The Northern Territory Government of Australia has announced a temporary ban on seabed mining in its coastal waters until 2015.  ACT NOW! and the Pacific Network on Globalisation are calling on all Pacific Island Governments to follow the leadership of the NT Government and announce a similar ban in the Pacific.

There is a new environmental and human rights catestrophy looming in the Pacific and we need to stop it happening!

Experimental seabed mining is being pushed by foreign companies despite the risks of an environmental disaster and the fact it is not a sustainable development option for indigenous peoples.

Civil society groups across the Pacific, inclusing ACT NOW!, are calling on our leaders to slow down on this dangerous and untried new industry - but we need YOUR support. 

Ahead of this years National election in Vanuatu, MP Ralph Regenvanu has published the full details of how he has spent almost 10m vatu in public funds allocated to him over the past four years.

The details of how he has used the public funds allocated to him as an MP are being published both on his party website and in large posters.

By Effrey Dademo, ACT NOW! Program Manager

SOPAC, a division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), is pushing ahead with a European Union funded project to promote experimental deep-sea mining in the Pacific region without first consulting with communities about whether this form of mining is environmentally, socially or economically appropriate.

The campaign to prevent environmental damage from experimental deep-sea mining has gone global, reflecting the mounting worldwide concern about this new form of mineral extraction.

Care2, an on-line community of more than 17 million people, has launched an on-line petition [1] asking the United Nations to stop experimental deep-sea mining until the potential impacts are known.

The petition has attracted more than 10,000 signatures in just a few days - more than double its original target of 5,000 - and it is still growing.

By Effrey Dademo

The Deep Sea Minerals Project of the SPC (Secretariat of the Pacific Community) disenfranchises indigenous people and promotes the interests of big mining companies at the expense of local communitiies.

Pacific civil society is calling on all non-government organisations and concerned citizens to help support a petition on experimental seabed mining at a crucial time in the Pacific. 

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) in collaboration with the Government of Fiji and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) SOPAC Division is currently hosting an International Workshop on the Exploitation of Deep Sea Minerals, from 29 November to 2 December 2011. 

Police rapes girl

A GRADE six student in Madang was allegedly raped by a policeman last Thursday, but despite complaints laid by the girl’s relatives, the suspect is still out and free without being charged or detained.

Father and uncle of the girl yesterday expressed their disappointment to this paper saying despite an official complaint being lodged last Friday, police in Madang were yet to detain the policeman concerned.

The future of Papua New Guinean bloggers and online campaign organizations hang in the balance as the US Congress debates a law that will give them the power to heavily censor the world’s internet.

More than 2,000 emails have been sent to the government over the last five days calling for a suspension of logging within disputed Special Agriculture lease areas.

“This response to is the biggest we have ever seen to an on-line petition”, says Effrey Dademo, Program Manager for ACT NOW! “People from all over the world have been getting involved”.