Like most Australians, I love sport. In the small town where I grew up, sport was at the centre of community life. As a child, I played sport all year round: Australian Rules football, cricket, tennis, basketball, golf. And when I wasn’t playing sport, my friends I were watching it, talking about it, going for…
It is bound to happen. And anyone who claims to be anyone in the politico-resource sector control game knows it was coming. This week the DCC Government has fired the first salvo in a war of sorts that, win or lose, only the legal practitioners benefit handsomely. The Government announced that it was auctioning “illegally-harvested”…
The sentence handed down by the Magistrate Court against Ms. Selina Boso, the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Rural Development, on the 25th September 2015 sends a strong message that information about the administration and distribution of Constituency Development Fund is a matter of public interest. Ms.Boso received a sentence for 4 months imprisonment suspension…
Jayapura, Jubi – It is frustrating that serious human rights abuses in Indonesian-controlled West Papua continue to fly below the radar. This year there has been some good news but it is also going largely unremarked. This is equally frustrating, especially as the positive developments all stem from initiatives taken by courageous Papuans themselves or…
When you pick up the Solomon Star and read the section on “local news” we cannot just turn a blind eye on the increase of rape and incest cases and see children as little as eight years old roaming the streets of Honiara begging for money and food. These are signs of a decaying society.…
HONIARA, (ANZ) – In the Solomon Islands women have always played an instrumental role in their communities. In the small island nation of just over half a million people some 70 vernacular languages are spoken and a subsistence economy prevails. Now the central role of women is further evolving as they play an even greater…
This week under the theme ‘The secret of God’s presence,’ we will look at another two passages from the Bible and they are 1 Chronicles 29:19 and Psalms 119:80. First, the author of first Chronicles writes these words by King David, “Give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandment, thy testimonies,…
THIS is my message to the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders from my Freedom Hideout in Washington, D.C. Brothers and sisters of the Pacific Islands Forum, as you getting ready for the 46th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, I want to say a few words to you on behalf of…
While English is the official language of the Solomon Islands, Pijin is clearly the ‘unofficial’ national language. It is the common language of the Solomons, spoken and understood by almost everyone in the country. It is the language of gossip, jokes, the market, the bus stop, the bar. Until recently Pijin has almost entirely been…
LAST week I was in Canberra for a meeting of all Australian High Commissioners and Ambassadors from around the Pacific. One of the topics we discussed at length was climate change, including Australia’s efforts to mitigate climate change and assist Pacific countries in adapting to climate change. We know that climate change is a priority…