Miss Pacific Islands beauty pageant saga sees police 'investigating fraud' after week of drama

Jane Carnavas felt a bit nervous as she approached immigration. She had heard some rumors, but wasn't sure if they were true. It quickly became clear when she presented her Vanuatu passport to the officer at the airport.

"My name was on a handwritten piece of paper," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "I wasn't allowed to leave." What was the crime she was accused of? "They didn't say...I was just a judge."

Ms. Carnavas was a judge at the Miss Pacific Islands pageant held last weekend. The event is the region's most important competition, hosted this year by the Solomon Islands, with eight young women from across the region vying for the coveted Miss Pacific Islands crown. In the Pacific region, it's a major event, with thousands watching the competition via livestream and engaging in heated debates online.

This year, however, much of the enthusiasm turned into toxic rhetoric, with baseless allegations of vote rigging combined with a vicious cyber-attack campaign. The cyber-attacks became so bad that Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape threatened to ban Facebook and TikTok altogether if it continued. For Ms. Carnavas and her Samoan counterpart and head judge Jerry Brunt, the allegations of vote rigging became so serious that they were pulled from the airport and held in the Solomon Islands for questioning by police about fraud allegations.

"I can confidently say that there was absolutely no vote rigging," Ms. Carnavas said. "The judging process was very transparent." It all started when a blurry video of the pageant from Saturday night began circulating on online forums. The video purportedly showed the judges arguing about the results, with head judge Mr. Brunt tearing up a piece of paper. However, the video was uncertain at best, but some social media users declared that the video showed the results were manipulated.

"It's disappointing that so much [credence] was given to that video," Ms. Carnavas said. "I was there. Nothing happened. The results were not tampered with." After the video spread and the online chatter grew louder, the Solomon Islands government, as the event's main sponsor, acted quickly. A senior Solomon Islands government minister posted on his personal Facebook account, which the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has seen, declaring: "Justice will prevail...I will make sure of it."

The Solomon Islands government subsequently issued a "stop order" against the judges – effectively preventing them from leaving the country – so that it could conduct an "investigation into alleged fraudulent activities during the Miss Pacific pageant." The stop order was later lifted after the Samoan government publicly demanded an "explanation" as to why its citizens could not return home. Mr. Brunt and Ms. Carnavas have now both returned to Samoa and Vanuatu, with Mr. Brunt stating that he is considering legal action for unlawful detention. Solomon Islands police have said that "investigations are continuing." The statement said: "Formal charges will be laid once facts presented through investigations are ascertained."

The competition itself is promoted as a celebration of Pacific culture and unity. Founded by the Samoan government in 1987, contestants compete in a range of areas with a Pacific flavor. For example, a sarong segment replaces the Western-style swimwear category, and there is a traditional attire category instead of an evening gown. For many, 2024 Miss Pacific Islands Moemoana Schwenke is the embodiment of the competition and its meaning. Ms. Schwenke, a very popular online influencer and Pacific culture advocate, has been touring the region for the past year promoting the title and the Pacific way of life.

However, for Ms. Schwenke, this week's drama has revealed a "deep and unsettling injustice." In a Facebook post published on Friday and widely shared online, Ms. Schwenke said that this week's fallout has left "deep scars" on the integrity of the competition and what it should represent. "Too many things have been swept under the rug, voices silenced, social media defamation and a lack of duty of care by the [organizers] Miss Pacific Islands Executive Committee," she said. "Some of our Pacific women in pageantry have faced horrific racism, bullying and lies spread by social media users, all of which have been ignored or set aside." "This is not the unity, love and compassion our islands know."

But she also said there were "questions that need to be answered" about the judging, and she called on the Miss Pacific Islands Executive Committee to be transparent. "I have learned that there are things about the judging methods that have not been exposed," she said. "All the tireless work of our contestants, their families and supporters has been overshadowed by the negligence of a few. [And] the real damage is to the spirit of our Pacific women."

Despite the dramatic week, it appears that the contestants themselves are rising above the online controversy. Miss Tonga Rachel Guttenbeil was announced as the runner-up on the night. She told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Pacific Beat program that even if the investigation found voting irregularities, she would not accept the crown. "I don't want to comment on that (online allegations of vote rigging)," she said. "Regardless of the outcome, I am proud of what I have achieved. My sister Miss Samoa did well, the other sisters did well, [and] it shouldn't be tainted by what's happening around us."

The new Miss Pacific Islands, Miss Samoa Latafale Auvaa, said on Friday that the controversy "doesn't diminish" her joy at being crowned. When asked what she would say to young women who are considering entering the Miss Pacific Islands competition and see the online hate, she gave a simple message. "On the surface, it's seen as a beauty pageant, but the real goal is about leadership, it's a platform for finding our future leaders in the Pacific," she said. "It is to find the voices of the future and the voices of now. Sometimes the message can get twisted."