Press Release – NIWA

“We are the king crab capital of the world,” says NIWA scientist, Dr Shane Ahyong. He has recently formally described 14 species that are new to science. “From a diversity perspective it’s just fantastic,” he says. Read more »

Press Release – Secretariat of the Pacific Community

Health specialists have appealed for increased United Nations support in the battle against the epidemic in the Pacific of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, heart attacks and cancer. Read more »

A case of a Green leader's bleeding hand, not a bleeding liberal heart, has caused anger for many in New Zealand that China's political security guards manhandled a New Zealand member of Parliament. (Photo courtesy of Scoop.)

Pacific Scoop:
Opinion – By Thakur Ranjit Singh.

What we learn from history is that we do not learn from history!

Freedom of speech and freedom of press are hallmarks of democracy and the parliamentary complex is considered the last bastion of democracy. To think that such atrocity took place in the heart of New Zealand’s symbol of democracy is indeed shameful. New Zealand which considers itself the champion of democracy in the Pacific compromised its stance for a few dollars more from the Chinese trade opportunities. It was obvious that the incident at Parliament Buildings was indicative of a sad and desperate attempt to win economic favours with the Chinese.

If you think the above relates to the latest incident involving Green Party co-leader Dr. Russel Norman’s protest in Parliament on 18 June 2010, you are wrong. The incident I am speaking about happened over three years ago. Read on. Read more »

Visiting Pacific journalists discussing the challenges to Pacific Island media in their countries. (Photo by Josephine Latu.)

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Gladys Hartson.

Most young Pacific people do not see journalism as a bona fide career path, according to three Pacific Island journalists who are in New Zealand this week as part of an inaugural exchange programme sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).

At a panel discussion held at the University of Auckland Centre for Pacific Studies on Friday, Samoa Observer editor Mata’afa Keni Lesa said that while the challenges faced by island media are “multiple [and] too many to name”, the lack of training, resources, and manpower were key problems. Read more »

Press Release – Hurunui District Council

A university professor, a director of Horticulture New Zealand, the chair of Hurunui Water, an award winning environmentally friendly farmer, and an employee of Fish and Game are among the seven community appointees to the fledgling Hurunui-Waiau … Read more »

Speech – NZ Red Cross

New Zealand Red Cross aid worker Grant Hargreaves is flying to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, tonight (Friday) to join an international Red Cross team. Read more »

Speech – New Zealand Government

There is something that connects every one of us in this room – and which is expressed best in the story from the Programme of Action for Pacific peoples released last year. Read more »

Victoria Parade in downtown Suva is a magnet for sex workers and their clients. (Photo courtesy of Wansolwara, and the USP.)

Pacific Scoop:
Wansolwara Special Report – By Ellen Stolz, Fenton Lutunatabua and Ravai Vafo‘ou, in Suva.

This feature report was first published in Wansolwara, and was researched, analysed, and written by final year journalism students at the University of South Pacific in Suva. It looks at attempts to control the sex industry in the Pacific. The journalists found the trade has survived harsh economic conditions and continues to prosper despite its illegality in Pacific island countries.

Prostitution is a problem causing major concerns across the Pacific. Various research reports have been published, detailing the seriousness of the issue. Across the region, poverty, unemployment and low wages are driving sex work. Read more »

Dr Tarcisius Kabutaulaka comes from the Weather Coast of Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands. He graduated with a MA degree from USP and a PhD in political science and international relations from the Australian National University. (Photo courtesy of Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai'i.)

Pacific Scoop:
Wansolwara Report – By Zubnah Khan and Eleni Po’ese in Suva

Seminar by Dr Tarcisius Kabutaulaka prompts calls for more research into the issue

Calls have been made for more research and open discussion on issues of racism against Melanesians. This follows a recent seminar by Dr Tarcisius Kabutaulaka, an associate professor at the Centre for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.

His talk, delivered at the University of the South Pacific’s Laucala Campus in Suva was entitled, “Re-presenting Melanesia: Ignoble Savages and Melanesian Alternatives”.

He discussed how Melanesians are “imagined and represented” in western discourses, mainly in academia and the media, and how they are labeled in the Samoan and Tongan languages. Read more »

Press Release – Rally New Zealand

Young Australian rally driver Brendan Reeves is up against two of the Asia Pacific region’s most experienced rally drivers in one of the subsidiary competitions being contested during July’s International Rally of Whangarei. Read more »