Category Archives: English

A Not Warm Enough Brisbane

By Wan Ulfa Nur Zuhra

Brisbane River | Photo by: Lovina Soenmi

“That will be so much warmer there,” said few people in Melbourne when I told them that I will going to Brisbane.

At the beginning of September, winter has just ended in Australia, spring has been coming. The temperature is getting warmer every day. This is the perfect time to visit Australia, even for those who are not familiar with the cold temperatures like me, have to wear clothes that covered enough.

I spent ten days in Melbourne, a week for leadership training, and three days for Mining and Resource Reporting Workshop. Then move to Brisbane—Capital city of Queensland—for Digital Journalism workshop. It is a part of Mining, Media, and Development Workshop held by the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre (APJC), followed by 11 journalists from Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Solomon Island. Workshop will last for five weeks.

Erick Eklund, Professor of History, Monash University sedang memberikan materi tentang Mining in Australia Society | Dok. APJC

In Melbourne, all of the fellows stay at Quest Carlton on Finlay, an apartment that is close enough to downtown Melbourne. When flying to Brisbane, we were allowed to leave some items in the Quest, because later we will return to the apartment.

When packing, the phrase “that will be so much warmer there” kept ringing. Finally I decided to leave all my jackets in Quest.

Arrived at Brisbane International Airport, we were greeted by sunshine, which is not warm, it was windy. Similarly, the next day, which I did not bring a jacket, had to withstand the cold the same as Melbourne. I do not (probably not yet) find the ‘so much warmer ‘ Brisbane.

What kind of Iraq are we leaving behind?

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By Daniel Santopietro

A key issue that really got my attention at the eTour was the way in which Iraq was developing as a nation ten years after the invasion. I found it fascinating to hear from everyone who spoke about the war, the turbulent times Iraq was going through, and fascinating to hear from people who fled Iraq. This was something that got me interested in reporting on the development challenges that Iraq still faces today. In doing further research for my piece I stumbled upon a speech given by United States President Barack Obama back in late 2011. This was a period of final withdrawal of troops in the country, and while he acknowledged that Iraq was not the perfect place, he went on to say “we’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq.” From the topics that were being discussed on Saturday at the eTour, I knew like many others that this was simply not the case.

The message that I kept hearing throughout the day from the speakers was a country that was going through a really difficult period, and was struggling. While Iraq is mentioned on some news outlets, here and there, the international media disappeared after the final withdraw. I had read the likes of Janine Di Giovanni on the experiences she has had reporting on conflicts especially in Iraq, but as an independent journalist, Donna Mulhearn really opened my eyes up to the situation in Iraq. As a journalist myself, I find it courageous what Donna has done and achieved while in Iraq, in the face of violence she goes out there and reports on the challenges that are facing the country.

I now know more than what I had before about Iraq. I knew however deep down, that the country was still unsafe, but at the same time I had been hoping that the lack of media attention on the country had meant that the country had been steadily progressing politically, economically and socially. This is an area that through my radio report, I wanted people to hear and understand. The eTour has been, by no doubt a very good insight into the country, and as a journalist, I found it incredible that Iraq is not to be forgotten. All the speakers were excellent, and in my opinion they all see hope for the country, if not in the short term than in the long term. It is a very fascinating topic to discuss. Attending the eTour has made me realise that there is more for Iraq, there is more to discuss and report about, and I am to return to the topic of Iraq and report on its progress as a nation.

Businesses in Lae affected from recent uprising

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Retail specials courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Recent ethnic uprising in Lae had severly affected businesses in Papua New Guinea’s second capital last month.

Petty crimes had caused anger amongst locals resulting in some deaths and business houses forced to close up in fear of their property being looted by opportunists.

Police were deployed from Port Moresby and Southern Highlands to beef up police numbers to contain the situation.

However a law and order committee has been set up who are working closely with ethnic representatives in the province to ensure that all comply with measures put in place by provincial and national government.

In light of this events, companies saw a down fall in production and sales takings for at least a week last month with major companies as Coca Cola.

It is unlikely that a better resolution will be made to resolve to this long-standing issue as a result of street-vendors selling items in parts of the street and at the same time involving in petty crimes as bag snatching, rape and alcohol related problems.

This now falls back on the local authorities part to come up with informed decisions to stamp out such social problems once and for all as Lae is still Papua New Guinea’s economic hub that produces up to sixty percent of the country’s economic income.

