Comments

Yes, I totally agree. The record speaks for itself, and the results are deeply disappointing. New Ireland deserves better—an honest, capable and competent leader who will put the province and its people first come 2027

Thank you for publishing this brief note sharing some "evidence" to show the link between children education and extractive industry. In this article, I was looking forward to read some hard facts on the contribution of extractive industry towards education but did not. Not knowing the local situation regarding the accessibility of hard data for research, yet it would have been much useful to show some directions in which children's education is heading, at least. Readers would like to know change, if any, in enrolment and class attendance of children, after the educational program was launched. The article in its beginning state that parents in Porgera know the value of education of their children who are said to be investing on education. However, there is no evidence written in the paper to support this statement. Wonder whether the CTF has a research and evaluation wing to collect relevant data, analyze it and disseminate for the benefit of extractive industry stakeholders. The CTF appears to be a not the best strategy to manage investment on children education. I wonder, apart from the CTF, are there no other initiatives by the mining company to facilitate children education? The company could directly fund school programs, facility improvement and many other investments. I am the head of evaluation and impact assessment of a mega construction project in Pakistan. The project has heavily invested on children education in this remote and predominantly tribal setting. I highlight below some key-impacts resulting from investment on children education over the past ten years by this development project. * Boys school enrolment rate increased to 95% between 2015 and 2025 * Girls' school enrolment rate increased to 42% during the same period (tribal area, not traditionally supporting girls literacy/education). Thee pre-project enrolment was 10-15% * Enrolment rate is rising and positive (coefficient 5.21) compared to a 3.64 coefficient in schools not supported by the project. The difference in coefficients is statistically significant. *Class attendance trend is positive and rising in schools supported by the project (coefficient 5.36) compared to a low rate of rising in unsupported schools with a coefficient of 3.46. The difference in coefficient is statistically significant. * A growing number of private schools are emerging reflecting parents demand for schools supported by an increase in household incomes resulting from employment and other income sources, both triggered by the project. * The enrolment trend (for boys and girls) in private schools is much higher in project area compared to outside the project, latter with no additional support to education. * 90% of parents (now) support girls' education compared to about 50% who did so prior to project * Parents are convinced of the value of education who now provide the full support by way of purchasing clothes, books and other materials for their children, which they did much lesser before project. Girls seeking job opportunities is an emerging trend which is a new development in this tribal area. Women's literacy rate within the project area has increased from zero to 5% in 2025. We continue to collect and analyze data not just education but in many other sectors where a consistent surge is seen, post-project.

About 20 years ago I was given responsibility by the CDC and AusAID to attempt to register all NGOs working in Cambodia. We managed to register 742: about half were INGOs, about 25% represented religious organisations and 25% were ‘local’. There was limited cooperation and serious competition for limited funding, attention from government officials, office space, competent staff, 4-wheel drive vehicles and souls. We were never quite sure what local meant.

It helps if you start with the discourse and understand localisation as entanglement that inevitably results in some reconfiguration of reality. That's a given, but accepting it means that you can work to limit transformation to that which is genuinely and mutually accepted as positive. For instance by respecting and foregrounding "local" powers of definition, and using critical pedagogy for communities to explore the implications of change, for instance risk of commodification and forms of dispossession under the banner of progress.

Price regulation will more than likely result in a new private firm providing electricity at a loss. If new investors believe that the proposed entity will operate at a loss, the proposed investment will never occur.

Thank you for your comment. Since this research was conducted in Port Moresby, the findings may differ from those in other provinces due to various factors, including greater awareness of the issue in Port Moresby, the visibility and availability of support services, greater access to social media and online information and awareness initiatives and others.

Glad to know this.

Thank you. That is indeed the much harder question. Our study cannot tell us how to persuade the Taliban directly. What it does show is that sustainable access to education also depends on support within households and communities. In the meantime, international organisations can help preserve educational opportunities through virtual learning, scholarships and internationally recognised certification. The Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education in Iran is one example of how alternative educational channels can sustain human capital when a group is excluded from formal higher education. There may also be room for conditional international engagement. Humanitarian assistance should not be used as leverage against vulnerable households, but some forms of development assistance, reconstruction support or economic cooperation could be linked to concrete progress on girls’ education. These measures should complement continued political and diplomatic efforts to restore full access to formal education.

Thank you for sharing this very interesting evidence from Upper Kohistan. It is consistent with one of the main messages of our study: attitudes toward girls’ and women’s education are not necessarily fixed and may change with greater exposure to education, economic opportunities and community-level interventions. The Pakistan experience is especially valuable because it shows how such changes can emerge gradually over time. At the same time, contexts differ, and our Afghanistan evidence is based on observational survey data, so we are cautious about causal interpretation. Still, the example you provide strongly reinforces the importance of sustained local engagement alongside formal education policy.

