Thousands of senior hospital doctors and specialists walked off the job today for an unprecedented 24-hour strike in protest over stalled contract negotiations and thousands of other health workers protested across Aotearoa New Zealand against the coalition government’s cutbacks to the public health service Te Whatu Ora.

In spite of the disruptive bad weather across the country, protesters were out in force expressing their concerns over a national health service in crisis.

Among speakers criticising the government’s management of public health at a rally at the entrance to The Domain, near Auckland Hospital, many warned that the cutbacks were a prelude to “creeping privatisation”.

“Health cuts hurt services, the patients who rely on them, and the workers who deliver them,” said health worker Jason Brooke.

“Under this coalition government we’ve seen departments restructured, roles disestablished, change proposals enacted, and hiring freezes implemented.

“Make no mistake. This is austerity. This is managed decline.

“The coalition can talk all they like about spending more on healthcare, the reality for ‘those-of-us-on-the-ground’ is that we know that money is not being spent where it’s needed.”

Placards said “Fight back together for the workers”, “Proud to be union”, “We’re fighting back for workers rights”, and one poster declared: “Don’t bite the hand that wipes your bum — safe staffing now”.

Palestine supporters also carried a May Day message of solidarity from Palestinian Confederation of Trade Unions.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Palestinian diaspora poets, singers and musicians gathered today with solidarity partners from Aotearoa New Zealand, African nations — including South Africa — in a vibrant celebration.

The celebration marked the UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and similar events have been happening around New Zealand today, across the world and over the weekend.

Images by David Robie of Asia Pacific Report.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

As Israel drives the Palestinians deeper into another Nakba in Gaza with its assault on Rafah, the Palestine Youth Aotearoa (PYA) and solidarity supporters in Aotearoa New Zealand tonight commemorated the original Nakba — “the Catastrophe” — of 1948.

This was when Israeli militias slaughtered more than 15,000 people, perpetrated more than 70 massacres and occupied more than three quarters of Palestine, with 750,000 of the Palestinian population forced into becoming refugees from their own land.

The Nakba was a massive campaign of ethnic cleansing followed by the destruction of hundreds of villages, to prevent the return of the refugees — similar to what is being wrought now in Gaza.

The Nakba lies at the heart of 76 years of injustice for the Palestinians — and for the latest injustice, the seven-month long war on Gaza.

Participants told through their stories, poetry and songs by candlelight, they would not forget 1948 — “and we will not forget the genocide under way in Gaza.”

Photographs: David Robie

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

As Israel drives the Palestinians deeper into another Nakba in Gaza with its assault on Rafah, the Palestine Youth Aotearoa (PYA) and solidarity supporters in Aotearoa New Zealand tonight commemorated the original Nakba — “the Catastrophe” — of 1948.

This was when Israeli militias slaughtered more than 15,000 people, perpetrated more than 70 massacres and occupied more than three quarters of Palestine, with 750,000 of the Palestinian population forced into becoming refugees from their own land.

The Nakba was a massive campaign of ethnic cleansing followed by the destruction of hundreds of villages, to prevent the return of the refugees — similar to what is being wrought now in Gaza.

The Nakba lies at the heart of 76 years of injustice for the Palestinians — and for the latest injustice, the seven-month long war on Gaza.

Participants told through their stories, poetry and songs by candlelight, they would not forget 1948 — “and we will not forget the genocide under way in Gaza.”

Photographs: David Robie

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Protesters were out in force at 17 centres around Aotearoa New Zealand — from Rawene in the north to Invercargill in the south — this weekend calling for a “ceasefire now!” in the War on Gaza.

“This is the largest number of centres ever taking action as New Zealanders express their abhorrence at Israel’s genocidal rampage against Palestinians in Gaza,” said Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) national chair John Minto.

“People are stepping up where our political leaders are showing anti-Palestinian racism.”

A four-day “pause” came into force on Friday with the first two exchange batches of Hamas hostages and Palesinian prisoners held by Israel taking place over two days.

“But this pause is just a tea break in the ongoing genocide against Palestinians,” said Minto. “We are demanding our political leaders call for Ceasefire Now!”

Images from today’s Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland rally in Aotea Square by David Robie.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Another house done, and onto the next . . . Volunteers working in Mount Roskill community over the past few days helping those suffering from Auckland’s flash flood devastation have done us proud.

Tremendous work by everybody. Here are some random photos of our volunteer teams on the job.

Many thanks to everybody who has contributed.

