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Hi From a Melanesian perspective, I believe that policing our societies begins with upholding our ethical value that governs individual morality. Traditionally the ethical values that governs our society had a great impact in the peoples way of life. However, this is not the case nowadays due to culture shock and the inception of globalization that changed the peoples way of life. Hence, our traditional system of policing our society was very effective in a way that it control the behaviors and attitudes of the people. The policing system that is now practiced is more institutionalized and it is design to protect the so called wealthier and higher class people. Therefore, when a simple person from the society is involved in a crime or a offence he/she gets bitten up badly whereas the higher class is more of a respect and good questioning. What is the difference here? Is the government policing system created to defend humankind and constitute laws that will govern individual morality or is it becoming an institution that protects the higher class more than general public. Hence our traditional ethical principles were based on respect and integrity, although some practices were evil in nature but they all contributed one way or the other to maintain peace, unity and a good common relationship with everyone in the society.

Well said Paul, Contemplating on the ethical values that governs the society in the past compared to the present post-modernism current trend of modernization has really caused chaos in solving problems in Melanesia particularly PNG. Everything to do with our way of life is not the same has it used to be in the past. Tribal fighting is now becoming commercialized, witchcraft is also being commercialized leading to the devalue of the societies ethical principles. In the past we often experience tribal fighting between two conflicting tribe alone, however nowadays the "Hire Man" system is in play. So called millionaires and leaders are hiring local mercenaries to go into combat with their warring tribe. Now its no longer tribal enemies fighting each other but "Hire Man vs Hire Man" in the battle field. Thus has created more problems and it is the result of the never ending fighting and killings in the Hela and other parts of the Highlands as well. Therefore, I would like to suggest some way forward to end this unethical barbaric killings in our nation particularly in the Highlands region. * Identify all the instigators and make arrests * Arrest the people who are sponsoring the fights by providing money and ammunition to the warlords in different context * Identify the reason behind all these barbaric acts and find solution inside out and not outside in * Build a good relationship with all the parties involved and and identify the best possible way forward to create consensus that will formulate a win-win situation for parties involved. * Suspend judgment and practically formulate a holistic approach strategy to work with the people. These are some ideas I came up with, hence there are more but the most important aspect to all these way forward is to build a good relationship with the people by carefully listening and understanding their situation.

Interesting overview article. As a further effort to assist localisation, DFAT and other external country aid providers, need to direct, where possible, private sector projects, directly to locally owned and operated Consultancy Companies, not thru established operatives in the country of origin. Thus the full financial benefits accrue to the local country and Company's, without being diluted, en route! This could also assist, stretch the aid dollar further.

Terence, As you raise the matter of infrastructure projects, you may find the link embedded in an earlier Blog here interesting: https://devpolicy.org/curious-case-sustainability-20160523/ AusAID was doing ground-breaking work on the sustainability of benefits from projects around 25 years ago. Sadly, the interest and expertise developing at that time has since been lost. Robert

In my view, sustainability is everything. An intervention that essentially falls apart after completion is not only a waste of scare resources, it is also counterproductive. I refer to health programs that bring initial change, build up hope in the recipient population but for lack of sustainability mechanisms, then collapse. Health indicators return to pre-existing levels, sometimes worse and trust in future efforts is lost. There are many examples. This is where I diverge from partners that with hand on heart, proclaim they work with the government(s) concerned but not directly with community entities. In a society as deeply complex as Papua New Guinea, government administration and service delivery mechanisms, ostensibly made in our image, do not connect with those it was tasked to serve. This is a fundamental truth that needs to be better understood beyond assumptions around scarce government resourcing and a lack of skilled people. The inherited systems are neither culturally nor conceptually adjusted to create the degree of community participation and buy in needed to ensure sustainability. As has been pointed out elsewhere in this blog, more often than not, locally nuanced and owned solutions that address local issues, potentially provide the environment in which to embed sustainable health, education, law and order and economic initiatives. Until nation building is conceived and managed as genuine two-way push and pull effort at the community interface, I believe that sustainability, impact and value for money outcomes will continue to elude the best intentions of development assistance partners.

Hi John and Soli, Thanks for an interesting article, but I want to express a different opinion on one important point. You write that "The objective remains consistent. In 2014, it was to promote prosperity, reduce poverty, and enhance stability with an Indo-Pacific focus. In 2023, the objective endures – a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific through sustainable development and lifting people out of poverty." This is incorrect. "Australian aid: promoting prosperity, reducing poverty, enhancing stability" was the title of the 2014 strategy. But the objective (or the purpose) of the aid program was articulated as follows: "The purpose of the aid program is to promote Australia’s national interests by contributing to sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction." This is very different to way that the objective of the aid program is articulated now, which is "to advance an Indo-Pacific that is peaceful, stable, and prosperous." For the reasons I spell out <a href="https://devpolicy.org/the-australian-aid-objective-and-covid-19-20230818/" rel="ugc">in my blog</a>, this new way of articulating the objective of Australia's aid is a backward step. It would be better, as per the earlier articulations, to continue to focus on aid as a "contribution', to have a more upfront focus on growth and poverty reduction, and not to link aid to the pursuit of geopolitical peace.

Thanks for the comment Robert. Sorry for my delayed reply, I've been on leave. You've made some interesting points, thank you. It's not really directly related to public opinion but I think the sustainability point is particularly interesting. It would require funding, but there is incredible scope for researchers to be studying sustainability. For example, by visiting large infrastructure projects in SE Asia and the Pacific a decade after completion to see which are still functional. This would be easy, as the projects can all be found in OECD or WB/ADB/DFAT data. That would enable a sample to be randomly selected and then visited. Infrastructure would be particularly easy, given how easy it is to ascertain visually whether a project is functioning or not. But other sectors could be done too. Just a question of funding. Terence

Thanks Paul. Yes, fear of the police remains a significant - and well-founded - factor contributing to low reporting of victimisation in PNG. I also take the point about the bulging police belts full of taser and other gadgets. The appalling recent case involving the tasering a 95 year old resident of an aged care facility (not that far from where I write this) springs to mind

a sound analysis, and relevant concerns over land grabbing by the wealthy, benefiting from the conflict ( although that wealthy hierarchy also tends to be located in NCD, as well as the many displaced persons)...you're perhaps a bit ambiguous when suggesting that NGOs harp back to some pristine ( perhaps mythical) past for solutions, while suggesting the solutions must fundamentally be local.. I agree with the latter, but some of that local capacity is drawing upon the experience of the past, at least before big bucks would be shuffled about by logging or oil companies, or the State... the fact that there is such commitment, and indeed courage, within communities to address problems, such as SARV, demonstrates the way forward...it has entailed positive support from outside, including from local and some international NGOs, and some locally savvy church workers, and responsive police... Clearly, communities have expectations from the police, which have gone beyond the police's practical capacity to respond, leading to negative outcomes for many households... as with law and order and gangs elsewhere ( eg in Milne Bay and West New Britain) the law enforcement agencies have limited capacity, and can sometimes prove counterproductive , especially where they show inadequate local respect for community members. Their capacity is dependent upon positive engagement, and the hard graft being done by the community itself. How best to help communities, including when some of their own members are armed and terrorise them, is a major challenge for Hela and elsewhere in PNG...and, of course, various places overseas, as well...

thanks Judy and Sinclair, some very useful thoughts and suggestions ( including caution over using managing contractors or the like, who get tied up with complex contractual and copyright agreements, rather than commitments to public access, in conducting such surveys)... there are also all the issues related to how the State can respond or minimise potential victimisation, including at times from the police themselves. We're aware of fear, especially by women in PNG to report crimes, as the police response in some cases can be unsatisfactory or sometimes worse. As you recall during RAMSI the AFP officers, with their belts full of gadgets, tended to instill fear ( which may have been useful regarding the waring factions) rather than community engagement. I'm over in the UK briefly now, and here also people say the police response can be highly intimidating now, with teams coming in to simple accidents or crime scenes and stringing everyone up, onlookers and all. I discussed this briefly with a retired senior female police officer, who bemoaned the belts full of taser and gadgets, and the apparent loss of community engagement and policing skills in forces in the UK. She said it was crucial to keep the police standards unarmed, witting observing that if she'd had a gun there'd have been times in the heat of the moment she'd have used it, to her subsequent regret and negative outcomes...

Thanks for sharing these thoughts, though it was long overdue considering the Puma energy crisis culminating from BPNG forex issues and the need for policy intervention by the government. When considering this issue at the earliest instance, it becomes evidently clear that the matter was a policy matter, but the approach taken was from the operational side of things. For instance, BPNG is a regulatory institution and operates within the policy and regulatory environment and answers questions of economic and financial policies issues. This is a clear line of powers and responsibilities, but to engage directly with Puma on this matter by the government is giving the meat to the dogs. Instead of the government stepping over and initiate policy intervention and change, to address this issue, it rather encourages and forces BPNG to go head to head with Puma. Instead of the government playing the mediating role as a neutral party to implement a policy measure and resolve the matter, it rather takes a by stander role and watch 2 completely different entities from different environment engages in a conflict without appropriate dispute resolution measure. No body is going to develop and implement a policy now, not even BPNG or Puma, the buck stops at the Government, and the Government must take on that responsibility.

Michael, your perceptive insight into the horrific violence that besets Hela ends with a paragraph that offers hope to a region subject to the worst that humanity can devise. People often feel powerless to help when reading such articles. Your final sentence says "Let's support them." How? In what way? Let's start writing articles that finish with Actions. We can take a leaf out of the Free West Papua Movement website that lists a number of actions any reader anywhere can take. https://www.freewestpapua.org/take-action/