COMMENTARY: By Ruth Cross Kwansing

We were polarised by the United States last week, but in the same way that a windscreen wiper distracts you from the rain, our Pacific news cycle and local coconut wireless became dominated by a whirlwind of speculation after New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced a review of New Zealand’s aid to Kiribati.

This followed what was perceived as a snub by our President Taneti Maamau.

The New Zealand media, in its typical fashion, seized the opportunity to patronise Kiribati, and the familiar whispers about Chinese influence began to circulate.

Amidst this media manufactured drama, I found myself reflecting on “that” recent experience which offered stark contrast to the geopolitical noise.

We had the privilege of attending the ordination of a Catholic Priest in Onotoa, where the true spirit of Kiribati was exemplified in the splendour of simplicity. Despite limited resources, the island community, representing various faiths, came together to celebrate this sacred event with unparalleled joy, hilariousness and hospitality from silent hands that blessed you with love.

Hands that built thatched huts for us to sleep in, wove mats, cooked food, made pillows and hung bananas in maneabas to provide for guests from all over Kiribati and Nauru. Our President, himself a Protestant, had prioritised and actively participated, embodying by example, the unity and peace that Bishop Simon Mani so eloquently spoke of.

We laughed, we cried, and we felt the spirit of our loving God.

Spirit of harmony
That spirit of harmony and hope we carried from recent experiences felt shaken overnight by news of New Zealand’s potential aid withdrawal. Social media in Kiribati erupted with questions and concerns, fuelled by an article claiming that New Zealand was halting aid due to President Maamau “snubbing” of Deputy Prime Minister Peters.

Importantly: President Maamau would never in a millennium intentionally “snub” New Zealand or any foreign minister. The reality is far more nuanced.

At the end of 2024, President Maamau announced to his Cabinet Ministers that he would delegate international bilateral engagements to Vice-President Dr Teuea Toatu or other Ministers and Ambassadors appropriately. Thereby enabling him to focus intently on domestic matters, including the workplan for our national necessities outlined in the KV20 vision and 149 deliverables of his party manifesto.

While the Vice-President was prepared to receive the New Zealand delegation, it seems Minister Peters was insistent on meeting with the President himself, leading to the cancellation of his trip.

This insistence on bypassing established protocol is not only unusual but also, well let’s just say it with as much love as possible: It’s disrespectful to Kiribati’s sovereignty.

It is also worth noting that the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia recently visited Kiribati and engaged with the Vice-President and Cabinet Ministers without any such reluctance.

New Zealand’s subsequent announcement of an aid review, including a potential threat to the $2 million funded RSE scheme, has understandably caused serious anxiety in Kiribati.

Devastating impact
The potential loss of funding for critical sectors like health, education, fisheries, economic development and climate resilience would of course have a devastating impact on our people.

After committing $102 million between 2021-2024 these are major threats to public health where $20 million was invested in initiatives like rebuilding the Betio Hospital, training doctors, building clinics, NCD strategic planning and more, $10 million in education, $4 million in developing the fisheries sector, it’s an expansive and highly impactful list of critical support for capacity strengthening to our country.

While New Zealand has every right to review its aid programme to Kiribati or any developing country, it is crucial that these kinds of decisions are based on genuine development processes and not used as a tool for political pressure.

Linking Pacific aid to access to political leaders sets a questionable precedent and undermines the principles of partnership, mutual respect and “mana” that underpins the inextricably linked relationships between Pacific nations.

The reference to potential impacts on I-Kiribati workers in New Zealand under the RSE scheme is particularly concerning. These hardworking individuals contribute significantly to the New Zealand economy in a mutually beneficial arrangement.

We deserve to be treated with fairness and respect, not weaponised to cut at the heart of what drives our political motivations — providing for our people, who are providing for our children.

Despite this unfortunate situation, I believe that dialogue and understanding along with truth and love will prevail.

Greater humility needed
In the spirit of the “effectiveness, inclusiveness, resilience, and sustainability” that upholds New Zealand’s own development principles, we should all revisit this issue with greater humility and a commitment to resolving such misunderstandings.

As a New Zealand-born, Australian/Tuvaluan, I-Kiribati politician representing the largest constituency in Kiribati, I have zero pride or ego and will never be too proud to beg for the needs of the people I serve, who placed their faith in a government that would put them first.

We would love to host Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and a New Zealand government delegation in Kiribati, and we are indescribably grateful for the kinds of support provided since we gained independence in 1979. Our history stretches back even further than that, when New Zealand’s agricultural industry was nourished by phosphate from Banaba, and we continue to treasure the intertwined links between our nations.

