Pacific Beat

An Australian mining company has apologised for the small houses it has built for villagers who'll be relocated to make way for its gold mine on a remote island in PNG.

A violent attack on a gold-medal winning athlete has sparked outrage about domestic violence in the country, prompting the country's Prime Minister to urge men to respect women and girls and not use violence, writing "if you want to build a better and safer country, let us build a better and safer home. It all starts at the home".

On the program: A violent attack on a PNG gold-medal winning athlete Debbie Kaore has sparked outrage about domestic violence and the PNG PM has called on his countrymen to respect women and admonished those who say domestic violence is cultural and an Australian woman who became a leading Bougainville matriarch, Merilyn Havini, has today been recognised in this year's Queen's Birthday honours, as has veteran ABC journalist Sean Dorney.

An Australian woman who became a leading Bougainville matriarch, Merilyn Havini, has been recognised in this year's Queen's Birthday honours, while veteran ABC journalist Sean Dorney has been made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his "distinguished service to Australia-PNG relations".

The Dutch historian and author Rutger Bregman has responded to backlash from the Pacific Islander community about the re-telling of the story about six Tongan boys who were shipwrecked more than 50 years ago, but survived for 15 months on a deserted island. It was accused of lacking lacked Pacific context and he admits that he 'could have done better'.

On the program: There are calls for an investigation into the death of a woman who died two months ago after being discharged from a rural hospital in Papua New Guinea, days after the government declared its COVID-19 State of Emergency and why environmental organisations are turning to faith groups to help spread the message about the need to protect the region's extremely rich biodiversity.

From its oceans and reefs to its forests and highlands, the biodiversity of the Pacific is rich – in fact the main island of New Guinea for example is estimated to account for 5 per cent of the world's species - despite only make up 1 per cent of world's land area. But climate change, deforestation and urbanisation are taking a toll. Environmental organisations are now turning to the well respected Church groups to champion the protection of the region's natural beauty.

Several new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the Pacific this week; but they were imported cases, which raises some questions as to how Pacific nations, wanting to reopen their borders to tourists, will handle such a risk.

There have been calls for an investigation into the death of Dora Nugi a woman who died two months ago after being discharged from a rural hospital in Papua New Guinea. The hospital denies that it was responsible for the death.

On the program: New figures out this week paint a dire picture for Pacific businesses, with nearly 80 per cent reporting a significant decline in revenue and most don't expect them to return to pre-COVID levels until 2021 at the earliest, and some Pacific craftsmen and women are now creating new products, to sell to local customers while they wait for international borders to reopen and tourists, who normally buy their wares.