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Tahiti: Nuclear cover-up stokes tension with France

Oscar Temaru, the pro-independence president of the Tahiti Nui (Temaru's preferred name for the French colony known as French Polynesia), dropped a political bombshell in the Pacific country's parliament on July 28. Temaru released a letter from a respected government health expert in Paris that officially confirmed for the first time what most Tahitians have long known and France has always denied: that French nuclear explosions in their territory have increased cancer rates throughout the Tahitian islands. The revelation has further strained tensions between the Temaru-led coalition government and Tahiti's colonial masters in Paris. (Norm Dixon, Green Left Weekly, Towards Freedom, 16 August 2006)

http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/872/

(Added: Fri Aug 18 2006   Hits: 239)

American Samoa

American Samoa is a Non-Self-Governing Territory under the administration of the United States of America. This 16 page working paper was prepared by the Secretariat of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. (United Nations, 14 March 2006)

http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N06/271/77/PDF/N0627177.pdf?OpenElement

(Added: Thu Sep 07 2006   Hits: 183)

Christian Custom and the Church as Structure in 'Weak States' in Melanesia

This paper investigates certain characteristic associations in the governance of three of the four independent states of Melanesia: Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. First, the seemingly paradoxical amalgam of Christianity and tradition or custom which serves as an uneasy ideological basis for national unity and identity. Second, the always ambivalent, often tense intersections of Christianity and 'politics'. Finally, the significance of the churches, with their intensely local roots but broadly global reach, as alternative structures in the context of ineffective or even absent state institutions. (Bronwen Douglas, Australian National University, Paper given at the international conference, Civil Society, Religion & Global Governance: Paradigms of Power & Persuasion, 1-2 September 2005, Canberra)

http://law.anu.edu.au/nissl/douglas.pdf

(Added: Thu Oct 12 2006   Modified: Fri Jan 12 2007   Hits: 211)

Conflict, Violence and Development in the Southwest Pacific: Taking the Indigenous Context Seriously

This article addresses two main issues. The first of these issues is the ongoing conflation of conflict with violence, and the lack of recognition of conflict as a potentially positive force. The second of these issues is the continued push by donors in the region towards the reconstruction of the state in a stronger form, despite recognition that the structures of the state have played a critical role in the emergence of the recent and ongoing violence in the region. The article then looks at ways in which the state has acted to both catalyse and intensify destructive forms of conflict. Once these two issues have been addressed the article then moves on to explore the ways in which an awareness of these issues can be harnessed, by both donors and local communities working together in a form of constructive engagement, in the creation of more durable and effective forms of governance in the region. (Manuhuia Barcham, CIGAD, 2005)

http://cigad.massey.ac.nz/documents/wps_barcham_4_2005.pdf

(Added: Fri Feb 09 2007   Hits: 254)

Elections in Autonomous Bougainville Set For May

Wednesday: February 2, 2005 The election of an autonomous government in the Papua New Guinea province of Bougainville is to begin on 20 May and continue until early June.

http://www.pacificislands.cc/pina/pinadefault2.php?urlpinaid=14309

(Added: Thu Feb 03 2005   Hits: 292)

French Polynesia's parliamentary speaker says 28 per cent of electorate want fresh elections

ABC, 19/11/2004. The new speaker of the French Polynesian assembly says almost 43,000 voters have signed a petition asking for the assembly to be dissolved and for new elections to be held.

http://www.abc.net.au/ra/news/stories/s1247511.htm

(Added: Mon Nov 22 2004   Hits: 234)

Guam

Guam is a multi-ethnic society in the Mariana Islands in the Pacific. This 16 page working paper was prepared by the Secretariat of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. (United Nations, 16 April 2006)

http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N06/275/46/PDF/N0627546.pdf?OpenElement

(Added: Thu Sep 07 2006   Hits: 170)

Hawai'i Independent and Sovereign

"Restoring Hawai'i's independence is clearly legal, justified, and possible. It is obvious that the existing political and economic systems of the State of Hawaii, aside from being illegal, are not responsible to the just and timely advancement of peoples' rights and livelihoods, nor the sustainability of our environment. In fact, the existing government by and large represents the interests of entities which destroy our future without regard for the eventual costs to our children."

http://www.hawaii-nation.org/

(Added: Fri Jun 20 2003   Modified: Wed Jun 28 2006   Hits: 290)

Indigenous epistemology, wisdom and tradition; changing and challenging dominant paradigms in Oceania

This paper, presented by Dr Max Quanchi at the Social Change in the 21st Century Conference examines the value of indigenous epistemologies with particular focus on the Pacific context.

http://eprints.qut.edu.au/archive/00000630/01/quanchi-max.pdf

(Added: Mon Apr 30 2007   Hits: 261)

