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Solomon Islands and Japan have reaffirmed their longstanding friendship and commitment to strengthening cooperation in key development and strategic areas. This was done during a bilateral meeting between Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Rick Houenipwela, Minister of National Planning and Development Coordination, Peter Kenilorea Jr., and Japan’s State…
Prime Minister Matthew Wale’s decision to leave the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting in Palau just hours after arriving, cutting short his attendance to return home and address a leadership crisis, has drawn strong criticism from the Office of the Leader of the Opposition. In a statement issued today,…
By Ben McKay of AAP in Koror, Palau China has promised “consequences” for Taiwan’s presence at the Pacific Islands Forum opening ceremony, which put the two rivals in the same room. Palau’s National Gymnasium in Koror was the unlikely venue for the geopolitical flashpoint on Monday night. On the stage…
For the Padezaka people of South Choiseul, the decision to keep their forest standing has never been just about carbon credits. It’s about clean rivers, shaded streams, the animals that find refuge in old-growth trees and a future their children can believe in. That vision took a major step forward…
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau will make his way to the Solomon Islands next week as part of a sweeping Pacific tour that also includes stops in Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Kiribati from August 31 to September 11. The visit takes on particular significance for Honiara,…
After years of bumpy drives and dodging potholes, residents and commuters in Gizo are finally seeing repairs begin on the town’s aging roads. Urgent road rehabilitation and spot repairs commenced last week and will run for six months, covering roughly 15.47 kilometres of roads across the Western Province’s business centre.…
East Malaita Member of Parliament(MP) and Minister of Home Affairs, Fr Manasseh Maelanga, dismissed suggestions that his motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Matthew Wale is designed to derail ongoing investigations. In his statement, Maelanga said he fully supports independent inquiries into the 33 West Rennell bauxite shipments, Pacific…
Taiwan is returning to this year’s Pacific Islands Forum summit in Palau after it was barred from last year’s meeting in Solomon Islands. The democratically governed island, which China claims as part of its territory, will be represented by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung, who is expected to attend Forum-related events…
A plan to establish what conservationists describe as a “seascape national park” in the Marovo Lagoon of Western Province is well on track. The proposed Kavachi Seascape National Park is being led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), a US-based non-profit organisation that works to protect wildlife, forests, oceans and…
By Richard Curtain and Randall Prior Welfare support is meant to be central to the success of the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, yet little is publicly known about how the system actually works. Our Devpolicy policy brief reports in some detail on the scope and effectiveness of the PALM welfare support…
