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Repeal ‘draconian’ MIDA Act, urge Fiji media and journalism stakeholders

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Cafe Pacific Publisher
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Fijian media stakeholders at the public consultation on the Media Ownership and Regulation Bill 2023 in Suva on 23 March 2023
Fijian media stakeholders at the public consultation on the Media Ownership and Regulation Bill 2023 in Suva on 23 March 2023. Photo: Fijian Media Association

By Kelvin Anthony

The Fiji government is signalling that it will not completely tear down the country’s controversial media law which, according to local newsrooms and journalism commentators, has stunted press freedom and development for more than a decade.

Ahead of the 2022 general elections last December, all major opposition parties campaigned to get rid of the Media Industry Development Act (MIDA) 2010 — brought in by the Bainimarama administration — if they got into power.

The change in government after 16 years following the polls brought a renewed sense of hope for journalists and media outlets.

But now almost 100 days in charge it appears Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s coalition is backtracking on its promise to get rid of the punitive law, a move that has been condemned by the industry stakeholders.

“The government is totally committed to allowing people the freedom of the press that will include the review of the Media Act,” Rabuka said during a parliamentary session last month.

“I believe we cannot have a proper democracy without a free press which has been described as the oxygen of democracy,” he said.

Rabuka has denied that his government is backtracking on an election promise.

“Reviewing could mean eventually repealing it,” he told RNZ Pacific in February.

“We have to understand how it [media act] is faring in this modern day of media freedom. How have other administrations advance their own association with the media,” he said.

He said he intended to change it which means “review and make amendments to it”.

“The coalition has given an assurance that we will end that era of media oppression. We are discussing new legislation that reflects more democratic values.”

And last week, that discussion happened for the first time when consultations on a refreshed version of a draft regulation began in Suva as the government introduced the Media Ownership and Registration Bill 2023.

The bill is expected to “address issues that are undemocratic, threatens freedom of expression, and hinders the growth and development of a strong and independent news media in Fiji.”

The proposed law will amend the MIDA Act by removing the punitive clauses on content regulation that threatens journalists with heavy fines and jail terms.

“The bill is not intended as a complete reform of Fiji’s media law landscape,” according to the explanations provided by the government.

No need for government involvement
But the six-page proposed regulation is not what the media industry needs, according to the University of the South Pacific’s head of journalism programme Associate Professor Shailendra Singh.

Dr Shailendra Singh
Associate Professor Shailendra Singh . . . “We have argued there is no need for legislation.” Image: RNZ Pacific

“We have argued there is no need for legislation,” he said during the public consultation on the bill last Thursday.

“The existing laws are sufficient but if there has to be a legislation there should be minimum or no government involvement at all,” he said.

The Fijian Media Association (FMA) has also expressed strong opposition against the bill and is calling for the MIDA Act to be repealed.

“If there is a need for another legislation, then government can convene fresh consultation with stakeholders if these issues are not adequately addressed in other current legislation,” the FMA, which represents almost 150 working journalists in Fiji, stated.

Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, FMA executive member and Communications Fiji Ltd news director Vijay Narayan said “we want a total repeal” of the Media Act.

“We believe that it was brought about without consultation at all…it was shoved down our throats,” Narayan said.

“We have worked with it for 16 years. We have been staring at the pointy end of the spear and we continue to work hard to build our industry despite the challenges we face.”

‘Restrictions stunts growth’
He said the Fiji’s media industry “needs investment” to improve its standards.

Narayan said the FMA acknowledged that the issue of content regulation was addressed in the new law.

But “with the restrictions in investment that also stunts our growth as media workers,” he added.

“The fact that it will be controlled by politicians there is a real fear. What if we have reporting on something and the politician feels that the organisation that is registered should be reregistered.”

The FMA has also raised concerns about the provisions in relation to cross-media ownership and foreign ownership as key issues that impacts on media development and creates an unequal playing field.

Sections 38 and 39 of the Media Act impose restrictions on foreign ownership on local local media organisations and cross-media ownership.

According to a recent analysis of the Act co-authored by Dr Singh, they are a major impediment to media development and need to be re-examined.

“It would be prudent to review the media ownership situation and reforms periodically, every four-five years, to gauge the impact, and address any issues, that may have arisen,” the report recommends.

Fijian media stakeholders
Fijian media stakeholders at the public consultation on the Media Ownership and Regulation Bill 2023 in Suva on 23 March 2023. Image: Fijian Media Association/RNZ Pacific

But Suva lawyer and coalition government adviser Richard Naidu is of the view that all issues in respect to the news media should be opened up.

Naidu, who has helped draft the proposed new legislation, said it “has preserved the status quo” and the rules of cross-ownership and foreign media ownership were left as they were in the Media Act.

“Is that right? That is a question of opinion…because before the [MIDA Act] there were no rules on cross-media ownership, there were no rules on foreign media ownership.”

Naidu said the MIDA Act was initially introduced as a bill and media had two hours to to offer its views on it before its implementation.

“So, which status quo ought to be preserved; the one before the [MIDA Act] was imposed or the one as it stands right now. Those are legitimate questions.”

