New Zealand First MP Andrew Williams, Greens MP Julie Anne Genter, Labour MP Clare Curran and Dr Joe Atkinson from the University of Auckland. Photo: Alex Perrottet/PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Alex Perrottet of Pacific Media Watch

The New Zealand government’s reasons for cutting funding to Television NZ have been “rubbished” at a public meeting in Auckland last night.

Members of Parliament and about 300 members of the public met at the Freemans Bay Community Hall and stood as a white coffin displaying the epitaph “Public service television” and draped with a New Zealand Flag was carried in.

Labour MP Clare Curran said the last Labour government invested $79 million in the new channels TVNZ 6 and 7. She said they were important, taking the country into the digital environment. Read more »

A previous demonstration in support of West Papuan independence in Port Vila in 2010. Photo: ASAP/PMW

Pacific Scoop:
Special Report – By Johnny Blades of Radio New Zealand International

About 24 people have been arrested in Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila after staging a protest against the arrival of an Indonesian military aircraft.

The Hercules aircraft was reportedly carrying assistance equipment for next month’s Port Vila meeting between African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the European Union.

Protesters said the arrival of Indonesian officials and military personnel in the country was unacceptable given the longstanding support of ni-Vanuatu for West Papuan self-determination. Read more »

PNG corruption watchdog reports back to Parliament. Photo: Post-Courier

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Henry Yamo

Fifty two million kina (NZ$32 million) has been recovered by Papua New Guinea’s Task Force Sweep corruption watchdog and the government hopes to double that to more than K100 million in the next six months.

Chairman Sam Koim reported this to Prime Minister Peter O’Neill when winding up TFS operations investigating alleged corruption and mismanagement in the public sector.

The TFS was set by the National Executive Council to weed out corruption in the country. Read more »

A documentary student from Sydney visiting PNG to make a documentary on Dame Carol got more than she expected when the MP was called to a community to help her constituents. Video: Taukorema

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Sarah Matsushita in Port Moresby

Opposition Leader Dame Carol Kidu, who is Papua New Guinea’s only female parliamentarian, was dragged by police at the weekend while protesting against an illegal eviction and partial demolition of Paga Hill Settlement housing about 2000 residents.

The Asia-Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) reported Dame Kidu went to the site on Saturday to investigate claims of demolition and upon arrival was confronted by police.

According to a statement from her daughter, Dobi Kidu, the police “told her she was obstructing justice and two policemen held her by the arms and started dragging her. Read more »

Kenyan-born Professor Yash Ghai ... challenging assignment in Fiji. Photo: UN

Pacific Scoop:
Analysis – By Professor Crosbie Walsh

It’s a pity the Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers visited Fiji when they did. Had they waited two weeks until after the arrival of Professor Yash Ghai they would have been far more positive about the steps Fiji is taking towards elections in 2014 and, who knows, sanctions by Australian, New Zealand, the Commonwealth and the European Union might have been lifted.

Sanctions against the troubled sugar industry are especially worrisome because of the large number of people it employs and its importance to the economy.

Kenyan-born Yash Ghai of the University of Hong Kong is the chairman of the five-person Constitution Commission set up by the government that will do much to shape Fiji’s future —and he is no push over.  Read more »

Keith Locke watches a student-produced video at AUT's "digital fale" at last year's Pasifika Festival. Photo: Yvonne Brill/PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By PMC news desk

Social justice advocate and Pacific campaigner Keith Locke was last night named winner of Amnesty International’s Aotearoa Human Rights Defender Award.

The former Green MP was presented with the designer medallion in a ceremony at the Human Rights Commission in Auckland in recognition of a life dedicated to the promotion and protection of people’s human rights globally.

Touched by the occasion and rousing ovation by the audience, Locke said: “The award is very special and emotional for me because it’s from my peers. Read more »

From the front page of the latest edition of Wansolwara, the student journalists newspaper at the University of the South Pacific. Image: PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Edward Tavanavanua and Parijata Gurdayal in Suva

The Miss World Fiji 2012 Pageant is under scrutiny following a plethora of allegations – including over the winner’s young age and that her victory was “pre-determined”.

The school girl beauty queen Torika Watters today made a a statement on Mai Life Facebook page that she had left the pageant “lies, deception and lack of transparency” behind this week and was getting on with her life in Nadi.

Although the pageant concluded late last month, the Miss World Organisation had yet to add Watters, winner of the Fiji franchise, to the list of beauty queens on its official website when Wansolwara went to press. Read more »

Taimi Media Network managing director Kalafi Moala with International Federation of Journalists advocate Lisa Williams-Lahari at the Second Pacific Media Summit in Fiji in March. Photo: David Robie/PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Opinion – By Kalafi Moala in Nuku’alofa

As Crown Prince and Minister of Foreign Affairs before his elevation to the throne, King George V was asked for his thoughts about Tonga becoming a democracy.

While he supported the move, he said he was more concerned that Tonga’s economy should be the main focus for the government and the people of Tonga.

By posing the question of who wanted a poor democracy, he suggested strongly that there was little point in being a democracy if the economy couldn’t be fixed. Read more »

Gun running is on the rise in Papua New Guinea. Graphic: PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Frank Rai in Port Moresby

Police in Vanimo have confirmed a run running syndicate operating between the Highlands region of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia is smuggling high-powered firearms into the country.

With national elections due in late June, there are reports of high-powered firearms entering PNG across the border.

Provincial Police Commander (PPC) Senior Inspector Tilae Michael told the Post-Courier there were reports of weapons and other dangerous goods entering the country but the understaffed authorities manning the border could not do much. Read more »

Associate professor Pradip Thomas in Auckland today ... calls for more listening to the people in developing countries. Photo: Jessi Mee/PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Jessi Mee

A communication for social change educator has called for more “bottom up” initiatives as a critical step for more effective development.

“Don’t adopt the ‘top down’ process and bulldoze your way,” associate professor Pradip Thomas, co-director of the University of Queensland’s Centre for Communication and Social Change, today told an Auckland breakfast seminar hosted by Unitec.

He said it was about helping developing countries to become self-sustaining. Read more »