Pacific Beat

On the program: The ABC can reveal police want to interview the head of PNG's defence force as part of a fraud and anti-corruption investigation, and an Australian school sticks by its strict hair policy that's been labelled discriminatory by some, after a young boy of Cook Islands heritage was told his long hair would have to be cut.

On the program: New Zealand's evacuation of its citizens and Pacific islanders from the coronavirus epicentre is finally underway, and Australian health experts say there's been an alarming increase in the number of migrants from Asia and the Pacific with early signs of oral cancer.

Health experts are warning about the devastating consequences of chewing an illegal tropical nut with dentists across Australia reporting an alarming spike in oral cancer symptoms associated with the product.

After weeks living in virtual lockdown, New Zealanders and it's believed some Pacific islanders and Australians, are now on their way out of the Chinese city of Wuhan, which is the centre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak — but not all Pacific nationals who wanted to leave were able to get on the flight.

Police in Vanuatu have been accused of blaming victims of sexual assault, after a senior member urged women not to stay out late or walk alone.

Dozens of Pacific Islanders are hoping they'll be evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan over the next 24 hours by a New Zealand charter flight that's expected to touch down in the city that's the epicentre of the global coronavirus outbreak — but there's confusion over who will get a spot on the special NZ flight, or another Australian flight that's also expected to touch down in the city today.

On the program: PNG's energy Minister sends a clear message to one of the world's largest oil and gas companies ExxonMobil, accusing it of trying to exploit his country's economic weakness, and amid the escalating fears around the coronavirus, a prominent Pacific food identity defends a Chinese woman who's been the target of online abuse because she ate fruit bat soup -- in Palau.

A prominent food identity says Pacific Islanders would also be offended by the torrent of online abuse that's been directed at a Chinese woman because she ate fruit bat soup.

On the program: More Pacific borders are closed to travellers coming from China as fears spread about the risk posed by the deadly coronavirus, and it may be illegal in the Pacific but can cannabis sativa be a future agriculture crop for the region? A Chinese company thinks so and has signed a deal to research hemp production.

The World Health Organisation says every Pacific country should be "preparing for the possibility of importation" of the coronavirus. But the recent measles crisis, in which more than 80 people died in Samoa and cases were recorded in several other countries too, has meant they're more ready than they might have been.