A new SBS Examines series will explore Australia's connection with the Pacific region.
Our Pacific will unpack social issues affecting Pacific nations and peoples, while exploring the experiences of Pasifika communities here in Australia.
Hearing from experts and those with lived experience, we'll learn more about the issues shaping the region. We'll also share stories straight from the Pacific, and explore cross-cultural connections.
Follow or subscribe to join SBS Examines as we explore Our Pacific.
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SBS acknowledges the traditional custodians of country and their connections and continuous care for the skies, lands and waterways across Australia.
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It's a beautiful place to be in. In the Pacific, you will feel the sense of community.
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Australia's closest neighbours, the Pacific.
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22 countries, including Samoa, Tuvalu, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Fiji.
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About 14.2 million people live in the region, with the population expected to increase to almost 20 million by 2050.
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Diasporas are growing here in Australia too, but many of us still don't know much about the Pacific and Australia's deep connections with the region.
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The Pacific nation of Tuvalu is bearing the brunt of climate change.
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It found reports of gender-based violence have increased by 210% in the past four decades.
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Did you feel like a slave? Yeah. On the streets of Suva, Fiji's capital, the drug trade is thriving.
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The first climate migrants to leave the remote Pacific island nation of Tuvalu are arriving in Australia.
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SBS Examines is launching a new series, Our Pacific.
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We'll unpack social issues affecting Pacific nations and peoples, while exploring the experiences of Pacific communities here in Australia, hearing from experts and those with lived experience to learn more about the issues shaping the region.
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We'll speak to people like youth advocate Gitty Yee, who's working at the forefront of Tuvalu's climate crisis. I
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get to go out to communities and talk to them, just get their views and how they are affected by the climate crisis. The sea has become higher and higher each day, and because of this, our land is very salty, so it's really, really hard for us to plant any crops or anything.
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And people like Peter Jamieson, CEO of PASIFIKAID.
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An organisation supporting the education sector in Vanuatu. So you've got a
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lot of poverty, a lot of poverty in that nation. In Australia, a lot of money goes to help children and schools and education in countries like Africa, countries like Cambodia and Southeast Asia, but I think we tend to forget our Pacific neighbour, our closest neighbour, whose children have just as great a need.
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We'll also share stories straight from the Pacific and explore cross-cultural connections.
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Our Pacific will ask the big questions, while also highlighting the beauty, culture and community of the Pacific region.
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Follow or subscribe to join SBS examines as we explore our Pacific.
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This episode was produced by Olivia Di Iorio and presented by Cristina Benedek.
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To find out more, visit sbs.com.au/sbsexamines.
