Newsletter: PNG LNG myth | Pacific Update | 2015 aid stakeholder survey launch

PNG Update: presentations and podcasts

The PNG Update at UPNG on June 18-19 was opened by the PNG Finance Minister, the Hon James Marape. Listen to his “LNG is a myth” speech here: “We are clouding our vision thinking that LNG is a waterfall of money. It is how we maximise use of all the resources in this country that will unlock our development potential.”

The Minister went on to emphasise the importance of expenditure control due to the fall in commodity prices, especially oil, and committed to keeping the deficit below its budgeted level.

Other podcasts, speeches and presentations can all be found here.

2015 Pacific Update: 15-16 July in Suva

The 2015 Pacific Update (15-16 July at the University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Suva) is less than two weeks away. This annual forum gathers policymakers, academics, and development practitioners to present research and discuss the latest economic and social developments in the Pacific region. An updated program [pdf] is now up on the web. There are more than 60 papers and 18 session on topics such as gender inequality, aid and development, trade, migration, tourism, education, disaster risk management, and macroeconomic and fiscal policy. The Update this year is being organised jointly by the Development Policy Centre, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank Institute, and the University of the South Pacific’s School of Economics. The event is free and open to the public. For more details, visit our website.

Australian aid stakeholder survey

Phase I of the 2015 Australian aid stakeholder survey will open on Monday. This first phase is limited to selected stakeholders, who have already been contacted. The second phase, open to all, will be run later this year. Please take advantage of this important opportunity to provide feedback to the aid program. For more information on this year’s survey, visit the website.

Upcoming events

2015 Pacific Update
15-17 July, University of the South Pacific, Suva. Details here.

The fish is the friend of matriliny: reef density and matrilineal inheritance in Melanesia
Friday 31 July, Acton Theatre. 12.30pm—1.30pm. Register here.

2016 Australasian Aid Conference
10-11 February 2016. Call for papers open. Details here.

Blog highlights

Is Australia paying too much for AIIB membership?

How does NZ stack up in its latest DAC peer review?

GBV on the streets in Timor-Leste

On the blog

Economics at the University of Papua New Guinea, 2015 by Michael Cornish

Economics at the University of Papua New Guinea, 1969 by John Langmore

Migration and development in an Australian contextby Henry Sherrell

Maternal mortality and GBV in the Pacific: common drivers call for collaborative approaches by Nancy Waites

Innovation in development… is it worth the hype? By Penny Farrell

A big week for Pacific labour mobility: SWP reforms and the microstate visa by Stephen Howes

A big week for Pacific labour mobility: backpacker reforms by Stephen Howes

NZ aid reviewed: doing alright, however… by Jo Spratt

Not just a domestic problem: everyday discrimination against women in urban Timor-Lesteby Angie Bexley and Maj Nygaard-Christensen

In brief

Weekend links: post-conflict cash grants, Iran weapons, analysing ISIS, development podcasts, and Tongan kava clubs

Finally! Julie Bishop speaks out about PNG-Australia money laundering

Child marriage in emergencies: new evidence from the Syrian crisis

Sticker shock: what the AIIB will cost the Australian aid program

Red Cross no longer sending AVID volunteers

The 2015 PNG Update

Weekend links: humanitarian aid, two fearless advocates, Saudi solar power, World Bank critics, and looking beyond growth

Health sector first casualty of Myanmar aid cuts

The development of Northern Australia: a little aid, and more Pacific labour

This is the fortnightly newsletter of the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University, published every second Friday.

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