Comments

From Aziz Rahman on Who will champion the Rohingya? Draconian refugee policies must end now November 24, 2023 at 10:39 am

Very informative and reflective piece.

From Hawke's Bay on Cyclone Gabrielle: Pacific seasonal workers picking up the pieces in New Zealand November 23, 2023 at 7:29 pm

Reading this account of resilience and unity in the face of Cyclone Gabrielle's devastation truly highlights the human spirit at its strongest. The collective efforts of industry, government, and community support to ensure the safety and welfare of the RSE workers are both heartening and inspiring. It's a testament to the power of collaboration and adaptation in times of crisis. My thoughts are with all those affected.

From Terence Wood on The unintended consequences of aid November 23, 2023 at 5:44 pm

Thank you Stephen, That's a great example of an individual unintended consequence. Thanks again Terence

From Stephen Charteris on The unintended consequences of aid November 23, 2023 at 3:58 pm

Unintended consequences indeed Terence. Many moons ago as a fresh and clueless development assistance worker in country not particularly far, far away from here, I assisted a young man to grow fresh produce on his father's land to raise money for school fees to continue his education. So far apparently so good. The little project was a success, so much so that his mother, whose lot it was to till the land, became involved and turned it into a nice little family earner. Over the next year or so she raised enough to change the subsistence circumstances her family had laboured under for years. The young man’s father, a chap called John, being a typically proud man from a strongly patrilineal society took most of the funds for himself. I was nonetheless quietly chuffed. That was until his long-suffering wife came into my office looking fraught. Upon enquiry as to what was wrong, she told me she had destroyed all the vegetable produce in the field. By now somewhat incredulous, I wanted to know why? Because came the reply, because John used the money I earned to buy a second wife. Never quite forgot that unintended outcome.

From Stephen Charteris on Australia should listen to PNG not the IMF November 23, 2023 at 2:57 pm

Thank you Paul, for the peep into the creative accounting. Didn’t start yesterday did it? Has been building as the modus operandi for decades - at least 4 of the past 5. The elite ran circles around the IMF, WB, a couple of well-meant PMs, the development sector and the population as a whole. It still does. And the result? Human capital development went out the window. So how??? is what you hear standing in an East Rossel, Lake Murray, ( ) fill in the blanks community. How do we get services? Hate to tell you about the depressed doctors, decrepit wards and nothing to work with. Worn-out teachers with nothing to teach. GBV as quasi sport. The bulging youth population, brooding in some places like a smouldering volcano. In the words of the bard “when you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose.” And that’s precisely where it’s at - for the bulk of a young population. A population of 9-15 (pick a number because your guess is as good as the next) million are not going to sit quietly under a coconut or yar tree for much longer while a treasure trove of natural resources are plundered from under their feet and regional players know it. The stage is set for the emergence of an authoritarian leader, invasion by stealth or general mayhem. The time to get real about the land four kilometres (4km) to the north of the one down under is now.

From Irene Narewec on Governance, ethics and leadership in Papua New Guinea – a personal perspective: part two – ethical leadership November 22, 2023 at 10:01 pm

Impressive! Model of ethical leadership.

From Namos Kipi on Can PNG really supply 8,000 people to work overseas? November 22, 2023 at 9:46 pm

Thanks for the interesting research done Natasha; PNG has a vast resource that needs trained and skilled people to work and boost the economy of the country rather than sending them to overseas to seek employment. Why are we sending more young energetic people to go and work in farms overseas and not creating opportunities for them here in our resource rich nation. I think that its unrealistic for us to do that however as for our other Melanesian Brothers such as Solomon Is and Vanuatu thus may be realistic for them because they do not have much resource compared to PNG. Therefore is there any creative and innovative concept that we can think of in order to make Vision 2050 come to reality in terms of job employment opportunities and economy boost within our nation. Why are we searching for employment elsewhere when we have a lot to do in our own backyard to boost our economy. If we can do our own farming here and employ nationals to work in those farms rather than sending them overseas would be more benefiting to our economy and the people as well.

From Paul Barker on Australia should listen to PNG not the IMF November 22, 2023 at 6:50 pm

PNG has surprisingly little foreign exchange available on the market considering that it has for many years had one of the world's highest current account surpluses to GDP. That situation has prevailed even over the past three years when the country's third largest gold mine was closed at a time of peak gold prices. Restricting access to foreign exchange to various categories of priority goods and, of course, servicing the higher levels of foreign debt, may have usefully restrained imports of consumption goods, as an alternative approach to letting the currency slip and thereby also reducing demand for imports, but this restrictive approach has also had some inflationary impact, as traders/importers can no longer obtain credit and good terms on their purchases, and pass on the higher costs to consumers. As BPNG suggests, if they were in the room when resource project negotiations occurred, rather than just having to comply with the agreements reached with the State, there might been less resource project income held in offshore accounts, and perhaps less generous tax holidays (e.g. to Ramu Nickel for more than 10 years, and generous arrangements provided for LNG operations...or allowing oil producers to metamorphose into LNG operations and no longer remit oil proceeds?) Ironically, it has been the agriculture sector which has been providing much of the foreign exchange required by the rest of the economy, including government, yet this sector, which operates on tight margins and really needs support, in terms of improved infrastructure, critical services and generally enhanced investment conditions, is not given the privilege of offshore accounts, even when producing similar/substitute products, such as vegetable oils. Ironically even the SOEs in the resources sector are allowed their offshore accounts, and rather than utilising the long planned sovereign wealth fund, and a mechanism for balancing onshore budgetary and foreign exchange needs with a sanitisation and equalisation function, these rather unaccountable entities are allowed to grow (on the back of state resources) and operate, effectively, parallel budgets to the Treasury, and as a disruptive influence on monetary management. Of course the next few years, with, potentially Porgera recommencing at the end of Q1, and 2 or major more resource projects entering a construction phase in late 2024-25, could set the scene for a substantially different scenarion, but recognising the serious potential (seen over the past decades) of lurching from one paradigm to another, encouraging careless fiscal management, and certainly necessitating wise heads and measures and helpful guidance and support from PNG's friends and development partners. In the meantime, the relatively short season during which votes of no confidence are permitted is about to open up, and is absorbing much attention by the incumbents in office and the aspiring contestants for the role. This invariably poses a dangerous period for sound fiscal management, and for wider economic and resource management. Those that operate in back alleys, like logging companies, often see this as a period when they can exert influence, for example to undermine policies and commitments by government over sustainable land and marine resource management or towards emission, and to grab new resources, or seek to reduce export taxes and generally gain other concessions, even while anxious over the level of demands that might be placed upon them in return. Again, it is a time for citizens and policy advisers to seek to sustain and pursue policies and measures in the national interest, and avert short term and damaging expediency.

From Scott MacWilliam on Foreign officers are not the answer to PNG’s policing problems November 21, 2023 at 3:09 pm

Wonder if being an exceptional country in terms of having one of the greatest proportions of the population trapped in rural enclaves at one of the lowest standards of living on the planet has anything to do with policing conditions in PNG?

From Andy A Mako on New data to inform big decisions around Pacific labour mobility November 21, 2023 at 11:14 am

Excellent work by Dung, Matt and Ryan.