“There is a whole range of things which need to be reviewed and which will probably take a bit of time.”

Kelvin Anthony is RNZ Pacific lead digital and social media journalist This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Keeping the flow – the use of te reo Māori at NZ’s Parliament

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Cafe Pacific Publisher
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Nga Ratonga Ao Māori leader Maika Te Amo
Nga Ratonga Ao Māori leader Maika Te Amo . . .“There is an enormous hunger among our colleagues for the language and everything associated with the language, tikanga." Image: Johnny Blades/VNP

By Johnny Blades

An increased appetite to learn te reo Māori among members and staff from different parts of the Parliamentary system means the work of Parliament’s Māori Language Service is in demand more than ever.

Compared to several years ago there’s now also significantly more acknowledgement of and referral to Māori customs and protocols at Parliament. This is part of the reason why Nga Ratonga Reo Māori recently changed its name to Nga Ratonga Ao Māori, opening up the service’s scope to more than just the language.

“We’re asked for advice on a lot of things — very often — a few a day, several a week, from all parts of the Parliamentary Service and the Office of the Clerk, and they could be reo related, marae related, tikanga related, etc,” says Maika Te Amo, the man who heads the five-person unit.

“I still see my main role as supporting the House with Māori language services, primarily simultaneous interpretation of all sittings of the House and also sittings of the Māori Affairs Select Committee, at every sitting, but also any other committee that requests simultaneous interpretation.

“The other thing is translation — and that can be anything from communications through the Parliamentary Engagement team that go out on the website or the social media channels. A heavy part of our load comes from the Māori Affairs Select Committee — all of their reports are bilingual, so we translate all of those as well.”

From 1868 until 1920 Parliament had interpreters in the House. Then, for most of last century, Parliament didn’t even employ an interpreter to support MPs who spoke in Māori.

It wasn’t until this century, with the reintroduction of interpreters and Māori language services, that te reo began to flow significantly in the chamber again.

People who follow the action in the debating chamber these days will be familiar with numerous MPs fluently using te reo in speeches. If you’re watching the debate on Parliament TV you may see other MPs listening-in via an earpiece.

That is made possible because of simultaneous interpretation by Te Amo and his colleagues.

It is not only Māori MPs who use te reo in the chamber. Many MPs regularly pepper their speeches with the language, or use Māori for all their formal phrasings (e.g. asking for a supplementary question during Question Time).

Furthermore, Te Amo says there is a lot of interest in using the language among staff of the Parliamentary Service and the Office of the Clerk.

Labour MP Kiri Allan during the General Debate
Labour MP Kiritapu Allan debating in Māori in the chamber. Image: Phil Smith/VNP

There’s also ample evidence that Māori language and practices are being used throughout the Parliamentary system. In the annual reviews where government agencies front before various select committees to give a report on how their year has gone, their representatives often introduce themselves and give closing statements in te reo.

“There is an enormous hunger among our colleagues for the language and everything associated with the language, tikanga and traditional practices, traditional perspectives, metaphors, that kind of thing, and that is very encouraging,” says Te Amo.

“We’re a small team, so we will continue to do our best to support our colleagues with various different learning opportunities.”

Pacific challenge
The struggle to preserve Indigenous language and promote its use in Parliament is an acute challenge in the Pacific Islands.

This much was clear when Maika Te Amo gave the keynote speech at the Australasian and Pacific Hansard Editors Association conference at New Zealand’s Parliament in January. His speech left an impression on other delegates such as Papaterai William, the subeditor of debates in the Cook Islands.

“One statement I enjoyed when Maika was talking says ‘if the language is no more, the Māori people are no more’. Now I can actually rephrase that our Cook Islands people ‘if the language is no more, the Cook Islands Māori are no more’,” he said.

“Nowadays people are speaking English, and not many people are speaking our language, which is the Cook Islands Māori. We’re talking about a language that will fade in the future.

“That is one thing that we are wanting to retain to make sure that it is maintained properly, that it is taught properly, because language revitalisation I believe is important going forward for our Hansard department.”

Papaterai William, the sub-editor of debates in the Cook Islands
Papaterai William, the subeditor of debates in the Cook Islands during a pōwhiri at the Australasian and Pacific Hansard Editors Association conference hosted by New Zealand’s Parliament, January 2023. Image: Office of the Clerk

William tipped his hat to Tonga where in Parliament, unlike in the Cook Islands, proceedings are captured strictly in the Indigenous language, which he said helped keep the language alive for future generations.

Tonga’s Hansard editor, Susanna Heti Lui, was also at the conference, where she explained that the Kingdom’s Parliament felt the need to preserve and revive their Tongan language.

“Our language is the official language that is used in Parliament. That is compared to the government, it uses English as the official language used in the workplace,” she said.

Language must be active to stay alive
Te Amo points out that informal settings at Parliament are also opportunities for growth in the use of te reo, “where people can just bring whatever reo they’ve got and just speak that”.

“What I also hear a lot from members is that they’d also like to increase their knowledge and fluency in the language, and it’s very difficult to find ways of doing that which fit with their schedules which are absolutely hectic of course.

