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Nine New Zealand MPs head to Melanesia

Nine New Zealand politicians are preparing for a six day trip to Solomon Islands and Vanuatu next week.
The Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard.
Trevor Mallard Photo: VNP / Daniela Maoate-Cox
Speaker Trevor Mallard, along with five women and three male MPs, will meet with parliamentarians, NGOs, businesses and women's groups in both countries.
The visit will focus on New Zealand's development programme, building relationships with parliamentary colleagues, and exploring trade and investment ties.
Mr Mallard said the women MPs will have discussions with local women leaders about the contributions they can make in Parliament.
Mr Mallard said the Pacific region is incredibly important to New Zealand and the travelling MPs have a wealth of parliamentary knowledge and experience to share.
He said he also expects the programme will help identify mutually beneficial business opportunities in the Pacific.

Medicinal marijuana in Vanuatu could impact food security says farmer

Vanuatu Geography Map lahistoriaconmapas.com 
A farmer in Vanuatu says he's concerned about the negative impacts growing medical marijuana could have on the country's agricultural sector.
The government is looking to legalise growing medicinal marijuana to help boost the sector.
While smoking marijuana will still be illegal in Vanuatu, the new crops would be exported for medical use overseas.
The National Farmers Association's Peter Kaoh said while it could have economic benefits, he worries many farmers could switch from growing food to cannabis.
Mr Kaoh said he's concerned about the impacts it may have on food security.
"If everyone is going into Marijuana, who is going to plant for them? That's my biggest worry, they might get into the farming if the price is good and then they ended up importing lots of food," he said.

Melanesian people: The world's only natural black blondes

For several years, blond hair was attributed to Caucasians but the Melanesians of Solomon Islands are one of the few groups with blonde hair outside Europe.

Melanesians are black island people in the south pacific that migrated over thousands of years ago, long before the blacks that came to the Americas as slaves.
Melanesia is a sub-region of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia, including the countries of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Island, and New Caledonia. The name Melanesia was first used by Jules Dumont d'Urville in 1832 to denote an ethnic and geographical grouping of islands distinct from Polynesia and Micronesia.
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
Until recently, the indigenous melanesian people practised cannibalism, head-hunting, kidnapping and slavery, just like the Asmat tribe, but with contact with Europeans, the population is now predominantly Christian. However, more than 90% lead rural lives.

Melanesian Blonde hair

Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
The Melanesian people of the Solomon Islands are the point of interest when it comes to dark skin and blond hair. The Solomon Islands are located in the South Pacific, the very heart of Melanesia, just Northeast of Australia, between Papua and Vanuatu and is an independent state within the British Commonwealth.
Although the indigenous Melanesian population of the islands possess the darkest skin outside of Africa, between 5 and 10% have bright blond hair.
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
There have been several theories on how they got their blond hair — from sun and salt whitening, high fish intake, or genetic heritage from mixed-breeding with Americans/Europeans who founded the islands.
ALSO READ: Meet the African tribe that offers sex to guests
A geneticist from Nova Scotia agricultural college in Canada, Sean Myles, conduced a genetic analysis on saliva and hair samples from 1209 Melanesian Solomon Island residents. From comparing 43 blond Islanders and 42 brown Islanders, he found that the blondes carried two copies of a mutant gene which is present in 26% of the island's population. The Melanesian people have a native TYRP1 gene which is partly responsible for the blond hair and melanin, and is totally distinct to that of Caucasians as it doesn't exist in their genes.
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
It is a recessive gene and is more common in children than in adults, with hair tending to darken as the individual matures.
This contributes to the theories that black Africans were the first homo sapiens and that all races came out of the black African race.
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands
Melanesian people of Solomon Islands1/11 Melanesian people of Solomon IslandsMelanesian people of Solomon Islands2/11 Melanesian people of Solomon IslandsMelanesian people of Solomon Islands3/11 Melanesian people of Solomon IslandsMelanesian people of Solomon Islands4/11 Melanesian people of Solomon IslandsMelanesian people of Solomon Islands5/11 Melanesian people of Solomon IslandsMelanesian people of Solomon Islands6/11 Melanesian people of Solomon IslandsMelanesian people of Solomon Islands7/11 Melanesian people of Solomon IslandsMelanesian people of Solomon Islands8/11 Melanesian people of Solomon IslandsMelanesian people of Solomon Islands9/11 Melanesian people of Solomon IslandsMelanesian people of Solomon Islands10/11 Melanesian people of Solomon IslandsMelanesian people of Solomon Islands11/11 Melanesian people of Solomon Islands

Tembils a family of six – twins and quadruplets


December 27, 2018The NationalMain Stories

PARENTS Philemon and Esther Tembil were told to expect twins – to add to the two born four years ago.