During my time working in the Worker Welfare space at DEWR, I saw firsthand just how complex and human the PALM welfare support system really is. Reading this Devpolicy analysis brought back many of the situations, conversations, and challenges I dealt with daily. This piece captures the gap between what the system looks like on paper and how it functions in real life. The welfare framework itself is incredibly detailed. I spent countless hours helping employers interpret their obligations, and those fifty-six mandatory welfare requirements are far more demanding than most people outside the scheme realise. But what struck me most in my role was not the policy - it was the people in the PALM ecosystem, particularly the workers. I saw Approved Employers become surrogate families for workers. I supported employers who were organising medical appointments, helping workers navigate grief, supporting workers through homesickness, or stepping in during emergencies at all hours. I also witnessed employers host cultural celebrations, drive workers to church, or simply sit with someone who needed a familiar face. The above AE actions made the biggest difference to workers. At the same time, I saw situations where that surrogate family role was not fulfilled, and the impact was immediate. Workers became isolated, anxious, and unsure where to turn. In those moments, informal support networks, team leaders, diaspora groups and churches stepped up and stepped in. Before working for DEWR, I found myself working alongside these groups, and I came to deeply respect how much they carry without funding, recognition, or formal authority. They are whom I called, ‘angels of the outfield and Mother Marys.’ I appreciate what Randall Prior does in Community Connections and it sounds as if the Victorian collaborative model of welfare support could fill welfare support gaps in PALM. My experience in the DEW Critical Incident space was when DEWR staff, CLOs, employers, and community organisations shared information and worked together, issues were resolved faster and workers felt more supported. It is this kind of reach out and lean-in approach the system needs everywhere. I am also mindful of privacy considerations and welfare collaboration for workers. From my experience, the article’s recommendations are not just policy ideas - they are practical necessities. Welfare Officers need more training and support. Informal community networks need resourcing. Collaboration needs to be consistent, not optional. And public reporting would help everyone understand what is working and what is not and can judge the program’s effectiveness fairly. For me, worker welfare in PALM was never just a compliance framework. It was about people living far from home, trying to build a better future, and relying on a system that needs to be both strong and compassionate. When the relationships work - between employers, workers, DEWR, CLOs, and community groups - the whole scheme works. I say this however, the PALM scheme with its welfare shortcomings is a program that goes a long way in supporting individuals, families, communities and the sending countries’ and Australia’s economies and is worthy of continued improvement and investment to ensure its long-term legitimacy, integrity and sustainability.

A great work of you Dr Vergil! While you pointed out the circumstantial variations and intrinsic and inherent values of protecting our environment including ourselves as enshrined in our laws; we had lived experiences of man-made destruction by developers in pursuit of development income for the nation like PNG. Some of the developments went to the extent of destroying the ecosystem, the values and even affected the very survival of the flora and fauna, and human lives. As a learned litigator like yourself and others, it's appropriate and ideal time now to offer legal options to make developers be accountable for destruction they caused, without it, the legislators are bunch of hypocrites and brainless talkers, they will dine and wined with the so-called developers while the layers of the ecosystem continued to suffer. Knowing well the current environmental laws are soft, they continue to plunder the last remaining resources, in the sea, on the land, inside the land and rocks. The more refer to provisions in the current constitution, directives principles and the preambles on protecting the ecosystem, the developers are not giving us a shit. They will only react and pause if we have strong recuperable laws for damage caused to the layers of the ecosystem, you described - individual, family, village, natural environment and state, either we do it now or never. I understand your presentation is not to protect any individual in the ecosystem; I take to express what everyone else is feeling across PNG about the destructive use of environment by developers.

Men opposing women and girls education is common in tribal and especially patriarchal societies globally. This is because of the tradition and lack of exposure what and how women education is able to transform the society. After a prolonged exposure of men and women to the virtues of education through targeted interventions, men slowly and steadily change their attitudes towards women education and girls schooling. The latest evidence unfolded in the the district of Upper Kohistan, Pakistan is briefly produced below. The studies conducted in 2012 show that men have achieved 30% literacy whilst women literacy was zero. Similarly, girls schooling was around 10% compared with boys schooling of about 30%. Thirteen years into community support activities, a remarkable improvement in women literacy and girls schooling is seen. The impact assessment study conducted in 2025 has revealed that over 50% girls are enrolled in school whilst for boys the enrolment rate is 98%. Class attendance for girls and boys began regular at near 100%. Men who are working as labor in the construction project realized the value of education for their children. Many parents who opposed to their girls education since then began to enroll girls in school. Some parents have relocated to urban areas purely to support girls education. A number of private schools are found where both boys and girls are enrolled. The enrolment trend for both boys and girls is positive and is increasing in villages where activities relating to education and schooling are active compared to elsewhere such programs are absent. 2025 study shows that both men and women have improved their literacy, men reaching 50% whilst women 5%. Latest research shows a tendency where women are seeking employment opportunities as well, something unimaginable 10-15 years ago. There is also evidence that men are actively looking for establishments that can provide employment for their wives, a critical difference compared to some 12-13 years prior to the introduction of the community support program. The clear message is to continue with activities to support children schooling (for both boys and girls) and literacy improvement programs regardless of attitudes of men. One day we will see that men will change their attitudes towards girls schooling and their job seeking behavior for women. As we all know, education is the most powerful tool in the modern society and opportunity should be made available for every individual regardless of where they are.