Are you experiencing similar problems in your country, province, town, village? or What are some ways that we can develop to rid off regionalism and work for the better?

Learning Climate Change in Five Weeks

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The Reporting Climate Change and the Environment Workshop organised by the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre was a good experience for me personally as I got to meet other journalists from around the region, share stories and experiences, talk to the scientists and experts involved in organisations concerned with the issue of climate change and visit some of the sites within Melbourne and Tasmania.

The first week was quite effective in helping us to prepare for the four weeks ahead, involving personal and leadership skills. I discovered a lot about my personality and how I do things at work. Also learning about how to manage stress and how to become a better negotiator by influencing others at work. I also found that mentoring skills were useful to resolve problems I might be dealing with at work.

During the second week I was nervous as I didn’t know what to expect discussing climate change but Philip Chubb was quite helpful in providing a basic introduction into the topic first by telling us about Australia’s position on climate change with the passing of Australia’s legislation in parliament on carbon tax. Also guest speakers from The Age, Oxfam, the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility and Monash University gave a better insight into climate change effects happening globally and ways to report it.

The visit to the Melbourne Zoo was enjoyable as we got to see the animals but were also informed of the conservation areas around the world and extinct species under protection programs. Going to the Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisation was quite eye opening and interesting as I got to learn about the science of climate change and being able to get a report on Samoa under the Pacific Climate Change Science Program which is something I would like to follow up when I get home.

By the second week I learned to create a blog and I found it a nifty way to get my news stories out there and is also a good way to keep in touch with the other fellows and get an update on what climate change stories they have written since the workshop.

More discussions followed on climate change during the following week with Phil Chubb before we had to prepare for Hobart. While in Tasmania we met Environment Editor for The Age, Adam Morton and visited Styx Valley. Also met Vica Bayley from the Wilderness Society and two representatives from REDD. Seeing firsthand what had been discussed at APJC, I got to see areas that had been logged and heard from Vica how they were trying to conserve some of the forests that were to be logged. The next day we visited the Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park and fed kangaroos which was fun! :)…We then continued on to Port Arthur and took the ferry to the Isle of the Dead to see a mark which measures sea level rise and according to John Hunter from the Institute for the Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania the sea level has risen by 13cm during a certain period since they conducted their research.

We also visited the Environmental Defenders Office to talk about the environmental policies in Tasmania and the Australia Antarctic Division which I found interesting how Dr Rob King explained how they were conducting a special research on krill from the Antarctic. The symposium at the University of Tasmania gave us all the opportunity to share the experience of reporting climate change within the Asia Pacific Region. I thought the group did really well in answering questions from the audience and they were just as impressed too. It was sad to leave Hobart as it was such a nice quiet place and we had seen so much but the memories will be with me always.

Returning back to APJC, we have one more week to go and this week will be assigned for work attachment. I have learnt so much during this workshop and am grateful to APJC, AusAid and Cherelle Jackson for this valuable opportunity.

Sea warming faster in Papua New Guinea

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Sea warming faster in Papua New Guinea

Anisah Issimel

: photo by: pbaitor

Papua New Guinea has experienced some of the fastest rates of sea level rise anywhere around the globe in the past twenty years.

Situated on the Western Pacific Ocean, the region has experienced fifteen centimetres of sea level rise since the early 1990’s.

Climate Change experts from the Intergovernmental Climate Change Panel in Australia revealed the rate of sea level rise in the country is three times faster than the average over the rest of the oceans.

This revelation was made recently by the experts whilst answering questions raised by the NBC reporter attending a training workshop on Climate Change Reporting for journalists from the Asia Pacific regions.

Questions raised include how much detriment sea level rise would be having on low lying areas in Papua New Guinea in the next twenty years.

The experts say it is important to understand why the increase in sea level rise in the region is much faster than the rest of the oceans.

They also explained that there are some well- known natural cycles in the tropical Pacific that may cause extra warming and faster sea level rise.

But scientists say they still do not know whether the recent rise in sea level is driven or caused by global warming, in which case it may continue, or whether it is part of a natural cycle, in which case further dramatic rise could be delayed.

However, what they can say now is that something between three and fifteen centimetres of further sea level rise seems likely in the western tropical Pacific in the next ten years.

And in the long run, the range is much bigger, between 30 centimetres and 2 meters by the year 2100.

Scientists also say that it is very difficult for societies to make decisions about how to prepare for sea level rise when the range of possibilities is so large.

They further explained that natural cycles in the oceans may cause temporary declines in the future and this may last several years or even decades, although it is highly unlikely that levels will again be as low as they were in the first half of the 20^th century.

They say that sea level rising and for all practical purposes, these changes cannot be reversed.

Personal experience APJC AusAid ALA Fellowship

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VERENAISI RAICOLA

Photo provided by VR

I am priviledged to be part of the APJC reporting climate change and the environment fellowship from October 24 to November 25, 2011.

At first I thought the five weeks would drag but it certainly passed by so fast that we are now on the final week_ hooray! The friends and exposure I have had during this time cannot be measured by money and I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of this program.

It is indeed a valuable experience for me and a great boost to my career as a journalist as I walk away here better informed and with a wider knowledge about Climate Change. I have in the past been involved with climate change writing but this specific training opportunity will certainly enrich my writing skills on the subject.

Speakers like reporter Joe Chandler of the Age who were able to relate climate change to her experiences in countries like Afrika, PNG and Afghanistan, the visit to CSIRO and the talk with scientists was very engaging. Special thanks to Torrey Orton for personal development training_ it was good to know that stress levels of journalists from th Pacific, Inonesia, East Timor and our good frond from Papua were at explosive levels compared to journalists based in Australia! Climate change is a critical subject for journalists like me in the region as we struggle daily to adapt to its effects unfolding right bfore our eyes and to tell our stories an.

It’s not new and my colleagues will agree that our traditional farmers back home and our fellow villagers know that changes are occuring all around them. In fact with warming temperatures and extreme weather conditions this is a daily topic of discussion around the yaqona tanoa back at home.

They can tell you stories about sea level rise and the changes to the traditional calendars as clearly as scientists do except that they do it in simple terms and relate it to their daily simple experiences!

I must mention that I enjoyed all aspects of the training in Australia and found it to be a learning experience both in Melbourne and Tasmania. The trip down to Tasmania was especialy exciting and eye opening.

The visit to the Styx Valley, Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park,Port Arthur Historic Site, Environment Defenders Office, Austraian Antarctic Division, The Mona Museum as well as the Symposium on Environmental Politics and Conflict in an Age of Digital Media were all a breath of fresh air and an experience in itself.

Such refresher courses and attachments out of the normal newsroom atmosphere back in our home countries helps journalists lift their level of understanding and in turn writing on such complex topics like Climate Change to another level. I believe neighboring countries like Australia should also take time out to learn about the effects of Climate Change in countries in the Pacific so it can make their mitigation experiences more real.

It is only when they take time to learn what is happening in the Pacific and how these small economies are struggling to adapt will the message flow and others around the world will realise the importance of reducing emissions!

The keynote address by Senator Christine Milne of the Australian Greens at the Environmental Politics and Conflict Symposium was touching.

I admire the way she acknowledged indigenous people, how they were marginalised all over the world and also how they were the very population affected by Climate Change.

I must say it was warming to know that at least someone in the Australian Parliament bothers to know what is happening to the people in the Pacific and that countries like Australia she says needs to do more to help our region adapt to Climate Change.

Thank you APJC for the great learning experience and I hope AusAid gives you more funding to train journalists in the region who are feeling the direct impacts of Climate Change so they can do a better job raising awareness as their communities struggle with adaptation policies.

After all it is through the media that our people would be able to tell their stories and make a difference in this global village we share. Once again Vinaka Vakalevu to John Wallace, Alex, Catherine, Putri, Budi, Laura,Gee, Philip and all those that made this experience a memorable one.

My APJC Training Experience

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APJC Fellows with The Age Senior Environment Journalist Adam Morton at the University of Tasmania

The Climate Change Reporting Fellowship carried out by the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre, APJC, in Melbourne and Hobart in the last five weeks have been a fruitful and informative one for me as a pacific journalist. It was also a memorable trip with visits to some of Australia’s famous locations such as the Mona Museum and Port Arthur in Tasmania.

I also particularly found the personal leadership skills workshop with Torry Orton, the Psychologist and Leadership specialist in the first week of the training very valuable as it made me know more about what kind of person I was and the stress levels I had. It also helped me understand myself more.

