New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will attend the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting in Fiji this Tuesday to Thursday, the first time Pacific leaders have met face to face since 2019 and coming at a crucial time for the region. Ardern will participate in a range of meetings throughout the week, culminating in the traditional leaders’ retreat. She will hold bilateral meetings with a number of Pacific leaders and make announcements on climate and aid projects.
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Results for Pacific Islands
Monday 11 July 2022
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Wellington, New Zealand
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Tuesday 5 July 2022
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Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand has opened up work visa applications for people offshore, while its borders will be fully open at the end of the month, with student and visitor visa applications opening from 31 July. Immigration Minister Michael Wood said this is the third and final stage of the new simplified Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) policy which opens today, allowing migrants offshore to apply for a work visa to come and work in New Zealand for an accredited employer.
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Wednesday 29 June 2022
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A Sister City agreement was signed last week between Kolomotu’a in Tongatapu, and the New South Wales country town of Gunnedah, where Tongan workers are filling critical workforce shortages through the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme.
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Friday 24 June 2022
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Kigali, Rwanda
The Prime Minister Hon Hu’akavameiliku met with Rwandan President H.E Paul Kagame in Rwanda today. In a separate meeting, he met with the Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund, where necessary support was extended to help Tonga mitigate climate change.
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Friday 24 June 2022
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Kigali, Rwanda
Tonga in affirming its support to the Commonwealth's Call to Action On Living Lands called for increased global funding and investment towards land and other nature-based actions, within the context of a post COVID-19 recovery.
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Sunday 19 June 2022
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Wellington, New Zealand
Travellers will no longer need a COVID-19 pre-departure test for all arrivals to New Zealand, starting at 11:59pm from Monday 20 June.
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Thursday 16 June 2022
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
In country scholarships for Tongan students studying at the University of the South Pacific Tonga Campus, are being supported by a financial contribution of AUD450,000 committed by the Australian Government.
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Monday 30 May 2022
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Around USD1.5 million has been committed by the Government of Japan to provide useful equipment, including fishing boats to aid Tonga's fisheries sector in its post tsunami recovery. Damage from the January tsunamis cost Tonga's fishing industry an estimated $21.5million loss.
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Thursday 12 May 2022
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Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand will fully reopen its border by the end of July, three months earlier than originally planned. Visitors from Pacific Islands Forum countries can apply for visas starting on Monday, 16 May.
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Tuesday 3 May 2022
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Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand's new High Commissioner to Tonga, Mr Matthew Howell is expected arrive in Tonga this month to start his new posting.
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Friday 1 April 2022
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
NIWA and The Nippon Foundation are undertaking a mission to discover the undersea impacts of the recent Tongan volcanic eruption. NIWA scientists are sailing to Tonga to survey the ocean around the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai (HT–HH) volcano and surrounding regions.
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Wednesday 2 March 2022
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
New private sector donations have been committed to assist the Tonga Government in its recovery program and to assist some of the urgent needs of those badly affected by the January 15 volcanic eruption and tsunamis in Tonga.
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Thursday 17 February 2022
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Transnational crime — specifically drug production and trafficking — is one of the most serious security issues facing the Pacific Islands region, warns a new Lowy Institute Analysis, released last night. Author, Jose Sousa-Santos says deportation policies of Australia, New Zealand, and the United States are exacerbating the problem. He dedicated his research paper to the late Ned Cook, a Salvation Army drugs counsellor, who was killed in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, in 2020.
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Wednesday 16 February 2022
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Canberra, Australia
All Tongans are appreciative of an outpouring of support received from the Australian community, including Tongan diaspora, and government, in response to the double catastrophe of the Hunga Tonga – Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption and tsunamis on Jan. 15, says HRH Princess Angelika Lātūfuipeka Tuku'aho in Canberra.
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Tuesday 15 February 2022
Canberra, Australia
The impact of the tsunami and volcanic eruption on 'Atata and surrounding islands is most visible from the air. “The wave must have been huge,” said Royal Australian Navy Chaplain Simote Finau, who went ashore with around 30 Australians from the Operation Tonga Assist taskforce, after the locals had evacuated. New photos taken for damage surveys they conducted were released on Friday.
Monday 14 February 2022
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Wellington, New Zealand
The New Zealand Defence Force ships HMNZ Canterbury and HMNZ Wellington left Tonga last Friday after assisting with relief efforts following last month’s undersea eruption and tsunami. The NZDF’s deliveries of aid and water have been contactless. Helicopters on board have surveyed damaged areas, and flew Digicel technicians to uninhabited Kao Island to assist in work to restore communications links to Ha’apai.
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Saturday 5 February 2022
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Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
Aotearoa New Zealand is donating an additional 9,300 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Tonga, and $3 million in humanitarian funding. A Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130 Hercules has departed Base Auckland Whenuapai earlier today, Feb. 5, carrying the vaccines, rapid antigen tests, and equipment to support re-establishing the electrical network.
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Thursday 3 February 2022
Apia, Samoa
The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme is deeply concerned about the impact of the Hunga Tonga - Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcano eruption, and tsunami, on the people of Tonga, Director General, Mr Kosi Latu stated today. The events again highlighted the vulnerability of the Pacific region and its people to natural disasters. SPREP is working on ways to support Tonga during its environmental recovery and rebuilding phases.
Tuesday 1 February 2022
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
A possibility that Tonga’s shellfish, Kaloa’a, and reef fish may be contaminated and inedible following the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption has been a major concern for the CEO for the Ministry of Fisheries, Dr Tu’ikolongahau Halafihi.
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Monday 31 January 2022
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Wellington, New Zealand
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has provided Tongan communities with more than half a million litres of fresh water and continues to transport much-needed aid to Tonga with a fourth Hercules flight scheduled tomorrow, Tuesday.
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