Pacific Beat

Vanuatu's Labour Commissioner says workers from her country stand ready to help farmers who have sustained extensive damage in Australia's current bushfire crisis.

Alarm bells are being rung about a black sand mining project in Fiji, that critics say has taken place without proper community input. Activists have linked the controversial practice, that involves dredging sand that has high-mineral content, to environmental and marine life damage.

On the program: Pacific friends step up and lend a hand in Australia's time of need as the country's bushfire rages on, with 100 PNG defence personnel flying into Australia today, and people in Vanuatu's north fight for recognition of bungee jumping's roots, after new laws aimed at protecting cultural knowledge were passed.

Indigenous groups in Vanuatu want compensation from bungee operators who were inspired to create the sport after watching traditional Nagol ceremonies. The issue now has now been inscribed into Vanuatu's laws, with a bill to protect Vanuatu's traditional knowledge passed last month.

On the program: We chat to PNG correspondent Natalie Whiting about the 100 Papua New Guinea Defence Force personnel who will travel to Australia to help fight the bushfires. And we hear about Solomon Islands soccer player Atkin Kaua who has set off for Malta.

On the program: As Samoa continues to reel from the measles epidemic, we speak to the Chairman of the ASA Foundation that provides support for grieving families, the country also has its first amusement park, and we speak to owner Tupa'i Bruno Loyale about its controversial past.

On the program: With David Kabua becoming the new president of Marshall Islands, we speak to newly elected MP Kitlang Kabua, and to owners of a Fijian cafe that donating a day's profits to Australia's bushfire relief.

On the program: As the bushfires continue to burn across Australia, we speak to a seasonal worker from Vanuatu had to abandon his camp near Batlow to escape the approaching blaze, Palau celebrates its National Marine Sanctuary the came into being on New Year's Day, and Vanuatu will have access to a so-called "mobile wallet", allowing them to spend and save digitally.

On the program: An anti-slavery campaigner in Australia says there needs to be a joint investigation into all fatalities of seasonal workers from the Pacific, following the death of one man from southern New South Wales, the brown tree snake has descimated Guam's forests, and work is underway to repopulate areas, and The Kiribati Government has partnered with the Young Architects Competition in the hope of finding a creative solution to rising sea levels.

On the program: The latest on Tropical Cyclone Sarai as it’s downgraded to a Category 1 cyclone and, what are the new laws that come into effect in the Pacific in the new year?