Tagata o te Moana for 2 March 2019
An environmental disaster is unfolding on the Solomon Island of Rennell, with tonnes of oil spilling into an internationally-significant marine reserve; Unicef says the current cyclone season drives home the latest data showing the Pacific is the most disaster prone region in the world; There's outrage that a new proposal for a top international league by World Rugby's governing body would exclude Pacific Island nations; An official New Zealand ministerial delegation is in Fiji, Kiribati and Tuvalu this week as part of the so-called Pacific Reset programme; It has been a confronting time for the Catholic church recently with the Pope's recent summit at the Vatican on clerical sexual abuse and an Australian Cardinal facing justice; The World Council of Churches says human rights abuses in Indonesian-ruled Papua are consistent and ongoing; Bougainville independence referendum likely deferred; The director of Samoa's Nu'u Cultural Centre says the disconnect with traditional Fa'a Samoa culture among the diaspora in other countries is causing a dangerous friction with people back home, and; Horrific examples of violence inflicted on Tongan women have been shared at a panel discussion in Samoa.