“One thing I’d love to see is members in particular being more comfortable with using their reo in the cafeteria or when you’re breezing through the halls,” he said.

“The only other things really is I wish our team of five was a team of 50 so we could offer to our colleagues everything that they’re asking for, as opposed to having to prioritise.”

Rawiri Waititi, the Member of Parliament for Waiariki, Te Paati Māori.
Rawiri Waititi, the MP for Waiariki, Te Paati Māori. Image: Johnny Blades/VNP

Johnny Blades is a journalist with RNZ’s The House — parliamentary legislation, issues and insights. The programme is made with funding from Parliament. This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

The ‘death’ of journalism – may its memory be a blessing

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Cafe Pacific Publisher
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R.I.P. Journalism
R.I.P. Journalism . . . with "thanks" to ChatGPT. Image: CP

Café Pacific

A snippet shared about the ChatGPT debate from one of the gurus of investigative journalism, Sheila Coronel, at New York’s Columbia School of Journalism. She reports on social media about a recent brief given by a student to ChatGPT: “Write an obituary for journalism.”

The less than 500-word result churned out by the chatbot was too close for comfort.

“It is with heavy heart that we must announce the passing of journalism, a once-vital industry that served as a cornerstone for democracy and truth-seeking around the world.

“Born in the early days of print media, journalism grew and evolved alongside society, providing a critical lens through which we could understand the events and people shaping our world. From the rise of the penny press in the 19th century to the advent of television news in the mid-20th century, journalism adapted to new technologies and mediums, but always remained committed to its fundamental purpose: informing the public and holding those in power accountable.

“However, in recent years, journalism has suffered from a slow and painful decline. The rise of social media and the internet brought about an era of ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’, in which misinformation and propaganda could spread at lightning speed, unchecked by the traditional gatekeepers of the news media.

“At the same time, the business models that sustained journalism for centuries have been upended by the digital revolution, leading to widespread layoffs, consolidation, and a shrinking of newsrooms around the world. With fewer resources and less time to devote to in-depth reporting, many journalists have been forced to chase clicks and pageviews, prioritising sensationalism over substance.

“As journalism struggled to adapt to these new challenges, it became increasingly vulnerable to attacks from those in power who sought to undermine its credibility and diminish its role in society. From ‘enemy of the people’ to ‘fake news’, journalists have been demonised and dismissed by those who fear their power to expose corruption and hold the powerful accountable.

“Despite these challenges, there were always glimmers of hope. Brave journalists continued to risk their lives and reputations to bring us the truth, even in the face of intimidation and violence. New and innovative models of journalism emerged, from nonprofit investigative outlets to community-driven reporting initiatives.

“But ultimately, these efforts proved insufficient to save journalism from its slow decline. Today, as we mourn its passing, we are left to grapple with the consequences of a world without a free and independent press. Without journalism, who will hold our leaders accountable? Who will bring us the stories that matter? Who will be the voice of the people?

“To the end, we must remember that journalism was not just an industry or a profession, but a vital pillar of our democracy and our collective humanity. Its passing leaves a void that cannot easily be filled, and a challenge that we must all work together to overcome. May its memory be a blessing, and may we never forget its enduring legacy of truth, justice and freedom.”

FACT CHECK: As Sheila Coronel notes, journalism is absolutely not dead. In fact, innovative models are emerging in the search for truth.

Palestinians uphold traditional Ramadan rituals – despite the Israeli Occupation

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Cafe Pacific Publisher
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Ramadan in Gaza . . . Palestinians still preserve the practices and traditions which make the celebrations uniquely Palestinian in spite of the tensions caused by the Israeli occupation
Ramadan in Gaza . . . Palestinians still preserve the practices and traditions which make the celebrations uniquely Palestinian in spite of the tensions caused by the Israeli occupation. Image: Palestinian Information Centre/Kia Ora Gaza

By Wafa Aludaini in Gaza

During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims from all corners of the globe come together to celebrate. Each country has its own traditional rituals.

In Palestine, Ramadan is more than just a month of fasting and worship; the month is an important opportunity to connect with the stolen culture of Palestine’s ancestral heritage.

Although the occupation’s restrictions and technology impact the normally festive atmosphere of the holy month, Palestinians still preserve the practices and traditions which make the celebrations uniquely Palestinian.

In the days leading up to the announcement that the month of Ramadan has commenced, Palestinians begin to prepare. Streets, mosques, homes are decorated with lanterns and lighting, and merchants prepare their shops with several kind of dates, sweets, pickles, juices and more.

Ramadan scenes from Gaza
Ramadan scenes from Gaza . . . decorations (below), dates (middle), and lights (bottom). Images: Kia Ora Gaza/Palestinian Information Centre
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Ola Abu Salim, a mother and artist used to design and produce Ramadan lanterns from her home in Deir Albalah town, gifting to her neighbours and relatives, but Ola, whose house is decorated with many kinds of lanterns in diverse sizes and shapes, confided to me: “I recently started to make big number of lanterns and sell them to shops and merchants to make a living for my family amid the ongoing dire situation in the blockaded Gaza [Strip].”

