A weekly wrap-up of news, issues and current affairs from the Pacific. The programme is broadcast nationwide every Saturday evening on Radio New Zealand National and is produced by the newsroom of Radio New Zealand International.
Due to a local body election special this particular programme did not broadcast on Radio New Zealand National. We have accessioned an alternate broadcast via Radio New Zealand International.
The following rundown is supplied from the broadcaster’s news system:
1. The seven West Papuan asylum seekers from Indonesia who Australia deported to Papua New Guinea last month have been told they will be moved to the Kiunga refugee camp in PNG's Western Province.
2. An advocate for refugees [i.e. Ian Rintoul] says it is a scandal that Australia is deporting five Sri Lankans seeking asylum without assessing their claims.
3. A member of Fiji's Sodelpa Party, Dr Tupeni Baba, says foreign assistance for the elections should come with conditions attached.
4. A series of delays in the construction of Fiji's first casino has cast some doubt over whether the project will ever get off the ground.
5. The Vanuatu Government says it will most likely ask for international advice on how to act on the unexploded bombs in the Port Vila Harbour.
6. The acting governor of the Central Bank of Samoa [i.e. Gilbert Wongsin] says people should be wary about anyone wanting either money or personal information like bank account details.
7. There's a renewed call for the people of the autonomous Papua New Guinea province of Bougainville to have a say in any re-opening of the controversial Panguna copper and gold mine.
8. A law professor in Auckland [i.e. Bill Hodge] says a Kiribati man seeking asylum in New Zealand because of climate change doesn't fit existing refugee categories.