The ''Vanuatu Daily Post'' is a newspaper published in
Port Vila
Port Vila (french: Port-Vila), or simply Vila (; french: Vila; bi, Vila ), is the capital and largest city of Vanuatu. It is located on the island of Efate.
Its population in the last census (2009) was 44,040, an increase of 35% on the pr ...
in
Vanuatu
Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
. It is the only daily newspaper in Vanuatu.
The newspaper's founder,
Marc Neil-Jones Marc Neil-Jones, born 14 October 1957, Café Pacific, 18 January 2009 is a , had been the victim of physical attacks supported by government ministers during his time at the newspaper.
Work permit controversy
Dan McGarry, the newspaper's media director and a Canadian national, announced on 7 November 2019 that the Vanuatu government had refused to renew his work permit. McGarry stated that the 'overt reason' was that his role should have been 'localized' (filled by a Vanuatu citizen) but claimed that the 'real reason' was that the Daily Post's reporting had discomforted the government. He has appealed against the decision.
On 6 July 2019, the ''Daily Post'' published an article detailing the deportation of six Chinese nationals by the Vanuatuan government. Four of the six nationals had been granted Vanuatuan citizenship under the country's Development Support Programme. McGarry said he was 'quite confident' it was coverage of that story which had upset the government.
McGarry, who has lived in Vanuatu for 16 years and whose spouse and children are from the country, stated that in July 2019, the Prime Minister
Charlot Salwai
Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas (born 24 April 1963)"Hon. Charlot Salwai" Vanuatu Pa ...
berated him for what Salwai said was his 'negative' reporting and said 'If you don't like it here, go home'.
Vanuatu's Media Association called on the government to reconsider and afford the correct legal rights to McGarry.