Independent Analysis and Reportage
Asia Pacific Report The New Zealand government must turn concern for besieged Palestinians into urgent, practical action, says a Palestinian advocacy group. The Palestine Forum of New Zealand has called on the government to take “immediate diplomatic and financial action” following the UN World Food Programme’s announcement that 500,000 Palestinians in Gaza will lose their
Exposing autocracy from military-ruled Fiji to democratic Samoa, journalist Shalveen Chand has faced cell blocks, state censorship and physical assaults for holding Pacific powers accountable. Now joining the Cook Islands News as senior journalist, Chand brings a relentless commitment to press freedom, warning that democracy collapses when watchdogs are silenced. COMMENTARY: By Shalveen Chand I
By Kelvin Anthony of RNZ Pacific Fiji’s constitutional reform process has brought the question of who is or can be a “Fijian” back to the fore. Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s coalition government has begun the public consultation process on the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2026 in its efforts to replace the 2013 Constitution — a document
An edited version of a speech Mary Kostakidis delivered at the Media Diversity Australia Symposium where she spoke about the four pillars of journalism that are all too often weaponised in the service of gatekeeping. Deepcut News COMMENTARY: By Mary Kostakidis Three very apt words — Truth, Trust and Tribalism. Much of what I say
Asia Pacific Report The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) has condemned Australia and Indonesia conducting joint military exercises while Indonesian security forces have been conducting military operations against Papuan civilians. About 1000 Australian Defence Force (ADF) military personnel with a similar number of Indonesian soldiers have been taking part in Exercise Keris Woomera 26 which
RNZ Pacific reporters Prime Minister Jotham Napat’s government could be staring down a potential leadership challenge in a fortnight’s time when the Vanuatu parliament session resumes on November 5, local media is reporting. Napat, who was elected as the country’s new prime minister in February 2025, is the country’s fifth prime minister in as many
REVIEW: By Alex Salmon “Whatever happens, the flame of French resistance must not and shall not die,” proclaimed Charles De Gaulle in a speech broadcast on BBC radio in London, 18 June 1940, as France surrendered to Nazi Germany. De Gaulle, a French army officer, had refused to capitulate to the Nazis and Marshall Petain’s
COMMENTARY: By Mark Naglazas An American photojournalist getting viciously beaten up the West Bank by settlers is small potatoes in comparison to the hundreds of journalists who have died in Gaza, let alone the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been slaughtered (and continue to be). However, a group of young thugs pounding the
Asia Pacific Report The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) head of news has threatened journalist and unionist Michael Slezak with disciplinary action over an October 5 opinion piece in the Australian Financial Review, written in his capacity as a union official. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said in a statement that it joined its Australian
By Iliesa Tora of RNZ Pacific The traditional paramount chief of Lau province in Fiji says immunity clauses sheltering past coup leaders cannot be a stand-alone discussion. Ratu Tevita Mara said Fijians should also confront the economic disparity, and the drug and HIV crisis in iTaukei communities, as the public consultation phase of the Constitution
COMMENTARY: By Saige England The state of fascist Zionism continues its systematic extermination and social media is full of its supporters. Thank you to this list from my friend Mike Huett on how to spot and combat hasbara trolls. (Hasbara is the communications arm of Mossad, the Zionist state’s secret service and it has long
Asia Pacific Report The Free Palestine Party has condemned the New Zealand government for its “shameful” failure to walk out of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the UN last month — as more than 70 protesting countries did — claiming it made New Zealand complicit in genocide. “The only thing necessary for the