The various presentations of how stories could be generated from climate change issues were also helpful with The Age Senior Writer, Jo Chandler really driving the nail home with her suggestions of getting stories from rural areas but also verifying if the effects they were suffering from were from climate change or caused by man- made activities not related to climate change. She also emphasized the importance of humanizing and simplifying stories.

Professional visits to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, CSIRO Aspendale Office also were very informative with new information and data collected from their observations in the changing climate in pacific island countries, while the visit to Tasmania’s CSIRO centre -also known as Australia’s gate-way to Antarctica was also an exciting one with us having a video conference with one of their Scientists at the Casey Station.

Sessions with Phil Chubb were also very helpful and it made me understand more Australia’s debate on Carbon Tax – we were here when it was passed – and also what it meant for big companies, the Australian government and the public.

From this workshop – I take with me better skills to report properly on climate change in Solomon Islands, a better understanding of myself, more knowledge of the Australian debate on climate change and how it actually determines the nation’s prime minister , an understanding of how climate change is a complex issue that involves the biggest international organisations such the United Nations right to the people on the remote islands back at home. I have also established a network of professional people which include the Indonesian Reporters at the workshops, various journalism academics, Australian journalists and scientists whom I was privileged to meet, I know these connections will be useful to my work on environmental reporting in the future.

I would also like to thank the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre, the Australian Government and the Pacific Alliance for Developmental Journalists who have made this training possible!!! I have learnt a lot of new things and also established a new network!Thank you for the opportunity!! 🙂

Sea level rise in Fiji

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VERENAISI RAICOLA

Picture by bzarrhands

Sea level is expected to continue to rise in Fiji and coastal communities including resort owners need to adapt to this.

Scientists from the Pacific Climate Change Science Program in Melbourne Australia on their latest report on Current and Future Climate of Fiji told regional journalists currently in Australia for leadership and Climate Change reporting that the rise is predicted to be 3 to 16 cm.

The sea-level rise combined with natural year to year changes will increase the impact of storm surges and coastal flooding in the country.

As there is still much to learn, particularly how large ice sheets such as Antarctica and Greenland contribute to sea level rise, scientists warn larger rises than currently predicted could even be possible.

The predictions say that the acidity level of sea waters in the Fiji region will continue to increase over the 21st century with the greatest change under the high emissions scenario by 2030 affecting the fish and sea life negatively.

The impact of increased acidification on the health of reef ecosystems is likely to be compounded by other stressors including coral bleaching, storm damage and fishing pressure.

On a global scale while projections indicate there is likely to be a decrease in the number of tropical cyclones scientists predict an increase in the average maximum wind speed of cyclones by between 2-11 per cent and an increase in rainfall intensity of about 20 per cent within 100 km of the cyclone centre.

In the Fiji region projections indicate a decrease in the frequency of tropical cyclones by the late 21 century and an increase in the proportions of the more intense storm so more cyclone proof building will have to be constructed to withstand these weather changes.

Projections for all emissions scenarios indicate that the annual average of air temperatures and sea surface temperature will continue to increase.

By 2030 under a high emissions scenario this increase in temperature is projected to be in the range of 0.4 to 1.0 degrees Celsius placing a higher risk on the health of the population.

Increases in the average temperature will also result in the rise in the number of hot days and warm nights meaning a significant decline in cooler weather.

Melbourne, here I come

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The author, flanked by Rikamati Naare of Kiribati and Alain Simeon of Vanuatu in Melbourne. Picture: Luke Guterres

Port Moresby, Sunday 23^rd October 2011. It was 5.30am and my flat at Kaubebe Street, Boroko, came awake. I got up from my bed and looked out the window. Dawn was here. I showered, got dressed and checked my bag again to make sure that I had everything I needed.

My passport was on the table with my airline ticket. I was leaving for Melbourne, Australia to attend a five week training program. I grabbed my bag and with my family in tow, we jumped into the car. Graham, my neighbour, drove us to the Jackson’s International Airport, where I got off and said goodbye to everyone.

I hate flying. To tell you the truth, the only bit of flying that I like is the take off. I like the hormones rushing through my body when the huge planes run down the runway, picking up speed as they go to lift off the ground.

So when the Air Niugini Port Moresby to Cairns flight was airborne, I decided that sleep was the best way to pass my time for the next one and half hour.

I was awaken by the voice of the air hostess and realised that we were landing at the Cairns International Airport. I had to get a connection flight to Melbourne in about one and half hour so after clearing Customs, I headed for the domestic terminal. I arrived, only to find that it was a lot bigger than what I am use to at Jackson’s. I asked someone who was dressed like a security guard where I should check in and he pointed the way to me. When I arrived at the Qantas check-in counter, I remembered what my good comrade Frank Genaia told me after returning from Sydney recently. I looked for the machines that were to check passengers in and found several queues in front of what looked like ATM machines. When it was my turn, I asked the lady in uniform next to the machine for help.

A few minutes later, my boarding pass was coming out of the machine. I picked it up and went over to the counter where I dropped my bag. My flight to Melbourne was going to take off in a short time and I rushed here and there, looking for the gate where I was to go in to board the flight. It was not long when I found it.

I found myself, squeezed in between two huge guys at the tail end of this huge jet plane for the four hours flight to Melbourne. As the plane flew south, heading for this 200 year old city, I allowed my mind to go to work. I was too excited to sleep because I had never been to Melbourne. All my visits to Australia had always terminated in Sydney. I had been to Canberra only once but it was a long time ago.

After what seem like hours, I felt the plane start its decent. I knew we were getting close to my destination. This was confirmed soon by the pilot who announced that we had arrived in Melbourne half an hour early. I was not to know that arriving this early will present a problem for me. I was to find out later.

Very soon, the huge plane touched down and was taxing into the tarmac. It was a good thing that I had taken one of the seats in the last row, for as one of the last passengers to get out of the plane, it was easy for me to follow the others into the tarmac. Pushing a trolley with my bag, I went out of the arrival gate, expecting to see someone from the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre to be there to pick me up but there was no sign of anyone.

I walked up and down, pulling my bag behind me. Still no one. I went back into the arrival lounge, checking everyone who was standing there, holding up small signs with names of passengers they were waiting to pick up, written on them. My name was not on any of them. I walked outside again and waited, all the time telling myself not to panic.

After what seem like hours, I decided to ask for help. I asked someone who looked like a driver of one of those tour buses who was standing not too far off from where I was.

“Mate, how much will it cost me to go to this address,” I asked showing him the APJC address.

The man consulted two other men, who looked like they were in the same business, came back to me and told me that the place I wanted to go was not too far away.

He told me that it will cost me $65. I agreed to pay and we set off for APJC. After half an hour later, Francis (he introduced himself to me in the car) pulled into APJC. Francis waited for me while I went up to the house and knocked. I knocked several times and no one answered the door. I started getting worried. It was getting late and the wind was chilly. I could feel the cold biting into my skin. Francis said he will wait with me. I was comforted as I did not want to stand there at this strange place by myself.

Soon a car pulled up and a man jumped out. I recalled seeing him somewhere before but I could not remember. “You must be Peter,” he said with a smile, extending his hand to me. “I am John Wallace”.

We shook hands. He realised I had come in another car and told me there was supposed to be someone at the airport to pick me up. I told him I did not see this someone and I could not hang around because it was getting late and I had to find my own way to APJC.

John Wallace turned to Francis and asked him how much he was charging me. When John heard the price, he shook his head, telling Francis that it normally cost $50 from the airport to APJC. Nevertheless, John parted with the fare and told Francis to drop me at the hotel which was going to be my home for the next three weeks. Jee, the man who was to pick up me at the airport caught up with me at the hotel. He told me that he had gone to the airport but found that my plane had arrived half an hour early and that I had left. I forgave him and told him not to worry. It was not his fault.

I moved into Finlay Place on Lygon Street and into one of the most delightful parts of Melbourne.

That evening, I walked to the balcony on the fourth floor of my hotel and looked across Melbourne. The lights had come on but I could not see where the lights end and as I stood there, looking across the city, my nose was picking up this rich aroma in the cool air. Food! I was picking up the scent of good cooking.

I looked down. All along Lygon Street, it was a hive of activity. Restaurants of all kinds were open for business. At each place, a lot of happy people were seated around tables, sipping wines, eating and conversing. Their laughter filled the air and floated up to where I was.

A happy thought struck me. I did not get lost and had arrived safe in Melbourne. It was time I went down and check those restaurants out.

Australia could do more to help Pacific Island countries deal with climate change

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As small island developing states, including the pacific, gear up towards the Conference of the Parties meeting in Durban next week to once again reinforce the urgent plea of saving their people and countries from the effects of climate change, Tasmania Greens Senator says Australia could do more to help pacific island countries deal with climate change in funding a Secretariat for the Alliance of Small Island Developing States.

AOSIS is a non-governmental organization of low lying atolls and coastal countries established since 1990 to consolidate the voices of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to address global warming. AOSIS has been very active from its inception and 15 out of the 42 members and observers from all around the world are pacific island countries.

Speaking to pacific journalists last Friday following a presentation at the 2011 Environmental Politics and Conflict in an Age of Digital Media Symposium at the University of Tasmania, in Australia, Greens Senator Christine Milne says the first thing Australia could do is to provide funding for a Secretariat for AOSIS.

“ I understand that the pacific is being given the chair of the AOSIS and the first thing Australia could do is give a couple of million dollars to the pacific to provide a secretariat for AOSIS, because if AOSIS is to maintain a good profile and capacity in global climate talks it needs to have a secretariat support, so the first thing Australia could do is to get involved and give more support at that level.”

Senator Milne adds that Australia also needs to separate climate finance from the aid budget for transparency purposes.

“Secondly they should be separating out climate finance faster and long term from the aid budget because what Australia has done is that is has put the aid budget and climate finance together and so Australian people are told constantly that we are doing the right thing with their climate funding plus the increase of the aid budget but actually if you separate them out, you’ll see that we are not.”

“So the next thing Australia needs to do is to make sure that it has transparency and it’s aid funding is separate from climate financing.”

The Tasmanian Greens Senator also spoke of the need to increase capacity building with pacific government departments by allowing people to come to work in Australian government departments such as the Great Barrier Reef Park Authority.

“I worked really hard to get the coral reefs of New Caledonia, for example, listed as world heritage and I worked very hard on that and am delighted that we succeeded in doing that a couple of years ago, but obviously there’s a huge amount that could be learnt from the management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, PNG could learn from those fantastic coral reefs, but right through the pacific there’s a whole range of issues.

In terms of assistance with adaptation, certainly assisting with know-how and technology that enables people to be able to keep being able to produce food where they live in light of the rising sea levels and salt water incursion is really important as well, plus a whole range of things.”

“But also there has to be a long term plan and this is what nobody is talking about and it goes to what I mentioned hearing Tuvalu says in the global talks in Nairobi – who will take my people? – hearing a pacific leader stand up and say that if the world knew that six countries were going to disappear but didn’t know which six, maybe people would be a bit more focused in acting on climate change and I thought that was a really good way of putting it because even with all the adaptation that will occur in the pacific, there are going to be some places like Kiribati and Tuvalu, for example, where ultimately people are going to have to move and we need to be thinking about how people can move and maintain their cultural identity and communities when they do move.”

So I think there’s a lot we could be doing but the first thing we should be doing is acknowledging that climate change is real and already creating substantial problems and internal migration, loss of burial and cultural sites, agricultural capacity and fresh water right now.”

Meanwhile on the question of the lack of coverage of climate change issues in pacific island countries by the Australian media, Senator Milne says the Australian media does not cover in a factual way the existing impact of climate change on pacific island countries.

She says it is extremely rare to find a photograph prominently placed in the Australian print media or stories prominently placed in current affairs or news bulletins about the impacts of storm surge or of any of the extreme weather events or issues such as salt water incursion, loss of capacity to grow food and loss of fresh water.

“You just don’t see those photographs in the Australian media or the stories, and if you do, they are placed as the sort of stories as human interest not related to news coverage of why the world needs to take action of climate change so it’s more of a travel log story than a front page story saying these are the existing consequences of climate change, that’s why we have to take action.

And the reason they’re not there is because if you say that, it makes it much harder for people to argue that there is no such thing as climate change, it’s not happening and it won’t happen for another hundred years, it’s going to cost us too much therefore we don’t need to do much about it – so it completely contradicts the line of argument that the Murdoch Press in particular want to take and that’s why it’s an inconvenient story that doesn’t get covered.”

Senator Christine Milner was interviewed by Vere Raicola of the Fiji Times, Rozalee Nongebatu of the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation and Rikamati Nare Kiribati’s Broadcasting Commission who are currently doing a Climate Change Reporting fellowship in Australia under the Australian Leadership Award Scheme.

The three pacific journalists are part of a group of 15 journalists from the Asia Pacific region who are undertaking the training coordinated by the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre in Melbourne and Tasmania.

ENDS/////