But Esther gave birth to quadruplets at the Angau Memorial General Hospital in Lae on Nov 25.

Yesterday, Boxing Day, mother and the four new additions to the family were allowed to go home.

PARENTS Philemon and Esther Tembil were told to expect twins – to add to the two born four years ago.
“We went for a scan, but the nurses said she will give birth to twins,” happy dad Philemon said.

“We were both surprised when she gave birth to another two babies.”
The unemployed couple who now have six youngsters to raise know what they will be facing.

“It is a challenge for us as my wife can only feed two babies at a time,” Philemon said.

Esther gave birth to twins four years ago.

On Nov 25, she gave birth to the quadruplets who turned one month old on Christmas Day.

Esther, 30, is from Mare village in the Huon Gulf district of Morobe.
Philemon, 29, is from Kaipmulim village in Southern Highlands.

He praised his wife for her courage in giving birth to three girls and a boy. She was admitted at Angau Hospital four days prior not having any idea she would be giving birth to quadruplets.

Philemon and Esther have been living live at Mare village since the birth of the twins in 2014.

“The twins are now aged four years and three months. With only two births, we already have six children. As a father, I am already aware of the challenge,” Philemon said.

“We have been struggling with the twins when they were born. Today we realise that our struggle will be doubled.”

The family is seeking help to buy milk for the babies.
“At least a K10 or K20 will help us in a big way,” Philemon said.

(They have provided BSP Account Number 1005212046 (under the name of Doreen Richard) for anyone willing to help them.)

Cost Of Air Travel In PNG A Concern

Commentary by Bryan Kramer, Hon Member for Madang Open 

Today I boarded a flight from Lae to Madang on PNG Air. It was the first time I've traveled on the airline, while I was impressed with the service what put me off was the cost of the ticket - K600.

The distance between Madang and Lae is just 200 km yet the price of a ticket is equal to flying on a special from Port Moresby to Brisbane, another country.

So foreign nationals and Politicians enjoy flying abroad on cheaper flights than everyday PNGeans in our own country.

When I inspected the ticket I noted the break up of cost, PNG Air fees being K272 and Government Tax & Charges component making up the balance of K321.

This is certainly ridiculous, where the Government charges exceeds the cost of the actual service.

I've been informed EDA Ranu has recently increase the water tariffs in NCD by 600%, Motor Vehicle Registration has also increased by some 40%.

It appears the O'Neill Government now broke from running down the country and misusing Billions in public funds is now trying to pass the cost onto the people while Members of Parliament continue to be overpaid, under taxed and yet corrupt MPs still feel the need to steal millions in public funds.

As a Member of Opposition and Shadow Minister for State Owned Enterprises I intend to put an end to it this madness.

While I maintain the war on the newspaper companies I will start carrying out inquires to establish whether these exorbitant price increases are even legal and what options are available to the public to bring a class action against it.

Posted by Staff Reporter : PNG Today on Monday, July 16, 2018. Filed under  . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Share this Article

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ December 19, 2018 NEWS Melanesian people: The world's only natural black blondes Pulse Nigeria For several years, blond hair was attributed to Caucasians but the Melanesians of Solomon Islands are one of the few groups with blonde hair outside ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ December 12, 2018 NEWS Lahanis are now aiming for the Melanesian Cup POST-COURIER Representing Papua New Guinea in the Melanesian Cup early next year is going to be an honour for the 2018 Digicel Cup premiers, says Goroka ... Flag as irrelevant WEB Uses of literacy in New Guinea and Melanesia Brill Uses of literacy in New Guinea and Melanesia. in Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ December 5, 2018 WEB Melanesia Research - Florida Institute of Technology Melanesia. APNet. 1999. Vanuatu CC National Communication.pdf · AUSAID. 2005. Vanuatu Climate Prediction Workshop Report.pdf · AusAID. Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ November 28, 2018 NEWS Melanesian semi-final clash in Mare POST-COURIER Papua New Guinea will be gunning for another appearance in the final of the OFC Women's Nation Cup as they head up an all Melanesian semi-final ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ November 21, 2018 NEWS China seen as key for reducing illegal logging in Melanesia Radio New Zealand Civil society is looking at China as the best bet for reducing illegal logging in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Logs loaded onto barge at ... Flag as irrelevant WEB Porphyry copper assessment of Southeast Asia and Melanesia WorldCat https://ift.tt/2DC4b0n. Porphyry copper assessment of Southeast Asia and Melanesia. Open All Close All ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ November 7, 2018 NEWS Melanesian art exchange takes place in Port Vila Radio New Zealand Vanuatu's capital of Port Vila has witnessed one of its biggest exhibitions of art, with around 5,000 carvings and woven Melanesian products ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ October 31, 2018 NEWS Rebel music: the protest songs of New Caledonia's independence referendum The Conversation AU Our research looks at the role of music in political struggles in Melanesia, particularly in West Papua and New Caledonia. Across Melanesia, music is ... Flag as irrelevant Melanesian Trustee resumes normal business POST-COURIER MELANESIAN Trustee Service Limited will perform its normal operation and remain trustee to Pacific Balanced Fund (PBF) as per a national court ... Flag as irrelevant The couple from the UK miraculously survived the fall of light aircraft in Melanesia (PHOTO, VIDEO) The Siver Post 30-year-old Jason and 26-year-old Sally Fox went to his wedding trip to Melanesia. There the couple had booked a tour of the volcanoes, which was ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ October 10, 2018 NEWS Seattle filmmaker retraces steps of artist who painted a changing Melanesia Seattle Globalist Melanesia is a vast area of 2,000 islands, covering 386,000 square miles, located northwest of Australia. Four independent nations are located there: ... Flag as irrelevant NZ MPs support better gender balance in Melanesian politics Radio New Zealand He said the group had positive discussions about the contributions Melanesian women can make in parliament but he says there is still a lot of ... Flag as irrelevant NZ MPs support gender progress in Melanesian parliaments Radio New Zealand Speaking from Honiara, he told Sally Round the group had positive discussions about the contributions Melanesian women can make in parliament ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ October 3, 2018 NEWS Kacific Broadband Satellites appoints VP of sales, Melanesia and Pacific Telecompaper Kacific Broadband Satellites has appointed John Hawker as its vice-president of sales in Melanesia and the Pacific. Hawker previously held senior ... Flag as irrelevant The fascinating history of Melanesians, the world's only black blondes Face2Face Africa It is believed that blondes could only be found among Caucasians; so, how do the Melanesians, mostly located east of Papua New Guinea in Oceania, ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ September 26, 2018 NEWS Nine New Zealand MPs head to Melanesia Radio New Zealand Nine New Zealand politicians are preparing for a six day trip to Solomon Islands and Vanuatu next week. The Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard. Flag as irrelevant Meghan Markle: Recap on Duchess of Sussex's first solo engagement as royal at Royal Academy ... Mirror.co.uk Meghan, 37, viewed art from the Oceania region, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, encompassing the Pacific region including New Guinea, ... Flag as irrelevant Meghan steps out on first solo royal engagement BreakingNews.ie The exhibition celebrates the art of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, encompassing the vast Pacific region including New Guinea, Easter Island, ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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The pointy end for the Melanesian Spearhead Group

Source: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/

The biggest diplomatic row between Fiji and Vanuatu in modern times was not over climate change, good governance, or Chinese investment in the South Pacific, but biscuits.

Two MSG members are facing independence votes within the next year or so, from opposite sides of the ballot box.

