Geopolitical flex in the Pacific
Despite calls for a focus on unity and climate change, it’s been hard to get past the geopolitical machinations surrounding the Pacific Islands Forum
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Wednesday, July 13, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: law changes to tackle gangs to be announced today; fixed price agreed to for stadium; schools get their equity index number; but first, US vice president address at Pacific Islands Forum a “diplomatic coup”.
US vice president Kamala Harris will address Pacific Islands Forum leaders (Photo: RNZ/AFP)
Geo-political flex in the darndest places
I started writing this morning’s Bulletin as an explainer on Kiribati’s withdrawal from the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) but with 87 browser tabs now open, it’s become something of a deep dive into the geopolitical threads feeding into that story. Here’s a good explainer nonetheless. I somehow ended up on the US Navy League’s website and while it’s not quite on the same level as the US flying four nuclear-capable stealth bombers to Brisbane this week, I discovered you can find geo-political muscle being flexed in the darndest places. Kiribati is currently experiencing a drought and the US coast guard helped deliver drinking water there last week. This story from the US Navy League about the water delivery notes the importance of the gesture at a time when China is seeking to “have greater influence in Oceania”.
Claims that Kiribati’s withdrawal from PIF influenced by China
Kiribati’s opposition leader Tessie Lambourne has made the claim that Kiribati’s withdrawal from the forum was driven by pressure from China. The Chinese foreign ministry has denied the allegations, calling them "groundless". There were earlier reports from Reuters about China trying to host a video meeting with 10 nations it wants to sign a multilateral pact with on July 14, the final day of the PIF leaders meeting. Back in June, the ABC reported that the US and China were set to be excluded from PIF to avoid “distraction”. In recent decades PIF has held a separate in-person meeting with dialogue partners like the US and China during the leaders' week.
US vice president Kamala Harris to address forum leaders
Reporting on the news that US vice president Kamala Harris would be addressing forum leaders, 1 News’ Barbara Dreaver noted that post-dialogue meetings with non-PIF members had indeed been cancelled at the forum this year. While Harris is appearing virtually, it still, as Dreaver says, makes Harris’ address something of a diplomatic coup. A raft of commitments to the Pacific have been announced ahead of the address including the establishment of embassies in Kiribati and Tonga, tripling the funding for economic development and ocean resilience, the appointment of the first-ever US envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum, and developing a new US national strategy on the Pacific.
One of the world's most vulnerable nations to climate change
Many leaders at PIF, including Jacinda Ardern, have said they don’t want Kiribati’s withdrawal to distract from a forum that was meant to be focused on unity and the very real impacts of climate change on countries like Kiribati. But even the exercise of pulling on threads for this morning’s Bulletin reveals enormous complexity and inevitable distraction, which is a real shame. In an interview with Stuff’s Sapeer Mayron about efforts to preserve the Kiribati language (it’s Kiribati language week this week), Charles Enoka Kiata talks about his concerns about the impact of climate change on the country. Kiribati is widely acknowledged as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the impacts of sea level rise caused by climate change.
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Announcement on laws to tackle gangs to be announced today
As the Herald’s Jared Savage reports this morning (paywalled) a legal loophole is set to be closed by amending the "threatening act" offence to cover all situations where a firearm is discharged with the intent to intimidate. Currently it is an offence to intimidate someone by firing a gun, but only if the person pulling the trigger is inside the same dwelling as the victim meaning something like drive-by shooting is not a threatening act. The package will be announced by police minister Chris Hipkins and justice minister Kiritapu Allan this morning. As Savage writes, a ban on gang members wearing patches in public is unlikely.
Fixed price of $683m set for Christchurch stadium build
A decision will be made by Christchurch City Council on Thursday on whether to proceed with plans to build Te Kaha, the Christchurch stadium. Ahead of that decision the council announced yesterday that a fixed price has been negotiated with the project’s lead contractor for its completion. The price is still $150m more than the figure in the planned budget. I listened to RNZ’s The Panel last night which included former mayor of Christchurch, Garry Moore. Moore thinks the council needs to get someone without a vested interest in the council finances to look at the numbers. 77% of the submissions made during the council’s recent consultation were supportive of the project going ahead despite it costing the average property owner $144 a year between 2025 and 2027.
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Schools get their equity index number
The government committed $300m in this year’s budget to implementing the system that will replace the school decile system. The equity index is that replacement and is designed to identify and respond to socio-economic barriers to student achievement so resources can be better allocated. As Stuff’s Katarina Williams reports schools now know what their equity index number is. The index runs from numbers 344 to 569. The higher the number, the higher the socio-economic disadvantage. Williams has also written an explainer on the system, which I definitely needed. As RNZ’s John Gerritsen writes there are some concerns from schools that the numbers may still be used as a proxy for school quality, which was one of the problems with the decile numbers.
Click and collect
OCR picked to rise to 2.5% today, but commentators say the impact on interest rates may not be significant.
You may have seen the first image from the US$10b James Webb space telescope but have you seen the cosmic cliffs? More images from the depths of space and time.
Newsroom's Jo Moir has a good in depth interview with the minister for all things rural, Kieran McAnulty.
Publication of the independent review into Arise Church delayed by temporary non-publication order
Former mayor of Wellington, Sir Michael Fowler has died, aged 92.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz
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