KUPUNA PEPPERD SPRAYED Laie Kuleana Occupation

Laie Kuleana Occupation



Kanaka Maoli Standing Up For Their Rights, Claiming what was always Theirs!

Today mark your calendars I will enter the Battle of this Century between an Indigenous Hawaiian Woman and the entity of the Mormon Church, Hawaii Reserves Incorporated. Adverse Possession is the filthy word among Indigenous Hawaiians, homeless, strangers in their land. It should not be but AMERICAN THIEVES attempted to usurper our land from under us by DISGUISE AND THEIR PERVERTED LAW. While I prepare for the BATTLE OF MAHUNALII AND KAUAIOMANO I have DEEDS, MAPS, SURVEYS etc. I am doing this because the BONES OF MY ANCESTORS are buried there. The SPIRITS OF MY ANCESTORS COMPEL me to do what is right protect, preserve, perpetuate their history, culture and way of life. May the BONES of all our indigenous ancestors rise up from this day forward and
compel their descendants to do the same. Mahalo...


Dawn K. Wasson, Kupuna o Laiewai

Matato'a - Here Ma'ohi

To our whanau from Rapanui Nau mai Haere Mai, Kia kotahi ra Te Moana Nui a Kiwa !!!

Pacific in denial over HIV: Kirby

Thursday April 12, 12:08 PM

A prominent Australian judge has told a conference of Pacific politicians that difficult steps need to be taken to prevent the spread of HIV.

Justice Michael Kirby told the HIV focused conference in Auckland this week the Pacific region no longer had the luxury of "living in denial".

He urged Pacific leaders and policy makers to tackle the difficult and controversial issues.

Some strategies for combating HIV such as promotion and knowledge of condoms and decriminalisation of sex workers were controversial and therefore often given less priority, Justice Kirby said.

"A lot of painful and difficult steps need to be taken."

There was no cure on the horizon for HIV and the expanding cost of anti-retroviral drugs would put increasing pressure on the international community and national institutions.

More time and effort needed to be spent stopping people from getting infected, he said.

The three day conference, which aims to examine ways of ensuring the countries' laws adequately protect the rights of people living with HIV, concludes on Friday.

The 15 Pacific countries involved are Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Nauru, Niue, Tokelau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Kiribati, Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu and Cook Islands.

UNAIDS in its 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic identified an estimated 78,000 people in the Pacific - including from Australia and New Zealand - were living with HIV in 2005, representing an increase of 12,000 from 2003.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/070412/2/132sz.html

PAC: Call to recognise rights of HIV sufferers

Pacific Island governments are meeting in Auckland this week to identify what legislation is required in their nations to preserve the human rights of people with HIV. Attorneys General, Health Ministers and senior health officials are among those participating. The three day conference, has been organised by the United Nations Development Program's Pacific Centre, Pacific Regional Rights resource team and UNAIDS. The UNAIDs Co-ordinator for the Pacific Sub-region, Stuart Watson says laws need to be introduced in Pacific countries to ensure the privacy of HIV patients is protected.

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Presenter/Interviewer: Christine Webster
Speakers: Stuart Watson, UNAIDs Coordinator for the Pacific Sub-region

WATSON: The aim of the conference held this week in Auckland is to bring together some very high profile legal and health professionals to have a look at the situation in Pacific Island countries around HIV, the law and human rights. So as part of the conference we'll be presenting reviews of country level legislation around the situation with HIV in the 15 countries that are participating in the conference, and then we'll be taking participants through a range of issues to do with HIV, the law and rights and then presenting some generic drafting instructions that could be used to help countries to develop comprehensive legislation around HIV, and not just the health aspects, but all areas of HIV.

WEBSTER: And how does the legislation in these Pacific countries need to be improved to ensure the rights of people living with HIV are protected?

WATSON: The only country in the Pacific which has comprehensive HIV related legislation is Papua New Guinea. Several other countries have started looking at their legislative environments to see where issues might lie and to begin to think about some of the issues that need to be dealt with from a legal perspective. But in point of fact none of the other countries, other than Papua New Guinea have existing legislation which deals specifically with HIV.

WEBSTER: And this legislation then, what does it involve?

WATSON: Well the first step has already happened, and it's the main objective of the workshop this week. It's the review of the legislative environment in these countries. So we'll be presenting country reports to all the delegates looking at a range of issues that have been identified, areas that need to be tightened up, issues where rights are not being addressed or protected in terms of HIV. Looking at best practice from around the world, we have a range of experts coming from all around the world who will be taking delegates through specific rights related issues. Just trying to identify some of the issues and impediments to ensuring that everyone's rights are protected in relation to HIV.

WEBSTER: The legislation that exists in PNG then what are some of the good things that other countries should be following?

WATSON: Well the interesting thing about the Papua New Guinea legislation is that it's comprehensive; it's done as one package. So rather than trying to identify each individual piece of legislation, existing books that might need to be draft there, their approach was to develop one comprehensive legal approach to the situation.

WEBSTER: What sort of injustices have been happening in the Pacific when it comes to HIV?

WATSON: Well one area that leaps to mind where injustices are certainly rife is around confidentiality, so ensuring that people's identity is protected if they are diagnosed as HIV positive.

WEBSTER: When you talk about the violation of people's human rights with HIV what are some of these, you spoke about confidentiality, but what are some of the other examples of human rights being violated?

WATSON: Well I think one of the most difficult and contentious issues, and it's certainly been an issue that New Zealand and Australia have wrestled with as well, is the issue of wilful transmission. How do we deal with people who know that they're HIV positive yet who continue to engage in unprotected sex? Punitive measures are not shown to work, but that's certainly the reaction of most legislators and lawmakers and politicians have to the problem. So there are a number of very, very tricky and very delicate issues that will be discussed over the next few days.

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Pacific ministers to meet over HIV

Pacific Island attorney-generals and health ministers will meet in Auckland this week to examine ways of ensuring their countries' laws adequately protect the rights of people living with HIV.

Prominent Australian judge Justice Michael Kirby will open the three-day conference on Wednesday.

The organisers, the United Nations Development Programme's Pacific Centre, Pacific Regional Rights Resource Team and UNAIDS, will present human rights-based drafting instructions for legislative reform for ministers to look at.

Preliminary reviews of current legislation in 15 Pacific Island countries relevant to HIV issues will also be examined, particularly as they relate to discrimination, ethics, access to treatment and privacy/confidentiality issues.

The 15 Pacific countries involved are Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Nauru, Niue, Tokelau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Kiribati, Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu and Cook Islands.

HIV infections are growing in the Pacific region and HIV is increasingly becoming an important concern for governments. UNAIDS in its 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic identified an estimated 78,000 people in the Pacific - including from Australia and New Zealand - were living with HIV in 2005, representing an increase of 12,000 from 2003.

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Chinese rivals grapple for Pacific

By Phil Mercer BBC News, Sydney

The rivalry sparked tensions in the Solomons' capital in 2006

China's Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan has completed a brief tour of the South Pacific, showing how important the region is to Beijing.

China is competing with Taiwan for diplomatic recognition as well as access to vast reserves of fish, minerals and timber.

But there are concerns that this fierce rivalry is unsettling and that bribes are making the region more corrupt and violent.

"The countries of the South Pacific are micro-states and many of them have weak governments, so the Taiwan-China competition often has quite destabilising effects on the small, often not-very-well-run governments," warned Dr Malcolm Cook from the Lowy Institute for International Policy.

Professor Stuart Harris, a former senior foreign affairs official in Canberra, said this diplomatic arm-wrestle between Taiwan and China was a big worry.

"It's making life very difficult," he said.

"You don't need to spend a lot of money to buy a government, and corruption is becoming even more endemic."

Fierce rivalry

Taiwan and China have been governed separately since the end of a civil war in 1949, and both still compete for diplomatic recognition.

Most countries recognise China, but Taiwan has the recognition of 24 nations, of which six - those in Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Nauru, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands - are in the South Pacific.

Beijing has more friends in the neighbourhood. It has formal ties with eight countries, including the largest island nations, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

China also has strong diplomatic relationships with Australia and New Zealand.

Loans and other investments, as well as the construction of roads and sporting facilities, are used by both sides to foster loyalty.

Given the importance of the region to Taiwan, analysts have detected desperation in its recent efforts.

There were claims that Taiwanese money was used to bribe politicians during an election in the Solomon Islands last year.

Riots broke out in the capital Honiara when Snyder Rini was appointed Prime Minister.

He later resigned amid allegations he used money from local Chinese businessmen and Taiwan to buy the support of MPs.

Mr Rini denied the allegations, and the Taiwanese government vehemently rejected accusations that it had tried to influence the political process.

Not everyone was convinced.

At the time Joses Tuhanuku, the President of the Solomon Islands Labour Party, told Australian television that the election had been tainted by kick-backs.

"It has been corrupted by Taiwan and business houses owned by Solomon Islanders of Chinese origin, and they knew there was a lot of money going around to bribe the new members and some of the old members to put up this prime minister," he said.

Changing ties

Australia has warned both China and Taiwan not to interfere in the politics of its regional neighbours.