Vanuatu unilaterally applied a ban on Fijian biscuits in 2005, and Fiji responded by banning kava imports from Vanuatu. By the end of the crisis, a Fijian biscuit company had lost a dozen staff, and more than FJ$2 million in spoiled produce, and low-income kava farmers in Vanuatu lost access to their most important market.

The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), a sub-regional grouping of the South West Pacific, was the forum in which the two countries eventually resolved their dispute. The MSG introduced a free trade area, which has so far avoided another biscuit war. But the MSG now needs new political mechanisms to cope with the changing geopolitical landscape in the South Pacific if it is to continue promoting open trade.

Early successes and new challenges

The MSG has in the past facilitated meaningful engagement in the South Pacific. In 2010, Solomon Islands hosted a traditional reconciliation ceremony when Vanuatu refused to hand over the MSG chairmanship to Fiji, citing concerns that Fiji had yet to transition to democracy after a military coup four years earlier – this was particularly significant at a time when Fiji was suspended from most major international forums.

The MSG also encouraged the professionalisation of the independence movement in West Papua, a province of Indonesia: three parties merged to form the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) in 2014, and it applied for full membership status at the most recent gathering in February.

It may be waiting for some time.

Two MSG members are facing independence votes within the next year or so, from opposite sides of the ballot box. The Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) will campaign for New Caledonia to declare independence from France in November, but one poll last year indicated that half of the voters will choose to remain a part of France, while a fifth are undecided.

Papua New Guinea, meanwhile, is expected to hold a vote on the island of Bougainville next June, which is widely expected to demand independence for the restive mineral-rich province. Both votes present problems.

Risk it for the biscuit

IfNew Caledonia chooses to remain a part of France, it may well ask why the FLNKS is entitled to represent it within the MSG. If Bougainville follows suit, the MSG will be placed into a difficult position: PNG’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill may not accept an independent Bougainville, but the MSG opposes what it sees as colonial rule in the South Pacific.

Vanuatu has made the independence of West Papua from Indonesia a foreign policy objective, but Indonesia is unlikely to take kindly to a separatist province being accorded full membership while it holds only associate membership status. Further compounding the issue, Vanuatu’s Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu has questioned the relevance of the MSG as a regional organisation – the ULMWP may well ask why it should continue to direct time and resources into MSG membership if its main political sponsor is losing faith in the only regional forum where it has permanent representation.
In addition, existing members are not meeting their financial commitments to the MSG. Funds are available – China and the European Union have previously made donations, and PNG offered Fiji approximately A$20 million in support of the latter's return to democratic elections in 2014 – but each contributing member has its own domestic priorities to consider.

Leaders will need a policy roadmap to manage the emergence of new states in order to justify spending political capital on funding the MSG.

Sharpening the spearhead

There are opportunities to do more. Firstly, the MSG should extend the benefits of existing MSG initiatives specifically to New Caledonians and Bougainville residents. This will demonstrate that the MSG has something valuable to offer, while it works on a roadmap to full membership for new states in the South Pacific.

Benefits could include separate quotas for New Caledonia and Bougainville as part of the MSG Skills Movement Scheme, which aims to promote labour mobility, and considering applications for observer status.

Secondly, the MSG should grant associate membership status to the ULMWP, on par with Indonesia. This will hopefully encourage Vanuatu to stay engaged, while alleviating the concerns of PNG and Fiji, which enjoy stronger trade relationships with Indonesia.

This will in turn ensure continued dialogue on an important issue that is unlikely to get much airtime elsewhere, such as the Pacific Islands Forum.

Finally – and perhaps most critically – members need to meet their financial commitments.

If donations from outside are considered politically unpalatable, MSG member states will either have to start reaching into their biscuit tins, or admit that an inability to collectively manage these upcoming challenges is how the cookie finally crumbles.

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ September 19, 2018 NEWS The pointy end for the Melanesian Spearhead Group The Interpreter The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), a sub-regional grouping of the South West Pacific, was the forum in which the two countries eventually ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ August 22, 2018 WEB Middle Sepik music and musical instruments in the context of Melanesia Cairn In Melanesia the most impressive musical instruments are the large slit drums. They are found in the north of Papua New Guinea and on most of the ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ August 8, 2018 NEWS ClearView Wealth says director arrested over claim by Melanesian Trustee Services Reuters Aug 2 (Reuters) - Australia's ClearView Wealth Ltd said on Thursday the arrest on Monday of independent non-executive director David Brown in ... UPDATE 1-ClearView Wealth says director arrested over claim by Melanesian Trustee Services - Reuters Full Coverage Flag as irrelevant NZ and Australia: Big Brothers or Distant Cousins? The Interpreter One thing that may appear to have changed is the New Zealand government's intention to focus on Melanesia and parts of Micronesia. The traditional ... Flag as irrelevant Melanesian quartet enter the fray Fiji Times PAPE'ETE, 06 AUGUST 2018 (OFC) – Four of Oceania's Melanesian nations will get their first taste of the OFC U-19 Championship when Group B ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ August 1, 2018 NEWS Pacific News Minute: Vanuatu Foreign Minister: Melanesian Spearhead Group “Failing” Hawaiipublicradio Earlier this year, HawaiÊ»i joined the Polynesian Leaders Group, a sub-regional organization in the Pacific modeled on the Melanesian Spearhead ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ July 25, 2018 NEWS Melanesian Spearhead Group failing - Ralph Regenvanu Radio New Zealand Vanuatu's Foreign Minister says he's lost faith in the Melanesian Spearhead Group because of a lack of consensus and political engagement. Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Vanuatu Foreign Minister: Melanesian Spearhead Group “Failing”

By NEAL CONAN JUL 24, 2018

Earlier this year, Hawaiʻi joined the Polynesian Leaders Group, a sub-regional organization in the Pacific modeled on the Melanesian Spearhead Group. But the MSG is having its problems and the Foreign Minister of Vanuatu now says the organization is failing.

Back in 2015, the Melanesian Spearhead Group made what may prove to be a fatal compromise. At a summit meeting in the Solomon Islands, leadership agreed to admit the United Liberation Movement of West Papua as an observer and, at the same time, raised Indonesia’s status from observer to associate.

The deal papered over a fundamental contradiction: The ULM is fighting to establish an independent state in the western half of New Guinea, land that Indonesia regards as its sovereign territory.
The three small members of the MSG side with their Melanesian cousins; the two bigger members with Indonesia and the split keeps widening.

Papua New Guinea, which occupies the eastern half of New Guinea, supports Indonesia, but, earlier this month Prime Minister Peter O’Neill fudged that. In a speech in Fiji, he urged regional countries to take the issue of West Papua to the United Nations.

On a weekend visit to Jakarta, Papua New Guinea’s Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato clarified what he called misreporting. He said Papua New Guinea’s position on West Papua has not changed and, he added, “there is no intention of changing it.”

Ralph RegenvanuCREDIT MARKE LOWEN, RALPH REGENVANU / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Vanuatu is among the MSG countries that support the United Liberation Movement.
This week, Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu expressed his frustration and disappointment to an Australian think tank. “That consensus approach to decision making is failing in the MSG.” he told the Development Policy Centre, “Vanuatu’s been consistently saying that it’s not happy with the way decisions are made.”