Ramadan vibes
During Ramadan, family gatherings are prioritised and iftar meals are shared with entire extended families.

Worship during Ramadan is essential. The late evening prayer, known as the Tarawih, is held an hour after eating the Ramadan iftar. Men and women perform prayers in mosques.

Om Ahmed, 66, says “During Ramadan I go with my husband, sons, daughters and my granddaughters to the mosque.”

She tells me: “We like walking to the mosque all together, we can see joy on the kids’ faces because we can gather in the mosques only during Ramadan and Eid.

“We enjoy watching fireworks at nights. In the past it was simple and we made handmade fireworks with simple things. Now it’s different, with more lighting.”

Om Ahmed also recalls the atmosphere of Ramadan 40 years ago: “I used to cook and send a dish to my neighbor from what I cooked, and my neighbour sends me the same.

“The social and family relations were closer and stronger in the past than these days amid using the technology and the internet so people contact online more than in person.”

A Musaharati is a drummer who wears a mask, beats a drum, and chants Ramadan songs as they roam neighborhoods in the early morning to wake the people up for Suhur, the pre-dawn meal before the daily fast begins.

Despite the availability of alarms via mobile devices, the custom continues in most Palestinian cities and towns. Sometimes the Musaharati is one person, sometimes a group.

It is customary for people to offer gifts to the drummers to thank them for their efforts to wake them up. On the night of the announcement of the advent of the holy month, Palestinian children gather in the neighbourhoods awaiting the proclamation that the fast has begun.

The audiovisual and print media outlets also devote a great deal of spaces during Ramadan to advise and support those who fast.

Ramadan feast
The Palestinian holiday table offers a diverse range of popular and traditional dishes such as molokhia, sumaghiyyeh, fatteh, akoub, jereesheh, musakhan and maqlouba. No meal is left without pickles, especially for Gazans. As for beverages, Palestinians prepare juices, particularly of tamarind, almonds, liquorice and carob.

People also consume plenty of the qatayef desert.

Another common practice is Takaya, where groups of people cook and provide hot iftar meals for low-income families.

Muhammad Astal, 52, a Palestinian from Gaza, says, “In the past, I used to help my father during Ramadan to prepare and distribute Ramadan Takaya for the poor and the orphaned families.

“And now I serve it by myself after my father passed away 2 years ago, for the sake of taking Ajr and helping people.”

Fears grow of renewed escalation
Ramadan comes this year amid growing fears of rising tensions and escalations in the Occupied West Bank, Jerusalem, Gaza and the occupation jails. In the occupied city of Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa Mosque has in the past been the main centre of worship for all Palestinians but now it has become impossible to reach for those coming from outside the city.

The Israeli military checkpoints, the deployment of occupation soldiers on the roads, and the closure of the entrances to the city to Muslim visitors; all of these measures have made the Holy City inaccessible to Palestinians from outside of Jerusalem.

Nevertheless, many Palestinians always succeed in praying in the Old City, bypassing all barriers.

In the occupation prison, Palestinian detainees have announced that they will go on hunger strike with the start of Ramadan, a step that comes after several protest steps refusing the new inhumane practices imposed upon them including banning them from fresh bread, medical treatment and canteen access.

And despite all of the occupation’s harassments — which increase during Ramadan — the Palestinian custom of celebrating Ramadan remains.

Wafa Aludaini is a Gaza-based journalist and activist. She contributed this article to the Palestinian Information Centre. It is republished from Kia Ora Gaza with permission.

As Pacific islanders, we bear the brunt of the climate crisis. The time to end fossil fuel dependence is now

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Cafe Pacific Publisher
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A ni-Vanuatu family at the Blacksands community in Port Vila
A ni-Vanuatu family at the Blacksands community in Port Vila on Efate Island in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Kevin - the second cyclone in two days to hit the capital. Image: Anita Roberts/VBTC

Monday’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has given a “final warning” to avert global catastrophe. Pacific cabinet ministers call on all world leaders to urgently transition to renewables.

COMMENT: By Ralph Regenvanu and Seve Paeniu

The cycle is repeating itself. A tropical cyclone of frightening strength strikes a Pacific island nation, and leaves a horrifying trail of destruction and lost lives and livelihoods in its wake.

Earlier this month in Vanuatu it was two category 4 cyclones within 48 hours of each other.

The people affected wake up having nowhere to go and lack the basic necessities to survive.

International media publishes grim pictures of the damage to our infrastructure and people’s homes, quickly followed by an outpouring of thoughts, prayers and praise for our courage and resilience.

We then set out to rebuild our countries.

The Pacific island countries are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and Vanuatu is the most vulnerable country in the world, according to a recent study. Our countries emit minuscule amounts of greenhouse gases, but bear the brunt of extreme events primarily caused by the carbon emissions of major polluters, and the world’s failure to break its addiction to fossil fuels.

The science is clear: fossil fuels are the main drivers of the climate crisis and need to be phased out rapidly, as the new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report once again confirms. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has shown that ending the expansion of all fossil fuel production is an urgent first step towards limiting warming to 1.5C.

Driven by greed
The climate crisis is driven by the greed of an exploitative industry and its enablers. It is unacceptable that countries and companies are still planning to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels that the world can withstand by 2030 if we are to limit warming to 1.5C, a limit Pacific countries fought hard to secure in the Paris agreement.

As the UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly declared, fossil fuels are a dead end. Governments must pursue a rapid and equitable phase-out of fossil fuels.

Countries cannot continue to justify new fossil fuel projects on the grounds of development, or the energy crisis. It is our reliance on fossil fuels that has left our energy infrastructure vulnerable to conflict and devastating climate impacts, left billions of people without energy access, and left investment in more flexible and resilient clean energy systems lagging behind what is needed.

Transitioning away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy is crucial to mitigating the impacts of climate change and ensuring a sustainable future for Pacific island countries and the world.

This requires ambitious collective effort from governments, businesses and individuals around the globe to transition towards renewable energy systems that centre the needs of communities and avoid replicating the harms of fossil fuel systems, while supporting those most affected by the transition.

Transitioning to clean energy and battling climate change is also a human rights and justice issue. This is why our countries will soon be asking the UN General Assembly to request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the obligations of states under international law to protect the environment and the climate.

We urge all countries to support us in that endeavour.

Planning our transition
We acknowledge that Pacific countries are still reliant on fossil fuels for our daily lives and our economy. This is why we are planning our own just transition.

Last week, Pacific ministers and international partners met in cyclone-stricken Vanuatu to chart our collective way forward. We have affirmed a new commitment to work tirelessly to create a fossil fuel free Pacific, recognising that phasing out fossil fuels is not only in our best interest to avoid the worst of climate catastrophe — it is also an opportunity to promote economic development and innovation that we must seize.

By investing in renewable energy sources, we can build resilient, sustainable economies that benefit our people and the planet; and momentum for this shift is already building.

Last year at Cop27 in Egypt, more than 80 countries supported the phasing out of all fossil fuels. We must drive this new ambition around the world. Pacific nations will continue to spearhead global efforts to achieve an unqualified, equitable end to the world’s dependence on fossil fuels.

We will raise our collective voices at Cop28 and through leading initiatives such as the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance and the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

We know what needs to be done to keep 1.5C alive, and are aware of the small and shrinking window which we have left to achieve it. We are doing our part and urge the rest of the world to do theirs.

Ralph Regenvanu is Vanuatu’s Minister of Climate Change, Adaptation, Meteorology and Geohazards, Energy, Environment and Disaster Risk Management. Seve Paeniu is the Minister of Finance for Tuvalu. This article was first published by The Guardian and has been republished with the permission of the authors.

Pacific needs to sit up and pay close attention to AUKUS, says Dame Meg Taylor

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Cafe Pacific Publisher
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Papua New Guinea's Dame Meg Taylor
Papua New Guinea's Dame Meg Taylor, the former secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum . . . "The debate, I think that will emerge within the Pacific is 'are nuclear submarines weapons'?" Image: PIF Secretariat

By Koroi Hawkins and Caleb Fotheringham

A Pacific elder and former secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum says Pacific leaders need to sit up and pay closer attention to AUKUS and the Indo-Pacific strategy and China’s response to them.

Speaking from Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, Dame Meg Taylor said Pacific leaders were being sidelined in major geopolitical decisions affecting their region and they need to start raising their voices for the sake of their citizens.

“The issue here is that we should have paid much more attention to the Indo-Pacific strategy as it emerged,” she said.

“And we were not ever consulted by the countries that are party to that, including some of our own members of the Pacific Island Forum. Then the emergence of AUKUS — Pacific countries were never consulted on this either,” she said.

US President Joe Biden (C), British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (R) and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (L) hold a press conference during the AUKUS summit on March 13, 2023, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego California. - AUKUS is a trilateral security pact announced on September 15, 2021, for the Indo-Pacific region. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left), US President Joe Biden (centre) and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hold a press conference during the AUKUS summit at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego California on 13 March 2023. Image: RNZ Pacific/AFP

Last week in San Diego, the leaders of the United States, the UK and Australia — President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese respectively — formally announced the AUKUS deal.

It will see the Australian government spending nearly $US250 billion over the next three decades to acquire a fleet of US nuclear submarines with UK tech components — the majority of which will be built in Adelaide — as part of the defence and security pact.

Its implementation will make Australia one of only seven countries in the world to have nuclear-powered submarines alongside China, France, India, Russia, the UK, and the US.

“We believe in a world that protects freedom and respects human rights, the rule of law, the independence of sovereign states, and the rules-based international order,” the leaders said in a joint statement.

“The steps we are announcing today will help us to advance these mutually beneficial objectives in the decades to come,” they said.

Following the announcement, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wengbin said by going ahead with the pact the US, UK and Australia disregarded the concerns of the international community and have gone further down “the wrong path”.

“We’ve repeatedly said that the establishment of the so-called AUKUS security partnership between the US, the UK and Australia to promote cooperation on nuclear submarines and other cutting-edge military technologies, is a typical Cold War mentality,” Wang said.

“It will only exacerbate the arms race, undermine the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, and hurt regional peace and stability,” he said.

The 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy is the United States’ programme to ” advance our common vision for an Indo-Pacific region that is free and open, connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient.”

Fiji prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka
Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka . . . Albanese assured him the nuclear submarine deal would not undermine the Treaty of Rarotonga. Image: Fiji Parliament

The Rarotonga Treaty
On his return from San Diego, Australia’s Albanese stopped over in Suva where he met his Fijian counterpart Sitiveni Rabuka.

After the meeting, Rabuka told reporters he supported AUKUS and that Albanese had assured him the nuclear submarine deal would not undermine the Treaty of Rarotonga — to which Australia is a party — that declares the South Pacific a nuclear weapon free zone.

But an Australian academic said Pacific countries cannot take Canberra at face value when it comes to AUKUS and its committment to the Rarotonga Treaty.

Dr Matthew Fitzpatrick, a professor in international history at Flinders University in South Australia, said Pacific leaders need to hold Australia accountable to the treaty.

“Australia and New Zealand have always differed on what that treaty extends to in the sense that for New Zealand, that means more or less that you haven’t had US vessels with nuclear arms [or nuclear powered] permitted into the ports of New Zealand, whereas in Australia, those vessels more or less have been welcomed,” he said.

Professor Fitzpatrick said Australia had declared that it did not breach it, or it did not breach any of those treaty commitments, but the proof of the pudding would be in the eating.

“I think it’s something that certainly nations around the Pacific should be very careful and very cautious in taking at face value, what Australia says on those treaty requirements and should ensure that they’re rigorously enforced,” Professor Fitzpatrick said.

Parties to the Rarotonga Treaty include Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

Notably absent are three north Pacific countries who have compacts of free association with the United States — Palau, Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Dame Meg Taylor said Sitiveni Rabuka’s signal of support for AUKUS by no means reflected the positions of other leaders in the region.

“I think the concern for us is that we in the Pacific, particularly those of us who are signatories to the Treaty of Rarotonga, have always been committed to the fact that we wanted a place to live where there was no proliferation of nuclear weapons.

“The debate, I think that will emerge within the Pacific is ‘are nuclear submarines weapons’?”

Self-fulfilling prophecy
Meanwhile, a geopolitical analyst, Geoffrey Miller who writes for political website Democracy Project, said the deal could become a “self-fulfilling prophecy” for conflict.

“Indo-Pacific countries all around the region are re-arming and spending more on their militaries,” Miller said.

Japan approved its biggest military buildup since the Second World War last year and Dr Miller said New Zealand was reviewing its defence policy which would likely lead to more spending.

“I worry that the AUKUS deal will only make things worse,” he said.

“The more of these kinds of power projections, and the less dialogue we have, the more likely it is that we are ultimately going to bring about this conflict that we’re all trying to avoid.

“I think we do need to think about de-escalation even more and let’s not talk ourselves into World War III.”

Miller said tensions had grown since Russia invaded Ukraine and analysts had changed their view on how likely China was to invade Taiwain.

Koroi Hawkins is RNZ Pacific editor and Caleb Fotheringham is a RNZ Pacific journalist. This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Some Pacific nations ‘won’t survive’ if NZ and world drop the climate ball

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Cafe Pacific Publisher
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The latest IPCC climate report . . . grim reading
The latest IPCC climate report . . . grim reading, but it is not too late. Image: RNZ News/IPCC

By Hamish Cardwell

There is “is much to win by trying” to take action on climate change — that is a key finding in a major new international climate report the UN chief is calling a “survival guide for humanity”.

It is something of a mic drop moment for the army of scientists who wrote it — the culmination of seven years’ work and three previous lengthy reports.

Thousands of scientific studies and nearly 8000 pages of findings have been boiled down in the latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, released overnight.

In a nutshell, it said huge changes were needed to stave off the worst climate predictions but it was not too late.

Pacific Climate Warriors Te Whanganui-a-Tara coordinator Kalo Afeaki agrees there is no time for despair.

“My family live in Tonga, my father has an export business, my brother works with [him], his family depends on that livelihood,” he said.

“We do not have the luxury of being able to turn our backs on the climate crisis because we are living with it daily.”

The IPCC authors were optimistic significant change can happen fast — pointing to the massive falls in the price of energy from the sun and wind.

New Zealand has seen a big increase in the number of renewable energy projects in the works.

University of Otago senior lecturer Dr Daniel Kingston said the world had the tools it needed to reduce emission.

“We can still do something about this problem, and every small change that we make makes a difference and decreases the likelihood of major, abrupt, irreversible changes in the climate system.”

Those impacts need to be avoided at all costs — there are tipping points after which comes staggering sea level rise, storms and heat waves that could imperil swathes of humanity.

No country too small
Aotearoa New Zealand has an important role to play. It is one of the largest emitters per capita in the OECD, and its emissions, combined with the other smaller countries, adds up to about two-thirds of the world’s total.

New Zealand’s gross emission peaked in 2005 and have essentially plateaued, while other countries, including the UK and US, have actually made reductions.

