John Minto condemns the lack of action for Pacific people in Manukau East for the Mana Party. Photo: 3News

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

Mana Party candidate for Manukau East John Minto has accused New Zealand of blatantly discriminating against many Pacific people who have made an “immense contribution” to the country.

He spelled out his party’s main issues with Pacific foreign policy in the election campaign.

“The most obvious discrimination is with Tongans and Samoans,” he said. “Cook Islanders and Niueans are effectively citizens of New Zealand.” Read more »

Indonesian repression in West Papua. Cartoon: © Malcolm Evans / PJR

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By PMC news desk

The killing and abduction of journalists in Indonesian-occupied West Papua has been highlighted in a special new report on Pacific media freedom over the past year by Pacific Journalism Review.

“By far the most serious case of media freedom violations in the Pacific is in West Papua—far from international scrutiny,” says the journal in an editorial.

The 39-page report on the state of media freedom in the Pacific in 2011 notes that in August, in particular, “sustained repression has also hit the news media and journalists”. Read more »

Flashback to Nuku'alofa 2006 ... Pacific-wide fear of rioting, fuelled by jobless youth. Photo: SMH

THE 42nd Pacific Islands Forum came and went, but Pacific youth advocates are pleading with leaders to wake up to the increasing number of young people involved in crime and violence in the Pacific.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Christopher Chang

At 3:30pm on 16 November 2006, the first stone was thrown in Nuku’alofa, Tonga. Within three hours, rioters had tipped over cars and looted shops.

The Pacifica Royale hotel and ANZ Bank crackled under the blaze of fire. Eight people were killed.

The rioters were of all ages, but most were young males. It is a situation that Pacific youth advocates are still fearful of, five years on. Read more »

Kiribati children greet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at Eita Maneaba, Tarawa, during his visit to climate change problem areas last month. Photo: Naoki Takyo / UNICEF Pacific

CLIMATE change adaptation strategies in the Pacific are expected to have a big impact on  agriculture and food security, such as in the Solomon Islands, as communities seek to become more resilient.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Henry Yamo

Displacement, loss of land, culture and identity is a looming and alarming problem encountered by Pacific people on islands that are most affected by global warming and climate change

This is the trend troubling most Pacific island states, especially Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

While coordinated efforts in partnership with governments, donor and implementing agencies have been progressing well, more concerted efforts are essential as the impact worsens each day for island people. Read more »

Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sa'ilele Malielegaoi with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the Pacific Islands Forum earlier this month. Tuilaepa is a prime mover of the proposed new Polynesian group. Photo: Alex Perrottet / PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By John Andrews for Scoop

New Zealand may be invited to join Pacific Island countries in a ginger group promoting Polynesia’s interests.

For years the idea of a Polynesian-oriented grouping has been debated by Polynesian leaders at the annual Pacific Islands Forum summit. Now a few of them have decided to do something about it.

At the behest of Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, one of the prime movers pushing for the formation of the group, five leaders met privately in the City Life Hotel on the eve of the forum summit in Auckland earlier this month. Read more »

NZ Prime Minister John Key’s chairmanship of the Pacific Islands Forum ... under a cloud over criticism of the forum’s accountability and NZ’s development aid policies. Photo: Alexander Winkler/PMC

“If the the forum’s leaders had implemented half the commitments they had made, the Pacific Islands would be the best run countries on earth. Alas, in general, neither is true and the commitments are rarely kept.”  – Dr Roman Grynberg

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Alexander Winkler

While New Zealand Prime Minister John Key was talking up the importance of the Pacific Islands Forum this week, an article by a former executive criticising the organisation’s procedures and demanding more accountability from the leaders has caused ripples ahead of next month’s summit in Auckland.

The publication of an article by the forum’s former director of economic governance, Dr Roman Grynberg,  in the latest edition of Fiji-based  Islands Business magazine, has challenged the views of Key in a speech at Auckland University yesterday.

In an address about the Pacific Plan, Key emphasised the importance of sustainable economic development in the Pacific. Read more »

NZ Prime Minister John Key speaking at Auckland University's Fale Pasifika yesterday. Photo: Henry Yamo/PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Henry Yamo

Leadership in development, donor coordination and sustainable economic activities in the Pacific are poised to top the agenda at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) meeting in Auckland next month.

This was highlighted by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key during his pre-forum 40th anniversary PIF leaders lecture series speech hosted by Auckland University yesterday.

Key said New Zealand would be hosting the 42nd PIF meeting against the backdrop of one of the biggest events in this part of the globe – the Rugby World Cup. Read more »

Pacific seasonal labour ... critically important for New Zealand to prepare for migration. Photo: Devzone

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Taberannang Korauaba

New Zealand needs to plan quickly for the future before population growth problems in neighbouring countries get out of hand, says a leading Pacific demographer.

The Pro-Vice Chancellor Research of AUT University, Professor Richard Bedford, said the problems stemming from population growth were becoming serious in Kiribati and the Solomon Islands.

“In Kiribati, of the 100,000 population, 50 percent live in urban Tarawa while in Solomon Islands of its 500, 000 population, 20 percent live in urban areas,’ Dr Bedford said. Read more »

Oxfam launched its GROW campaign for the Pacific in Auckland. Featured in the street theatre are "trader" Tim McPoland and "farmer" Maria Vai. Photo: Glenn Welch

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Yvonne Brill

The Pacific region is at risk of falling victim to a “broken food system” with supplies being hit by environmental crises such as climate change, says Oxfam in a new global campaign.

Barry Coates, executive director of Oxfam New Zealand, said there was a growing global crisis in the world’s food system.

This view was supported by evidence from a new report released yesterday in conjunction with the launch of Oxfam’s GROW campaign. Read more »

Fiji's Voreqe Bainimarama: Kava ... and a Melanesian slap in the face for Australia. Photo: Graham Davis/Grubsheet

Pacific Scoop:
Analysis – By Graham Davis

Australia’s impotence in influencing events in its own backyard is being demonstrated in dramatic fashion this week as the Fijian dictator, Voreque “Frank” Bainimarama, fulfils his long-held ambition to assume the chairmanship of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

All of the other Melanesian leaders – from Papua New Guinea, the Solomons, Vanuatu plus the Kanak FLNKS from New Caledonia – are joining Bainimarama for the MSG summit in Suva on Thursday.

It’s also being attended by official representatives from Indonesia, East Timor and – strangely – the European Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which has no Pacific interest whatsoever in the normal course of events but is also about to deliver its own slap in the face to Australia. But more on that later. Read more »