CoveragePost
May 20, 2026
By Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific senior journalist A new law in Papua New Guinea, requiring a political parties to meet a quota for fielding women candidates, is being described as a step in the right direction, but maybe not far enough. The new elections rule that women must make up 10 percent of parties’ endorsed ... <a title="New bid to tackle Papua New Guinea’s chronic lack of women MPs" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/20/new-bid-to-tackle-papua-new-guineas-chronic-lack-of-women-mps/" aria-label="Read more about New bid to tackle Papua New Guinea’s chronic lack of women MPs">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 18, 2026
ANALYSIS: By Laurens Ikinia in Jakarta The eighth floor of the Tempo building in Jakarta became the setting for a gathering rich with meaning. What brought together community leaders, politicians, academics, religious figures, journalists, and the family of the late Thom Beanal was not merely a book launch. It was an earnest attempt to revisit ... <a title="Thom Beanal – saluting a human rights legacy for Papua’s ‘father’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/18/thom-beanal-saluting-a-human-rights-legacy-for-papuas-father/" aria-label="Read more about Thom Beanal – saluting a human rights legacy for Papua’s ‘father’">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 17, 2026
PROFILE: By Campion Ohasio The Solomon Islands has entered a new political era. In a historic morning at Parliament House yesterday, Matthew Cooper Wale was elected as the nation’s new Prime Minister. His victory marks the culmination of a dramatic week in Honiara and signals a potential shift in both the country’s internal management and ... <a title="New chapter for Hapi Isles – Matthew Wale takes the helm as PM" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/17/new-chapter-for-hapi-isles-matthew-wale-takes-the-helm-as-pm/" aria-label="Read more about New chapter for Hapi Isles – Matthew Wale takes the helm as PM">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 17, 2026
ANALYSIS: By David Robie, Pacific Media Watch When the Paris-based global watchdog Reporters Without Borders released their annual World Press Freedom Index dossier online three days before World Press Freedom Day, journalists in the Asia-Pacific region were quick to check out their ranking. Overall the prognosis wasn’t very flattering. No country in the region was ... <a title="Improvements in Pacific media freedom, but a shameful silence on Gaza ‘death trap’" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/17/improvements-in-pacific-media-freedom-but-a-shameful-silence-on-gaza-death-trap/" aria-label="Read more about Improvements in Pacific media freedom, but a shameful silence on Gaza ‘death trap’">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 10, 2026
COMMENTARY: By Kalafi Moala The importance of media freedom is recognised each year globally on May 3. This year the Pacific Island country of Tonga commemorated World Press Freedom Day just a week after one of the most frightening threats to that freedom which took place at a media outlet. A hooded man brandishing a ... <a title="Tongan armed threat against journalist troubles Pacific media freedom" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/10/tongan-armed-threat-against-journalist-troubles-pacific-media-freedom/" aria-label="Read more about Tongan armed threat against journalist troubles Pacific media freedom">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 9, 2026
COMMENTARY: By Oriini Kaipara The treatment of Maiki Sherman has been deeply upsetting to witness. To see the first wahine Māori ever rise to the role of political editor at 1News — only to now resign under such intense public and political pressure — is heartbreaking. Maiki is one of the sharpest political journalists in ... <a title="Oriini Kaipara: This reeks of foul play by a NZ govt failing to win public trust" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/09/oriini-kaipara-this-reeks-of-foul-play-by-a-nz-govt-failing-to-win-public-trust/" aria-label="Read more about Oriini Kaipara: This reeks of foul play by a NZ govt failing to win public trust">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
May 5, 2026
POLITICAL CARTOONS: By Campion Ohasio My name is Campion Ohasio, and I am currently the only political cartoonist in Solomon Islands. In recent weeks, I have received many questions and comments from people across the country about my cartoons. Some ask why I draw our national leaders in certain ways. Others wonder whether my caricatures ... <a title="Pacific political caricatures: Why criticising a leader’s actions isn’t a personal attack" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/05/05/pacific-political-caricatures-why-criticising-a-leaders-actions-isnt-a-personal-attack/" aria-label="Read more about Pacific political caricatures: Why criticising a leader’s actions isn’t a personal attack">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 18, 2026
The Pacific Islands Forum troika Leaders have agreed to activate the Biketawa Declaration, placing the region on a co-ordinated high alert framework to respond to the unfolding global energy security crisis. The declaration was made by the leaders of the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Palau following discussions in Nadi, Fiji, on Friday in light of ... <a title="Pacific Forum responds to current global fuel and energy challenges" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/18/pacific-forum-responds-to-current-global-fuel-and-energy-challenges/" aria-label="Read more about Pacific Forum responds to current global fuel and energy challenges">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
April 6, 2026
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A rift within French Polynesia’s ruling party Tavini Huiraatira deepened during Easter weekend with a mass resignation from a group of 14 members. The resignation was tendered by a group of young members of the local Territorial Assembly. In their resignation letter, the members of the ... <a title="Mass Easter resignations within Tahiti’s pro-independence ruling party" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/04/06/mass-easter-resignations-within-tahitis-pro-independence-ruling-party/" aria-label="Read more about Mass Easter resignations within Tahiti’s pro-independence ruling party">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 27, 2026
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A rift within French Polynesia’s ruling Tavini Huiraatira party has widened this week, pitting the leadership “old guard” against a younger generation embodied by the territory’s President, Moetai Brotherson. The main reason for the rift is the outcome of the recent French municipal elections, especially in ... <a title="Rift widens within French Polynesia’s ruling party following municipal election losses" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/27/rift-widens-within-french-polynesias-ruling-party-following-municipal-election-losses/" aria-label="Read more about Rift widens within French Polynesia’s ruling party following municipal election losses">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 23, 2026
COMMENTARY: By David Robie, author of Eyes of Fire Climate crisis concerns shouldn’t overshadow the legacy of nuclear testing in the Pacific, where there are lingering health and sociopolitical insecurities. For example, there are concerns in French Polynesia about the mysterious fate of a former anti-nuclear investigative journalist and editor of the now closed Les ... <a title="From nuclear to climate crisis survivors: unfinished business in the Pacific" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/23/from-nuclear-to-climate-crisis-survivors-unfinished-business-in-the-pacific/" aria-label="Read more about From nuclear to climate crisis survivors: unfinished business in the Pacific">Read more</a>
CoveragePost
March 21, 2026
Asia Pacific Report An exiled leader of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has condemned Indonesia’s “cruel and humiliating” arbitrary arrest of 12 West Papuan local farmers in Tambrauw Regency this week and has demanded their release. According to Human Rights Monitor, the arrests took place on March 18, after Indonesia conducted military ... <a title="Wenda condemns ‘cruel’ arbitrary arrests of West Papuans in Tambrauw" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2026/03/21/wenda-condemns-cruel-arbitrary-arrests-of-west-papuans-in-tambrauw/" aria-label="Read more about Wenda condemns ‘cruel’ arbitrary arrests of West Papuans in Tambrauw">Read more</a>