Dr Kingston said Aotearoa finally had comprehensive emissions reduction plans on the books.

“Now’s the time to be doubling-down on our climate change policies, not pressing pause or scaling them back in any way.”

Action would never be cheaper than it was now, and not making enough cuts would be far more expensive in the long run.

Humans at fault
Meanwhile, the reports showed human activities had unequivocally caused global surface temperatures to rise: No ifs, no buts.

Massey University emeritus professor of sustainable energy and climate mitigation Ralph Sims said emissions needed to be slashed in the cities and the countryside alike.

Without a doubt farmers needed to cut methane emissions, but people also needed to eat less meat, he said.

Professor Ralph Sims
Massey University emeritus professor of sustainable energy and climate mitigation Ralph Sims . . . “Design the cities around… public transport.” Image: RNZ News

Professor Sims said cities had a huge role to play.

“Design the cities around… public transport. [Putting] it onto the cities to plan for a more viable future means that local people can get involved locally.”

Afeaki said some Pacific nations would not survive unless the world got real about cutting emissions.

“When people are feeling disheartened they really need to understand the humans on the other side of this crisis,” he said.

“It is easy to be deterred by numbers, by the science, which isn’t always positive, but you have to also remember that this is happening to someone.”

Afeaki said Pacific communities’ experience living with climate change meant they should be given lead roles in coming up with solutions.

The IPCC scientists have now done their part, there likely will not be another report like this until the end of the decade. It is now time for the government, and for everybody, to act.

Hamish Cardwell is an RNZ News senior journalist. This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Papuan liberation group calls for more ‘serious’ global efforts to end violence

By
Cafe Pacific Publisher
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The latest photo of the condition of kidnapped New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens 220323
The latest photo of the condition of kidnapped New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens, who has been held hostage by TPNPB/OPM rebels since 7 February 2023. Image: Tabloid Jubi/TPNPB.

Tabloid Jubi in Jayapura

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has called on the international community to “pay serious attention” to the escalated violence happening in West Papua.

Head of ULMWP’s legal and human rights bureau, Daniel Randongkir, said that since the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) — a separate movement — took New Zealand pilot Philip Mehrtens hostage last month, tensions in the Papuan central mountainous region had escalated.

The New Zealand government is pressing for the negotiated peaceful release of Mehrtens but the Indonesian security forces (TNI) are preparing a military operation to free the Susi Air pilot.

Randongkir said the TPNPB kidnapping was an effort to draw world attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Papua, and to ask the international community to recognise the political independence of West Papua, which has been occupied by Indonesia since May 1, 1963.

Negotiations for the release of Mehrtens, who was captured on February 7, are ongoing but TPNPB does not want the Indonesian government to intervene in the negotiations.

Randongkir said that in the past week, there had been armed conflict between TPNPB and TNI in Puncak Papua, Intan Jaya, Jayawijaya, and Yahukimo regencies. This showed the escalation of armed conflict in Papua.

According to Randongkir, since 2018 more than 67,000 civilians had been displaced from conflict areas such as Intan Jaya, Nduga, Puncak, Puncak Jaya, Yahukimo, Bintang Mountains, and Maybrat regencies.

Fled their hometowns
They fled their hometowns to seek refuge in other areas.

On March 16, 2023 the local government and the military began evacuating non-Papuans in Dekai, the capital of Yahukimo Regency, using military cargo planes.

“Meanwhile, the Indigenous people of Yahukimo were not evacuated from the city of Dekai,” Randongkir said in media release.

ULMWP said that the evacuation of non-Papuans was part of the TNI’s preparation to carry out full military operations. This had the potential to cause human rights violations.

Past experience showed that TNI, when conducting military operations in Papua, did not pay attention to international humanitarian law.

“They will destroy civilian facilities such as churches, schools, and health clinics, burn people’s houses, damage gardens, and kill livestock belonging to the community,” he said.

“They will arrest civilians, even kill civilians suspected of being TPNPB members.”

Plea for Human Rights Commissioner
Markus Haluk, executive director of ULMWP in West Papua, said that regional organisations such as the Pacific Islands Forum and the African Caribbean Pacific bloc, have called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to immediately send the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to West Papua.

ULMWP hoped that the international community could urge the Indonesian government to immediately stop all forms of crimes against humanity committed in West Papua, and bring about a resolution of the West Papua conflict through international mechanisms that respect humanitarian principles, Haluk said.

Haluk added that ULMWP also called on the Melanesian, Pacific, African, Caribbean and international communities to take concrete action through prayer and solidarity actions in resolving the conflict that had been going on for the past six decades.

This was to enable justice, peace, independence and political sovereignty of the West Papuan nation.

Mourning for Gerardus Thommey
RNZ Pacific reports that Papuans are mourning the death of Gerardus Thommey, a leader of the liberation movement.

Independence movement leader Benny Wenda said Thommey was a regional commander of the West Papuan liberation movement in Merauke, and since his early 20s had been a guerilla fighter.

He said Thommey was captured near the PNG border with four other liberation leaders and deported to Ghana, and lived the rest of his life in exile.

