Michael Field
Reporter & author - Pacific

pacifikanews@gmail.com

+64 21 688438

Skype: michaeljfieldakld

Twitter @mjfield

With damp eyes, old John Jones stood in front of an Anzac memorial today and did something he hadn’t done before – lay a wreath to his mates who 70 years ago were executed by the Japanese. Mr Jones, 91, is the last and loneliest of the coast watchers, the first New Zealand Japanese prisoner of war. And among the 25 men beheaded October 15, 1942 were three men, his best friends.

“I felt very lonely,” he said after laying the wreath at the Takapuna Anzac service today, “and I thought believe it or not, my three friends, I will see shortly…. It is the first wreath that has ever been laid for them.”

Two fishing cultures meet at Oyang sinking

An email, written soon after 45 men were rescued from a dark, oil stained ocean, has first the first time offered gritty first-hand evidence of the appalling treatment meted out to crews aboard foreign chartered fishing boats in New Zealand's exclusive economic zone. It was written soon after a the 38-year-old Korean ship, Oyang 70, had quickly sunk on August 18, 2010, killing five of its Indonesian crew and taking with it Korean skipper captain Hyonki Shin who refused to get off. In Wellington this week Coroner Richard McElrea held an inquest into the sinking which ended with the striking testimony of a one-time factory hand who rose up through the ranks to be one of New Zealand's top qualified masters, Nelson's Greg Lyall, skippering the Talley's 64-metre stern trawler Amaltal Atlantis.

Tongan princess denounces arranged marriages

A Tongan princess has denounced her royal family's policy of marrying within its bloodline and warned that an unnamed male will not change her mind. Frederica Tuita, ninth in line to the throne, offered her unique insights into the royals on a Hawaii based WhatItDo.com website as Tonga's new crown princess prepares to marry his grand niece. Tuita, who lives in Auckland, says noble relations were "aligned strategically" and were about continuing chiefly lineage. The notion of marrying for love was fairly new. People like her could not be seen with single men and "people will not respect a woman of scandal." She says she has never had a boyfriend and used to think it unfair to see friends "go out with their boyfriends and socialize freely at the shopping centre or have lunch at St. Lukes' Food court." The system "was extremely arrogant and only perpetuated the motive behind social climbers".

Politicians take money from fishing companies

Fishing companies say they cannot pay higher wages to crews of foreign charter fishing vessels, but some of them do not mind giving cash to politicians. The bigger beneficiaries of the largesse come from what was once the party of the workers - Labour. Electoral Commission returns show that at elections last year Labour MP Clayton Cosgrove accepted $17,500 from Independent Fisheries of Christchurch. Some of their catch came from Oyang 70 and other Korean boats used by Southern Storm (2007) Ltd. Labour MP Shane Jones received $10,000 from Nelson's Sealord Fisheries, a half iwi owned company that uses Ukrainian boats. United Fisheries Ltd gave $3000 to Labour MP Megan Woods and $2800 to National MP Nicky Wagner. The Christchurch company uses Korean FCVs recently condemned in a ministerial report for damaging New Zealand's international image. Talleys, a Nelson company opposed to FCVs, gave $5000 a piece to National MPs Eric Roy, Colin King, Chris Tremain, Joanne Goodhew, Todd McClay, Lindsay Tisch, Chris Auchinvole, and Chester Borrows.

NZ steps up for widows after trawler tragedy

The widows of Indonesian fishermen who died when a Korean boat sank in New Zealand waters in 2010 have finally received compensation – not from the vessel's owners or insurers, but from the taxpayer-funded Accident Compensation Corporation.For some of them, the ACC payment amounts to seven times what they earn in a year.

Fiji attacks international flood coverage

Fiji’s military regime has launched an attack on international media for their coverage of this week’s deadly flooding saying it was aimed at pandering to anti-regime sentiment. Seven people died in this week’s floods and an 11-year-old boy remains missing, feared dead. But concerned at the impact of the news internationally, the military regime and the Fiji Visitors Bureau are trying desperately to save their Easter business. The latter this morning issued photos of a cleaned up, tidy but empty Denarau Island resort near Nadi captioned “ready for guests”.

No democracy in Tonga - power switched from royal to nobles

When in 1215 King John of England signed the Magna Carta it was at the instance of the nobles rather than commoners. It was the nobles who wanted liberties proclaimed and the acceptance, by the king, that no "freeman" could be punished except by the law of the land. But it was mostly a transfer of power to the lords, not the commons. That would have to come later. There is no Tongan Runnymede, nor a Magna Carta. Some argue that Tonga's late King George Tupou V was some kind of reforming figure, introducing to his feudal kingdom the notion of democracy. His successor and brother, with great imagination now called Tupou VI - or Tee-six to his subjects, has sharply reduced the mourning period, from a hundred days to a handful, it is already appropriate to examine the dead king's reign.

Radio New Zealand National:

Tonga, a nightmare of failed democracy and poverty

Tongan funeral procession for King George Tupou V

Tongan funeral photos

US backed search for lost aviator Amelia Earhart

An officially backed search is to get underway again to find out what happened 75 years ago to lost aviator Amelia Earhart, who disappeared over the South Pacific. In a glittering event in Washington today celebrating Earhart and the United States ' "Ties to Our Pacific Neighbours" US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said a new search for the aviator would be "rich in symbolism and opportunity".

From a US Embassy cable published by Wikileaks on the late king and China: The Crown Prince has strong connections to China, after previously having equally strong connections to Taiwan until the King shifted allegiances in 1998. Reportedly, Tupouto'a is in hock to a Chinese bank for a $30 million unsecured loan, presumably used to finance some of his business ventures (Tonga's electric utility, a domestic airline, etc.). Advisors have urged him to find a way to jettison the loan before he becomes King. Responding to public dissatisfaction, he is working with Tonga's Ministry of Finance to sell off the electric utility. The Ministry is resisting any government buy-back, preferring to facilitate transfer to some private-oriented entity.DINGER

Tonga's new king opposed democracy

Tonga’s new king is an anti-democrat who as an appointed prime minister took the kingdom of 100,000 people to near economic disaster. The new 47-year-old king, currently known as ‘Ulukalala Lavaka Ata ahead of taking on a yet unannounced monarch’s title, late last year tried to lead a bid to bring government back under the control of Tonga’s royals and nobles. Now that he is king, Tonga’s future depends on whether he still wants to reign the marginal democratic progress already made.

Tonga's King George Tupou V dies

Tonga’s King George Tupou V has died just as his kingdom was sliding closer to economic ruin and financial default. Announcing the death, which occurred in a Hong Kong hospital, Tongan Prime Minister Siale'ataonga Tu'ivakano said "the sun has set".

Alarming fishing at McMurdo Sound says scientist

A summer at Antarctica’s McMurdo Sound has come up with the alarming finding for scientists – the region’s population of toothfish shows signs of collapsing.

Fiji's military chief abolishes chiefs

Fiji’s military dictator Voreqe Bainimarama has sudden abolished one of the South Pacific’s oldest political institutions, the Great Council of Chiefs. The GCC or Bose Levu Vakaturaga has existed since 1876 but in a national broadcast this morning Bainimarama says it has perpetuated elitism and created divisive politics. Bainimarama, who seized power in a coup in 2006, says it is part of the country’s colonial past.

Radio New Zealand National:

Bainimarama draws a road map with little credibility ahead

Amazing catch from Maui's hook in education

A startling education revolution is winning global attention in one of the most unlikely places – amongst the Maori and Pacific island state house kids of Auckland ’s Tamaki. In places like Glenn Innes, long written off as ghettos of poverty and crime in the country’s oldest state housing project, children are rapidly reaching national norms in reading, writing and mathematics. In some of the schools, all Decile-1 meaning the poorest, the children are rampaging through the national syllabus well before the year is out – and the teachers are coming up with new and innovative ways of teaching. It’s been done with a striking private trust that with parents has come up with a way for every kid to have a computer notebook and eventually 24/7 access to high speed wireless.

Bainimarama draws a map

Fiji’s military dictator Voreqe Bainimarama has told the nation how it is going to get its fourth constitution. In an address to the nation Bainimarama, who seized power in a military coup in 2006, did not make any specific promises about democracy restoring elections. He has previously said they would be held by 2014 at the latest, while there is a roadmap to a constitution, there is no election timetable today.

Koreans send crew home unpaid

A Korean fishing company expelled Indonesian and Filipino crew of a 36-year-old unlicensed fishing ship and got them out of New Zealand early yesterday without paying them around $2 million in wages they were owed for the past two years. Oyang 77's actions came two days after a ministerial inquiry warned that Korean foreign charter fishing vessels (FCVs) owners mistreated crews and damaged New Zealand 's international reputation. Korea 's distant-water fishing fleet – a total of 220 vessels – has produced a tidal wave of reports into corruption, abuse and plunder from the coast of Sierra Leone , to Kiribati and down into the Southern Ocean.

Military report unveils a version of Speight's Fiji coup

When shaven headed bankrupted businessman George Speight seized Fiji’s Parliament in 2000 and held the government hostage for 56 days speculation began as to who really was behind the country’s third coup – and has remained unanswered since.

Now a secret report of a Republic of Fiji Military Force board of inquiry has emerged, thanks to runaway Colonel Tevita Mara, painting a terrifying picture of how close Fiji came to total anarchy.

Dictator goes marching

Fiji ’s military dictator Voreqe Bainimarama startled Suva this morning by leading soldiers on a march through the capital. Bainimarama, who installed himself in a 2006 coup, has tried not to be seen wearing military uniform in recent months. But in pictures issued today by the Fiji Ministry of Information, Bainimarama is seen with his soldiers on the 15 kilometre march. Most of the soldiers are seen without weapons, but Bainimarama’s bodyguards were armed.

Out with the young, in with the old

From the new Apia Financial Review...

What did shock me were the photos I saw of the state church service at New Year to mark the beginning of the 50th anniversary of independence. They were visions of old, self-satisfied men, some with their dutiful spouses. What is this? Samoa — a collection of old men. Where are the young, who in fact make up the majority of the nation? Where are the women in politics? Did those Samoans who risked everything for the right to rule do that so that a cabal of geriatric males should always rule?

Strange voyage of Oyang 77

A 36-year-old South Korean-flagged charter fishing boat caused a legal flurry after it upped-anchor near Lyttelton and headed toward international waters yesterday despite a High Court arrest warrant. The Korean officers of Oyang 77 say they were taking their rubbish out to dump in the Pacific beyond the 12 mile (22 kilometre) territorial limit. But it seems the Koreans had a change of heart when they realised they were heading straight toward a Royal New Zealand Navy ship.

No law in Fiji

A major British legal group has declared that the rule of law no longer operates in Fiji . The Law Society Charity says in a just published report that there is no peaceful and lawful way to challenge Fiji 's military regime. There is no democracy and the independence of the judiciary cannot be relied on, they say in a report Fiji : The Rule of Law Lost, the Charity considers the effect on the Rule of Law in Fiji of the events of 2009 and beyond.

Radio New Zealand National:

PNG shipping disaster and constitutional crisis - and a hoax Tongan Olympian

South Korea's plunder of the Southern Ocean

A South Korean fishing boat that illegally took $600,000 worth of toothfish from the Southern Ocean has been fined by its own government $1600 which pressured other nations to keep it off an international list of banned boats. Insung No 7 has been exposed in an official report in which nations including New Zealand, the European Union and the US demanded Seoul clean its act up in the wake of "many incidences" of non-compliance involving its flagged vessels. Insung 7, a sister ship to Insung No 1 which sank in the Southern Ocean in December 2010 with the loss of 22 men, is owned by one of Korea's biggest fishing companies.

Pacific plunder of mackerel

Plunder of a small South Pacific fish has sparked an international battle to keep Northern Hemisphere interests away from here following their pillage of their own stocks, says a New Zealand lawyer. Wellington's Bill Mansfield heads a six year old bid to create a convention to save jack mackerel. Instead its biomass has plunder 90 percent in 20 years.

Bird beauty over the horizon

God was probably an artist and if proof is needed, sail out beyond New Zealand's horizon. Five kilometres or so into New Zealand's exclusive economic zone and it's a world of birds completely different from those on the coastline. Hypnotic and colourful, many of the birds are attracted to the fishing boats that are also drawn to waters for the same reason the birds are - it is rich in food.

Lazy poor in Samoa

Samoans who claim they are poor are lazy, Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele says. He says there was no poverty in Samoa. "Every Samoan has claim to land. There are plenty of mangoes, pawpaws, bananas and breadfruit falling off and rotting on the ground, plenty of fish in the sea," he said.

Worries aboard a Ukrainian fishing boat

On the darkened bridge of a large Ukrainian fishing boat it was easy to tell if the captain was near as he incessantly clicked his rosary-like worry beads. "In Russia," says Yuri Kylybov, the 49-year-old captain of Aleksandr Buryachenko, "we have a saying that a fisherman is twice the mariner of any other mariner."

Environmentalists demand end to Ross Sea fishing

An international coalition of environmental organisations is demanding an end to fishing in the Ross Sea south of New Zealand following two major accidents in the last month."

Fiji TV says sorry for not making Bainimarama a winner

Fiji’s military dictator Voreqe Bainimarama has won an apology from the country’s free to air broadcaster after it ran a personality phone texting competition in which he came second.

Bainimarama – breaks his own word so often

“We will not tolerate an iota of disruption to the peace, safety, stability and common and equal citizenry we now enjoy….” Voreqe Bainimarama, speech to Fiji, 6 January 2012.

Those of us who were there that damp Suva Sunday evening remember much of the strangeness. The empty swimming pool covered in plywood, the piss stench from dozens of men who had drank way too much kava and impeccably dressed George Speight. It was 9 July 2000, at what we all came to know as “Iloilo’s House” in Maunikau.

California law threatens NZ fish exports

Fish exports to the United States worth $178 million a year could be in trouble after California enacted a law to fight human trafficking and slave labour in global supply chains.

From the files...

Man with a past - interview with a massacre survivor

At 83 years of age Kabunare Koura still manages to cut toddy although he laughs that it is no longer from the high coconut trees any more. Life is good, he says sitting in a small traditional house on Bairiki Islet in Kiribati's Tarawa Atoll, and he is happy with his nine children, 20 grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

"The past is gone."

Fijians protest against miners

Photos have leaked out of Fiji - where the military's martial law controls all gatherings and imposes heavy censorship - of a protest in Namosi. Villagers there are resisting Voreqe Bainimarama's push to mine large areas of Fiji. It is plain from the photos and the protest, that Bainimarama has forgotten the lesson's of PNG's Bougainville.

Auckland flash dance winning millions in India

A flash dance staged in Auckland's Aotea Square on Monday has made it into the top part of television bulletins across India. The 30 strong Indian Auckland group, organised by movie script writer Padma Akula, staged the flash dance at both Britomart and Aotea Square.

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Prayas presents RUDALI

In the small village of Tohri – somewhere in India – powerful men exploit women – the wife, the neighbour and the local prostitute.

To some it is destiny and caste, but not to Sanichari, the central character in an exciting new English language play from Prayas.

Sanichari is mother in law to a beautiful and feisty woman who certainly does not accept her place or destiny and sets out to defy the village rules. Around them in the village are a host of lively characters, from caring and conniving neighbours, a long lost friend, the comic village priest, ruthless landlords, some brazen prostitutes and a wickedly endearing old nag.

Together, they weave a story of friendship, treachery, greed, lust and duplicity around the unusual business of ‘‘Rudali’’ a professional female mourner.

There are places in India – Tohri is one - where women of a lower caste are hired as mourners upon the death of upper-caste males. A Rudali (rou-daali) is hired to publicly grieve so the family of the dead retain their upper caste dignity befitting their higher social status.

Jointly directed bymit Ohdedar, Prayas and Margaret Mary Hollins, TAPAC , Rudali will showcase Indian folk music with a live orchestra, colourful dances and a vibrant village carnival.Rudali will be staged at TAPAC, Western Springs, Auckland from May 18 to 27, 2012

Bookings open now at TAPAC or visit Prayas

Antarctica

* Alarming fishing at McMurdo Sound says scientist

* Environmentalists call for polar reserve

* Ross Sea protected area a battle for toothfish

* Korea's new polar base pointing to Antarctic grab

Easter Island

* Trouble in Rapa Nui