Comments

Hi Beverly and Michael, Thanks for your comments. To obtain cocoa seedlings, please contact your local Cocoa Board Office. They will be able to help you directly with obtaining these. See the Cocoa Board of PNG facebook for more information: https://www.facebook.com/CCBPNG/ Tom

The allocation of Papua New Guineans will most probably be dominated by the educated urban population, which is less than 20% of the population. They have access and then means to passport or already have one.

Thanks for this very interesting comment on the PEV allocation, Stephen. I am pleased you clarified the situation relating to some of the counties that are missing from the list, especially Kiribati. Like you I am puzzled about the allocations to countries in the northern Pacific that have Compacts of Free Association with the US and, to date, have had minimal engagement with Australia and New Zealand. I don't see these countries becoming major sources of migrants to countries on the southern Pacific rim. I was surprised Solomons and Vanuatu got the same shares in the allocation; like you, I would have given more to PNG and Solomons followed by a good allocation to Vanuatu. Fiji already has well-established pathways to residence in Australia, as do Tonga and Samoa, including via NZ as you have pointed out in earlier blogs. I am surprised Tuvalu gets an allocation at this stage of 100 when the Falepili Union arrangement, with its provision for residence visas, is still under negotiation. It is the three western Melanesia countries that will benefit most from the PEV. These are three countries that need support with building transnational communities in Australia and New Zealand. As has been demonstrated in many studies of migration in the eastern and central Pacific, transnational communities have a vital role to play in providing a wider range of opportunities and options for individuals and families in their everyday responses to environmental, social and economic change.

Oh this is a good start. There are not many things, in my humble opinion, that would be of such value to PNG as a good strong functioning diaspora. PNG and Sols have long had some of the smallest diasporas on the planet, and they have become increasingly exceptional in the region. Bravo!

Australia may have been envious of Solomon Islands opening up to China. But look: Australia's major economic trading partner including the United States of America and others love China because of its sizeable population. Playing double-standards and dirty geopolitical games on Solomon Islands and the Pacific. Our Party maybe voted out or not but they did ruffled the feathers of the Bloodthirsty American Eagle when the courted China and made Australia "weeping" like a toddler seeking aid from its staunch allies. China's footprints were already established in Solomon Islands and very soon their economic tentacles will grip the Pacific Family. Now, The Pacific Beat with China.

how do I get cocoa seedlings or beans to plant? please help me

You're welcome Dr. Hukula Thank you for reading this blog.

This election was more about health and education than China. The DCGA ignored and underfunded health in favor of the Pacific Games. The turn over of incumbents shows voters want change including leadership that addresses social programs. Throughout the campaigning and horse trading containers full of medicines and medical supplies have continued to accumulate on the wharf awaiting the Ministry of Finance to pay for their release. Nothing new, an ongoing issue that needs to be addressed. China may represent development through its grants, loans and construction but that is simply another form of cargo cultism that will more than likely fail to change the on going aid dependency in the country and region.

Thank you for another informative piece Minetta.

Thanks, Nemat. A sad litany of attempts, with unintended and harmful consequences. There has been one shining and continuing light of success, though, since 1990. Through the International Committee of the Red Cross, Dr Alberto Cairo has been providing prosthetic services to the disabled and victims of the blasts from mines and bombs. He directs seven centres - for all sides. More here https://www.icrc.org/en/document/helping-disabled-afghanistan. Through times of changing governments - working for the betterment of the Afghan people. To find the strength within themselves to not only walk, but also to hope, again. When I last contacted him, he advised on 31 August 2021, that he "was fine and working".

There was a clear mood for change among Solomon Islander people on my several visits there last year. Moving around Guadalcanal, Western, Honiara I encountered few if any people who thought that the current government was performing well. Ambivalence or mild opposition to the government were probably the most common reactions. My sense from my visits was that these feelings were mainly driven by economic and social factors. Economic factors much as Terence describes, while social factors are in part driven by that economic weakness and also by the continued fear of recurrences of violence. There is such a wide spectrum of feeling on China that it would be hard to discern any trend that might arise out of it. While many people are still unhappy about the process (or lack thereof) behind the switch, that's not the same thing as being hostile to China. Some people are hostile, worrying about its influence on the country's Christian and democratic traditions. Many are indifferent, while others see the opportunities that come both from China and from the international competition that has arisen. So for me the question has been whether the mood for change was sufficient to overwhelm the bounce that came from a successful Games (and there surely would have been one) alongside Mr Sogavare's political tenacity and the power of incumbency.

I do agree with you with appropriate funding to the LLGs. The third tier government should be given funding directly from the national government. National Gov't should now think of abolishing that DDA, another white elephant.