NEWSROOM: 23 March - 05 April 2008

Australia urged again to accept Pacific workers
05 April 2007 - Source: ABC Radio Australia

Australia and New Zealand have again been urged to open their doors to Pacific Islanders to alleviate labour shortages.

Fiji Chamber of Commerce President Swani Maharaj says Australia and New Zealand are experiencing labour shortages.

Mr Maharaj says there is an opportunity for Fiji's Emperor Gold mine workers who have been laid off to find meaningful employment.

Mr Maharaj says more than 50 per cent of the Australian mining company's workforce lost their jobs when the mine closed in December 2006.

He says he's willing to write to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd regarding the issue.
 

Smith Denies Fiji Coup Allegations
03 April 2007 - Source: ABC Radio Australia

Australia’s Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says accusations that Australia international law in the leadup to the 2006 Fiji coup are an attempt to distract attention from Fiji’s military Government keeping democracy on hold.

The Fiji Human Rights Commission has released a report alleging Australia secretly sent SAS soldiers and weapons to Fiji and its navy ships entered Fiji waters in preparation for a potential intervention in late 2006.

But Smith has told ABC radio, “We've seen these spurious allegations before…”

“The Australian military were effectively on standby so as to ensure the safety and welfare of Australian nationals should that have become necessary.”

“This is just another device, another potential distraction to put the interim Fiji Government, the military Government, in the position of sliding out of a faithful undertaking that it gave to Pacific nation states,” Smith said. That undertaking was to hold elections in the first quarter of 2009.
 

Pacific economies need stability to grow-Australia
01 April 2007 - Source: Reuters

Pacific island countries risk falling further behind world economic growth rates unless they achieve political stability, an Australian government report warned on Monday.

Australian aid agency AUSAID forecast that Pacific island countries would see average economic growth of 4.5 percent in 2008, up from 2.8 percent over the past three years.

That was still lower than the 5 percent growth the world economy had achieved in recent years, and below growth rates in East Asia, South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean.

"Regional projections for growth assume social and political stability," the report said. "Political instability would result in lower or negative growth."

It said the economies of Fiji and Tonga had suffered due to political unrest over the past year, while solid growth in the Solomon Islands was based on unsustainable logging, which could leave the country with no stock of natural logs by 2013.

Fiji's military commander, Frank Bainimarama, seized power in a coup in December 2006 but has promised to return Fiji to democracy in early 2009, although South Pacific foreign ministers are worried that deadline will be missed.

On the nearby island of Tonga, frustration over democratic reforms led to riots in November 2006 in which several people were killed and much of the central business district was destroyed in the capital, Nuku'alofa.

The AUSAID report said Fiji's economy shrank by 4.0 percent in 2007 following the coup, while Tonga's economy shrank by 3.5 percent, mostly due to a drop in tourist numbers. Most other Pacific countries recorded growth.

 The South Pacific has some of the world's smallest and poorest countries, with economies reliant upon tourism, logging, royalties from fishing and foreign aid.

The report listed some successes. It found solid growth in Papua New Guinea, the largest Pacific country with about 6 million people, due to demand for its oil and mineral resources, as well as a pick-up in construction, communications and agriculture.

Palau, a tiny country of about 20,000 people, Vanuatu and Samoa and were all benefiting from increased tourist numbers.

East Timor, one of the world's poorest countries with about a million people, which only gained full independence from Indonesia in 2002, could reap more than $20 billion in oil and gas revenue over the next two decades, the report said.

It noted that the country already had $1.8 billion in a special petroleum fund to pay for future government spending.
 

NRL's Pacific Island talent
30 March 2007 - Source: Melbourne Herald Sun

When all NRL playing squads gathered for the Centenary Fans Day at ANZ Stadium last month, the Pacific Islanders asked if they could gather for an historic photograph. Suddenly, the banquet room seemed half-empty.

Admittedly the indigenous players had already vacated for a similar shot but the three-wide line-up of Polynesian and Melonesian buddies down the corridor was indeed a daunting sight.

This anecdote can now be supported by hard cold statistics - one in four players in the NRL are of Pacific Island descent. That's right, no less than 100 NRL players come from Samoan, Tongan, Maori, Fijian or Cook Island backgrounds.

And don't think the home-grown Warriors players have distorted the facts. Of the 15 Australian clubs, 22.5 per cent have Islander backgrounds (86 players) with 46 born in New Zealand or the Pacific.

And it is a trend more than likely growing. One in five players in the new national under-20 competition, the Toyota Cup, are also confirmed as Island boys by birth or parentage - not including the Warriors.

The Rabbitohs have the most (of Australian clubs) with 11 - of which eight were born overseas - and a further seven in the Toyota Cup. On the other end of the scale, the Raiders have none in their top squad.

A look at the quick-maturing giants in the strongest junior representative sides and the dominant schoolboy outfits is further evidence that it is a revolution that has far-reaching effects on the game. The NSWRL Academy reports that 52 per cent of SG Ball (under-18s) and Harold Matthews (under-16s) players are of Pacific Island background.

"They are just made for rugby league,'' says Peter O'Sullivan, Sydney Roosters, and former Melbourne Storm, recruitment manager, who has been "adopting'' 16 and 17-year-olds from New Zealand for years.

"It's their pure athleticism. They are naturally bigger, stronger and faster than Australians and suited to our explosive game. I have always been a big believer too that if they're from New Zealand grab them when they are 16 and give them the right training and education as soon as possible, and improve their aerobic base.''

O'Sullivan would visit New Zealand four to six times a year when at the Storm and brought current NRL players Adam Blair, Sam Tagalatese and Sika Manu to Australia at age 16. He liked to give them at least two seasons of schooling and elite junior football before lifting them into the NRL structure.

But these days talent scouts don't need to travel far. Strong communities in Sydney's west particularly, and in southeast Queensland towns of Toowoomba and Ipswich, are producing explosive Pacific Island footballers who dominate under-age competitions and are ready-made for the NRL. Just look at state age teams.

The Parramatta junior league reports that 60 per cent of its players are of Pacific Island descent. Penrith have tracked the ethnic origin of all players this year but have not yet collated the figures.

NSWRL Academy coaching and development manager Martin Meredith says there are strong pockets of Pacific Island footballing families in Hurstville, the Manly area and South Sydney while Bulldogs juniors have extremely high percentage Arabic and Pacific Islander numbers.

Some recruitment managers and welfare officers liken it to the African-American influence in US basketball; with big, athletic kids, in many cases from low socio-economic upbringings, hell-bent on using rugby league as their meal ticket.

League's ethnic explosion has seen the NSWRL appoint its first development officer, Samoan David Lakisa, assigned purely to promote the game to the Pacific Island communities as it tries to better understand the cultural differences of the growing proportion of its players.

NRL clubs too are increasing the resources put into educating the Polynesian flood of players. South Sydney welfare manager John Hutchinson says the care and cultural understanding of clubs can "make or break these kids'', many of whom leave their homes to relocate.

Newcastle recruitment manager Keith Onslow (while working alongside David Waite) was among the first development managers to bring teenage Kiwis to Australia in the late 1980s, including a future Test player, Tony Kemp.

He admits clubs have come a long way in understanding the Islander culture since 1991 when he brought Willie Poching, Brian Laumatia and Tana Umuga to the Knights and they lasted just three weeks before heading home due to acute homesickness.

Yes, that's the same Umuga who went on to become an All Blacks captain and legend after a rugby league upbringing with Lower Hutt in Wellington.

"The game has a much better support and education system and welfare programs now,'' he said. "We have to understand their culture and the big part religion plays in their life but not make too many concessions. You can't have one rule for Islander boys and one for others.''

The hot topic in junior football is the size of some of these early-matured boys and their intimidation of the "caucasian'' kids.

The NSWRL, in conjunction with NSW Institute of Sport and Sydney University, are trialling a 5m offside rule in under-13 and under-14 competitions in the South Sydney and Canterbury junior leagues.

This reduces the space for the bigger boys have to "wind up'' against the defence. A report will be compiled by academics on the brand of football played and positive impact on injuries.

Some school inter-zone carnivals have been altered to "weight-for-age'' conditions - under-12s, 55kg; under-14s, 65kg and under-16, 75kg - with favourable responses from teachers and parents, and a drop in the injury rate.

The Pacific Revolution (Polynesian is too broad a term as Fijians and Tongans are Melonesian) is soon to have a bonus that goes past the NRL and its feeder system - on to the international scene.

Samoa and Tonga particularly will field highly competitive teams in the World Cup in October and November, increasing its appeal way beyond the tri nations.

Players like Feleti Mateo, the Paea brothers, Brent Kite, Michael Jennings and Taniela Tuiaki are eligible for Tonga. Chase Stanley, Jack Afamasaga, Setaimata Sa, Iosia Siliola and Frank-Paul Nuuausala are among emerging players eligible to join the Puletua brothers and Nigel Vagana who have already committed themselves to Samoa - along with several ex-Kiwi Test players in the English league.
 

Australia to test demand for Pacific labour scheme
28 March 2007 - Source: ABC Radio Australia

Australia's Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Affairs, Duncan Kerr, says he's keen to test local demand for a seasonal labour scheme.

Mr Kerr says his talks with Pacific Island leaders and ministers showed there is a huge demand in the region for a seasonal Labour scheme, similar to New Zealand's which will take 5000 mainly agricultural workers this year.

He says such a scheme will only work in Australia if it is demand driven.

"'We'd like to get down to a real examination of the demand for labour and the receptiveness of a pilot scheme in various parts of Australia.", he said.

Mr Kerr says Australians will need to be satisfied such a scheme is not being used to substitute for Australians who are ready, willing and able to work.

He says employers will need to understand they have to provide Pacific workers with proper pay and conditions.
 

Origin legends' anger over Kiwi Sonny Bill
26 March 2007 - Source: Herald Sun

Sonny Bill Williams' public admission he wants to play State of Origin yesterday sparked an angry reaction from passionate former stars on both sides of the border.

Kiwi born-and-bred Williams this week made an impassioned plea for officials to consider letting him play for NSW, who he has already represented at junior level.

And yesterday he was joined by rising Eels star Krisnan Inu who, despite making his Test debut for New Zealand last year, declared he too wants to play for the Blues.

But former NSW hardman Mark Geyer led an angry backlash against the Kiwis - demanding that they find passion in their own jersey and stop dreaming of playing Origin.

"I have an issue with a Kiwi playing Origin," Geyer said.

"It cheapens the jersey if anyone can have a crack at it. If you want to play for the Kiwis, well, do it. But you can't play Origin and that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

"It's been that way since 1980 and it's not going to change. Don't fix it if it's not broke."

Geyer questioned whether a kid who grew up in Auckland could ever understand the concept of Origin football, an arena where average footballers, driven by state pride, turn into giant-killers.

"I watched my first game in 1980," Geyer said. "I was allowed to stay up late for the first time. I never even dreamed I would get to put the Blue jersey on.

"I thought 'how good is this game'. When I put that jersey on in 1989, I thought 'Yep, this is good'. It was a dream come true because you live it from a kid. I don't think a Kiwi could ever understand that. He is born with his own culture inside him and he should embrace it."

Warriors captain and Queensland prop Steve Price said the "eligibility" issue had been raging in New Zealand since former Dragons prop Craig Smith played for the Maroons after representing New Zealand.

"There is a lot of talk over here in New Zealand," Price said. "Especially around Test time when guys with Polynesian heritage like Antony Kafusi or Karmichael Hunt make themselves available for Australia.

"You are going to have to put in better rules to stop it."

But even Price said State of Origin should never be changed.

"I am very passionate about Origin," Price said. "Kiwi guys shouldn't be allowed to come and play just because they want a taste of Origin. It would just ruin it."

Speaking on Thursday night, Williams argued he should not be denied the chance to play on rugby league's biggest stage because he is a Kiwi.

"The one thing that's always burned inside of me, deep down, is not being able to play State of Origin," Williams said. "I don't see why we can't play. I played NSW under-17s and under-19s."

Williams said New Zealand rugby league was being decimated because Kiwis were pledging their allegiance to Australia simply because they didn't want to be ruled out of State of Origin. That claim was backed by Inu, who said he had thought about turning his back on New Zealand.

"I would love to play for NSW," Inu said. "It was a very tough decision when I picked New Zealand knowing I would miss out."

Former New Zealand selector Daryl Halligan said rugby league was the loser when some of the best players were ruled out of Origin.

"I would like to see the New Zealand players in," Halligan said. "Would it diminish Origin? It would add to it in a way. The old fan might not look at it that way but the new fan would."
 

Australia Funds Promotion of Human Rights in Developing Countries
24 March 2007 - Source: Solomon Times Online

The Australian government has set up a fund to help promote and protect human rights in developing countries, which includes Pacific countries.

A report by Radio New Zealand International states that according to the Australian aid agency, AUSaid, 'around one million US dollars is for grass-roots initiatives and will include help to develop a strong civil society'.

'One beneficiary is the Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific International which will be funded to help raise mediation skills at community level in seven Pacific countries'.

The report adds that there will 'also be money for efforts to increase participation by Kiribati women in decision making' and 'in Papua New Guinea there will an emphasis on improving awareness of domestic and sexual violence in Morobe Province, while in Samoa the money will help combat the impact of HIV/AIDS'.
 

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