Dr Cook says the rivalry is destabilising

"We don't want to see chequebook diplomacy entering the Pacific," said foreign minister Alexander Downer.

That is a forlorn hope, according to Dr Cook.

"Often even in one district (during the Solomon Islands election in 2006) more than one candidate claimed to have received funding from the Taiwan government, so if these stories are true the depth of the involvement in the Solomon Islands by Taiwan was something that's not seen in many other places," he said.

Allegiances can change - Kiribati turned its back on China in favour of representations from Taiwan.

But China's growing economic power makes it unlikely that others will follow.

Professor Stuart Harris said many countries were feeling a "strong gravitational pull towards China."

Andrew Tumbo, Papua New Guinea's Deputy High Commissioner in New Zealand, said trade was at the heart of his government's ties with Beijing.

"Papua New Guinea is rich with resources and China is talking resources from all parts of the world and we can all benefit," he said.

WHO CAN LEAD THE PACIFIC?

I do not recall a period where as many Pacific nations as now being in serious political and economic strife. More disturbing still is the fact that there is no Pacific leader in sight with the clout and capacity to muster the required regional and international support to bring a speedy resolution to the several festering diplomatic hostilities between a number of regional heavyweights.

The void of regional leadership, disappointing as it is, provides the opportunity for an aspirant to stand up to this challenge. There are potential candidates but not a visible contender for this role yet.

The Fijians are out of the running for this role given that the regime in Suva is less than democratic and facing considerable opposition from Australia and New Zealand.

As a pariah state and one against whom considerable behind-the-scene manoeuvring has been taking place to force it to accelerate its pace towards a return to democracy, the Fijians will be struggling to remain at the regional table.

Suva being home to USP, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and a proposed regional training school gives Fiji an upper hand in the regional contests, however.

Australia and New Zealand have fallen from favour amongst a number of Pacific leaders.

Their continued campaign for a speedy return to democracy in Fiji and the willingness to use all available means to this end is unlikely to see either of these nations taking on the leadership role for the Pacific region.

While their reactions to date to the overthrow of a democratically elected government in Fiji are understandable, the manner in which these messages were conveyed has created considerable animosity between Fiji and its two rich near neighbours.

HOPE FOR PROGRESS

Fiji, however, needs to mend its relationships with Australia and New Zealand more than the converse; thus there is hope for progress on this front.

The Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands is also at loggerheads with his Australian-counterpart. New Zealand has often come to the rescue when Australia has failed to have sway with its Pacific neighbours.

Not this time, probably because New Zealand is still recovering from the failed attempt at brokering a peace deal between the Fiji military commander and deposed Prime Minister on the eve of the last coup. Political instability in Honiara is anything but over, thus regional concerns are not likely to draw the attention of leaders from Solomon Islands.

Count Tonga out too. The pre-Christmas fires of Nuku’alofa may have been snuffed out but many of the issues that led to the riots remain smouldering underneath.

Having learnt from their experiences in Honiara and Dili just months earlier, Australia and New Zealand were quick to come to the rescue of the embattled regime in Nuku’alofa. Their support, however, may have only addressed a symptom rather than the deeper cause for the unrest.

The Tongan government is struggling with the thankless task of rebuilding the capital and rescuing the economy whilst juggling political change in a relatively hostile domestic environment. No time to worry beyond the immediate for this regime.

BRIGHT SPOT

Papua New Guinea has been the bright spot over the recent past. The problems in Bougainville are on the mend, the economy is growing and the government has for the first time in its history seen through its full term without facing a motion of no confidence.

But national election is due in June, campaigning is already in full swing and there is little time for grandstanding by the political aspirants on the regional front.

National elections are also due in Australia later in the year (my informers tell me this may take place around October). Any grandstanding on regional issues by the aspirants of political office in Canberra will be principally for local consumption.

A tough stance on belligerent Pacific Islands leaders may have some appeal to the traditional voter heartlands of the two major parties, something that Pacific leaders would need to factor in when responding to pronouncements from Down-Under.

It is indeed unfortunate that Australia, at a time when its taxpayers (myself included) are sparing the largest amount of resources ever for the region, is possibly the least popular amongst its neighbours.

Just to give you some idea on the extent of transfers from Canberra, Australian taxpayers are forking out some A$500 for every man, woman and child in the Solomon Islands. This is not to even remotely suggest that every Solomon Islander gets this sum—getting to the bottom of where the money really goes is a separate discussion for another day—but my fellow workers are still sparing these resources in the name of the poor.

Aid, as one critic had long pointed out, ‘is a transfer from the poor of the rich countries to the rich of the poor countries’. I can relate to this, seeing how my tax dollars channelled into aid gets used (and abused).

POTENTIAL LEADERS

So who are the potential candidates for Pacific leadership? Australia and, less so New Zealand, despite their economic clout would have to be counted out given the animosities with several Pacific nations.

The Republic of the Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia have enough worries at home. Vanuatu, a quiet and recent achiever, could be a candidate except for its quietness.

Samoa, another candidate with sound economic performance for the past several years, is a definite contender for regional leadership but has as yet to raise its hand.

Cook Islands and Palau are possibilities, but their size and isolation from the scenes of action may be a handicap. Fiji has traditionally provided such leadership, particularly under the leadership of the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Kapaiwai Tuimacilai Mara, but count this nation out until democracy returns to Suva.

This leaves the incoming PNG Prime Minister due to take office in mid-2007 as the most promising possibility.
As the largest Pacific nation and one with a robust democracy, recent political stability and an economy on the rebound presents the best opportunity for the leader of this ‘Land of the Unexpected’ to come to the rescue of the region.

It has happened before; recall that Sir Julius Chan (not my relative as some have suggested) sent troops to quell a rebellion on Espiritu Santo in the lead-up to independence in Vanuatu.

Yes, mid-2007 may just be the hour for the PM of PNG to stand up and be counted as the leader of the Pacific!

Dr Satish Chand

http://www.islandsbusiness.com/

Pacific Politics: Somare Bites Back

By: Maryann Keady Wednesday 28 February 2007 http://www.newmatilda.com/home/articledetailmagazine.asp?ArticleID=2096&HomepageID=184 Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare has now disbanded the Defence Force Board of Inquiry looking into the escape of Australian fugitive Julian Moti from PNG last year. The Board had earlier found [LINK: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/s1856146.htm] that the PNG Prime Minister must have known about the clandestine military flight that helped Moti avoid extradition to Australia. But under charges by Somare that it was biased and a political witch hunt, PNG’s Defence Minister Martin Aini was forced to scuttle its work. And in a further dramatic move, the Defence Minister has now been sacked. In an interview with me last week, Somare stated that he believed there was a political motive behind the charges that he helped Moti escape PNG, despite the latter being arrested by Australian Federal Police on child sex charges: These are allegations. You have to understand there are people in this country … including some Australians too, who don't want to see me be the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea because it is going to be difficult for them to get anything they want. And all I want to say is that I never helped Moti in this particular case. I did my best, I had the advice, and I allowed the process of court to take its course, and that is where it stops. I don't give directions. I only give directions to the Chief Secretary. He is the Chief Advisor to government. He then directs his public servants, and that is where the buck stops. … there are people around who are pushing that particular issue because there are elections coming up — I am not that stupid. Somare is running for re-election in national elections, expected to take place in June. In the last few days, Moti himself has claimed that he will sue the Howard Government over the child sex allegations, which were thrown out of a Vanuatu court in 1999. The affair reveals much about relations between Australia and our northern neighbors. Take the Solomon Islands, for example. The Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare recently claimed that Canberra was operating a ‘parallel government’ in his country — hitting back after Australia’s Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Sogavare was trying to destroy the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), and after Downer took out ads in local papers, calling on Solomon Islanders to stand by RAMSI and reject attempts to re-arm the police. Sogavare accused Canberra of dirty tactics, and circumventing correct diplomatic procedure in writing to the local papers. Is this the way Pacific relations are to be played out? Has Australia decided to strong arm Pacific Island nations, and to hell with the consequences? Or could it be, as some suggest, that Moti was going to point the finger of blame at Australian police for the riots in Honiara? Speaking from the coastal town of Wewak in PNG last week, Prime Minister Somare did little to dispel the accusation that Australia has taken on a colonial attitude to our Pacific neighbours. Speaking passionately about the need for Pacific countries to be run by their own people, Somare launched a scathing attack on Canberra: We are running a country, we are a government, we are an institution that is established, and we have run those institutions from the beginning … and now 32 years after independence, we’re running things the way we believe it can be run, and it is our society. We know the problems associated with our people, and we believe if we have an Australian there as an advisor, we will accept him there as an advisor … But to come in and tell us we are weak and we cannot perform … you are not giving us a challenge to try and see the education that you have instilled in the minds of the Papua New Guineans. You are not allowing us to make that work. And suddenly you are coming up and telling us that you know better, that you can do better than us … Work side by side. And help Papua New Guineans to progress … Allow the independent sovereign people decide for themselves what they need for their country. As to Downer’s claims that, as PNG’s biggest contributor of aid, Australia had a right to a say in PNG’s affairs, Somare raised serious questions about the intent and effectiveness of Australian aid: That 800 million [dollars in Australian aid], if you work it out, if you look at the consultancies you pay the Australians, if you break that down … 300 million is actually the grant in aid. The rest is Australian-paid, Australian-controlled programs. They pay their highly paid consultants, they put them in big compounds with high salaries and after six minutes past four everyone goes out of their office and doesn’t stay and collect all the routine matters that need to be tidied up … But I think that ‘Australian aid song’ that Australian voters are being told is not correct. You can work out that almost half of the money, almost two thirds of the money goes back to Australian pockets … As the first leader of PNG after independence, Somare has a long political memory. He is vocal about Australia’s treatment of his people after World War II, during the fight for independence, and today. If I go back to my experience on how we were treated, people talk about South Africa. But young people of Papua New Guinea really don’t know — when we had former Australian expatriates who settled in our plantations, the race relationship was worse … But in PNG, we will sit over these things … The racism that was practised in this country, Papua New Guineans never talk about it. We want to leave these bad things — these bad deeds of others — behind, and progress on. Historically, PNG has always had a role in Australia’s defence, and the depiction of the Pacific as ‘failed states’ for the last few years must be read in this context. While the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and other so-called ‘independent’ think tanks continue to depict Pacific Island nations as on the verge of collapse and overrun by criminals, this can also be read as diplomatic talk that camouflages not just ‘strategic’ but defence rationale. As Hugh White, one time Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Intelligence in Australia’s Defence Department, and former head of ASPI, said of Australia’s Pacific policy in 2004: I think this is more than a passing fad. It has deep roots in Australia’s basic strategic instincts — going back to Alfred Deakin and other early Australian strategists — about the importance of these islands to Australia’s security. And it reflects important long term changes in Australian perceptions of our interests and responsibilities in the region. The Australian Government’s rhetoric about failed States and ‘the arc of instability’ comes from a security agenda that requires these nations to be depicted as constantly on the brink of chaos. John Howard has referred to ‘an inherently unstable situation’ in PNG — but the cry in the region is: Who is creating the instability, and who benefits? There has been a coup in Fiji, unrest, ‘outside influences’ and ‘shadowy forces’ in East Timor, riots in the Solomons and in Tonga. And this is not just a Liberal Party pre-occupation. Robert McLelland, Shadow Defence Minister indicated in 2006 that Labor under Kevin Rudd would maintain the current direction of ‘hands on’ administration of the Pacific. [LINK: http://www.aspi.org.au/events/recentEventDetail.aspx?eid=234] Recent comments from the leader of both PNG and the Solomon Islands indicate, however, that they are not happy about the intrusive nature of the Australian ‘Pacific Policy.’ Somare talks of ‘the West, maybe fearing China,’ in reference to the new economic player in the region. PNG, has inked a $1billion dollar agreement with Chinese company Metallurgical Group Corp (MCC) for the Ramu nickel project — the largest such project with the Chinese in the region. Despite disquiet over labour conditions at the mine, as well as allegations that his former Ambassador to China facilitated illegal entry of Chinese citizens into the country, Somare says they are small problems of ‘public relations’ and unsubstantiated allegations: China has been a good partner to us. Since we established our diplomatic relations they have not been very forceful. They do not tell us ‘because we have a big investment in PNG, you should follow our laws and regulations.’ No. We have a better understanding. There is proper dialogue, and in a South East Asian context it’s understanding each other that counts most. As to concerns that cosy bilateral relations with a country the USA calls their ‘peer competitor’ might lead to further unwanted scrutiny from Canberra, Somare maintains it is simply about business: We want to stay a neutral country. We do not want the ideologies of West and East, even though it has died out. And China becoming powerful, very powerful economically, they will create it into an economic ideology. And we don’t want to fight the war. We are friends and I said before ‘We want to be friends — and enemy to none’ … I think that all the countries of the world … fear China, but I personally don’t see any reason why we should. If we control ourselves, and maintain and sustain ourselves well, I don’t see a reason why we should be fearful of Chinese control. Whether or not Somare is returned in the PNG elections, the current machinations in the Pacific will continue. Attempts by Australia to discredit those that challenge Canberra’s heavy-handed tactics will only further tarnish our image in the region. Sir Michael Somare fought for PNG’s independence 32 years ago. At 70, he should not have to remind Canberra to respect his country’s sovereignty — and his people. The Australian Government must be careful to respect the sovereignty of our nearest neighbours or risk the charge of ‘colonial interference’ being leveled at every Australian action in the region.

About the author

Maryann Keady is a freelance radio journalist. Her interview with Sir Michael Somare can be heard at www.asia2025.net.