision was based on the erroneous idea that India’s huge standing army would underwrite Britain’s great-power status in the postwar world.
From that point on the Commonwealth of Nations no longer comprised only members who admitted to the supremacy of one sovereign. To make the change palatable, a piece of conceptual chicanery was needed. Each country did not need a king, but the king was to be head of the organisation comprising equal members.
Republican protesters who want an elected head of state in the United Kingdom at the coronation . . . placards reading “Democracy not monarchy” and “Not my king”. Image: Al Jazeera screenshot APR
Monarchy optional Since then, the number of Commonwealth members has steadily increased to the 56 we have today.
As early as 1995, membership was extended to countries with no ties to the former British Empire. With the support of Nelson Mandela, Mozambique became a member, joining the six Commonwealth members with which it shared a border.
Rwanda, a former German and then Belgian colony, joined in 2009. It became an enthusiastic member and hosted the biennial meeting of states known as CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting).
According to the Commonwealth’s own rules, membership is based on a variety of things, including commitment to democratic processes, human rights and good governance. Being a monarchy is entirely optional.
The new king offers the chance for a broader debate on the advantages of monarchy. But let us do so knowing Commonwealth membership is entirely unaffected by the question of whether or not the country is a republic.
Fiji Times journalist Serafina Silaitoga with a police officer in a van on their way to the police station on 10 August 2008. Image: The Fiji Times screenshot APR
By Serafina Silaitoga in Labasa, Fiji
It was a typical Sunday morning on August 10, 2008, as I enjoyed breakfast with the family, lots of laughter and jokes hearing stories shared by my children.
Suddenly, there was silence.
My children went quiet as they looked out the window to see three police vehicles drive into our compound at Y-Corner in Labasa.
A team of police personnel got out of the vehicle, walked up the stairs and handed me a warrant to search the house and The Fiji Times office at Labasa Civic Centre.
I was four months pregnant so I didn’t want to create a fuss and let them into the house.
My children aged between two and 12 years old were quiet.
They stared at the officers as they moved around the house carrying out their search.
Children in another room
To ensure they were not disturbed or affected, I told my children to move into one room where they could wait.
The officers entered the rooms and flipped through any papers and books they could find as evidence about an article I had written for The Fiji Times on August 7, 2008, about the then interim Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry.
In that article I had written that Chaudhry, a former prime minister ousted in the May 2000 civilian coup, had been told by the interim government that he was not to make any national decisions on finance and he was to leave office within a month.
Before my Sunday arrest, police officers had approached me at the Grand Eastern Hotel on Saturday night, the day the article was published.
I was at the hotel with our former editor Netani Rika, former chief photographer Asaeli Lave, former Fiji Times journalist Theresa Ralogaivau and our spouses.
When the officers approached they said: “We have come to arrest you on the order of our Police Commissioner, Esala Teleni”.
According to these officers, Teleni had received a directive to arrest me from a senior minister in the government.
I refused to go without our company lawyer.
Police returned
The officers then left, but it didn’t end there because they came home the next morning.
That night Labasa businessman Charan Jeath Singh, now the Minister for Sugar, was arrested by CID officers on the same Sunday night at Nausori Airport in connection with the same story.
After searching the house, the police took me to The Fiji Times office, looked through the drawers and looked through every notebook in search of evidence.
Whatever they found as evidence they took to the Labasa Police Station where I was also questioned.
The officers told me that if I didn’t reveal the source of information for the story they would lock me up in a police cell.
Lawyers reminded police
As I was being interrogated, Fiji Times lawyers Jon Apted and Richard Naidu were making phone calls to the police officers whose tone and expression then changed.
I’m positive that these lawyers reminded the officers of certain laws and policies because after those few phone calls, the police team softened down and there were no more threats.
I spent about four hours in the station.
I was then taken to the Grand Eastern Hotel in the police vehicle where I joined my former bosses, friends and family.
By the time I got into the police vehicle, news about my arrest was already on the radio and generating international interest as well.
Reporters called from around the world asking for updates about my arrest.
The unending support from the media family globally was so encouraging, that despite the circumstances and dictatorship, we never backed down from the truth.
That truth was revealed last year when the former Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, told the media after a few exchanges with Chaudhry that he had personally asked for Chaudhry’s resignation.
He said that he had, on the instructions of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama, gone personally to Chaudhry’s house one night to ask him to resign because of tax matters they said affected the government.
The truth shall prevail
After 15 years, the truth was finally told.
So The Fiji Times was right all along except that our families, especially our innocent children, had to witness the arrest and for some, torture that the past administration put them through.
Serafina Silaitoga is a Fiji Times reporter. This was first published by The Fiji Times on World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2023, under the headline “The truth shall prevail” and is republished here with permission.
Deported businessman Jamie Pang . . . seated between two PNG police officers on a flight before being handing over to Australian authorities yesterday. Image: PNG Post-Courier screenshot APR
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby
Papua New Guinea has deported controversial Australian businessman Jamie Pang.
