Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Freedom of the press might be included in some constitutions of Pacific countries, but it often only works in theory
I spent five years as the lone journalist on the remote Pacific island of Yap. During that time I was harassed, spat at, threatened with assassination and warned that I was being followed. The tyres on my car were slashed late one night.
There was also pressure on the political level. The chiefs of the traditional Council of Pilung (COP) asked the state legislature to throw me out of the country as a “persona non grata” claiming that my journalism “may be disruptive to the state environment and/or to the safety and security of the state”.
Experts have warned that the next variant of Covid-19 to sweep the world could emerge on Australia’s doorstep, due to incredibly low rates of vaccination rates in Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea is Australia’s closest neighbour, and at its nearest point is just 4km from Australian territory in the Torres Strait. At various points in the pandemic there have been fears that travellers from PNG could bring the virus to Australia.
Survey of more than 6,000 people by Transparency International is the most comprehensive look at corruption in the region to date
One in three people across the Pacific Islands region have paid a bribe when using a public service in the last year, while a quarter of people have been offered a bribe for their vote in the last five years, according to a report by Transparency International.
The findings for the watchdog group are based on a survey of more than 6,000 people in 10 countries and territories, and is the most comprehensive look at corruption ever carried out in the region.
Former residents of the Paga Hill settlement in Port Moresby say their displacement has led to a range of problems
Many former residents of a settlement in Papua New Guinea who claim they were forcibly evicted nearly a decade ago say they are living without access to sanitation, electricity and water and some have faced homelessness, violence and community tension as a result of the move, according to a new report.
In 2012 the Paga Hill Development Company (PHDC), a PNG registered company with significant ties to Australia, announced its plan to create the Paga Hill Estate, which would include a resort, casino, and an aquarium. In 2012police, backed by bulldozers, began moving into the settlement of Paga Hill in Port Moresby, to clear the area.
Surviving on oranges they’d packed, coconuts from the sea and rainwater they collected, they floated about 400km in the Solomon Sea before being rescued
Two men from Solomon Islands who spent 29 days lost at sea after their GPS tracker stopped working have been rescued off the coast of Papua New Guinea – 400 kilometres away from where their journey began.
Livae Nanjikana and Junior Qoloni set out from Mono Island, in Western province, Solomon Islands, on the morning of the 3 September in a small, single 60 horsepower motorboat.
Hospitals in Papua New Guinea are being pushed to the brink and morgues are overflowing, as the country suffers what health authorities say is the worst surge in Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began.
The country’s health care system has long been plagued by shortages of drugs, funding, an ailing infrastructure and a severe lack of health workers.
Last year 15,444 cases of domestic violence were reported but only 250 people were prosecuted and 100 convicted. Victims deserve better
A woman is beaten every 30 seconds in Papua New Guinea, and more than 1.5 million people experience gender-based violence in the country each year.
On 3 September in Mt Hagen, one of the country’s largest cities, three men were released from prison after being accused of murdering a 31-year-old woman, Imelda Tupi Tiamanda. One of the men was her husband.
To catch a shark in the waters off Papua New Guinea, first the men sing.
They sing the names of their ancestors and their respects to the shark. They shake a coconut rattle into the sea, luring the animals from the deep, and then catch them by hand.
Naomi Kori Pomat, the first female doctor in her province, died in country’s first government-confirmed death of a health worker from virus
Tributes have poured in for a doctor in Papua New Guinea’s Western Province who died last week, in the country’s first death of a healthcare worker from Covid-19 confirmed by the government.
Dr Naomi Kori Pomat, 60, the director for curative health services at the Western Provincial Health Authority (WPHA), was medevaced to Port Moresby after contracting the virus and died on 19 September.
Six people missing after boat sank just 150 metres from Nissan Island, with lone survivor swimming 15 kilometres to neighbouring island
Authorities in Bougainville are still searching for the autonomous region’s health minister after he and his family went missing in rough seas at the weekend.
Charry Napto, his wife and son were among seven people on board a banana boat which was travelling to Nissan Island from Buka, the capital of Bougainville, on Saturday.
More than three months after the first vaccine was administered, less than 0.6% of the population have received their first dose
Three months since Papua New Guinea launched its Covid vaccine rollout, just 60,000 people – or 0.6% of the population – have received their first dose, with many people hesitant due to misinformation and fears around the vaccine.
Despite a recent surge in cases that has overwhelmed the already rickety health system, just over 2,800 people have received their second dose.
