The Australian Government is assisting Pacific Island countries, including Tonga, to prepare and prevent the spread of CoViD-19, and manage health and economic impacts.
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Results for Pacific Islands
Friday 3 April 2020
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Canberra, Australia
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Tuesday 31 March 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Pasifika populations are particularly at risk for CoViD-19, where the risk of hospitalisation is seven times higher than for NZ European and Other ethnic groups, warns a New Zealand report on worse case scenario modelling.
Thursday 26 March 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Australian Volunteers were flown out of Tonga on a charter flight organised by the Australian Volunteers International (AVI) on 25 March, confirmed the Australian High Commission (AHC) in Tonga today.
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Saturday 21 March 2020
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Nuku'alofa, Tonga
The South Pacific Tourism Exchange that was set for May 25-26 in Christchurch has been cancelled due to COVID-19. “We will now realign our resources and efforts to support the post COVID-19 Recovery efforts of our members,” said CEO Christopher Cocker.
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Thursday 19 March 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Tonga's stunning ngatu provide testimony to the considerable antiquity of Tongan artistic designs. Variation of the ngatu patterns, and the way these are organized, had been inscribed on the surfaces of Lapita pottery in Tonga almost 3,000 years ago. By David V. Burley.
Monday 16 March 2020
Auckland, New Zealand
Air New Zealand halted trading today as it announced capacity cuts across its global network due to the impact of COVID-19 on travel demand.
Saturday 14 March 2020
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Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand's strict new COVID-19 health measures to be put in place at the border for people departing to the Pacific include: • No travel for people who have travelled outside of New Zealand in the past 14 days, • No travel for close or casual contacts of a confirmed case. • No travel for anyone who is symptomatic. • Health assessment including temperature check.
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Friday 13 March 2020
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London, UK
Sagufta Salma, from Fiji, has won a regional Commonwealth Youth Award and a £3,000 grant for her enterprise in turning waste material into sustainable furniture and home accessories. The awards were presented in London this week.
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Wednesday 11 March 2020
Suva, Fiji
Mr Teremoana Mato, a Cook Islands national, has been appointed Trade Commissioner of the Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) China, based in Beijing, effective from 24 February 2020. The PTI is the trade and investment arm of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS).
Tuesday 10 March 2020
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Last week, New Zealand’s parliament unanimously passed the “Abortion Legislation Bill” by 94 votes to 23. The bill allows pregnant women in the country to have an abortion without the consent of a doctor (except after 20 weeks of pregnancy) and will be determined in a final vote. Among those who voted against the bill were two Tongan born MPs, Jenny Salesa and Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki.
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Monday 9 March 2020
Apia, Samoa
Conservation management of the rich biodiversity across the Pacific islands region is at the core of the 10th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas from 19 to 24 April. An important event, this will help protect our valuable ecosystem services that the world depends upon.
Monday 9 March 2020
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Auckland, New Zealand
Due to increased uncertainty in the Covid-19 outbreak, Air New Zealand has reduced its capacity across domestic and international routes, including a 26% reduction in Asia. Pacific Islands will experience capacity reductions of 6% through June. The airline's shareholders were told today that the financial impact on earnings will be more significant than previously estimated. The airline has implemented hiring freezes and capital expenditure deferrals.
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Thursday 5 March 2020
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Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand is jointly funding the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Pacific regional coronavirus response plan, in partnership with Australia, in response to requests for assistance from Pacific island countries, and providing $1 million to the WHO in Suva to support their Pacific Action Plan for COVID-19 preparedness and response.
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Wednesday 4 March 2020
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Otago, New Zealand
Tongan born academic, Dr Losa Moata‘ane, has been appointed to the role of Associate Dean Pacific at Otago University’s Division of Sciences in Dunedin, New Zealand.
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Tuesday 25 February 2020
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Kingston, Norfolk Island
A Norfolk Island group is calling to remove land rates forced by the Australian Government, which it says “would lead to dispossession of the island's people”. They want to find an alternative to the new economic and financial regime constructed under Australian Commonwealth legislation.
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Friday 21 February 2020
Nadi, Fiji
More support in strengthening nursery and midwifery leadership capacity was highlighted at the inaugural Pacific Heads of Nursing & Midwifery Meeting (PHoNM) held on 11th - 14th February in Nadi, Fiji.
Thursday 20 February 2020
Manila, Philippines
Our Western Pacific region is at a critical juncture in the novel coronavirus (now known as COVID-19) outbreak, says Dr Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional director,
who warns that health care facilities in our region could rapidly become overwhelmed, with even a relatively small number of COVID-19 cases. “No case has been confirmed in the [Western] Pacific...the objective should be to keep it that way,” he says, while advising countries to intensify preparedness for wider community transmission of the virus.
Tuesday 18 February 2020
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Auckland, New Zealand
Air New Zealand stated today that it will be reducing capacity on its Shanghai route throughout April, and Hong Kong route throughout April and May as a result of the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on customer demand.
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Wednesday 12 February 2020
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Brisbane, Australia
The Queensland Tongan Language School was opened in Brisbane, Australia on Saturday 8 February. The school is hosted at Griffith University Logan Campus and offers a 12-month-course in the Tongan language.
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Friday 7 February 2020
Nuku'alofa, Tonga
People first arrived in Vava‘u between 850 and 810 BC, establishing themselves on the south central islands offshore of ‘Uta Vava’u. The earliest sites at Ofu, Pangaimotu and Otea are all but identical in their age, and they are coincidental with the oldest sites in Ha’apai. Bird remains aside, excavations of other types of food remains at these sites have an unexpected story to tell: one of scarcity. Fish remains were shockingly limited! Shellfish counts and species diversity are similarly impoverished, illustrating limited productivity, or at least limited sustainability, for reef foraging efforts. By David V. Burley.
