Comments

Good insight! I commend your efforts in putting together this informative piece.

Hi Bernard, thanks for your comments/questions. I will email the approval from the UPNG SHSS Chair of Research to you if you're interested. UPNG SHSS is better placed for it, and I am a staff member there. It's a blog with word limit and we had to cut a lot of paragraphs out and did not include it. I do not understand what you meant by credibility in this sense: is its ethics you referring to, is it sample size, is it the fact that it was survey, or is it a reference to 'online survey'? The sample is small, and we make no claims that it is representative. And our intention was not to shape policy-making. In fact the 'policy' (Counter-Terrorism Act 2024) on which this whole shutdown was based on was passed last year, ironically without "consultation" with the broader community.

I strongly think the current Prime minister must step down for the good of Papua New Guinea’s future.

Is the data from the online survey credible? There is no mention of ethical clearance from the ANU ethics committee? I don't think data collected without ethical clearance should be presented to support your stance on a public platform if you intend to influence policy-making. If you do have ethical clearance then please mention.

Hi Fiona, we didn’t ask where they were participating from, but we did ask about the level of education. Looks like the participants were mostly students and professionals/working class. We therefore think there was limited participation from rural based FB users.

Sovereignty of each of the Nation States in Oceania ought to be respected at every level of the journey. Force-feeding a western construct ideology into a group of Small Island States that have a majority of their population made up of Indigenous Peoples can be a big ask. These are Voters mingled with those who have settled in these island Nations States. In short the late Fiji 🇫🇯 Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara's Pacific Way still echoes today in this part of the 21st Century. Trying to graft or impose foreign ideology may just flounder on the reefs in Oceania. Therefore I would suggest, each Sovereign Island State in Oceania ought to decide for themself what works best for them. Convergence can only happen if each Sovereign Nation States is given the opportunity to be treated with dignity and not coerced into a foreign setting.

Hi Amanda, thanks for your comments. We didn’t ask for their residences (i.e., urban/rural - we should have asked). 60% of the participants are male, and 40% female. About 90% have either diploma, degree or working towards these two qualifications. This is partly because of the method we used: we initially shared the surveys with professional networks, and students, and later posted on Facebook when it was restored. So the data is skewed towards those with higher qualifications. This was useful for one of the findings. That despite the participants being highly educated, close to 90% haven’t seen read or accessed the Counter-Terrorism Act yet. It would be even worse for those in rural areas with limited access to government documents.

This provides a good basis report for further recommendations and decision making. Is this data survey inclusive of participants in remote areas accessible to Facebook?

Thanks for the very interesting blog post and congratulations on the quick turnaround of a survey of Facebook users in Papua New Guinea. Thanks also for the note at the end of the blog about how the survey was conducted. Do you have any information on the demographics of the survey respondents? For example, the breakdown of those in rural areas and urban areas, or the level of education. Thanks again. Dr Amanda H A Watson

Bula and Kia Ora Ryan, Is unsure whether your position is based purely on your research or you have stats | data to back your argument though the points I have raised remain as its common knowledge amongst Indigenous Fijian Communities both in Australia and Aotearoa NZ that some of these workers are plucked from Rural Indigenous Fijian Villages and we get to hear their personal stories in our Community Gatherings and via ON AIR Radio commentaries in Vosa vaka-Viti.

Thanks, Steven. Informative.

Thanks, Stephen for cutting through the mud. I appreciate your analysis! The 0.18 club is a grim one to be in indeed.