Thanks to sponsors Chicking for supporting the community with hot meals for families in motels and volunteers.

And also thanks to Karla for the Bunnings Warehouse New Zealand donating safety equipment for the volunteers helping the community.

• Need help, please contact these numbers:
  Accommodation support: 0800 222 200
  Clothes, bed, and blankets etc: 0800 400 100
• Photographs by Red Tsounga and Ernestina Bonsu Maro

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

One of the joys of travelling the world and collecting books is the historical oddities that turn up in the most unexpected places.

I have a splendid copy of the complete works of Shakespeare dating to the Second World War, completely re-set, so the frontispiece notes, due to the original plates having been “destroyed by enemy action”. One wonders at the perfidy of the Luftwaffe in trying to blow up the Bard.

I have a copy of Grove’s encyclopaedia of music from the 1930s which notes with disdain that attempts to make jazz respectable by using an orchestra have failed—and this written several years after Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. The same volume also contains a section on the influence of Jews in classical music, noting such important ‘Hebrew’ composers as Mahler.

Both these volumes came from a secondhand bookseller near the bus station in Suva: relics, I suppose, of a long departed British colonial administrator.

Each of these volumes is a window into the past and into attitudes and ideas that have long vanished.

In the year of the Platinum Jubilee of the late Queen Elizabeth II—who died yesterday aged 96 after a 70-year reign—it was therefore timely to find a copy of the Royal Tour Picture Album, a lavishly illustrated record of her 1953 tour of the Commonwealth in my local Salvation Army shop.

The 1953 tour seems to have been a strange affair, a tour of places rarely visited by royalty alongside some more important but equally far-flung outposts of the Commonwealth. It was rather like Iron Maiden playing in Christchurch or Caracas.

Pacific and other places
The Queen and Prince Philip visited Bermuda, Jamaica, Panama, Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand, Australia, what was then Ceylon, Aden, Uganda, Tobruk (Libya), Malta and Gibraltar.

The African segment seems to have been beset by security issues and Britain would eventually be expelled from Aden and Libya, where the Queen paid tribute to the defence of Tobruk during the Second World War.

What is intriguing is the concentration on the small island states in the Caribbean and the Pacific, places which did not, at the time, seem to have afforded much material benefit to the UK (although the Fijian soldiers who served in the British army and the Windrush migrants might argue otherwise), but which could be relied upon to provide a loyal, colourful and exotic welcome.

It is the Pacific that takes up most of the pages here. There are some splendid colour plates (one suspects some of them are actually hand tinted) showing, among other things, Her Majesty and the Secretary for Fijian Affairs, Ratu Lala Sukuna, in Albert Park in Suva, surrounded by Fijians with their gifts for the visitors—50 newly killed pigs, 50 cooked pigs, 10 tons of bananas and 50 metres of tapa cloth.

It is the depictions of the local people that intrigue after so many decades. Some of the Indigenous peoples, like the Tongans, are well defined (at least in the somewhat patronising terms of the day), others are projected as members of a happy, multi-racial Commonwealth (the various inhabitants of Fiji) and others, like the First Nations peoples of Australia are very awkwardly presented, with little or no information or explanation about who they are or why they are there. Given the things we know now, some of the images raise disturbing questions to which we may never know the answers.

It is unclear whether the author, Elizabeth Morton, accompanied the tour or simply worked from a pile of press releases and newspaper clippings. The book was co-produced with the Sunday Graphic, which closed in 1960, so she may have worked for that masthead.

Whatever the case, she was clearly eager to present Fiji as a multi-racial success story. While we are told that the royal vessel, the SS Gothic, was greeted by canoes manned by ‘fuzzy haired warriors’ we are also told that ‘Fijians, Indians, Chinese and Europeans’ all cheered the Queen.

Lautoka’s ‘tremendous welcome’
Later they visited Lautoka where they received ‘a tremendous welcome from the Indian sugar-cane workers’. Alas, it would only take a few more decades for that multicultural vision to be shattered by the first of the coups that have bedevilled Fiji

From Fiji, Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh flew to Nuku’alofa in a TEAL Solent Mk IV flying boat, the Aranui, which is now in the MOTAT aviation collection in Auckland.
Despite only visiting for two days, the royal visitors were given a hearty welcome.

She and the Duke were greeted by Queen Salote, who had entranced the British when she visited London for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. When the Tongan monarch rode in an open carriage oblivious of the rain, her fortitude drew the admiration of the crowd and prompted both Noel Coward and Flanders and Swan to make jokes that are probably unrepeatable today.

