New York Times reporting: Nanaia Mahuta entered New Zealand’s Parliament as the youngest Maori woman to ever gain a seat. More than two decades later, she has become the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, another trailblazing first. Labour’s newly elected majority is made up mostly of women...it is, by far, the most diverse Parliament the country has ever seen, reflecting New Zealand’s demographics and its place within the broader Pacific islands.
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Results for Pacific Islands
Monday 16 November 2020
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Sydney, Australia
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Thursday 5 November 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A six-day training program on building different types of fale Tonga (Tonga house) for cyclone preparedness was completed after 25 people, including 11 women, were awarded certificates at the Free Constitution Church of Tonga in Pahu today. By Eleanor Gee.
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Monday 19 October 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Plus Agreement will come into force on 13 December after the Cook Islands became the eighth signatory state to ratify it to be able to come into effect.
Saturday 10 October 2020
Apia, Samoa
La Niña is officially underway in the Pacific, according to the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). Tonga is among the countries in the South-West Pacific that will usually experience higher than normal rainfall, under these conditions that are likely to continue into the first quarter of 2021. The last La Niña conditions in the 2017-2018 season saw three cyclones in the Pacific- Gita, Hola and Fehi.
Friday 9 October 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
HE Mr Tetsuya Ishii has completed his term in Tonga, after almost three-years as Japan’s Ambassador. A farewell reception was held at his 'Anana residence last night, October 8, where Mrs Ishii played Tongan songs on a flute.
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Thursday 3 September 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The Pacific Network on Globalization (PANG) has called on Australia to rethink its current approach to trade and investment with the Pacific Islands and instead promote genuine avenues for development.
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Monday 31 August 2020
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Honiara, Solomon Islands
Solomon Airlines has today released details of the repatriation flight to Vanuatu, Tonga and Australia on Saturday September 5. It will also be the first repatriation flight from Tonga to Australia via the Brisbane Gateway and an opportunity for foreign nationals in Tonga to return to their home countries.
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Monday 31 August 2020
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Wellington, New Zealand
Five more Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) buoys have been deployed to provide ongoing tsunami monitoring and detection information for New Zealand and Pacific countries, including Tonga.
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Thursday 27 August 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Seven countries including Tonga have ratified the PACER-Plus agreement which will come into effect 60 days after the eighth country ratifies it.
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Thursday 27 August 2020
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Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand is increasing its chances of securing access to a CoViD-19 vaccine when it becomes available, after announcing millions of dollars to support domestic and international vaccine efforts. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is also ensuring Pacific Island countries are supported.
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Thursday 13 August 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Several hundred Tongan nationals who are stranded in distant countries, include a small cluster of surgical patients and their carers, who became stuck in India when Tonga's border closed on March 23. The Ministry of Health wants them to be repatriated but CEO Dr Siale 'Akau'ola voiced his extreme frustration today that he can find no viable pathway home for these patients, without stronger collaboration in the region.
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Thursday 13 August 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A two-day consultation in Tonga, looking at key trends and uncertainties that may drive change in the Pacific region’s future such as climate change, CoViD-19, and technology, was opened by Prime Minister Hon Dr Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa today, 13 August, at the Fa'onelua Convention Centre in Nuku'alofa.
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Monday 10 August 2020
Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand and the Cook Islands are moving closer to the establishment of a travel bubble, to recommence quarantine-free travel between the two countries before the end of the year, and as soon as it can be safely achieved.
Monday 10 August 2020
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London, United Kingdom
This week's dialogue on economic strategies by the Forum Economic Ministers' Meeting, 11-12 August, is critical to building back better, or differently, for the Pacific Forum Islands. By Amelia Kinahoi Siamomua. (Tonga’s candidate for the post of Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat).
Tuesday 4 August 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga’s State of Emergency has been extended because of the COVID-19 Pandemic from 8:00pm today, Tuesday, 4 August until 8:00pm 31 August.
Tuesday 4 August 2020
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Auckland, New Zealand
The New Zealand Pacific Business Council will hold a free webinar tomorrow, Wednesday 5 August, to hear from a diverse range of speakers who will provide their views on the prioritisation of a Pacific Bubble.
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Tuesday 4 August 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The proposed establishment of the Confucius Institute at the Tonga Institute for Higher Education will contribute to development of the Tongan higher education system and promote economic, cultural and academic exchanges between Tonga and China, enhancing friendly cooperation and people-to-people understanding through Chinese language learning. - By Col. (Rtd.) Siamelie Latu.
Monday 3 August 2020
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Suva, Fiji
The difficult issue of how to safely reopen national entry points in six Pacific Islands countries, including Tonga, was discussed today in a second virtual roundtable meeting, convened by the United Nations and Asian Development Bank, as COVID-19 continues to cause wide-spread movement restrictions.
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Thursday 30 July 2020
Auckland, New Zealand
Frazer Mataitonga, from the ‘Akanesi Mataitonga Trust has won ‘Good as Gold’ recognition from the ASB Bank in New Zealand with an award to help him continue sending aid to Tonga, and other Pacific Island countries.
Friday 24 July 2020
Gainesville-Florida, USA
A large fruit-eating bird from Tonga joins the dodo in the line-up of giant island pigeons hunted to extinction. New research into fossils shows that ‘Tongoenas burleyi’, a newly described genus and species, inhabited the Pacific islands for at least 60,000 years, but vanished within a century or two of human arrival around 2,850 years ago. The size of a large duck, ‘T. burleyi’ was likely capable of swallowing fruit as big as a tennis ball, said study lead author David Steadman.
