Pacific Beat

In rugby-mad PNG, Melbourne Storm player Justin Olam is being hailed a legend, after earning his spot in the history books by becoming just the fourth Papua New Guinean to be part of a winning NRL grand final team. His parents tell the ABC they're proud of their son, who they say has helped 'give PNG a good name'.

An investigation into an accident involving an Air Vanuatu flight is critical of the airline's emergency training procedures for pilots and cabin crew.

There's some concern over the extent of influence the Australian government could gain from a security hub to be based in Vanuatu, that will gather sensitive intelligence on some of the Pacific's biggest security problems, and Solomon Islands' legal authorities are drafting charges to be laid against those they say are responsible, after a marine board inquiry found the crew of ship MV Taimarheho, from which 27 people were washed overboard earlier this year, operated in unsafe manner.

An Australian-backed intelligence hub that will begin operating out of Vanuatu next year is being touted as the key to strengthening Pacific security but there is some concern over the extent of influence the Australian government could gain from the centre, that will gather sensitive intelligence on some of the region's biggest security problems.

Legal officials in Solomon Islands say they're drafting charges to be laid against those responsible for the death of 27 people who were washed overboard in April during a government COVID-19 repatriation trip.

Critics of this year's Pacific Music Awards say the fact that the overwhelming majority of nominees were Polynesian highlights a broader issue that many Melanesian and Micronesian people face in Australia and New Zealand: that they are often overlooked or lumped into the one label that they don't identify with.

A new report from Australia's Burnet Institute has found that girls in the Pacific aged between 15 to 19 are twice as likely as boys to suffer illness, and in extreme cases death, as a result of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

An NGO working in the Australian state of Queensland says there has been a spike in out-of-work Pacific islanders and New Zealanders during the COVID-19 economic slowdown, because they're not entitled to most Australian welfare. But we meet one PNG woman, who was at risk of being made homeless, who's been able to get back on her feet.

There have been reports of a spike in out-of-work Pacific islanders and New Zealanders during the COVID-19 pandemic because they're not entitled to most Australian welfare, but we meet one woman from PNG, who was at risk of being made homeless, and conservationists in Solomon Islands are trying to stop the endangered Santa Cruz Ground Dove from becoming extinct, and they're relying on a collection of birds that authorities intercepted from illegal wildlife exporters.

The Australian government is being urged to introduce a new visa system that would enable Pacific islanders to relocate permanently to Australia to help manage the impact of climate change, and a proposal that would see the Vanuatu government take over seasonal worker recruitment to Australia and New Zealand is heavily criticised.