In July 1985, Australia’s Pacific territory of Norfolk Island (pop. 2188) became the centre of a real life international spy thriller.

Four French agents sailed there on board the Ouvéa, a yacht from Kanaky New Caledonia, after bombing the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland, killing Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira.

The Rainbow Warrior was the flagship for a protest flotilla due to travel to Moruroa atoll to challenge French nuclear tests.

Australian police took them into custody on behalf of their New Zealand counterparts but then, bafflingly, allowed them to sail away, never to face justice.

On the 40th anniversary of the bombing (10 July 2025), award-winning journalist Richard Baker goes on an adventure from Paris to the Pacific to get the real story – and ultimately uncover the role that Australia played in the global headline-making affair.

The programme includes an interview with Pacific journalist David Robie, author of Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior. David’s article about this episode is published at Declassified Australia here.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Norfolk Island sees its United States tariff as an acknowledgment of independence from Australia.

Norfolk Island, despite being an Australian territory, has been included on Trump’s tariff list.

The territory has been given a 29 percent tariff, despite Australia getting only 10 percent.

It is home to just over 2000 people, sitting between New Zealand and Australia in the South Pacific

The islands’ Chamber of Commerce said the decision by the US “raises critical questions about Norfolk Island’s international recognition as an independent sovereign nation” and Norfolk Island not being part of Australia.

“The classification of Norfolk Island as distinct from Australia in this tariff decision reinforces what the Norfolk Island community has long asserted: Norfolk Island is not an extension of Australia.”

Norfolk Island previously had a significant level of autonomy from Australia, but was absorbed directly into the country’s local government system in 2015.

Norfolk Islanders angered
The move angered many Norfolk Island people and inspired a number of campaigns, including appeals to the United Nations and the International Court of Justice, by groups wishing to re-establish a measure of their autonomy, or to sue for independence.

The Chamber of Commerce has taken the tariff as a chance to reemphasis the islands’ call for independence, including, “restoration of economic rights” and exclusive access to its exclusive economic zone.

The statement said Norfolk Island is a “sovereign nation [and] must have the ability to engage directly with international trade partners rather than through Australian officials who do not represent Norfolk Island’s interests”.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters yesterday: “Norfolk Island has got a 29 percent tariff. I’m not quite sure that Norfolk Island, with respect to it, is a trade competitor with the giant economy of the United States.”

“But that just shows and exemplifies the fact that nowhere on Earth is safe from this.”

The base tariff of 10 percent is also included for Tokelau, a non-self-governing territory of New Zealand, with a population of only about 1500 people living on the atoll islands.

US ‘don’t really understand’, says PANG
Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) deputy coordinator Adam Wolfenden said he did not understand why Norfolk Island and Tokelau were added to the tariff list.

“I think this reflects the approach that’s been taken, which seems very rushed and very divorced from a common sense approach,” Wolfenden said.

“The inclusion of these territories, to me, is indicative that they don’t really understand what they’re doing.”

In the Pacific, Fiji is set to be charged the most at 32 percent.

Nauru has been slapped with a 30 percent tariff, Vanuatu 22 percent, and other Pacific nations were given the 10 percent base tariff.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Cyclone Gabrielle is already bringing steady rain and strong winds to northern parts of Aotearoa New Zealand after sparing Norfolk Island and MetService warns there is plenty more on the way.

A red heavy rain warning has been issued for Coromandel, Gisborne north of Tolaga Bay, and Auckland, including Great Barrier Island and other islands in the Hauraki Gulf from Sunday to Tuesday.

Northland has a red warning in place until Monday midnight.

An orange rain warning is in place for Gisborne from Tolaga Bay southwards, Wairarapa including the Tararua District, Eastern Marlborough south of Blenheim, including Kaikoura Coast, Bay of Plenty west of Whakatane, and Hawke’s Bay (from Monday to Tuesday).

Strong wind warnings are also in place — including a red one for Coromandel Peninsula and Auckland (including Great Barrier Island and other islands in the Hauraki Gulf) until Tuesday.

MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said some areas had already seen up to 10mm of rain in an hour.

Tairāwhiti and the Coromandel were set to be worst hit today with the most severe weather arriving at 3pm, Ferris said.

Top Energy, which manages the electricity lines network in the Far North District, said its teams were working to restore power to nearly 1500 customers in Taupo Bay, Russell and Taheke.

In Auckland, there are outages at Karekare and Henderson in West Auckland, pockets of east Auckland and the North Shore.

Norfolk Island spared
On Norfolk Island — halfway between New Zealand and Australia — winds cut power, brought down trees and blocked roads, but it appears to have been spared the worst.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A stand-off was averted on Norfolk Island today when a couple occupying a historic house chose to leave rather than face criminal charges.

The couple had been occupying one of the old officers’ houses in the Kingston World Heritage Site and the Canberra administrator had had police flown in from the mainland to carry out an eviction.

But one islander speaking for the couple, Mary Christian-Bailey, said they may have lost the battle but they intend to win the war.

She was referring to plans to now bring legal action to prove that it is Norfolk Islanders who control the site, not the Commonwealth of Australia.

“This now frees them to take the case to court to prove that it is not Commonwealth land, that it is Crown land in Norfolk Island’s name and belongs to the people here. It was sad but it was the best decision to make,” she said.

Mary Christian-Bailey said relations with the police were very good with them suggesting the couple give themselves a couple of days to leave the property.

In January 2020, The Canberra Times reported that the Australian government moved more than two decades ago to quash Norfolk Islanders’ hopes for independence, pointing to the island’s strategic importance deep in Canberra’s sphere of influence in the Pacific.

“The move, revealed in cabinet documents released [in January 2020], provides insight into the final decision from 2016 to strip Norfolk of self-government, a move that has ignited the islands who are now asking the United Nations to intervene,” reported The Canberra Times.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz