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Oct 17, 2024 | 
lowyinstitute.org | Meg Keen
Australia has just released its long anticipated Humanitarian Policy that aims to shape a world “where humanitarian assistance is needed far less often”. It is a welcome initiative, but to achieve its priorities, more whole-of-community engagement and ambition is required. Around the world, political and environmental crises are taking an ever-increasing toll on lives, livelihoods and even national viability.
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Oct 1, 2024 | 
lowyinstitute.org | Meg Keen
This article also appears in Harris 1.0, a collection of essays written by Lowy Institute experts imagining the implications of a Harris administration, to be published this week. A companion series, Trump 2.0, was published in August.
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Jun 5, 2024 | 
samoaobserver.ws | Stephen Howes |Mika Kelekolio |Meg Keen |Terence Wood
When I walk through the busy streets of our town in Samoa, I see something that makes me sad. Many kids, some as young as eight, are selling things like fruits, vegetables, and crafts. These kids should be in school, not working on the streets. Education is very important. As a high school student, I know how much we learn in school. School helps us get ready for the future. It gives us a chance to have better jobs and a better life. But the kids who are selling on the streets are missing this chance.
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Jun 2, 2024 | 
lowyinstitute.org | Meg Keen
Australians believe China now has more influence than Australia in the Pacific islands. One third of Australians rate China as the most influential player in the region, according to the Lowy Institute Poll 2024. That is slightly more than those who think Australia has the most sway. Polls of Pacific islanders support this view and offer further insight. A recent ANU survey in Samoa asked which country had the most influence in the Pacific.
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Apr 9, 2024 | 
lowyinstitute.org | Meg Keen
With a week to go before voters take to the polls on 17 April, election campaigns in Solomon Islands are in full swing with 334 candidates vying for 50 seats (only 21 candidates are women, so they will be under-represented again). There’s a lot of speculation, as always, about who will win but less about why these elections matter for democracy. Dr Tarcisius Kabutaulaka, a Solomon Islands expert, has referred to these elections as the “most important to Solomon Islands since independence”.
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Mar 11, 2024 | 
theguardian.com | Meg Keen |Mihai Sora
A dysfunctional US Congress finally got its act together and approved a $7bn funding package for three Pacific nations. After years of negotiations and more recently, months of delay by US lawmakers, Congress late Friday cleared the way for the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and Palau to renew the Compacts of Free Association (Cofa) agreements that fund critical services for the next two decades, and keep open a special migration pathway to the US.
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Mar 7, 2024 | 
samoaobserver.ws | Meg Keen |Alan Tidwell |Ben Scott |Enid Westerlund
On 4th and 5th March 2024 respectively, the 2nd Session of the 14th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the 2nd Session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) opened in Beijing. They are often called the “National Two Sessions” and held every Spring. The NPC is China’s supreme organ of state power. Its permanent body is the Standing Committee.
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Mar 7, 2024 | 
samoaobserver.ws | Enid Westerlund |Meg Keen |Alan Tidwell |Ben P Scott
Samoa joins the global celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD) with this year's theme, “Invest in women: Accelerate progress”. IWD is an annual event that takes place on the 8th of March and is commemorated worldwide. It is crucial, especially in Samoa's unique context, to acknowledge the pivotal role that investing in women plays in advancing gender equality.
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Mar 5, 2024 | 
samoaobserver.ws | Enid Westerlund |Meg Keen |Alan Tidwell |Amrita Jash
A recent article in the Australian Financial Review on the urgent “parachuting” of Chinese technicians to a troubled lithium processing plant in Western Australia has highlighted China’s significant advantages in the processing of critical minerals. However, the piece failed to emphasise China’s vital and, at least in the short term, almost irreplaceable role in the field of critical minerals processing – a factor that cannot be overlooked without incurring considerable costs.
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Feb 28, 2024 | 
samoaobserver.ws | Enid Westerlund |Meg Keen |Alan Tidwell |Ben P Scott
Have you driven home after work, you follow one car and the next minute you’re seeing trash flying out like it’s no one’s business? First, it’s a Twisties wrapper and then a Coke can. Or you have been the culprit throwing the trash out? Forget the MNRE campaigns or any other NGO recycling and environmental advertisements. We are like people who watch something, say “Oh! This is good”, then have dementia the next minute. When are people going to stop littering?