Let us prioritise cooperation and mutual respect over ego and political posturing. Let’s drink fresh coconuts and eat raw fish together and talk about how we can change the world by changing ourselves first.

The “tea party” of Pacific partnership must continue to strengthen, and deepen, ESPECIALLY when challenged to overcome misunderstandings. It should always be one where Pacific voices are heard and respected lovingly, while we work towards a collective vision of health, peace and prosperity for all.

But if development diplomacy ever fails, we’ll remember that I-Kiribati people are some of the most determined and resilient on this planet. Our ancestors navigated to these “isolated isles of the Pacific” surrounded by 3.5 million km of ocean and found “Tungaru” which means “a place of JOY”.

We arrived in this world with nothing, and we’ll leave it with nothing, and we get to live our whole lives not feeling sorry for ourselves in this island paradise of ours, this place of joy, where we are wealthy in ways that money cannot buy.

We will survive

Ruth Maryanne Cross Kwansing was elected an independent member of Parliament in Kiribati in 2024. She later joined the Tobwaan Kiribati Party.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Paediatrician Dr Teuila Percival heads the list of Pacific recipients in the New Zealand King’s Birthday Honours List for 2023.

Dr Percival is one of at least 15 Pasifika people in New Zealand who are on the list. She is to be a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to health and the Pacific community.

For the past three decades she has been a strong advocate for Pacific children’s health in New Zealand and the Pacific.

Dr Percival said she felt honoured to get the award after getting over the initial surprise.

“I think it’s important for Pacific people to be recognised in the work they do, so it’s really nice in that respect,” she said.

“It’s just a great job, I love working with kids. I think children are the most important thing.”

Dr Percival was a founding member of South Seas Healthcare, a community health service for Pacific people in Auckland since 1999.

She has also been deployed to Pacific nations after natural disasters like to Samoa in 2009 after the tsunami and to Vanuatu in 2015 following cyclone Pam.

Education
Sacred Heart school counsellor Nua Silipa is to be an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to Pacific education.

Silipa said her experience struggling in the education system after immigrating from Samoa in 1962 had motivated her to help Pacific people in the classroom.

“When I look back now I think my journey was so hard as a minority in Christchurch,” Silipa said.

“It was a struggle because we weren’t in the classroom, the resources at that time were Janet and John . . .  so as a learner I really struggled.”

She said the “whole experience of underachievement” motivated her to help “people who are different in the system”.

“It’s not a one size fits all in education.”

Nua Silipa said she felt humbled to be a recipient on the King’s Birthday Honours List.

She said the award also honoured the people who had been involved in improving education for Pasifika.

“I know there’s so, so many other people who are doing work quietly every day, helping our communities and I’m really in awe of them.

“There are many unsung heroes out in our community doing work for our people.”

Technology
Mary Aue is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to education, technology and Pacific and Māori communities.

Mary Aue is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to education, technology and Pacific and Māori communities Photo: Supplied

In 1999, she launched Coconut Wireless as an e-newsletter for Pasifika reaching 10,000 subscribers. It relaunched in 2014 as a social media platform and now has over 300,000 Facebook followers.

“There was a disconnect between community and government agencies and there was a disconnect between our communities,” she said.

“There was no communication back then, so I created an e-newsletter.”

The name Coconut Wireless was based on the island concept as a fast way of communicating through word of mouth.

Aue has also been an advocate for more Pacific and Māori learners in science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM).

Aue said she was originally going to decline the award as there were a lot of people in the community who do not get recognised behind the scenes.

“I have to thank my family, my friends and the amazing community that we’re all part of.”

Sport
Teremoana Maua-Hodges said she “just about choked” on her cup of tea when she found out she had received the Queen’s Service Medal.

Maua-Hodges has been given the award for her contribution to sport and culture.

She said the award was the work of many people — including her parents — who travelled to New Zealand from the Cook Islands when she was a child.

“I’m very humbled by the award, but it’s not just me,” Maua-Hodges said.

“I stand on the shoulders of different heroes and heroines of our people in the community.

“It’s not my award, it’s our award.”

Maua-Hodges said the most important thing she had done was connect Cook Islanders.

“Uniting Cook Islanders who have come over from different islands in the Cook Islands and then to come here and be united here within their diversity makes me very proud.

“They’ve taken on the whole culture of Aotearoa but still as Cook Islanders . . .  to show their voice, to show their flag, in the land of milk and honey.”

The Queen’s Service Medal will be renamed the King’s Service Medal once the necessary processes are done, and the updated Royal Warrant is approved by King Charles.

Pasifika recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for 2022:

Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Dr Teuila Mary Percival — for services to health and the Pacific community.

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Nua Semuā Silipa — for services to Pacific education.

Honorary Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Meleane Pau’uvale — for services to the Tongan community and education.