Despite preserving its independence, Tonga had strong ties with the United Kingdom. During the Second World War, when the then Princess Elizabeth was driving an ambulance, Queen Salote raised enough money to buy three Spitfires for the RAF.

After being greeted at the wharf by Queen Salote, the Queen and the Duke drove through the rain into the capital where people from all over the kingdom, including its remotest islands, gathered to greet her.

Ex-servicemen marched through the streets and at the mala’e the British visitors were waited on by members of the Nobility as they and 2000 guests tucked into a banquet of pork, chicken crayfish, lobsters, yams and pineapples.

A sipi tau (the Tongan equivalent of the haka) was given in honour of the visitors.
That night they slept at the royal palace and were wakened in the morning by a serenade of nose flutes.

Overflowing church
After breakfast they attended service in the Wesleyan church that was full to overflowing.

In her speech, Queen Elizabeth said: ‘Never was a more appropriate name bestowed on any lands than that which Captain Cook gave to these beautiful islands when he called them The Friendly Islands.’

The photographs accompanying the report are of the kind we have become used to: The Queen and her party enjoying local hospitality, receiving gifts and inspecting local curiosities, including Tui Malila, the tortoise said to have been presented by Captain Cook in 1777. The tortoise died in 1966.

And how were the Tongans presented? It is worth reading, 70 years later, Morton’s description:

The Tongans are a simple, happy, devout people. They share their fervent loyalty between their own Queen and the Sovereign Head of the Empire and Commonwealth which since 1900 has protected their 1000 year old independence. Their land is rich and fertile, their seas teem with fish; for longer than they can remember there has never been poverty or unemployment in their paradise. Queen Elizabeth II came to them as their friend from afar whose navies guard their shores and whose peoples buy all the bananas, copra and coconuts they produce.

They welcomed the Queen and her husband with sincere and abandoned joy and gave them a feast that was fabulous in its lavishness. But before this began there was a simple little ceremony on the quay at Nuku’alofa shortly after the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh landed. Five-year-old Mele Siuilikutape, granddaughter of Queen Salote, came shyly forward and, with all the dignity and grace of her ancient race, presented the friend of Tonga with a basket of wild flowers.

This passage lays out a vision that was very familiar, an Island paradise presided over by a wise local ruler loyal to Britain and a people forever grateful for the protection of the Royal Navy. Was it only slightly more than 50 years since Kipling had prophesied: ‘Far-called, our navies melt away?’ In another 30 years Britain would barely be able to scrape together enough ships to rescue the Falklands from the Argentine invaders.

Queen Elizabeth visited Tonga again in 1970 and 1977.

‘Cherished memories’
When Prince Harry visited Tonga in 2018 he read a message from his grandmother: ‘To this day I remember with fondness Queen Salote’s attendance at my own Coronation, while Prince Philip and I have cherished memories from our three wonderful visits to your country.’

From Tonga, the Queen travelled on to New Zealand, where, according to Morton, ‘the Maoris, once the most warlike and adventurous of the Polynesian races, now live in peace and understanding with the people of British stock’.

Later, she writes: ‘The Maoris gave their first vociferous welcome at Waitangi, an historic spot on the placid waters of the Bay of Islands. Here in 1840 the Maori chiefs met Captain William Hobson—who became the first Governor of New Zealand-and signed a treaty acknowledging Queen Victoria as their sovereign.’ It is possibly not too much to suggest that some modern readers might bridle at this interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi.

From New Zealand, the Queen travelled on to Australia. Here too we have a picture of a predominantly white nation, but unlike New Zealand the Indigenous people remain in the background; if not unacknowledged then certainly unexplained. Clumsy as the writing about Māori might seem to us today, it is a reflection of the Pākehā view of the day and Māori representatives are present and clearly indicated in several photographs.

In Australia, the identified Indigenous face practically disappears. Here is a colour photograph of ‘fearsome looking Torres Straits Islanders armed with bows and arrows and wearing elaborate feather head dresses’ providing a guard of honour in Cairns.

Here is a group of Aborigines from the Northern Territory who had been shipped to Toowoomba in Queensland where they ‘performed native dances’. Here are two Aboriginal girls in ‘immaculate white dresses’ curtseying to the Queen, but they have their backs to the camera. They have no identity. In the background an Aboriginal dancer looks on.
Here, though, is six-year-old Beverley Joy Noble, from the Kurrawong Native Mission in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, presenting a bouquet. One wonders whether she was one of the Stolen Generation.

There are other, unexplained photographs. There is a picture of the royal party in Busselton in Western Australia where they were greeted by a Boy Scout troop—most of whom seem to be Indigenous Peoples, but nothing is said about who they are or how a multi-racial troop evolved.

Unexplained picture
And last but not least, there is an entirely unexplained picture of the late Queen reviewing ‘soldiers and sailors from Australia’s Island Territories’. These vaguely determined people are clearly members of the Pacific Islands Regiment (the PIR) from what was then the Territory of Papua and New Guinea.

The Royal Tour Picture Album is a glimpse into a world that simply never existed for much of today’s population. However, this does not make the book simply a curiosity. Indeed, for the curious, the book is a joy because of what it contains. It preserves images and ideas and views that need to examined, not just for their historical value, or as a mark of how far attitudes have changed, but as a warning that in 70 years our descendants will look upon our own world—and us—and wonder with equal puzzlement at why or how we behaved and thought as we do.

Dr Philip Cass is editor of Pacific Journalism Review. This review is republished from PJR in a partnership and was written and published before the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022 aged 96 after a remarkable reign of 70 years.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand’s largest ever crowd in support of migrant rights gathered in Auckland’s Aotea Square at the weekend in triple protests that also marked solidarity for Palestinian justice and the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, China.

More than 1500 people filled the square on Saturday proclaiming “migrant lives matter” with speakers calling on them to stand up for their rights.

New Zealand governments over the past few years were accused of cynically exploiting migrant workers and that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s “nation of 5 million people” excluded about 300,000 migrants.

The protesters then marched down Queen Street calling for changes to the “broken” immigration policies.

Among demands were:

• Visas to be extended to allow for workers who had been trapped overseas, and
• Creation of “genuine pathways” to permanent residence.

Unite union national director Michael Treen said successive governments had built the economy on the back of migrants and then consistently “lied” to them about their prospects.

President of the Migrant Workers Association Anu Kaloti said migrants were suffering at the hands of the “broken immigration system”.

Before the march, Palestinian community leader Maher Nazza declared to the crowd “No one is free until we are all free”, saying that the world community must pressure Israel into honouring the United Nations resolutions and restore justice and hope for Palestinians.

A smaller crowd of Chinese dissidents marked the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, with more than 10,000 deaths, according to a BBC report.

One speaker said: “If I said the truth [about the Chinese Communist Party] as I am saying here today in China, somebody would come within minutes and take me away.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

More than 2000 people took part in Auckland today in a demonstration for justice for Palestine and against “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing”.

While speakers welcomed the ceasefire on Thursday night in the Israeli attack on Gaza after 11 days of bombardment, they lamented the lack of progress in addressing the “root causes” of the conflict.

The protesters marched to the US consulate in Auckland and condemned uncritical US policy in support of Israel.

This is the second weekend in a row when protests in support of Palestinian statehood and self-determination have been held across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Palestinian community organisers set-up a pavement vigil for the 70 Palestinian children killed in the continuous barrage of Israeli jets and missiles.

At least 243 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli bombardment, including more than 100 women and children. The Gaza Health Ministry also said more than 1800 Palestinians had been wounded.

Twelve Israelis, including two children, were killed by Palestinian rockets, the country’s medical service said.

The United Nations estimated that at least 94 buildings in Gaza had been destroyed by the Israeli military, comprising 461 housing and commercial units.

Photographs/video: David Robie/Asia Pacific Report

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

This week marks the 74th anniversary of the United States atomic bombings of Japan, bringing with it the annual renewed debate over the morality of the decision to force the country’s unconditional surrender by unleashing the Allies’ terrible new weapon on two heavily populated cities that were critical to the Japanese war effort.

Hiroshima was chosen first due to its compact topography, strategic port, and hosting of two major Army headquarters. It was bombed on 6 August 1945.

The city was devastated with between 90,000 and 150,000 deaths.

Three days later, on August 9, a second port city of Nagasaki was bombed with up to 80,000 deaths. About half the death tolls in both cities was within the first day.

The Pacific Media Centre’s Del Abcede visited Nagasaki in January this year. Her portfolio of images – prepared for a display hosted by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) in Auckland on 11 August 2019 – shows the modern City of Peace.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

The Pacific Media Centre’s Del Abcede joined the Ihumātao “protectors” protest at the weekend to soak up the atmosphere of guardianship over the future of the sacred indigenous Māori site.

Fletcher Building plans to build 480 homes on the site but work has been suspended by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern while talks continue between various stakeholders.

The SOUL (Save Our Unique Landscape) protectors group says the land has historical, cultural and archaeological significance and should be left an open space or returned to mana whenua.

The block of land was confiscated in 1863 by British colonial authorities, acquired by the Crown and sold to the Wallace family. In 2016, the 32ha block was bought by the Fletcher group for housing development.

Here is a portfolio of Del’s images.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific Media Centre’s Del Abcede was on the ground for last Sunday’s “love not hate” rally  with about 2000 people marching down Auckland’s Queen Street in solidarity with the victims and survivors of the Christchurch mosque terrorist attack earlier this month.

Scores of children were among the marchers with placards declaring “Stand up to Islamophobia”, “Peace, love”, “Denying racism is racism”, “Dismantle white supremacy” and “Migrants are welcome, fascists are not”.

Fifty worshippers were killed by a lone gunman with assault weapons in an attack on two mosques in Christchurch on March 15. New Zealand has now banned assault and semi-automatic weapons.

Love Aotearoa Hate Racism

1. “Stand up” school children at the “Love Aotearoa Hate Racism” (LAHR) rally in Auckland on Sunday. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

2. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

3. LAHR rally in Aucland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

4. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

5. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

6. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

7. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

8. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

9. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

10. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

11. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

12. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

13. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

14. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

15. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

16. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

17. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

18. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

19. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

20 LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

21. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

22. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

23. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

24. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

25. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

26. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

27. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

28. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

29. Michael Bain at the LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

30. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

31. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

32. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

33. LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

34. Del Abcede (left) and Ruth Coombes at the LAHR rally in Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The massive gathering in Christchurch’s Hagley Park has reassured and uplifted their shocked community, say New Zealand Muslim leaders.

About 20,000 people gathered in Hagley Park to observe two minutes of silence and the Muslim call to prayer on Friday along with thousands more at other events across the country, including Auckland’s Domain.

Pacific Media Centre photographer Del Abcede was on hand to capture these images at Ponsonby’s Al-Masjid Al-Jamie mosque and Aotea Square on a day when women across New Zealand of all faiths reclaimed the hijab. More photos can be seen on her Facebook page.

Ponsonby and Aotea day of prayer, reflection

1. Praying for peace at Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

2. The crowd at Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

3. Tongan flag and flowers at the Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

4. Samoan flag and flowers at the Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

5. Flowers and messages at the Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

6. Hijab power at Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

7. Hijab power at Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

8. Hijab power at Ponsonby Mosque. Inage: Del Abcede/PMC

9. Hijab power at Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

10. Hijab power at Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

11. Policeman and hijab at Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

12. Priest and hijab at Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

13. The Ponsonby Mosque crowd. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

14. Hijabs and Ponsonby’s Sacred Heart Church in the background. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

`15. Gang member paying his respects at Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

16. Thanks to New Zealand from the Muslim community at Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

17. Child and the mourning flowers at Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

18. Flowers and messages at Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

19. “Love and support” at Ponsonby Mosque. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

20. “Free hugs and free scarves” Aotea messages. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

21. Flowers beside the statue of former mayor Sir Dove-Myer Robinson in Aotea Square. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

22. Police and the hijab in Aotea Square, Auckland. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

23. Hijabs in Aotea Square. Image: Del Abcede/PMC

24. “The most merciful person is the one who forgives when he is able to take revenge.” – Imam Ali Image: Del Abcede/PMC

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

1. SBS journalist Stefan Armbruster frames a colourful Kanak flag shot on referendum day. Image: David Robie

2. The France TV – representing six channels – outside broadcast vehicle set up at the French High Commission in Noumea. Image: David Robie/PMC

3. Premiere TV, the local offshoot of the French public broadcaster. Image: David Robie/PMC

4. Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, the territory’s only daily newspaper. Image: David Robie/PMC

5. University of New Caledonia, referendum broadcast headquarters for the new “people’s” Caledonia TV. Image: David Robier/PMC

6. Caledonia TV presenter Elise Washeline. Image: David Robie/PMC

7. Graphics team for Caledonia TV. The referendum set screen is in the background. Image: David Robie/PMC

8. Caledonia TV reporter Duke Menango. Part of his journalism training was in New Zealand.

9. Police do an ID check for Caledonie TV’s Margot Bantegny at the High Commission. Image: David Robie/PMCMargot Bantegny

10. SBS World News reporter Stefan Armbruster sets up his camera at the Noumea Hôtel de Ville on referendum day. Image: David Robie/PMC

11. Stefan Armbruster (right) and Christophe Mallet interview the first person to vote at the Noumea Hôtel de Ville. Image: David Robie/PMC

12. SBS live cross from Noumea to Australia in the Hôtel de Ville polling station with Christophe Mallet (camera) and Stefan Armbruster. Image: David Robie/PMC

13. Stefan Armbruster and Christophe Mallet (with microphone) check their messages. Image: David Robie/PMC

14. Pro-independence Radio Djiido chief editor Romain Hmeun at the Noumea Hôtel de Ville polling centre. Image: David Robie/PMC

15. Brandy Tevero (left) and chief editor Mike Leyral of Tahiti Nui TV. Image: David Robie/PMC

16. Christophe Mallet interviews Boris Ajapuhnya for SBS French radio. Image: David Robie/PMC

17. The Kiwi contingent – PMC’s director David Robie (left) and Walter Zweifel of Radio NZ Pacific.

18. Stefan Armbruster and Christophe Mallet sitting on the steps of an outbuilding at the French High Commission editing a package for SBS TV News. Image: David Robie/PMC

19. Editing the SBS TV News package. Image: David Robie/PMC

20. FLNKS official Victor Tutugoro talks to media outside the FLNKS headquarters. Image: David Robie/PMC

21. Bag security check for journalists at the French High Commission filmed by a Tokyo TV cameraman. Image: David Robie/PMC.

22. High Commission security guard does a sound check with a RNZ Pacific microphone. Image: David Robie/PMC

23. Escorted up the “back door” driveway to the French High Commission. Gendarmes and Imagesecurity on alert in the gardens. David Robie/PMC

24. Ready to roll … recorders and live feeds about to screen the formal announcement of referendum results. Image: David Robie/PMC

25. Referendum Control Commission president Francis Lamy announcing the results. Image: David Robie/PMC

26. Francis Lamy talks to the press after the formal announcement. Image: David Robie/PMC

27. Waiting for French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe at the French High Commission. Image: David Robie/PMC

28. Still waiting … for the French PM, arriving from Vietnam for just a day. Image: David Robie/PMC

29. French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe addresses New Caledonians on national TV. Image: David Robie/PMC

30. PMC’s David Robie at Tontouta airport on the way back to New Zealand. Image: David Robie/PMC

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Student journalists have celebrated the end of the academic year with their 18th annual awards at the University if the South Pacific.

They were in jovial spirits as 14 awards and cash prizes to the tune of $6000 were awarded to many of the students in a ceremony on Friday evening.

Solomon Islands students did especially well, taking away many of the prizes.

Keynote speaker was a former coordinator of the USP journalism programme, Professor David Robie, director of the Pacific Media Centre.

Media Association of the Solomon Islands (MASI) president Charles Kadamana, a senior Solomon Star journalist who graduated from the USP programme last year, also spoke.

Full awards list | Professor David Robie’s speech

• Photographers: Harry Selmen, Jovesa Naisua and David Robie

USP journalism awards night

USP1: Graduating final year students and their awards with USP journalism coordinator Dr Shailendra Singh (left) and PMC director Professor David Robie. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

ISP2: Part of the crowd at the USP journalism awards night. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

USP3: Invited speakers … USP journalism programme coordinator Dr Shailendra Singh (from left) with Pacific Media Centre’s professor David Robie, head of the School of Literature and Media (SLAM), and MASI president Charles Kadamana. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

USP4: MASI president Charles Kadamana and PMC director professor David Robie with graduating student journalists. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

USP5: PMC’s Dr David Robie speaking at the USP journalism awards. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

USP6: Keynote speaker Professor David Robie (left) presents a koha from New Zealand to USP journalism programme coordinator Dr Shailendra Singh during the awards ceremony. Image: Jovesa Naisua/Fiji Times

USP7: PMC’s Professor David Robie, Fiji Times editor-in-chief Fred Wesley and USP journalism coordionator Dr Shailendra Singh at the awards. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

USP8: Fiji Times editor-in-chief Fred Wesley presenting an award with the Storyboard in the background. Image: David Robie/PMC

USP9: PMC’s David Robie making a prsentation at the awards. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

USP10: Second year student journalists – smartest dress award? Image: David Robie/PMC

USP11: Kava not Fiji Gold. Image: David Robie/PMC

USP12: USP Journalism’s Geraldine Panapasa amd PMC’s Professor David Robie share a joke. Image: Harry Selmen/Wansolwara

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz