New Zealand free TV initiative to expand viewing choice across Pacific

Mr Key told reporters he was hopeful a consensus could be reached at the forum but said ultimately climate change action was dependent on much bigger players such China, India and the United States stepping up to the plate in Paris.

PAPUA New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill is pleased with Fiji’s return to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS).

New Zealand would also support Pacific broadcasters with additional technical assistance and training to help create more local content.

The leaders issued a unanimous special declaration on climate change demanding the world limit the global warming temperature increase to 1.5C and that countries uphold the principle of polluter pays. The report claims that the policies of the Australian and New Zealand governments are “threatening the very survival of some Pacific nations” by failing to guarantee emissions targets that would prevent a global temperature rise of two degrees Celsius, which experts say is the threshold for preventing irreversible climate change.

Tuvalu Prime Minister Sopoaga said, “We’re simply seeking for the rights of small island states to survive”, he said.

Tong said that it would be a “betrayal” if Australia forced any compromise on the 1.5C target at the forum, which is being held in Port Moresby this week. In a compelling statement, he said: “The last option for my country is to migrate to another nation” – A real prospect, as any further rise in level of the sea will drown his country.

“We’re very serious about what we are doing in New Zealand”, he said, citing the country’s expansion of renewable energy and commitment to an emissions trading scheme and research on climate change.

Palau President Tommy Remengesau acknowledged that the small island states’ declaration may not be popular with the entire PIF membership, alluding to Australia.

Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has blamed his decision to boycott the event squarely on Australia’s climate change inaction in a personal letter to Mr O’Neill.

Australia and New Zealand are the economic powerhouses among the 16 nations making up the Pacific Islands Forum.

Traditional dancers perform for the official opening of the Pacific Islands Forum in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, onTuesday. Already Kiribati has asked the region’s two largest nations to “come to the party” and look after the future of smaller Pacific nations, according to Anote Tong.

Key said now the Pacific has access to about 11 hours a week of free-to-air coverage and with an ageing population it made sense Pacific Islanders would want more news and sport available.