Tagata o te Moana

The promise of a muscular approach to ensuring that pledges made in the global climate crisis response are kept; Fiji Borders reopen, govt targets 80,000 visitors in 60 days; Preparations are in full swing for the reopening of the Cook Islands travel bubble with NZ in two months; Tongans go to the polls Thursday next week; America Samoa reports a new Covid case; New Caledonia's pro-independence pa...

The Pacific delegates at COP26 are united in their message - global warming must be limited to within 1.5 degrees. New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has unveiled the government's Pacific Resilience strategy, updating the Pacific Reset from three years ago. Pasifika in Christchurch are frustrated that the city council has disregarded the voices of the region's Pacific community involving a...

World leaders urged to prioritise the survival of humanity over economic growth at COP26; Armed conflict in West Papua has caused a fresh influx of displaced people into PNG; Also, France ups its security presence for New Caledonia's independence referendum; And New Zealand's one way Pacific travel bubble is welcomed ahead of the festive season; All that and more on Tagata O Te Moana. Go to this e...

Experts are warning the pandemic could undo a decades worth of development gains in the Pacific; Pacific Islands Forum welcomes New Zealand's climate aid boost heading into COP26; Also,relief in New Zealand as RSE workers start returning for the summer harvest; All that and more coming up on Tagata O Te Moana. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Is China changing the way it wins over Pacific states?; Cook Islands businesses welcome the start of repatriations from NZ; First RSE workers exempted from MIQ arrive in New Zealand; all that and more Pacific stories coming up on Tagata o Te moana. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

We check in on what Pacific leaders have been saing at the UN General Assembly in New York; Papua New Guinea is preparing for a four-week lockdown due to an outbreak of the Covid-19 delta variant; Also Pacific health experts are questioning the government's decision to bring Auckland out of alert level 4; And later in the program we hear about the latest signings for the Super Rugby Pacific side t...

A resolution is reached in Samoa after a week of political drama that saw opposition MPs banned from parliament; Australia's new security pact with the US and the UK has touched a nerve at the heart of Pacific regionalism. Also Fiji's remote outer islands are on high alert as the Covid-19 outbreak reaches their shores; We hear about global support for a moratorium on seabed mining...and later on i...

Fiji's remote communities put on high-alert as Covid-19 spreads; Govt pledges $26m to support Pasifika community in lockdown; Also, more political drama in Vanuatu as the President pardons three former prime ministers; And later on in the program we talk about the newest Super Rugby sides Moana Pasifika and the Fijian Drua who are on the search for players. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more...

The Pacific's coral reef systems and coastal fisheries are set for extinction if wealthy nations don't drastically and immediately cut greenhouse gas emissions; Promising signs in Papua New Guinea's Hela Province as warlords laydown their guns; Fiji's Secretary of Health accepts the new travel restrictions from Fiji to New Zealand, agreeing the outbreak there is out of control; Palau is seeing a s...

The chair of the Pacific Islands Forum opens leaders summit with an apology to Micronesian leaders most of whom boycotted the meeting; Fiji democracy under strain during twin crises, locals question silence from regional leaders; Samoa's new prime minister says her cancelling of a major port project that was to be funded by China will not hinder bilateral relations; Pacific countries welcome easie...

Samoa's first woman prime minister believes the political crisis, which blocked her transition to power, has caused longstanding damage to Samoa's democracy; The political tussle amid a worsening Covid-19 crisis continues in Fiji; Fiji's former health minister says the nation's health system is collapsing under the pressure of the pandemic; West Papua's struggle to contain Covid-19 are being hampe...

West Papuans are challenging the constitutionality of a new special autonomy law passed by Jakarta; Tourism operators in Samoa are cautiously optimistic about a proposed travel bubble with New Zealand; and New Caledonians ponder the implications of December's referendum on independence from France. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Fiji's health system is starting to crack under the pressure of an escalating Covid-19 crisis, Samoa Court of Appeal holding urgent hearing on multiple defied rulings to convene parliament;Vanuatu's prime minister Bob Loughman and 18 other government MPs have lost an important appeal case; Workers rights advocates in Fiji have labelled the government's Covid-19 response as being "more of a fire br...