Surrounded by Immigration and Citizenship Authority officials and police, Pang was taken to Jackson’s International Airport yesterday at 3am and deported.
Chief Migration Officer Stanis Hulahau said that the movement of Pang came about after his acquittal of rape charges on Wednesday afternoon.
“Pang has no legal right to remain in PNG, his visa and work permit have been cancelled, his visa was made void and he is now blacklisted for life,” he said.
“We don’t need people who disregard our laws.”
Pang, 45, was handed over to Australian authorities at about 10am because they have an interest in him for other incidents which they will be interviewing him about under Australian law.
When contacted by the PNG Post-Courier, Hulahau said that the deportation of Pang was a warning to all foreigners who wished to do business in the country to abide by and respect the law, and to also not get involved in illegal activities.
Breached visa conditions
In 2022, Pang was charged for breaching his visa conditions and was ordered by the Waigani Grade-Five District Court to pay a fine of K4000 (NZ$1800).
That year, he was charged under the Migration Act when he was found in a hotel with drugs and firearms.
At the time, Hulahau said that the conditions of his work permit and visa included not getting into any criminal activities.
“Once that was breached he was charged and he paid a fine, from there his visa was marked as void,” Hulahau said.
“This is a warning, there is zero tolerance on such incidents.”
Police Commissioner David Manning said that all foreigners should be aware of Papua New Guinea’s laws and respect the rule of law.
“As guests of this country they are expected to abide by all our laws,” he said.
“If found guilty of breaching our laws and that has been determined under a court of competent jurisdiction they are required to be deported back to their country of origin upon completion of their sentence.”
Caught by surprise
According to sources, Pang was caught by surprise after being acquitted of the rape charge and was on his way out of the Bomana Correctional Services prison when he was served detention orders by Immigration officials at the gate of the Bomana prison.
It is alleged he refused to go with the officials. However, he finally got into a waiting vehicle and was taken to the Bomana Immigration Centre (BIC).
At BIC he was taken early yesterday morning to Jackson International Airport.
He was quickly taken in with Post-Courier on hand to witness Pang walking up the stairs into the boarding lounge at about 5.30am.
The flight he was on left the country at 6am.
“You cannot disrespect our laws and our country and expect to continue to stay here,” Commissioner Manning said.
“This also applies to those expatriates who meddle in matters of national security and sovereignty.
Deemed ‘unfriendly’
“Do not for once think under some preconceived notions that you will not be held accountable.
“You will deemed as acting unfriendly towards our country.”
“I say this because there has been an increase of reports and cases of expatriates who continue to deliberately hold our way of life in contempt, including undermining systems and the authorities, often putting those authorities on a collision course with each other.
“No country in the world would tolerate this behaviour. PNG is no exception.”
Hulahau said that the laws of the country was in place to ensure people followed the laws.
Miriam Zarrigais a senior PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission from the Post-Courier and Asia Pacific Report.
The three alleged gun runners from Hela arrested in a PNG police raid on Mepu village on the border with Indonesia. Image: PNG Post-Courier
PNG Post-Courier
North Fly MP James Donald has ordered Papua New Guinean police to shoot to kill drug and gun runners along the Indonesian border.
Donald said this after police in Kiunga had raided Mepu village along the border and arrested and charged three men from Hela for being in possession of 3.4kg of marijuana with a street value of K50,000 (NZ$23,000).
The men have been detained and were expected to appear before Kiunga District Court this week.
Donald called on police to shoot to kill those involved in smuggling drugs to exchange with money and guns along the border with the Indonesian region of Papua.
“I wish to commend the policemen and women for doing a good job,” he said.
“It is not the first time that men from Tari and Upper Highlands, including locals from Nomad, have been involved in smuggling drugs into Kiunga and Tabubil for exchange for money and guns.
“I must warn everyone that those caught involved in smuggling drugs will face the full force of the law.”
‘Destroying society’
He said his orders were for anyone caught with clear possession of drugs to be immediately “shot on the spot to eliminate the bad one” and stop them from “destroying the society”.
“I am going to step up the laws and give such tough penalty directives to men in blue in my electorate to carry out without fear or favour because I am tired of such bad drug issue with the ongoing law and order issues,” he said.
“If you enter Indonesia with a drug you will be shot dead on the spot. Likewise, I will implement the same policy in North Fly. Enough is enough.
“The drugs are smuggled through Iowara Rampsite way and others who fly in by air from Hagen and Telefomin are given caution also.
“This country needs to now be serious and that means we have to step up as law and order issues in PNG have gone to the dogs,” Donald said.
Some of Rupert Murdoch’s media businesses have been in the headlines for misinformation. Image: David Shankbone via Flickr CCBY3.0
By Alexandra Wake
World Press Freedom Day is usually marked by stories of despair — worsening repression of voices, media outlets closed down, journalists locked up, journalists killed. But this year there have been some glimmers of light, especially in Australia, where the lack of diversity in media ownership has been a longstanding issue.
