When the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Free Trade Agreement Plus (PACER Plus) comes into force next week on 13 December 2020, introducing new trade rules, Tonga will face a major financial difficulty of countering big trade deficits with two of its main trading partners, Australia and New Zealand. By Pesi Fonua
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Results for Pacific Islands
Monday 7 December 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
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Sunday 6 December 2020
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Suva, Fiji
Two crew members of the cargo ship MV Island Chief that arrived in Fiji on 2 December 2020 have tested positive for COVID-19 and are in isolation at the Navua Hospital. Fiji officials who boarded the vessel and their close contacts are also in quarantine, Fiji's Dr James Fong said today. The vessel's last port of call was Nuku'alofa in Tonga on 30 November,
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Sunday 6 December 2020
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Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand Army Unimog truck parts, for His Majesty’s Armed Forces, and personal protective equipment (PPE), including medical gowns, were delivered to Tonga on 4 December, by an RNZAF Hercules.
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Friday 27 November 2020
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Wellington, New Zealand
Up to 2,000 experienced seasonal workers from the Pacific will be allowed into New Zealand in 2021 to address labour shortages in the horticulture and wine growing sectors. But countries wanting to send workers must agree to take back not only their new workers coming under the border exception but also other RSE employees already in NZ when the 2020/2021 season ends.
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Wednesday 25 November 2020
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Melbourne, Australia
New York times reporting: The shark attacked Sunday, when Charles Cernobori, 59 and a father of three, was bodysurfing off Cable Beach in Western Australia. A couple found him, dragged him to the beach and called emergency services.
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Monday 23 November 2020
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Emerald, Australia
The 152 Tongan fruit pickers who arrived in Emerald, Australia, on 29 October were able to work during the two weeks of quarantine on a farm, under a pilot trial, that has saved fruit from rotting. Queensland was the first state in Australia to allow farmworkers to work while quarantining.
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Friday 20 November 2020
Suva, Fiji
Pacific senior police executives are learning new leadership and development opportunities in a partnership between the Australia Pacific Training Coalition (APTC) and the Pacific Faculty of Policing.
Wednesday 18 November 2020
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Canberra, Australia
Australia will provide AUD$42.5 million in core funding to the Pacific Community [SPC] over the next three-years to support their renewed 10-year strategic partnership (2014-2023).
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Monday 16 November 2020
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Auckland, New Zealand
Over 100 Early Childhood Education graduates from the Pacific community, mostly Tongans, received their certificates from an Auckland education provider on November 12.
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Monday 16 November 2020
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Sydney, Australia
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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Friday 13 November 2020
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Suva, Fiji
Fiji Airways and the South Pacific Cruise Alliance (SPCA) have been appointed to the Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) Board of Directors.
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Wednesday 11 November 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Seventeen people are now in managed quarantine in Samoa, after a CoViD-19 infected container ship passed through Apia on the weekend. Meanwhile, Vanuatu has recorded its first CoViD-19 case, and Solomon Islands has seen more COVID cases arriving.
Sunday 8 November 2020
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Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on their victory in the US Presidential election. “The campaign by the President-elect has also shown the shared interests we have in addressing global challenges like Covid-19 and climate change.” she said in a statement today, “the message of unity from Joe Biden positions us well to take those challenges on.”
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Wednesday 4 November 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga’s navy has received a second guardian class patrol boat, the VOEA Ngahau Siliva, contributed by the Australian Government. Tonga's High Commissioner to Australia Princess Angelika Lātūfuipeka Tuku’aho formally accepted the new vessel at the town of Henderson in Western Australia last Friday 30 October.
Tuesday 3 November 2020
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Queensland, Australia
One hundred and fifty seasonal workers from Tonga arrived in Queensland on October 29 to fill the shortage of workers needed for the agriculture and horticulture industries between now and Christmas.
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Tuesday 3 November 2020
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Suva, Fiji
Most of the Revenue and Customs administrations around the Pacific, including Tonga, have agreed to work together to ‘ride out the CoViD-19 pandemic’ after they reported a drop in revenue this year, at the Oceania Customs Organization Secretariat (OCO) Heads Annual Conference held virtually on October 20.
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Tuesday 3 November 2020
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Canberra, Australia
The Australian Government has committed an additional $500 million to supporting access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for the Pacific and Southeast Asia through a range of advance purchase agreements with manufacturers and through participation in the multilateral COVAX Facility.
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Tuesday 3 November 2020
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Nuku'alofa
A new $2.3 million ‘Api Tonga multipurpose hall was opened by Fiji’s Speaker of Parliament, Hon Ratu Epeli Nailatikau in Suva on 2 November, as a home away from home for Tongans living in Fiji.
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Monday 2 November 2020
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Sydney, Australia
New York Times reporting: They used to call it “the tyranny of distance.” Australia’s remoteness was something to escape... until the pandemic. The virus has turned this outgoing nation into a hermit. Australia’s borders are closed, internationally and between several states. Its economy is smaller, and its population growth has fallen to its lowest rate in more than 100 years. Island living looks like a privilege when the world is pestilent. By Damien Cave.
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Thursday 29 October 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Team Tonga is showcased in the grand final tonight in Season 2 of the Pacific Island Food Revolution, a regional televised series promoting healthy Pacific cuisine. The team of two Tongan cooks, Tuituiohu Mafi and 'Amelia Asi, competed hard to get to the final with Team Fiji vying for the coveted title.
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Tonga weather forecast from yr.no, delivered by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the NRK. See also Fua'amotu Weather Forecasting Center, Tonga, for latest local weather bulletin.