Wenda said that even though he had been exiled from his land, Thommey’s commitment to a liberated West Papua never wavered.

Republished with permission.

New Caledonia’s lone daily newspaper ceases publication after 52 years

By
Cafe Pacific Publisher
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0
End of an era for Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes
End of an era . . . a reader looks at on online edition of Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes. Image: LNC

RNZ Pacific

New Caledonia’s only daily newspaper, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, has folded after the commercial court accepted the publishing company’s request for its liquidation.

The court had deferred its decision by a day after an injunction by the public prosecutor who wanted to see if there was still a possibility to rescue Les Nouvelles.

The prosecutor had argued that it was worth preserving Les Nouvelles as a tool of pluralism and freedom of expression.

The last edition of the 52-year-old Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes
The last edition of the 52-year-old Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes.

However, there has been no interest in taking over the loss making enterprise.

The paper was launched in 1971 and owned by the French Hersant group until 2013 when it was sold to New Caledonia’s Melchior Group.

Faced with losses, the newspaper became an online only publication at the end of last year but has now closed, with more than 100 people losing their jobs.

The last edition of Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes appeared on 16 March 2023.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Micronesia’s president Panuelo claims spying and bribery by China

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Cafe Pacific Publisher
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0
Outgoing FSM President David Panuelo
Outgoing FSM President David Panuelo . . . “To be clear: I have had direct threats against my personal safety from PRC officials acting in an official capacity.” Image: 1News/Getty

By Barbara Dreaver

The President of the Federated States of Micronesia has made a series of disturbing claims against China, including alleging spying, threats to his personal safety and bribery.

President David Panuelo made the claims to his Congress, governors and the leadership of the country’s state legislatures in a letter which has been leaked to 1 News.

Panuelo said the point of his letter was to warn of the threat of warfare.

The president, who has just two months left in office, has publicly attacked China in the past.

“We can play an essential role in preventing a war in our region; we can save the lives of our own Micronesian citizens; we can strengthen our sovereignty and independence,” he said in his latest letter.

President Panuelo said he believed that by informing the leaders of his views he was creating risks to his personal safety along with that of his family and staff.


Chinese activity within EEZ
The president said there had been activity by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) within his country’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

The “purpose includes communicating with other PRC assets so as to help ensure that, in the event a missile — or group of missiles — ever needed to land a strike on the US Territory of Guam that they would be successful in doing so”.

President Panuelo said he had stopped China research vessels in FSM waters after patrol boats were sent to check “but the PRC sent a warning for us to stay away”.

He also claimed that at the Pacific Islands Forum in Suva in July last year he was followed by two Chinese men, one of them an intelligence officer.

“To be clear: I have had direct threats against my personal safety from PRC officials acting in an official capacity,” he said.

In another claim, Panuelo said that after the first China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers Meeting, the joint communique was published with statements and references that had not been agreed to “which were false”.

He said he and other leaders such as Niue Premier Dalton Tagelagi and Fiji’s now former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama had requested more time to review the joint communique before it went out but their requests were ignored.

Trying to strongarm officials
President Panuelo also claimed China had been trying to strongarm officials when it came to bilateral agreements such as a proposed memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the “Deepening Blue Economy” which had “serious red flags”.

One of those was that the FSM “would open the door to the PRC to begin acquiring control over the island nation’s fibre optic cables and ports”.

President Panuelo said in his latest letter that while he advised cabinet to reject the MOU in June last year, in December he learned that it was back in “just mere hours from its signing”.

He said that when Foreign Minister Khandhi Elieisar raised this with Chinese Ambassador Huang Zheng, he suggested “that he ought to sign the MOU anyway and that my knowing about it — in my capacity as Head of State and Head of Government — was not necessary”.

President Panuelo said he found out Ambassador Huang’s replacement, Wu Wei, had been given a mission to shift the FSM away from its allies the US, Japan and Australia. He therefore denied the Ambassador designate his position.

“I know that one element of my duty as President is to protect our country, and so knowing that: our ultimate aim is, if possible, to prevent war; and, if impossible, to mitigate its impacts on our own country and on our own people.”

There are also allegations of bribery. President Panuelo claimed that shortly after Vice-President Aren Palik took office in his former capacity as a Senator, he was asked by a Chinese official to accept an envelope filled with money.

‘Never offer bribe again’
“Vice-President Pakik refused, telling the [official] to never offer him a bribe again,” President Panuelo said.

In October last year, Panuelo said that when Palik visited the island of Kosrae he was received by a Chinese company, which has a private plane.

“Our friends told the Vice-President that they can provide him private and personal transportation to anywhere he likes at any time, even Hawai’i, for example; he need only ask,” President Panuelo claimed.

He said senior officials and elected officials across the whole of the national and state governments had received offers of gifts as a means to curry favour.

The President concluded the letter by saying he wanted to inform his fellow leaders, regardless of the risk to himself, because the nation’s sovereignty, prosperity and peace and stability were more important.

The Chinese embassy in the Federated States of Micronesia and in Wellington have been asked to comment on the allegations by 1News.

Barbara Dreaver is the 1News Pacific correspondent. Republished with permission.

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