Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Picture-perfect weather set the scene for this year's Wellington Pasifika Festival, drawing large crowds to celebrate the cultures, languages and traditions of the Pacific.

The annual event has become a major gathering for Pasifika communities in New Zealand's capital, offering a chance to reconnect with heritage through food, performance, art and crafts.

For many, festivals like this help bridge the distance between their home islands and life in Aotearoa.

Wellington City Council Pasifika Festival community liaison Karl Payne said the sights, sounds and smells of the festival transported him back home to the Cook Islands.

"The calls, the chants, the dancers, the costumes, the drumming. It felt like being back on the homeland in the Cook Islands," he told RNZ Pacific on Saturday.

"Everything slowed down, and I think the mana went up, and people really spoke their languages proud. So I think a lot of people [are] really proud in their brown skin."

HONOLULU ZOO NOMINATED FOR ‘BEST ZOO IN AMERICA’

The Honolulu Zoo has been nominated for the ‘Best Zoo in America’ in 2026 by the USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.

“Being nominated as the ‘Best Zoo in America’ is truly an honor for the Honolulu Zoo and a testament to the dedication of our animal care, education, and conservation efforts our team has done over the years,” said Jacqueline Peeler, assistant director at the Honolulu Zoo.

A panel of 20 experts nominated Honolulu’s location from more than 200 facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Other nominations include the San Diego Zoo and Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in California, and the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

Those who want to see Honolulu’s facility earn a top spot can vote now until Monday, March 9, at 5:59 a.m. HST.

BETTER VISA ACCESS FOR PACIFIC ISLANDERS

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says he is committed to helping Pacific nationals get easier access to the country.

Peters received a petition which calls for visas on arrival for Pacific Islanders outside Parliament on Wednesday.

The petitioner, former National Party MP Anae Arthur Anae, and his supporters drove down from Auckland and held a demonstration on the grounds of parliament this morning before handing over the petition.

He said his party is committed to working on the request, saying New Zealand's current immigration settings are no way to treat its Pacific cousins.

"All the Pacific people want is a fair go, equivalent to what other nations are getting, and they're not getting it," Peters told reporters.

"We just got the petition. We got work to do. It'll take a while, but we'll not let up until we've been successful."

Arthur Anae said this would match the NZeTA that citizens from over 60 visa-waiver countries are eligible for.

The Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said people with passports from Pacific Islands Forum countries can visit New Zealand from Australia for up to three months with an NZeTA, on an eligible Australian visa.

FIJI’S HIGH RATE OF NCD RISK FACTORS

A health survey says almost all adults in Fiji aged between 18 and 69 have at least one risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

It found 98.5 percent of that age group have at least one risk factor, while nearly half are living with three or more.

The survey said the four major fatal NCDs - heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory illness - are responsible for approximately 80 percent of all deaths in Fiji.

It also found more than one-third of adults have high blood pressure, but fewer than one in four have it controlled; and salt consumption is double the recommended intake.

More than two-thirds (68.1 percent) of adults are overweight or obese, disproportionately affecting women.

In response, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services has outlined a five-year roadmap.

The priorities in the plan include stronger food and fiscal policies, such as tax on unhealthy products; and strengthening primary health care to integrate prevention, screening, and long-term disease management.

The ministry said the report underscores that NCDs are driven not only by individual choices but by broader factors - including food systems, urban design, and marketing - demanding a whole-of-society response.

"Without urgent and sustained action, preventable illness and premature death will continue to rise," the ministry said.

"This survey provides the critical evidence base for Fiji to track progress, adjust strategies, and secure a healthier future for all through decisive leadership and coordinated action."

Last October, world leaders put their weight behind a United Nations declaration on responding to NCDs and mental health in an integrated way.

Pacific leaders had raised the issue of NCDs in the UN general debate in September.

NZ NEEDS TO STOP SEEING SMOKING AS AN INDIVIDUAL PROBLEM

At the end of 2025 New Zealand missed its smokefree target and a tobacco control advocate says getting back on track will require a policy shift away from focussing on individuals towards whole system change.

The target was to reach smoking rates of below 5 percent for all population groups. According to the latest NZ Health Survey, 6.8 percent of the total population were daily smokers, but rates for Māori remained stubbornly higher at 15 percent.

The government released a revised Smokefree Action Plan at the end of 2024.

Associate professor at the University of Otago and co-director of Aspire Aotearoa Anaru Waa (Ngāti Hine) told RNZ that reaching a Smokefree Aotearoa might require a rethink of the goal, moving away from thinking of it as a problem of too many people using nicotine towards a problem of tobacco industry exploitation.

"I think the big thing is to achieve the goal, we've got to stop focusing on individuals. I mean, we need to support people to quit ... it's vital, but actually the focus should be on the industry and where they sell their products. And so the only way to get to an end game is to stop the supply."

However, the goal of a smokefree Aotearoa was still achievable, he said.

When you can buy cigarettes or vapes at any corner store, at service stations and so forth, that's the problem. So I think it's entirely achievable, in fact we could achieve it within two years if we wanted to, if we had a government that was committed to it.

"In fact, I think we need to have a fairly close time frame, because I'm worried that the longer we take to achieve the goal, the more time we give the industry to adapt."

Waa said any revamped smokefree plan would need to have tailored measures to support Māori, although he said tailored measures would not achieve the goal alone.

"In Aotearoa, it started in the 80s, our tobacco control programme largely focused on individuals and the assumption was that individuals need resources to do what we want them to do, either quit smoking or not start smoking. We know that those resources aren't the same throughout society, so some people have more social support, are less exposed to retailers, we know that there's more vape retailers in poorer communities ... [if we] run with the assumption that if we focus on individuals, what we do is we get slow change and we get inequitable change.

"So the only way to make the change fair and equitable is to have big, wide-ranging measures that affect everybody in the same way. Therefore, getting rid of our smoked tobacco is a really good start, addressing other nicotine products to make sure they're only there as therapies, if at all, and that's the best way to do it."