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit:

Mary Puatuki Aue — for services to education, technology and Pacific and Māori communities.

Dr Ofanaite Ana Dewes — for services to health and the Pacific community.

Fa’atili Iosua Esera — for services to Pacific education.

Dr Siale Alokihakau Foliaki — for services to mental health and the Pacific community.

Keni Upokotea Moeroa — for services to the Cook Islands community.

Talalelei Senetenari Taufale — for services to Pacific health.

Dr Semisi Pouvalu Taumoepeau — for services to education and tourism.

Honorary Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit: Fa’amoana Ioane Luafutu — for services to arts and the Pacific community.

Queen’s Service Medal:

Joseph Davis — for services to the Fijian community.

Reverend Alofa Ta’ase Lale — for services to the community.

Teremoana Maua-Hodges — for services to sport and culture.

Putiani Upoko — for services to the Pacific community.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A new study on the impact of social media in the Pacific during the covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has warned about the potential for misinformation or disinformation to have “dangerous outcomes”.

But the report also acknowledges the importance of the so-called “coconut wireless” in Pacific information sharing and says that an effective communication programme can provide “contextually specific understanding” and allow science practitioners to inform and engage.

The study by Vipul Khosla and Prasanth Pillay, entitled Covid-19 in the South Pacific: Science Communication, Facebook and Coconut Wireless, has been published in JCom-The Journal of Science Communication. It was commissioned by the Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS) and both researchers are employees of the ABC division for International Development.

“It was clear from our analysis that the planning and implementation of effective science communication around covid-19 requires both an informed sensitivity to cultural contexts (e.g. food security challenges when local markets are inaccessible due to COVID-19 guidelines), and a commitment to using consistent terminology in public health messaging,” the study says.

“The global mainstreaming of terms such as ‘social distancing’ both by the WHO [World Health Organisation]and international and local media as part of common parlance, makes reverting to an alternative term particularly challenging for communication practitioners and one that requires prior consideration at a national level by key stakeholders.”

The researchers repeatedly refer to the role of the “coconut wireless” in communication and the spread of scientific messages in Pacific contexts in their analysis.

“The ‘coconut wireless’ is an informal phrase/slang that has a historical sense of playful notoriety in the Pacific as a way of referring to the centrality of ‘word-of-mouth’ (or interpersonal) accounts in the dissemination and discussion of news and rumours,” say Dr Khosla and Dr Pillay.

“The phrase was used consistently in discussions on COVID-19 (under the sampled analysis period) to flag presumed factual inconsistencies, [or] to clarify the authenticity of a story where news sources are not clearly defined.”

The researchers found a high penetration of technology devices and internet access in the South Pacific, social media – mostly Facebook – was used for disseminating information about covid-19 in the Pacific, and several countries used Facebook as their source of information for alert systems such as with Tropical Cyclone Harold.

“Given Facebook’s high penetration and usage rate in the Pacific, the platform serves as an active space for information exchange and deliberation around COVID-19,” says the report.

The study cites five issues to know about Pacific social media and the “coconut wireless”:

1. The “practice of doing science communication” is just as important as the science itself: “The methodological practice of curating and classifying evidence in scientific disciplines is valuable in educating [Pacific] audiences on the need to base their assertions and observations around covid-19 on carefully selected evidence.”
2. Audience/user centred approach to science communication: “There is a greater need to understand audiences and users of science information to ensure that science communication practitioners understand the context and landscape in which the information is received, interpreted, and shared.”
3. Social media and online discourse as a “rich source’ of understanding audiences/users: “Social media and online platforms offer publicly available information that can provide rich insights into how audiences and users engage with scientific terms.”
4. Consistency in the use of scientific terminology: “The use of commonly paired terms such as ‘quarantine, isolation’ and ‘physical distancing, social distancing’ can result in confusion among audiences. Furthermore, these terms become embedded into common parlance once introduced in official channels of communication and are accordingly adapted and appropriated, taking a life of their own.”
5. Greater institutional focus on media literacy: “There is value in developing and promoting audience-oriented discussions around media literacy at a regional and national level (if not extensively done already). These could comprise of sessions to members of the public that explain clearly how to critically evaluate media sources and differentiate between trusted avenues for news and science communication and typically problematic sources.”

The study was conducted across 23 Pacific mainstream Facebook pages from 1 February to 31 May 2020, showing that in the South Pacific there were three ways of communication used – including oral communication and rumours, online discussion, and science discussion.

“Communication and information flow in the Pacific tends to first originate from interpersonal forms of conversation outside the online sphere, through word-of-mouth,” says the study.

However, the research finds that there are some limiting challenges that cause users of social media to accept information shared by authority.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz