Tagata o te Moana for 25 February 2023

New Zealand's Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment says over 3800 Pacific islanders working under the Reconised Seasonal Employer scheme in the cyclone impacted Hawke's Bay region have all been accounted for and there are plenty of jobs for them in the short term. Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says he is enjoying the role of being a unifying figure in the Pacific. Mr Rabuka, who was elected to government in December, has been credited for his pivotal role in Kiribati's return to the Pacific Islands Forum. Tonga lost one of its greatest minds last month, with the passing of Sitiveni Halapua. Dr Halapua, who was 73, was an academic who became a politician. The head of the University of the South Pacific's journalism program says there are concerns about an ongoing review of Fiji's repressive media laws but they are giving the new coalition government the benefit of the doubt. Families of four missing Papua New Guinea fishermen that left Hanuabada in Port Moresby over two weeks ago holding out hope for their safe return.