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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ July 18, 2018 NEWS The lava lake in Melanesia took video of helicopter pilot The Siver Telegram The lava lake in Melanesia managed to capture on video the helicopter pilot named Andy Martin. Incredible video appeared on YouTube, becoming ... Flag as irrelevant Melanesian cargo cults and the unquenchable thirst of consumerism New Historian To the Western consumer's mind, a bottle of Coca Cola might appear to be one of the least spiritual items there is. But to the followers of the John Frum ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ July 11, 2018 NEWS Pacific links: Melanesian arts festival, more The Interpreter Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered to host a meeting with Pacific leaders in Papua New Guinea ahead of the APEC leaders summit in ... Flag as irrelevant Memories from MACFest lingers on Solomon Star He said the Melanesian Art and Cultural Festival in Honiara gave them an opportunity to share their skills and talents with other Melanesian countries. Flag as irrelevant MACFest closes in spectacle and style Solomon Star DEPUTY Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare thanked all participants as the 6th Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival closed in spectacle and style ... Flag as irrelevant West Papua activists stopped by Solomons police Radio New Zealand Solomon Islands police says they confiscated a West Papuan flag at the Melanesian Arts Festival to stop any provocation aimed at the Indonesian ... Flag as irrelevant White Folks Get Schooled About Not Being the Only Ones with Natural Blonde Hair Atlanta Black Star One person mentioned the derivation of blonde Afros from people in Melanesia, Australia. He wrote, “Blonde hair is natural amongst the people of the ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ July 4, 2018 NEWS Melanesian Culture and Arts Festival to get underway in Solomon Islands Radio New Zealand At the last installation of the festival, in PNG in 2014, performers from Melanesian communities in Indonesia's Papua region, Timor Leste and ... Flag as irrelevant Biggest Melanesian festival underway in Solomon Islands Radio New Zealand The festival, held every four years, aims to promote and preserve Melanesian culture, as well as celebrate unique differences between participating ... Flag as irrelevant MACFEST opens in style Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation Visiting Melanesian countries who are in the country for the MACFEST festival were left in awe after last night's opening ceremony at the Lawson ... Flag as irrelevant Tammur in SI for MSG meet Loop PNG The Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture has arrived in Solomon Islands a day ahead of the 6th Melanesian Spearhead Group Ministers of Culture ... Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Biggest Melanesian festival underway in Solomon Islands

Source: https://www.radionz.co.nz/

The Solomon Islands has welcomed 1500 participants to this year's Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival in Honiara.
The festival, held every four years, aims to promote and preserve Melanesian culture, as well as celebrate unique differences between participating nations.
This year's theme is Past Recollection for Future Connections.
A Fijian cultural dancer at the 6th Melanesian Arts Festival in Solomon Islands.
A Fijian cultural dancer at the 6th Melanesian Arts Festival in Solomon Islands. Photo: Today Solomons
The Solomon's director of government communication, George Herming, said hosting the event brings many benefits.
"Through cultural interaction and creating knowledge and understanding of different Melanesian cultures which has resulted in a common understanding between participants as well as governments of Melanesian countries."
"So that's one of the benefits and the other economic benefits of hosting the festival is that it generates revenue," he said.
Cultural performers from Vanuatu at the 6th Melanesian Arts Festival in Solomon Islands.
Cultural performers from Vanuatu at the 6th Melanesian Arts Festival in Solomon Islands. Photo: Today Solomons
George Herming said the festival features cultural dance and music performances, as well as culinary arts and fashion.
The Solomon Islands was the first Melanesian Spearhead Group country to host the festival back in 1998.
Opening night of the 6th Melanesian Arts Festival held in Solomon Islands.
Opening night of the 6th Melanesian Arts Festival held in Solomon Islands. Photo: Today Solomons

Melanesian Culture and Arts Festival to get underway in Solomon Islands

Melanesian Culture and Arts Festival 
Performers from around Melanesia are descending on Solomon Islands for a major culture and arts event.
The Solomons is hosting the sixth Melanesian Arts & Cultural Festival which begins this weekend and runs for 10 days.
The festival brings together about 2000 artists and performers from Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Solomon Islands.
At the last installation of the festival, in PNG in 2014, performers from Melanesian communities in Indonesia's Papua region, Timor Leste and Australia's Torres Strait Islands also attended.

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Melanesia Weekly update ⋅ April 25, 2018 NEWS Ben Bohane: China? No, let's face the elephant in the Pacific room Asia Pacific Report BRIEFING: By Ben Bohane in Port Vila. China … China … China … All the talk is of increasing Chinese influence in our region. But this is to wilfully see past the elephant in the room. Contrary to most commentary, the biggest destabilising player in Melanesia over the past five years is not China but ... Flag as irrelevant WEB The Light of Melanesia Vanuatu Daily Post Differences in language and custom as we have recently seen in these pages were a backdrop to a world far from united in the late 19th Century Melanesia. Flag as irrelevant See more results | Edit this alert You have received this email because you have subscribed to Google Alerts. Unsubscribe | View all your alerts Receive this alert as RSS feed Send Feedback

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Ben Bohane: China? No, let’s face the elephant in the Pacific room