Concern in Fiji as Covid deaths accelerate; New Caledonia has elected its first pro-independence Kanak president; We hear concerns from some ordinary Samoan citizens tired of the political crisis there; Bougainville and Papua New Guinea andvance their independence referendum negotiations; NZ's healthcare system racist towards Pasifika - Report; Pacific banking network shrinking at twice the global...

A Samoan academic in New Zealand says despite the caretaker prime minister's defiance, Samoa's political impasse will most likely be resolved next week; It's week 12 of the Samoa political crisis and, and in the latest development MPs are resigning from their seats to force by-elections; Fijians have been warned that unless more of them take the risks of the Covid-19 pandemic seriously, many more...

A new analysis shows Accident Compensation Corporation or ACC is biased against women, Maori and Pasifika; Pasifika journalists share their experiences about working in mainstream media, following the week the New Zealand government is expected to deliver a formal apology for the Dawn Raids; Vanuatu is to have a literary first this month with the launch of an anthology of women's writing. Sista, S...

Pasifika high school students report the worst housing deprivation in the country; There's growing suspicion in Fiji that a number of recent deaths caused by Covid-19, have not been officially counted by the health authorities; Creative New Zealand's latest research shows positive attitudes towards the arts have hit an all-time-high; A Niuean church elder has shared his horrid experience in state...

A health expert in New Zealand is warning against the Fiji government's plan to isolate Covid-19 patients at home amid the escalating cases in the country; United States Congressman from Hawaii, Ed Case, wants his government to work more closely with the nations of the Pacific; Striking Pasifika nurses demanding better connections with Pacific peoples from New Zealand's health system;Pacific and M...

NZ urged to cut defense ties with Indonesia; Questions raised about RSE scheme as more workers approved; Valuing the wealth of PNG's natural environment; Solomons passport renewal service opens in New Zealand; Pacific economies forecast to head back into growth; Rotumans mark 140 years of language and culture. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

We check in on the court battles in Samoa's fraught political standoff with a new election on the cards; Concerns in Papua New Guinea that an increase in sorcery accusations may be linked to Covid-19 deaths; Cook Islands travel bubble with New Zealand to open this month;Warnings over Jakarta's move to classify Papuan independence fighters as terrorists; Greenpeace says the New Zealand government s...

Doctors in Papua New Guinea say the Covid-19 situation there is only getting worse; The UN children's agency warns the situation in Timor-Leste is dire as the government struggles to cope with the impacts of the recent floods and Covid-19; The leader of the Fa'atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi, or FAST party, in Samoa, expects a decision from the Supreme court by next Friday on the issue of the sixt...

Controversial legislation only the tip of the iceberg in Samoan election;Pacific countries press ahead with AstraZeneca rollout; New Caledonia to hold third independence referendum; PNG goes with the devil it knows over large gold mine; Pacific rugby players lining up for Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika teams; Government announces new funding for Pasifika Mental health services; Pacific Trust propo...

PNG government struggling to convince public on covid response; Covid-19 vaccinations rolled out in Wallis and Futuna; Pacific civil society calls for global ban on deep sea mining;Fijian-Indians challenge NZ govt over ethnic classification;New govt initiative targets lack of Maori and Pasifika midwives; Experts canvass economic options for an independent Bougainville; New Zealand commemorates Pac...

PNG approves vaccine as it struggles to contain Covid-19; Warning against Draft Bill turning Fiji into police state; Tuvalu govt seeking financial immortality on the blockchain; Concerns are raised about changes to policy for having Tongan language in schools; Vale nickel plant in New Caledonia expected to reopen soon; Norfolk Islanders urge Scott Morrison to restore their autonomy;Auckland's heri...

Samoa opposition MP calls Prime minister's accusations of treason an election ploy; New claims of sexual abuse by the clergy surface in Fiji;We hear of Pasifika communities contribution to fighting Covid-19, one year on;Aust frees more refugees but they have a tough roade ahead; Entrepreneurship flourishing in Fiji amid pandemic; Sebastien Lecornu says France stands ready for a new accord in New C...