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The Minister drew parallels with the ambitions of the referendum question. ‘… genuine partnerships based on respect, listening and learning from each other’ is the approach used effectively in successful domestic First Nations activities. As one of Ninti’s First Nations leaders says ‘it takes a palette to paint a beautiful picture’.

If anyone has the depth on SI and the reach with stakeholders, that person is Dr Transform Aqorau. SINU however does not have the luxury of resources so he and his team will need all the support he can get. One thing however is certain, that a Honiara Seminar will be lively and engaging. Wishing the leadership all the best.

Splendid idea, Dr Transform. Look forward to hearing how this progresses.

Colin, is it the same everywhere in the Pacific Islands lease is an instrument of land alienation just as the lease income is an agent of dependency without any real development for land owners.

Thanks Namos for these thoughtful and insightful remarks.

What if the locally owned and operated Consultancy Companies are, simply, bad? Is it DFAT's role to build the capacity of that local private sector?

Dr. Aqorau's proposal is truly commendable, evoking memories of the highly successful Annual Pacific Updates once hosted by the ANU Crawford School throughout the Pacific Island nations in bygone years. These events, generously supported by DFAT, garnered enthusiastic local receptions. What distinguishes Dr. Aqorau's proposal is its potential to elevate SINU to a leading role in this endeavor. The opportunity for donors, including DFAT, to contribute to this promising initiative is both exciting and promising.

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.