BRIEFING: By Ben Bohane in Port Vila
China … China … China …
All the talk is of increasing Chinese influence in our region. But this is to wilfully see past the elephant in the room.
Contrary to most commentary, the biggest destabilising player in Melanesia over the past five years is not China but Indonesia, which through its “look east” policy has deliberately paralysed the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) while financing local MPs and political parties across the Pacific to try and stop snowballing regional support for West Papuan independence.
Indonesia already has Peter O’Neill onside in PNG, and Voreqe Bainimarama in Fiji, and is busy trying to neutralise Vanuatu, the Solomons and FLNKS (Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front) leaders in New Caledonia, who are resisting Indonesian influence.
The reason Vanuatu and other Melanesian nations may be turning to China is because they are more worried about Indonesia, which has directly threatened Vanuatu over its strong diplomatic support for the West Papuans.
Vanuatu might be pulling some “muscle” into its corner, feeling it can’t rely on Australia because Canberra continues in its supine support of Indonesia whatever they do – even as Jakarta directly undermines Australian and Pacific island interests.
The accumulative “strategic failure” being talked of by Labour’s Richard Marles and others, is not because Australia has failed to check Chinese influence in Melanesia, but a result of Australia’s failure to check Indonesian interference in these nations that were supposed to be “our patch”.
For decades, islanders thought their “big brothers” Australia and America would defend Pacific peoples as they did in WWII. Instead, it appears Australia has outsourced its security of Melanesia to Indonesia, giving them free reign.

‘Melanesian nation’


Despite being a Melanesian nation itself through its own Torres Strait and South Sea Islander communities, strangely Australia has not sought to join the main political grouping of its own neighbourhood, the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), which has now been hijacked by Indonesia with help from Fiji in particular; more blow-back from Canberra’s misguided attempts to isolate Fiji after the coup.
It is not lost on the region that while the Turnball government is warning about Chinese influence, senior members of his own party have been taking Chinese coin, from former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer spruiking for Huwei to recent Trade Minister Andrew Robb now working for the same Chinese company that controversially bought Darwin’s port.
Still, as examples like Sri Lanka demonstrate, Australia is right to flag concerns about strategic vulnerability that comes with excessive debt to China.
From a Melanesian perspective, the two biggest security issues they face are climate change and Indonesia’s increasing political interference across the Melanesian archipelago, rooted in its desire to hold onto West Papua.
Despite the mantra from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop that Australia remains the “strategic partner of choice” for Vanuatu and the region, the fact is that Canberra is not listening to Melanesia’s own security concerns, but telling them what they should be concerned about, ie China.
This is not going down well and Melanesian nations are forging their own security arrangements with or without Australia, who they see as compromised when it comes to climate change and Indonesia.
In the past few months we have witnessed something of a “pincer movement”. In late December, RAAF jets were suddenly scrambled from Tindal air base near Darwin after a number of nuclear-capable Russian Tu 95 “Bear” bombers flew from Biak in West Papua, flying between Papua and Australia’s north for intelligence gathering purposes.

