TOP STORIES

Rudd returns as Australian PM

After three years of maneuvering his way back into the top job, Kevin Rudd is prime minister again following a Labour leadership spill. Julia Gillard has gone to the backbench and several prominent ministers have resigned. Rudd’s new cabinet line-up keeps Bob Carr as foreign minister and former Pacific parliamentary secretary, Richard Marles, has been promoted to cabinet as minister for trade, while Matt Thistlewaite remains the current parliamentary secretary for the Pacific.

Asylum seeker policy is the most pressing issue for Australia ahead of bi-lateral talks with Indonesia next week, while human rights group remain concerned over processing centres on Manus island in PNG and Nauru.

MSG countries begin trading duty free

Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu have started trading duty free amongst themselves under the Melanesian Spearhead Group Trade Agreement (MSGTA). Solomon Islands has indicated that it will revisit the timeline for its tariff reduction schedule. The move is widely seen as a positive step in intra-MSG trading, although the Vanuatu Manufacturers and Exporters Association have expressed concerns in local media that the new trading arrangements will be harmful to local industry. MSG member countries are now exploring ways to deepen the trade arrangements to include trade in services, labour mobility and membership from other interested Pacific island countries.

POLITICS

Obama’s climate change challenge

US President Obama has made a major climate change policy announcement, declaring that the days of big polluters paying nothing for their emissions is over. As if to emphasise his announcement, the capital of the Marshall Islands, Majuro, was flooded prompting a national disaster response. Marshall Islands will host this year’s Pacific Island Forum and say they want firm commitments on reducing emissions from the big players. One US Senator, Brian Schatz from Hawaii, has introduced an amended bill on immigration that would allow Pacific islanders suffering from climate change to be resettled in the US.

Russia stands by Fiji

Commodore Frank Bainimarama has used a state visit to Russia to sign several memorandums of understanding on issues relating to defence, visa-free entry and the establishment of a new Russian cultural centre for the Pacific, based in Fiji.

Russian prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, says Russia stands by Fiji and wants it to develop according to its own timetable without outside interference.

Meanwhile, Fiji troops are moving into the Golan Heights as part of a new, and potentially dangerous UN deployment there. Former coup leader and prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, has lashed out at Commodore Bainimarama in a speech at a New Zealand conference.

MSG summit wraps up

The MSG summit held in Noumea has wrapped up after celebrations marking the 25^th anniversary of the organisation. Recent summits have focused on trade, but this summit was notable for politics – supporting the West Papuans and Kanaks in New Caledonia towards self-determination. PiPP has special coverage of the MSG summit here.

Tahiti arrests over journalist’s murder

Arrests have been made in an ongoing investigation into the murder of a Tahitian journalist. President Gaston Flosse has long denied ordering the death of Jean Pascal Couraud, yet the opposition has asked for the investigation to widen. Flosse has also attacked the UN over its decision to put Tahiti back on the UN Decolonisation List. 

ECONOMICS

Kiribati urged to live up to its word on protected area

Kiribati is increasingly coming under pressure for its controversial EU-Kiribati fisheries protocol signed outside of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA). The fishing agreement has raised serious concerns among politicians, scientists and environmental groups over claims president Anote Tong made in 2008 that Kiribati would host the world’s most effective marine protected area when it created the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. Concerns remain that Spanish vessels are not paying their fair share for the fisheries resources and that they have unlimited access. EU rapporteur on the agreement has since written to the Kiribati government (pdf), among other concerns, seeking further clarifications on why the agreement failed to honour provisions of the PNA. Since allowing four large Spanish purse seiners into its waters, Kiribati overshot their quota in 2012— forcing other PNA members to close off their waters and sacrificing anticipated revenues.

Meanwhile, tiny Palau is looking at the possibility of using drones to enforce a proposed commercial fishing ban to be introduced next year.

PNG continues to build trade relations with its close neighbours

Following on from his recent visit to Indonesia, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has led another large trade delegation composed of cabinet members and PNG businessmen to Australia’s northern city, Townsville. As a direct result of the visit, for the first time Port Moresby and Townville could start seeing direct flights linking the two cities to facilitate better access and improve business links. Queensland has also committed to build a hospital in PNG’s western provincial capital of Daru. PM O’Neill brushed aside suggestions that more Australian investments would stifle local businesses, encouraging PNG nationals to go into joint ventures. Port Moresby and Townsville have an existing sister-city relationship that spans 30 years.

OTHER NEWS IN BRIEF

• New Caledonia marks 25^th anniversary of the Matignon Accords.
• Australia and Japan clash at the International Court of Justice over Japan’s whaling activities.
• Nauru, Niue and Tuvalu leading the way on fossil fuel reduction.
• Following a long delayed by-election in Tuvalu, the opposition is calling on the Governor General to reconvene parliament.
• A new think-tank, Pasifika Policy Centre, is planned in Auckland.
• Samoan women achieve a significant milestone in their battle for better representation in their national parliament.

Editorial content is the responsibility of Derek Brien, PiPP Executive Director.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013 at 6:00 am and is filed under Pacific Buzz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.