Dateline Pacific evening edition for 1 December 2017

Demonstrations have been held around the Pacific to mark the anniversary of West Papua's declaration of independence when the Morning Star flag was first raised. At a flag Morning Star raising ceremony in Auckland, the New Zealand Green MP Golriz Ghahraman said it was important to maintain vocal about the issue of human rights in Papua; the women and children's crisis centre in Tonga is preparing to trial a 24 hour helpline for victims of family violence as part of its commemoration of the 16 days of activism against gender based violence; a future Pasifika scientist is among a group of New Zealand students about to immerse themselves in traditional Polynesian knowledge in Hawai'i; prominent Australian doctors have asked for permission to go to Manus Island to care for refugees; the Tahiti flag will not fly at next month's Pacific Mini Games in Vanuatu.