Critics say PNG does not have adequate governance or welfare systems to deal with problems casino may bring
Plans to build Papua New Guinea’s first casino in Port Moresby have sparked criticism from transparency advocates and experts who say the country’s industry regulator has undermined its independence with the deal and fear it could worsen social problems.
The agreement to build the US$43mvenue was signed on 28 May by Paga Hill Development Corporation and the National Gaming Control Board (NGCB), drawing immediate condemnation from Transparency International.
An illegally logged tree, felled in the diminishing forests of Papua New Guinea, may well end up becoming floorboards in a Sydney living room, or a bookcase in a home in Seattle.
Illegal logging contributes between 15% and 30% of the global wood trade, according to Interpol. China is a major buyer of the world’s illegal timber, according to environmental groups, especially from Pacific nations like PNG and Solomon Islands, which are implicated in illegal or unsustainable logging.
Litoria mira has been declareda new species, despite looking very similar to the Australian green tree frog
An Australian scientist has discovered a new species of frog, the “chocolate frog”, in rainforest swamps of New Guinea.
Steve Richards, a frog specialist at the South Australian Museum, first found the spotted the cocoa-coloured creature in 2016 in incredibly challenging habitat.
Sixty-six people who’ve spent up to seven years in detention on PNG and Nauru and 78 onshore, plus their family members, passed initial approval
Almost 150 refugees held within Australia’s offshore processing system in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, or in onshore detention, are in the last stages of approval for resettlement in Canada.
The non-profit migrant and refugee settlement service Mosaic, based in Vancouver, said it had successfully submitted applications on behalf of 66 people in PNG and Nauru, a further 78 in onshore detention, and 98 family members in third countries.
High-powered weapons, as well as a hand grenade, were used in fighting near Kainantu Town in Eastern Highlands province
Police are warning a “all-out war” could erupt in Eastern Highlands province in Papua New Guinea, after 19 people were killed in tribal violence late last week.
High-powered weapons, as well as a hand grenade, were used in fighting on Thursday and Friday near Kainantu Town in the east of the country, causing 19 deaths, with many more people unaccounted for, and properties destroyed.
Gladys Berejiklian says a NSW Covid immunisation centre will be capable of administering 30,000 doses a week; EU denies blocking further shipments of AstraZeneca earmarked for Australia. Follow the latest updates, live
Australia needs to manage the increasingly complex relationship with China, even as the government seeks areas to diversify its export markets, according to a new report out this afternoon.
The Asia Taskforce – which includes the Business Council of Australia and Asia Society Australia – calls for a target of boosting Australia’s exports to 35% of GDP by 2030 (up from 29% in 2019).
Popular support for the open economy cannot be taken for granted. Retreating to old familiar relationships in western markets, falling behind in Asia literacy and failing to build connections with new Asian business partners should not be seen as a serious default choice when consumption in Asia will likely fuel future global growth.
The Greens are once again calling for an independent rapid review into the vaccine rollout to identify any issues and restore public confidence.
Senator Rachel Siewert, Greens spokesperson for health, said in a statement:
With targets missed, persistent problems with vaccine supply, and troubles getting the available vaccines to where they’re needed, the rollout of these vital jabs hardly inspires confidence...
We shouldn’t let this devolve into a game of finger pointing and blaming shifting between the federal and state governments. This pointless squabble doesn’t inspire confidence in the rollout, and can only serve to add further delays to the process.
Australia has accused the EU of ‘semantics’ after European Commission said just one shipment of 250,000 AstraZeneca doses has been formally blocked, but Coalition says AZ has not been able to secure an export licence from Europe
Scott Morrison denies his government has presented the public with overly rosy assessments about the state of its Covid-19 vaccine rollout, as he steps up calls for the European Union to allow 3.1m outstanding AstraZeneca doses to be shipped to Australia.
While declaring that vaccine supply issues were a matter of “straightforward maths”, the prime minister also attempted to calm a growing diplomatic dispute between Australia and the EU, insisting he had not made any criticism of Brussels over its handling of the matter.
Lucy Maino faced intense online harassment over clip in incident that critics say highlights misogyny in PNG
Miss Papua New Guinea has been stripped of her crown after sharing a video of herself twerking on TikTok, with critics saying the incident reveals a deep-seated culture of misogyny in the country.
Lucy Maino, 25, who has also served as co-captain of Papua New Guinea’s women’s football team, faced intense online harassment after she shared a video of herself twerking on the video-sharing app TikTok.