New Zealand eyes Cook Islands travel bubble

Yahoo – AFP, Marty Melville, August 10, 2020

New Zealand plans to open a virus-free "travel bubble" with the tiny Pacific realm of Cook Islands before year's end, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday, while expressing caution about a similar arrangement with Australia.

Ardern said the quarantine-free travel corridor was possible because New Zealand and the Cooks -- an archipelago of under 10,000 people -- had successfully contained the coronavirus.

"Our expectation is that it would be in place before the end of the year," she told reporters, adding that officials were being careful not to move too quickly on the proposal.

"The last thing anyone wants is to reopen travel, only to have it closed down again because it hasn't been done properly." 

New Zealand has recorded only 22 coronavirus deaths in a population of five million, and marked 100 days since its last case of community transmission on Sunday, while the Cooks declared itself virus-free in mid-April.

The economic benefits of the travel bubble are expected to be felt mostly in the Cooks, a popular tourist destination where Ardern estimated 60 percent of pre-virus visitors were from New Zealand.

A trans-Tasman bubble with Australia would be far more advantageous to New Zealand's economy, where international tourism screeched to a halt when borders were closed in March.

The prospect looked tantalisingly close a few months ago, before Australia was hit with a second wave of infections centred on Victoria state.

"We're still undertaking the foundational work for trans-Tasman travel arrangements but obviously that's going to be sometime off," Ardern said.

All international arrivals into New Zealand are currently required to spend at least 14 days in strictly supervised quarantine.

But New Zealanders domestically are enjoying a near-normal, pre-coronavirus lifestyle with no social distancing and spectators allowed at sports and cultural events.

Pacific's Cook Islands mulls new name

Yahoo – AFP, 5 March 2019

Dancers from the Cook Islands perform during a ceremony in the capital,
Avarua. The government is considering changing the name of the tiny nation to
something more traditional

The tiny Pacific nation of Cook Islands is considering changing its name to something that reflects its Polynesian culture, rather than honouring the British explorer James Cook.

The government set up a committee in January to find a new indigenous name for the grouping of 15 islands, about 3,000 kilometres (1,900 miles) northeast of New Zealand.

Initially the idea was to have the indigenous moniker feature alongside the existing Cook Islands name, in the same way that its larger neighbour is sometimes known as Aotearoa-New Zealand.

But committee chairman Danny Mataroa said Monday that once discussions began it became apparent there was support for dropping the Cook Islands name altogether in favour of one in the local language, known as Cook Islands Maori.

Map showing the Cook Islands

"When the committee members, which include Cook Islands historians and people with deep traditional knowledge, met we decided it was time we change the name of the country," he told AFP.

Mataroa said the new name should reflect the country's heritage, its people and its strong Christian belief.

Deputy Prime Minister Mark Brown backed the move, but said there was still a long way to go before the nation of 12,000 people changed its name.

"I'm quite happy to look at a traditional name for our country which more reflects the true Polynesian nature of our island nation," he told Radio New Zealand.

It is not the first time the issue has surfaced, with a 1994 referendum to change the name to Avaiki Nui resoundingly defeated.

Weightlifter Sam Pera parades the Cook Islands flag during the opening ceremony 

of the 2004 Olympic Games. The tiny Pacific Ocean nation is considering a name 

change to something more traditional

The Cook Islands were a British protectorate from 1888 until 1900, when they came under New Zealand's jurisdiction.

The Cooks gained independence in 1965 but maintains close ties to Wellington, which takes responsibility for the Cooks' external affairs and allows its citizens to live and work in New Zealand.

Bali Court Sentences New Zealander to 15 Years’ Jail for Drug Trafficking

Jakarta Globe, Jun 30, 2015

New Zealand national Antony de Malmanche waits inside a holding cell at
the Denpasar court on Bali island on Tuesday. (AFP Photo/Sonny Tumbelaka)

Jakarta. A New Zealand man has escaped the death penalty after being found guilty of smuggling crystal methamphetamine into Bali in December last year.

Antony de Malmanche, 52, was sentenced on Tuesday to 15 years’ jail fined Rp 4 billion ($300,000), or an additional three months in prison.

Denpasar District Court found him guilty of smuggling 1.7 kilograms of crystal meth inside his backpack from Hong Kong to Bali, where he expected to meet a woman named “Jessie” whom he had been chatting with online.

Prosecutors had demanded 18 years’ jail, and the verdict was light given the court could have imposed a maximum sentence of death.

De Malmanche’s legal team argued that he was a victim of human trafficking and was duped into carrying the drugs by a transnational crime syndicate.

The New Zealander’s lawyer, Chris Harno, said he would consider an appeal, Australian Associated Press reported.

De Malmanche is currently in Kerobokan jail, where Australian drug traffickers Myura Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were imprisoned before they were executed in April.

SBY Becomes First Indonesian President to Visit Fiji

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite, Jun 17, 2014

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono makes the first visit by a sitting
 Indonesian president to Fiji, in a three-day trip starting on June 17, 2014.
(Reuters Photo/Toru Hanai)

Jakarta. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited Fiji on Tuesday — the first visit by a sitting president of Indonesia to the island nation — in a move to strengthen ties with South Pacific states as well as to clear up diplomatic disagreements over the situation in Papua.

South Pacific countries, and bodies such as the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), an intergovernmental organization made up of Melanesian states, have a history of supporting Independence for Papua and West Papua — issues sure to overshadow Yudhoyono’s visit.

Indonesia’s harsh efforts to suppress Papuan nationalism have met with widespread criticism in the region.

Yudhoyono will attend the second Pacific Islands Development Forum, currently underway in Fiji, where he has been asked to deliver the keynote speech on development programs.

The visit was initiated by the Fiji government in order to strengthen bilateral relations.

“My duty is to increase the partnership with those countries, and we will explain our policy in Papua correctly so that we can reduce any misinformation about Papu,” Yudhoyono told journalists at Halim Perdanakusuma airport in East Jakarta before his departure.

He cited Indonesia’s strong, although rocky at times, relationships over the past decade with Australia, East Timor, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea as evidence that stronger relationships could be developed with Melanesian states.

“They all respect the unity of Indonesia,” he said. “Therefore it is an important matter for geopolitics in the South Pacific and Southwest Pacific.”

Teuku Faizasyah, a member of the president’s special staff for foreign affair, said that Fiji was an important country in the South Pacific for Indonesia, as highlighted by the visit.

Yudhoyono ends his second five-year term in office in October.

The president is scheduled to have a private meeting with Fiji President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau and a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Voreqe Josaia Bainimarama. The two countries were set to discus collaboration in the arenas of culture, governance, maritime issues, regional and international affairs, and sports.

First Lady Ani Yudhoyono and several cabinet ministers were set to accompany the president for a three-day visit.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono meets Fijian President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau

in the Sheraton Hotel, Fiji, on June 18, 2014. (Twitter Photo/@SBYudhoyono)

Related Articles:

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India’s Modi Visits Bhutan on First Step of Bid to Reassert Regional Sway

Indonesian Kids Ride NZ Waves in Style

Jakarta Globe, January 22, 2010

Putu Anggara riding a wave. Putu finished second in the first U-18 heat, one of three Indonesians to advance. (Photo courtesy of ISC Tour/Tim Hain)

Indonesian kids proved that they could really ride the wave.

The first day of the ISA Quiksilver World Junior Surfing Championships in Piha, New Zealand, ended on Wednesday and three of the eight Indonesians advanced directly into Round 3, while the remaining five will surf in Round 2 on Friday in hopes of joining their teammates.

Jeren Kiring and Ediana Putra both put on impressive displays to nab second-place finishes in the Under-16 division, while Putu Anggara also finished second in the Under-18 division.

“It was really hard out there because the waves were all over the place,” Putu Anggara said in an ISA release after his heat. “I was lucky to get a nice right-hander that walled up so I could do a couple of turns.”

“I had no idea about my score because the wind was so strong I could only hear the final horn,” he added.

Jeren had a similar opinion about the day’s surfing.

“I was so happy when I heard I got second, because I didn’t hear anything out in the water. I was pretty busy out there,” he said.

Against a field of the top junior surfers in the world, and entering such a huge international competition for the first time, the Indonesian boys were doing a good job. Especially considering that they also had to battle against initial hurdles of money, visas and logistics just to get to New Zealand.

But several sponsors stepped in to allow the Indonesian team to compete in their first World Junior Championship.

Coach Tipi Jabrik was very pleased with the results.

“Considering that Indonesia has the lowest seeding, since this is our first time competing in this event, we did really good to get three of our boys into second-place finishes,” Tipi said.

The third round is on Saturday, while the finals are on Sunday.

Related Article:

Indonesia's Best Junior Surfers to Join World Junior Surfing Championships in New Zealand

Indonesia¹s Best Junior Surfers to Join World Junior Surfing Championships in New Zealand

Surfline, January 16, 2010

Ready to make history as the first Indonesian junior surfers to travel outside of Indonesia as a team to compete in a world junior championship surfing competition are Putra Hermawan, Putu Anggara, Agus Frimanto, Koko Mitsu Antara, Ediana Putra, Jeren Kiring, Sandi Selamet, and Oney Anwar.

Chosen for the honor of representing Indonesia in the 2010 ISA Quiksilver World Junior Championships based on their outstanding competitive surfing performances last year, these "best of the best" young Indonesian surfers ranging in age from 11 to 17 years old will fly from Bali to the city of Auckland and then travel to the scenic surf town of Piha to compete against the best Under 16 and Under 18 surfers in the world for the pride of their country. The event will take place from the 20th to the 28th of January 2010.

The last time Indonesian surfers participated in an International Surfing Association event was in 1996 at the ISA World Surfing Games held at Huntington Beach in California. Those surfers were Rizal Tanjung, Dully Ismael, and current Indonesian Team Coach Tipi Jabrik.

The only other time that an Indonesian team of junior surfers represented their country in an international event was at the Quiksliver World Grommet titles held at Kuta Beach in Bali in 1993. Rizal Tanjung, Pepen Hendrik, Wayan Wirtama, Tipi Jabrik, Dully Ismael, and Wayan Darmawan were among those that participated in that competition almost 17 years ago.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of Tipi Jabrik and others, the Indonesian Surfing Federation (Persatuan Selancar Ombak Indonesia) has now become the ISA's National Governing Body for surfing in Indonesia, as well as has been officially recognized by the Indonesia Department of Sport (KONI) and the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI).

The result is that Indonesian surfing athletes may once again participate in international ISA events such as the World Junior Surfing Championships, the World Surfing Games, World Masters Surfing Championships, World BodyBoarding Games, and more. In addition, Indonesia can now lobby to host these internationally visible events and further develop their tourism industry, and Indonesian Surfing Championship (Coca-Cola ISC Tour) judges may now participate as judges in these events as well.

The funding for the Indonesian team's trip comes from the generosity of the surf industry and its supporters in Bali: Billabong Asia, Hurley, Oakley Indonesia, Quiksilver Asia, Rip Curl Asia, and Rusty Asia, Coca-Cola Bottling Indonesia, the Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour and KCB Travel. In addition, we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Nick "Chongee" Ngau-Chun in Piha for his tireless efforts, the incredible generosity of Fiona Anderson at the Piha Camp Ground for the lodging, transportation and meals for the team, and a special thanks to Ben Kennings of Surfing New Zealand for his help with sorting out the team's visa's.

Throughout the event you can find daily updates at www.isctour.com

Rebuilding Indonesia's Image in Australia and New Zealand

Bali Discovery Tours

Bali Post Interview with Gede Pitana, Director of International Promotions, Indonesian Department of Culture and Tourism, Outlines Steps to Rebuild Indonesia's Image Following July Bombings in Jakarta.

(9/5/2009) The September 3, 2009, edition of The Bali Post carried an interview with I Gede Pitana, the former Head of the Bali Tourism Authority and currently serving as the Director of International Promotions at the Department of Culture and Tourism. That interview focused on efforts now underway to restore the image of Indonesian tourism in Australian and New Zealand following the July bombing of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Marriott.

Bali Post: What is the impact of the bombing of the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton?

Pitana: The effect of the recent bombing of the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott were not as great as similar events of 2002 and 2005, but the image of Indonesia was damaged in those two countries (Australia and New Zealand). It's a given that the effect of the explosions will impact those countries in which several or a single of its citizens were victims, such a New Zealand. Countries which had victims of the latest bombing, in this instance New Zealand, we must try to approach on a human level.

Bali Post: How about Australia?

Pitana: Australia is another country (we must address), chosen because of its role as a key target of Indonesian tourism and its rapid rate of stabile tourism growth. In Australia we will undertake a number of activities based in Sydney, given that city's role as the main gateway for Australians traveling to Indonesia.

Bali Post: Who will lead these promotional activities?

Pitana: The delegations to these two countries to restore Indonesia's image will be led by the Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik. The visit of the Minister will hopefully portray the condition of Indonesia following the most recent bombings and the serious intent of the Indonesian government to restore its tourism sector. We want to demonstrate that Indonesia very much honors and values these two countries (Australia and New Zealand).

Bali Post: What's the Australian market look like?

Pitana: Australia is one of the ten major countries that forms the major tourism market for Indonesia. Through July, the number of tourist visitors from that country to Indonesia increased 25% over the previous year's total to 267,227. We are targeting 550,000 tourist visitors from Australia to Indonesia (for 2009).

KLM upbeat on Indonesian market, brings in new aircraft

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 04/01/2009 2:56 PM

KLM, the Royal Dutch Airline is upbeat about the Indonesian passenger market, describing it as a strong one, despite the current global economic downturn.

"Indonesia is withstanding the global crisis quite well while Singapore, Australia and New Zealand are hit much harder," Air France KLM general manager for the region (comprising Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand), Paul Rombeek, told reporters Monday.

"However, we do see worldwide that all economies are in trouble."

Rombeek, appointed in February, quoted IATA suggesting airlines worldwide might suffer losses of up to US$4.6 billion this year.

Meanwhile, Air France KLM country manager Axel Theo Colen said the airline was experiencing a fall of 10 to 20 percent in bookings.

Colen emphasized however that Indonesia reached its budgeted target for the year ending March 31.

"This means that there was growth in Indonesia compared to the 2007/2009 fiscal year," he said.

"Indonesia has big potential despite negative trends in bookings."

Colen, however, declined to reveal any load factor figures from Jakarta saying this was confidential.

KLM serves daily the Jakarta-Amsterdam route via Kuala Lumpur.

Both Rombeek and Colen were speaking before a ceremony to welcome the new Boeing 777 at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten.

Previously the route was served by the 428-seat Boeing 747-400 aircraft which flew the route four times a week. The 280-seat 747-400 Combi (combined with freight) flew the other three times a week.

KLM currently has 15 Boeing 777-200s in its fleet, with two more expected later this year.

The airline also has two Boeing 777-300s with two more expected to arrive in May and August.

The 200 series has 327 seats while the 300 series has 425 seats. Both series have 35 business class seats while the rest are economy seats.

The 300 series will fly every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday with the 200 series flying on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.

The use of the Boeing 777 provides an additional 150 seats per week or an increase of 6 percent.

"Not only is the new airplane a reward for the route for good performance but it also offers a better product to passengers," Colen said.

With better technological advances Colen said the Boeing 777 burned less fuel than the 747.

A round trip with a 747 needs 300 tons of fuel while the 777 only needs some 230 tons," he said.