New Caledonia

The political and administrative structures of New Caledonia have been fundamentally altered by the Nouméa Accord, in which New Caledonian parties opted for a negotiated solution and progressive autonomy from France rather than an immediate referendum on political status. The transfer of powers from France began in 2000 and is to end within 15 to 20 years, when the Territory will opt for either full independence or a form of associated statehood. This 13 page working paper was prepared by the Secretariat of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. (United Nations, 29 March 2006)

http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N06/291/18/PDF/N0629118.pdf?OpenElement

(Added: Thu Sep 07 2006   Hits: 170)

Social justice and human rights for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: Information Sheet

From the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice website.

http://www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/info_sheet.html

(Added: Wed Jun 02 2004   Modified: Thu Jun 22 2006   Hits: 316)

Tahiti at the Crossroads

Pacific Islands Report. Commentary by Lorenz Gonschor. HONOLULU (Pacific Islands Report) - In a few days, on February 13, 2005, voters in Tahiti will once more go to the polls, less than a year after the last general elections on May 23, 2004. Even though this upcoming Assembly election is called only a by-election, it will be crucial for the territory's future, more crucial probably than all elections before. What is at stake in this election is the future direction of French Polynesia (Tahiti): Will France's Overseas Territory continue to be ruled by an authoritarian, corrupted pro-French oligarchy, or will it take a new path of pluralism, democracy and social justice, slowly moving towards self-determination and independence, as it was briefly experienced during four months last year?

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/614/614p16.htm

(Added: Fri Feb 11 2005   Modified: Thu Dec 22 2005   Hits: 283)

The New Pacific Wall: The U.S., Australia, and New Zealand Control the Pacific Islands

The big three, the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand, have divided the Pacific island territories. New Zealand now controls Polynesia, Australia is "in charge of" Melanesia (including the plundering of natural resources by its multinationals in Papua New Guinea), and the U.S. has a firm grip on Micronesia. Andre Vltchek considers the consequences for the people of the island nations. (Andre Vltchek, JapanFocus.org, 31 October 2006

http://www.worldpress.org/Asia/2544.cfm

(Added: Thu May 31 2007   Hits: 232)

Tokelau

Tokelau is a Non-Self-Governing Territory administered by New Zealand. This 15 page working paper was prepared by the Secretariat of the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. (United Nations, 4 April2006)

http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N06/296/67/PDF/N0629667.pdf?OpenElement

(Added: Thu Sep 07 2006   Hits: 164)

Tokelau referendum does not produce a two thirds majority in favour of a change of status

Prime Minister Helen Clark said tonight that New Zealand will fully respect the wishes of the people of Tokelau, as expressed in the referendum on whether Tokelauans should become independent in free association with New Zealand. The referendum has not produced a two thirds majority in favour of a change in status. beehive.govt.nz 16/02/2006.

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=24941

(Added: Fri Feb 17 2006   Hits: 219)

Uphill Task as Hawaiians Enforce Political Status

By Robert Keith-Reid, July 2003 (PacificIslands.cc). Hawaii's indigenous Polynesian people like Pacific Islanders elsewhere have had a rough time since European and Asian settlers began the invasion of their islands 200 years ago. Their troubles culminated in 1893 when, prodded by vulturine American businessmen and missionaries, the United States invaded Hawaii in support of a plot to destroy the Hawaiian government and take full control of the country. Hawaii became a United States colony and military base and ground for ruthless commercial exploitation. Hawaiians were killed off in thousands by diseases brought by the invaders and survivors were swamped by an inrush of tens of thousands more white American settlers and Asian plantation labour.

http://www.pacificislands.cc/pm72003/pmdefault.php?urlarticleid=0026

(Added: Tue Jul 08 2003   Modified: Wed Jun 28 2006   Hits: 293)

Whose Oceania? Contending visions of community in Pacific region-building

Australian National University, Department of International Relations working paper 2004/3. In the past year the 'war against terror' and perceptions of state failure within the post-colonial Pacific have sparked an Australian-led initiative to deepen and widen regional integration in Oceania. This paper argues that behind the seeming unanimity of the 2004 Auckland Declaration and agreement by Pacific Islands Forum leaders on a 'Pacific vision' and a 'Pacific plan' are several contending visions of regional community, and of community-building. The political and moral legitimacy of each vision depends significantly on how these visions answer the question of who is Oceania for, and who has the right to speak for it? The seemingly dominant vision (that of the Australian government) is problematic in this regard. Past practice of Pacific region-building suggests that it may therefore not receive the legitimacy it requires for sustainability. This therefore is in danger of producing an unintended consequence: the replication at a regional level of the legitimacy problem associated with the so-called failing state.

http://www.otago.ac.nz/otagofps/FPS05/fps2004/pdfs/Fry.pdf

(Added: Wed Dec 01 2004   Modified: Fri Feb 09 2007   Hits: 291)