Russian bombers


It’s the first time Russian bombers have operated like this in the South Pacific and suggests Jakarta wanted to warn Australia and the US forces parked in Darwin that it too could bring some “muscle” into the neighbourhood. That message was likely aimed at China as much as Australia and the US.
Then last week, at the other end of Melanesia we have revelations about a potential Chinese military base in Vanuatu. The first thing to say is that it’s highly unlikely China would have asked for a military base – they are far too subtle to do that.
More likely is that they may be angling for something dressed up as a civilian project but with military applications, like the “space station” speculation floated in the Chinese press last week.
They have already built a lot of dual-use infrastructure in Vanuatu such as the big Santo wharf, so step by step, like their “salami-slicing” strategy in the South China Sea, they will move incrementally without wanting to frighten the horses.
Both of these pincer moves have their origin in West Papua’s situation. In some ways it reflects Paul Dibb’s reworking of Australian defence policy in the late 1980s to get beyond its Euro-centricity. Dibb offered a map with concentric circles emanating out from Darwin. The first circles cover East Timor and West Papua.
There are strategic consequences to Australia’s 50-year policy of not just turning a blind eye to Indonesia’s “slow-motion genocide” in West Papua, but active involvement through its Densus 88 anti-terror unit, which many Papuans accuse of not just targetting Islamic militants, but Papuan nationalists too.
At a time when Canberra is battling jihadis in the Middle East and the Philippines, it appears unconcerned by jihadi activity and Indonesian military collusion right on its doorstep, or a possible Prabowo government elected next year, backed by Islamist groups.
Bloody proxy militias
Those of us who witnessed Indonesia’s bloody use of proxy militias in East Timor have watched the same apparatus move to West Papua, with the same man – General Wiranto – still in charge.
It wasn’t always like this.
There was a time when the Menzies government in Australia supported Dutch plans for West Papuan independence throughout the 1950s and early 1960s until the US twisted arms to accept Indonesian control because of Cold War politics.
There was a time when the Australian Defence Force (ADF) worked with the PNGDF to actively secure its 800km border with Indonesia. Today the border is wide open and sources within PNGDF intelligence continue to complain that the Indonesian military routinely violate PNG sovereignty with their patrols, up to a dozen times per year, sometimes even moving the border marking pegs.
How can Australia be perceived as PNG’s security guarantor when it doesn’t even help them secure their primary border, especially with the growing threat of jihadi infiltration?
Why has the AFP been given priority over the ADF in terms of security across Melanesia? With no more engineering battalions or ADF army advisors present in camp, China has walked right in. The last ADF army adviser to Vanuatu, Major Paul Prickett, left 10 years ago and wasn’t replaced.
Many years ago I spent some time with Dick Hagen, a legendary coffee plantation manager in the Highlands of PNG, who has been there since the 1950s. He told me how in the 1960s and 70s, he and many Australians living in PNG were given basic military training so they could be a first response “militia” should the Indonesians come over the border and invade PNG.
For decades the PNG-Indonesia border was regarded as Australia’s real frontline. It was another potential “Kokoda” which didn’t happen, but Indonesia has found other ways to extend its reach.
Mohammed Hatta, one of the founding fathers of Indonesia, warned his nation against taking West Papua, saying Indonesia might not stop until it got to Fiji. That is now coming to pass. But ironically, it is China that will likely contain Indonesia’s expansion in the region, not Australia.
Some sort of deal?
I have the sense that some sort of deal was struck between Canberra and Jakarta back in the 1970s; that Australia would turn a blind eye to everything west of the border while Indonesia would not interfere in PNG and anything east of the border.
Australia has naively kept its part of the deal while Indonesia clearly has not. As a result, in the social media age when all the Pacific is now aware of climate change and what Indonesia continues to do in West Papua and beyond with tacit Australian support, Australia and the US are losing the moral – and actual – leadership of the region.
China is the result.
But it is worth remembering that Australia does much to support Melanesia in other important areas, has been a generous neighbour and will always be there for the islands in tough times. To the keyboard warriors on social media always blaming Australia for what has happened in West Papua, they would do well to understand the history; that it was US and UN decisions that sealed West Papua’s fate.
Australia and Holland initially supported their independence. Why would Australia again risk war with Indonesia over West Papua when Melanesians themselves have not united to bring the West Papuans fully into their family?
It was the MSG which let the wolf into their house, not Australia. As someone who was there in the first weeks of East Timor’s bloody liberation, amidst the burning buildings and bodies, it was an Australian-led coalition which secured East Timor. I remember wondering where are the Melanesian forces to assist and show solidarity? No PNGDF, no VMF or Fijian forces during the critical phase.
Australia must now find a strategic balance among its “frenemies” Indonesia and China. That begins with deeper engagement with the islands, leadership on climate change and working with Melanesian leaders to address their security concerns as much as Australia’s.
Only by listening and closer co-operation with Melanesian leaders can Australia assist with a robust defence of the Melanesian archipelago from Timor to Fiji and be seen as Melanesia’s “security partner of choice”.
Ben Bohane is a photojournalist and television producer based in Vanuatu who has specialised in reporting war and religion for nearly 30 years across Asia and the Pacific. He has been a frequent contributor to the Pacific Media Centre over the years.

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