Comments

Hi Stephen and Finn, absolutely agree on the need to reform the WHM schemes. As a first step I would suggest revoking the third year visa altogether (for all countries but the UK since, unfortunately Canberra's hands are tied by the Morrison-Johnson free trade agreement). I do not believe the third year visa is part of any other bilateral agreement so it could be easily dispensed with. It was a Coalition-era initiative and if Labor wants to take credit for reducing Net Overseas Migration then scrapping the third visa option would make sense as a first step. If the definition of "specified work" to allow WHMs to qualify for a second visa is broadened to include any "regional work" as you propose, then I suggest this needs to be accompanied by a narrowing of the definition of "regional". (Is Adelaide really "regional"?)

I lived in PNG and noted that very little aid reaches the people for whom it was intended, as a bulk goes into ridiculous admin costs, most of which are fabricated. Agreed, security is flaky, but not as exaggerated as they make it out to be.

Agree, learn from Fiji.

Thank you, Professor Aqorau, Dr Bugoro, and Associate Professor Ride, for this excellent and timely contribution. The article rightly highlights that free education is anything but free. Beyond the direct fiscal costs you identify, resources allocated to education necessarily come at the expense of other priorities such as health, infrastructure, and public security—what economists refer to as the opportunity cost of public spending. There are useful lessons from Fiji, which has operated a free education policy for more than a decade. Under this policy, tuition fees, textbooks, and student transport are funded from the national budget at significant cost to taxpayers. While these financial commitments were anticipated, one unintended consequence has been a degree of parental disengagement from their children's education. When households no longer make a direct financial contribution, some parents may perceive education as primarily the responsibility of the state rather than a shared responsibility between schools, families, and communities. This experience suggests that policymakers should consider not only the fiscal sustainability of free education, but also its potential effects on parental engagement and educational outcomes.

I hope that with the PEV I can go to Australia to find a job.

Hello Sonya, Congratulations and it’s very inspiring. God Bless you, Could you send me some details for opening a coffee shop in Timor Leste?

I am from Pakistan. I need a job very badly. There is a lot of poverty here. I have to go out and work hard and do something for my family.

The nexus between spies, security and aid is real between PNG and Australia - two close allies in which the former is the largest aid recipient of the latter. In defense and security cooperation spying work is well entrenched disguised in the bilateral or multilateral cooperation agreements between Australia and PNG. With the recently concluded Treaty of Mutual Defence and Security Cooperation with Papua New Guinea intelligence and spy tasking are happening in communications infrastructure, surveillance, border security and more importantly in the strategic resource development agreements. These are triggered by the fear of China and Chinese investments in Papua New Guinea in lucrative extractive sector. The collection of critical information is then used against PNG's national development. The aid then becomes a double edged sword.

Thank you Wendy.

Thanks for parts 1 and 2 about the differences one road can make. The handwritten note in the teachers' room at Bema Primary school brought tears to my eyes, with its messages of such hopes.

I'm applying same higher school but NID card and birth certificate are required so I'm already apply NID but yet to receive so please make it fast for me.

Hear Hear!