Featured stories about Oceania
Stories about Oceania
17 November 2019
Iranian-Kurdish refugee Behrouz Boochani free at last from Australian offshore detention
"I just arrived in New Zealand. So exciting to get freedom after more than six years."
7 November 2019
Racehorse slaughter divides nation over iconic Melbourne Cup
'I was going to go to the Melbourne cup this year the first time in 67 years I've just canceled I couldn't support such a horrible industry'
29 October 2019
Australians respond to media campaign that calls out “creeping culture of secrecy”
Mixed reactions to the Australian media's #righttoknow campaign range from broad community support to denial by government ministers and senior public servants, plus some predictable cynicism on social media.
22 October 2019
Australian newspapers ‘censor’ their front pages in protest against government secrecy laws
"Journalists and whistleblowers in Australia live in fear of criminal charges, police raids and damaging court battles that threaten their professional careers and personal freedom."
29 August 2019
Winning a literary award won't set you free: An interview with author and asylum-seeker Behrooz Boochani
Australia's detention camps whistleblower describes conditions as hellish
15 July 2019
Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun still detained by Beijing after six months
There have been concerns that he has not received adequate support from the Australian government.
16 June 2019
Australia’s digital rights advocates and tech sector push back against law undermining encryption
"The new legislation directly targets encryption and basically coerces developers, device manufacturers and service providers to allow the government to spy on people’s encrypted data."
7 June 2019
Police raids on major media organisations expose lack of press freedom in Australia
"These continued attacks on press freedoms in Australia should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Freedom of the Press to scrutinise the Govt is crucial to liberal democracy."
25 May 2019
Papua New Guinea PM pushes proposal for social media regulation, citing need to stop ‘fake news’
"The fact is you can't control platforms were information is circulated, attempts to do such undermines the role of democracy and freedom that is enshrined under the constitution."
21 March 2019
Christchurch massacre brings out the best and worst in humanity
"He may have sought notoriety but we, in New Zealand, will give nothing — not even his name."
18 March 2019
DigiGlot Newsletter: AI innovations bring good news and bad news for indigenous and minority languages
The DigiGlot Newsletter is a bi-weekly collaborative newsletter that reports on how indigenous, minority, and endangered language communities are adopting and adapting technology to change the internet landscape.
4 March 2019
Uproar in Australia as lid lifted on Cardinal Pell's child sexual abuse convictions
"Almost immediately, the parade of aggrieved, disappointed, distressed, shocked, disbelieving, sad, angry Catholics and other Pell supporters began moving like a sullen, offended beast across the media, in unedifying protest..."
27 February 2019
Australian court's historic rejection of coal mine highlights the impact of climate change
"NSW Land and Environment Court decision in #Australia on coal and #climatechange is sending shockwaves around the world."
22 February 2019
Samoa arrested blogger ‘King Faipopo’ accused of defaming prime minister
"New legislation, based on old criminal libel laws from colonial times, forces Samoa leaders to look backwards, not forwards."
14 February 2019
Australia revokes Chinese tycoon's citizenship over alleged political interference in Australian politics
"...winding back CCP [Chinese Communist Party] interference as an unacceptable and counterproductive part of bilateral engagement is a step towards developing a healthy China-Australia relationship"
7 February 2019
Australia remembers Black Saturday on the 10th anniversary of catastrophic bushfires
"Ten entire years, and I still don’t think one single day has passed without me mentioning – or at least thinking about – the fires"
1 February 2019
Pressure mounts for Thailand to free Melbourne-based Bahraini refugee Hakeem al-Araibi
"Australia just gave our highest award to 2 divers for risking their lives to rescue 12 Thai boys from underground caves. We know where Hakeem is. He just needs a...
22 January 2019
Is Fiji's Online Safety Act a ‘trojan horse’ for online censorship?
"The Act on the surface professes online ‘Safety’, while its vagueness on responsible free speech leaves the act open to being a Trojan horse for online ‘Regulation’ and censorship."
31 December 2018
Censored in 2018: Protest videos, court verdicts, real news — and Peppa Pig
From blocked websites to revoked media licenses to account shutdowns, censorship comes in many forms. Here are a few we saw in 2018.
21 December 2018
PHOTOS: Drone delivers vaccines to a remote island in Vanuatu
Vanuatu, a Pacific archipelago nation of 83 islands spread along 12,189 square kilometers, became the first country in the world to use drones for transporting vaccines to its remote communities.
About our Oceania coverage
