Kiribati’s pro-China government faces test as election begins
Climate change, living costs and China ties in focus as president Taneti Maamau seeks to extend his tenure in the Pacific country
July 2024
Seascape: the state of our oceans
Inside the battle for top job that will decide the future of deep-sea mining
Mapped: the vast network of security deals spanning the Pacific, and what it means
March 2024
Australian-born judge challenges deportation from Kiribati amid long-running judicial crisis
David Lambourne may be forced out of the Pacific nation if he loses challenge to president Taneti Maamau’s attempt to sack him
September 2023
Pacific project
Mining once made this Pacific island unliveable, now residents fear its return
Australian mining company puts Banaba exploration plan on hold amid islanders’ concerns their phosphate-rich homeland may again be exploited
June 2023
Seascape: the state of our oceans
The rising ocean will extinguish more than land. It will kill entire languages
Anastasia Riehl
As communities are displaced their native tongues wither, but it’s not too late to intervene, says linguist Anastasia Riehl
February 2023
Australia news live
Queensland to trial GPS tracker for child offenders – as it happened
This blog is now closed
January 2023
Pacific project
Kiribati to return to Pacific Islands Forum at vital moment for regional diplomacy
Fiji’s prime minister confirmed Kiribati would be rejoining the group after he met with president Taneti Maamau
November 2022
China holds talks on policing with Pacific island officials
Two countries said their police chiefs were unable to attend video meeting chaired by Chinese and Solomon Islands ministers
‘No safe place’: Kiribati seeks donors to raise islands from encroaching seas
Pacific state needs billions for its ambitious plan – its president demands wealthy nations act to help now
Before it is lost
No more drinking water, little food: our island is a field of bones
Katerina Teaiwa
Banaba in the central Pacific is a microcosm of what has happened to this planet. It’s a place that cannot be brought back into balance without focused and collaborative care
October 2022
The Pacific project
Record support during Covid and declining funding from China: what new data on Pacific aid reveals
The Pacific project
Kiribati controversy as attorney general becomes acting chief justice
September 2022
The Pacific project
Kiribati left without high-level court after president suspends three appeal judges
The decision worsens the constitutional crisis plaguing the Pacific country, which also suspended a high court judge last month
August 2022
The Pacific project
Court lashes Kiribati government over treatment of Australian-born judge
Kiribati’s court of appeal said government’s latest bid to deport high court justice David Lambourne on national security grounds was ‘far-fetched’
The Pacific project
Australian-born judge released from immigration detention in Kiribati, after being held overnight
David Lambourne, who serves on the high court of Kiribati, was detained on Thursday after a failed attempt by the Kiribati government to deport him
The Pacific project
Kiribati constitutional crisis deepens as it detains Australian-born high court justice
Judge David Lambourne was detained after a failed bid to deport him, which he called a ‘devastating assault on the rule of law’ in Kiribati
July 2022
CSIRO joins deep-sea mining project in Pacific as islands call for industry halt
Agency to lead consortium in scheme targeting battery materials while conservationists say Australia on ‘wrong side of debate’
The Pacific project
Power struggle with China and regional rift in focus as Anthony Albanese heads to Pacific Islands forum
Absence of Kiribati from the meeting is ‘really devastating’ to the body’s long-term strategy, security expert says
The Pacific project
China influenced Kiribati exit from Pacific Islands Forum, MP claims
Opposition leader calls withdrawal from PIF an ‘extreme move’ and claims the reasons offered by Kiribati’s president were just excuses