Tahiti’s Oscar Temaru … soundly defeated in elections, but delighted with the UN decolonisation vote. Image: France 24

As French Polynesia embarks on a controversial “decolonisation” track with the United Nations, New Caledonia faces a referendum for independence due next year. Jane Jeffries reports on the Francophone Pacific for Asia-Pacific Journalism.

Pacific Scoop
Report – By Jane Jeffries

Long time conservative politician and leader of the anti-independence Tahoeraa Huiraatira Party Gaston Flosse is finally back in the presidency in French Polynesia following a landslide victory earlier this month.

As soon as he was elected, one of Flosse’s first tasks was to try to stop the decolonisation bid at the United Nations lodged by the outgoing government of rival pro-independence champion Oscar Temaru.

Across the Pacific in New Caledonia, 20 years of reforms leading to the transfer of powers from France to the local government in Noumea has been unfolding. But the hard question will come next year when a referendum on independence is due to take place after the 2014 elections. Read more »

Backgrounder on the debate over self-determination in French Polynesia. Report by Caroline Lafargue. Video by Radio Australia.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Rochelle Ferguson

The UN General Assembly has voted to add French Polynesia to its list of territories that should be decolonised, affirming the right of the islanders to “self-determination and independence”.

French Polynesia joins 16 other territories on the decolonisation list, including the British-ruled Falkland Islands and the US Virgin Islands.

Though the measure is largely symbolic, it calls on the French government to “facilitate rapid progress” towards self-determination. It was passed by consensus in the 193-member UN assembly. Read more »

Tahiti”s Gaston Flosse … back in power, but for how long? Image: RFI

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Thibault Marais in Pape’ete

Despite veteran politician Gaston Flosse’s court case controversies, his Tahoeraa Huiraatira party has regained power in French Polynesia because a majority of 62,000 voters believe it could handle the economic crisis better than pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru’s party.

Although there are no official figures on this issue it is clear unemployment rate has reached unprecedented highs in Tahiti.

There is also an increasing number of homeless in Tahiti’s sprawling capital city, Pape’ete. Read more »

Back again aged 81 … Gaston Flosse, political supremo in Tahiti for more than two decades. Photo: PMC

Pacific Scoop:
Commentary – By Charles Richardson

Veteran anti-independence leader Gaston Flosse is back in charge in French Polynesia, but ongoing corruption charges mean that his tenure is far from assured.

The second round of French Polynesia’s territorial election last Sunday produced very much the expected result. The three parties that had met the 12.5 percent threshold in the first round shared out the vote in pretty much the same proportions they had a fortnight earlier: Tahoeraa Huiraatira on 45.1 percent, the Union for Democracy 29.3 percent and A Ti’a Porinetia 25.6 percent. (Official results here.)

In recent years, that sort of three-way split has led to chronic instability, as shifting alliances among the three parties brought first one and then another to the top. Read more »

A clip from the award-winning Aux Enfants de la Bombe documentary.

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Thibault Marais in Pape’ete

A film dedicated to the life of an engineer who worked for the French nuclear programme in Algeria and the Pacific for 30 years and died of throat cancer has won the top prize at the recent 10th Oceanian Film Festival (FIFO) in Tahiti.

The jury unanimously awarded the Grand Prix to the 52 min documentary entitled To the Bomb’s Children (Aux Enfants de la Bombe), jury president Greg Germain announced.

This film, made by French directors Christine Bonnet and Jean-Marie Desbordes with a team of young French Polynesian technicians. tells the story of French nuclear engineer Bernard Ista who kept filming the tests during his career – in spite of official bans, ultimately dying at the age of 54. Read more »

French Polynesian leader Oscar Temaru … slow but growing support for decolonisation. Image: Cook Islands News

Australia has remarkably strong ties with France in the Pacific – and they are stifling the drive toward independence of countries like New Caledonia. The second report of a special two-part series.

Pacific Scoop:
Analysis – By Nic Maclellan

As Australia prepares to take up a seat on the UN Security Council in 2013, the UN decolonisation agenda will affect Australia’s relations with neighbouring Pacific countries.

However, recent actions by the Gillard Labor government suggest that Canberra has chosen sides with France and the United States on this often-ignored agenda at the United Nations.

From 1946, the United Nations has maintained a list of non-self-governing territories seeking political independence. Just 16 territories remain on the list, including five Pacific islands, though others are seeking to be relisted. Read more »

New Caledonia’s Northern Province independence leader Paul Neaoutyine … negotiated contracts with South Korea and China. Image: David Robie/PMC

Decolonisation might not look like a hot-button issue but after Australia’s Security Council win the country will now have to start taking it seriously in the Pacific. A special two-part report.

Pacific Scoop:
Analysis – By Nic Maclellan

The successful bid for a rotating seat on the UN Security Council places Australia in an interesting place. Over the next few years, the country will be in the spotlight as the United Nations addresses hot-button international issues: maritime disputes between China and its Asia-Pacific neighbours; the prospects for Palestinian statehood; negotiations for a global climate treaty and a new compact to replace the Millennium Development Goals after 2015.

But closer engagement with the United Nations will also create a few thorny dilemmas on issues that receive less international attention.

One often ignored issue is the future of the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation and the lack of international action to complete the UN agenda on self-determination and political independence. Read more »

Professor David Robie presents his inaugural professorial address at AUT University last night. Image: Alex Perrottet/PMC

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

Restoring public trust, engaging in critical journalism, and opening the media’s eyes to common blind spots were all on the agenda for the inaugural address of the first professor in journalism studies in New Zealand and the Pacific.

Professor David Robie spoke to a crowded conference room of almost 200 people at AUT University tonight after receiving his professorship last year.

Beginning with the current so-called Hackgate media crisis and visiting plenty of other “hot spots” throughout the presentation, Professor Robie charted the course of his life’s journey through New Zealand, Africa, Europe and back to Oceania. Read more »

The brochure for Pacific Media Centre director Professor David Robie’s address today on media, politics and education. Image: David Robie/AUT

Pacific Scoop:
Live Streaming – AUT University

At the heart of a global crisis over news media credibility and trust is Britain’s so-called Hackgate scandal involving the widespread allegations of phone-hacking and corruption against the now defunct Rupert Murdoch tabloid newspaper News of the World.

Major inquiries on media ethics, professionalism and accountability have been examining the state of the press in NZ, Britain and Australia.

The Murdoch media empire has stretched into the South Pacific with the sale of one major title being forced by political pressure. Read more »

Pacific Islands Forum leaders meet at their retreat on Aitutaki atoll in the Cook Islands yesterday. Image: Cook Islands News

Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Shaun Tandon, Neil Sands and Rachel Reeves on Rarotonga

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has vowed the United States will remain active in the South Pacific for the “long haul” but says the region is big enough for a rising China.

Clinton announced some $32 million in new aid projects as she became the first US secretary of state to take part in the traditional dialogue after the Pacific Islands Forum leaders summit, in a sign of renewed interest in the vast region.

Clinton’s visit came as many island states have been forging closer ties with China, which according to Australia’s Lowy Institute has pledged more than $600 million in low-interest and mostly strings-free loans to the South Pacific since 2005. Read more »