While many independent media outlets around the world face persecution from authorities, in Australia the small independent publisher Crikeystared down a defamation action from a much larger media group: The Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp.
Crikey, which says it is guided by a deceptively simple, old idea “tell the truth and shame the devil” had dared Lachlan Murdoch, son of Rupert, to bring a defamation action against it, after naming the Murdoch family as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 6 January 2021 US Capitol riot.
The news site stood strong until Lachlan Murdoch walked away, just days after his US television network, Fox News, was forced to settle a US defamation lawsuit for making false claims about the 2020 US election.
Crikey’s CEO and chairman Will Hayward was ecstatic: “We are proud of our stand. We are proud to have exposed the hypocrisy and abuse of power of a media billionaire. This is a victory for free speech. We won.”
The price of defeat may well have silenced another independent voice.
Won many friends, funds
Crikey’s campaign had won many friends, and substantial GoFundMe donations for its legal battle, and gave more grist to the growing hate campaign against News Corp publications which has resulted in anti-Murdoch posters and stickers being sold and displayed throughout Australia.
It wasn’t the only good news in Australian media. The government-forced Media Bargaining Code has resulted in 30 agreements between digital platforms (Google and Meta) and a cross section of Australian news businesses.
While the code is being lauded and copied in other countries, some of the smaller Australian publishers have felt aggrieved as they have not always had the power or nous to get good deals. Still, there is money from the code across the news sector.
And the new Labor government halted the previous government’s ongoing attacks against the trusted national broadcaster, the ABC. Labor also made an election promise to provide AU$29 million to support regional, local and community media, including First Nations publications and hyper-local community websites.
It also matched the previous Coalition government’s AU$10 million promise to help offset print costs. While those funds have been flowing through to news organisations, there has not been any announcement to better support journalism students studying at universities, with the cost of their degrees increased by 110 percent by the former government.
Another bright spot for press freedom was the appointment of a news-friendly Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus. The long-time supporter of journalism and journalists has been keen to engage with all in the industry, and invited news organisations large and small to the nation’s capital to discuss proposed changes to Australia’s privacy law.
He also used the opportunity to discuss strengthening Freedom of Information laws to force governments and government departments to be more open to requests from journalists.
No easy answer
Dreyfus does not, however, have an easy answer for who is a journalist in 2023. It remains a vexed question, particularly for those who work for mainstream news outlets who are tired of being lumped in with independent journalists who do not sign up to a code of ethics.
Increasingly, anyone with a comedy career, or a camera, will claim to be a journalist. Until they no longer want to be one.
These bits of good news, however, do not change the fact that trust in journalism continues to fall in Australia and across the world. Overall trust in Australian journalism has dropped further (from 43 percent to 41 percent) in a year. Also, the Public Interest Journalism Initiative continues to map newsroom closures and there is a never-ending supply of stories about closures even in vibrant communities.
Larger newsrooms are also changing. They continue to lose older, higher paid, experienced journalists, while trying to replace them with younger staff from more diverse backgrounds. While there is still much work to be done on diversity, these young journalists must be sharp.
They generally need to present their reporting suitable for all platforms — text, audio, visual, digital and social. They also need to capture the attention of audiences flooded by media that isn’t news-focused.
Australia might have solid levels of literacy, but Australians report low levels of confidence with their media literacy.
Epstein was hardly overrun with calls. Despite his efforts over a couple of days, he was unable to garner much interest beyond the few normal partisan callers. Epstein’s efforts pointed to a problem with all news media: even with the best reporting, backed by the strongest evidence, audiences are not always moved.
Getting people to pay attention to quality journalism in an information-rich environment remains an ongoing issue.
Despite the efforts of multiple fact-checkers from news organisations across Australia, misinformation and fake news is having very real impacts on communities.
The small Yarra Ranges Council, less than 40km from Australia’s largest city of Melbourne, has been forced to close its art gallery and put its council meetings online because of abuse directed at staff and councillors. The Yarra Ranges has one newspaper servicing the area, but this has not been enough to stop the impact of misinformation online.
The other issue that continues to hang over Australian journalism is the continued detention of Julian Assange in the UK. Assange’s case has had some movement with now planned regular visits from Australia’s UK High Commissioner to the WikiLeaks founder, who is in Belmarsh prison and faces espionage charges in the US.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Assange’s corner, telling The Guardian: “I have made it clear the Australian government’s position, which is: enough is enough. There’s nothing to be served from ongoing issues being continued.”
But there is still no movement at all in the case of Cheng Lei who has been detained in Beijing for more than two years on spying charges. Her partner asked the Victorian Premier Dan Andrews to push for her freedom during his visit to China earlier this year but to date there is still no word on the fate of the Melbourne journalist and mother of two.
Dr Alexandra Wake is an associate professor of journalism at RMIT University in Melbourne, Victoria, and the elected president of the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia. She is an active leader, educator and researcher in journalism. Her research, teaching and practice sits at the nexus of journalism practice, journalism education, equality, diversity and mental health. This article was originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
