Comments

Good analysis of the family political dynasties. It is interesting how female daughters contested but have not been elected. I personally do not think the family name is what could give daughters the upper hand in wining an election. I believe it is more an issue of gender biais and cultural lineages. And in most circumstances males have a higher chance of been elected than the female. And the ideology that man is true leader. Societies attitude needs to chance in adapting the ideology that female are also leaders in society and they are great leaders.

Great analysis on the female candidates. Political dynasties in the regional scape is a bit different when it comes to the gender and the four regions in PNG. I think there is a greater chance for a male son of a politician getting elected compared to females in the Sepiks, Highlands and Southern region compared to a female candidate due to the cultural alignments in those areas. In the New Guinea Islands, its different. Political Dynasties are still at the infant stages of progress.

I come from a Society where Sorcery & Witchcraft accusation is widespread and quite dangerous, where no one would like to stand up and fight the fight to bring change to the Society, therefore, please do sign me in your fortnightly newsletters. Thank you and God Bless

Nice piece I enjoyed reading it

A recent migration amendment for the Ag visa has revealed that the visa fee will be $630AUD/worker. So, exactly double the cost for PALM. From the MYEFO we can estimate that: By 2022/23: ~7500 workers By 2023/24: ~14500 workers With that number the same for 2024/25, so presumably the 'upper limit' for Ag visa worker numbers to grow to is roughly 15k. This number would be smaller than the current number of Pacific workers here now, as well as the ~50k prescreened Pacific workers waiting to come here now.

Helo from Vanuatu. There are also many non monetary factors (similar in Vanuatu) that can influence demand for credit: a) The low level of financial literacy tend to be popular at micro level target market which could create "perceived fear"amongst potential clients from borrowing b): Issues with access to markets where borrowers can sell their produce promptly whenever harvests are due and buyers are available c) infrastructure issues to get to funding locations , d) heavy logistic processes or procedures (paper work) for a basic Finance Model, d) Lack of ongoing consistent support given to borrowers which otherwise could detect early signs of credit problems, etc. Also, strong influence of pacific culture in mixing business with our traditional style of managing finance complicate matters at times. Culture factor can also extends to shying away from informing financial institutions when we have loan problems or switched to "silent mode" until last minute pressure from MFI. Anywhere in the Pacific, what we need is building "Financial Clinics" (not just health clinics) in rural communities in proximity to borrowers locations to provide instant reliable management advisory support to those struggling, hence, reducing default rates and empowering borrowers. Those MFI also need to be innovative to create basic products that best align with client financial circumstances and not over lend. Financial staff must educate themselves on national economic trends of emerging new markets so they can create new lending products to attract new set of customers plus diversifying credit portfolio minimising risks. I think it is important for Financial institutions to start considering investment on Fintec technology to use for MFI which will minimise a lot of costs to borrowers and increase their productivity. The level of Financial Awareness (Financial literacy) must match the level of Lending business volumes, especially for Pacific market to be successful!

Thanks for the response Joe. Cheers

Hi Augugsto, I would be really interested to read your research if possible? Thanks, Brad.

Gerard, Many thanks for your detailed comment on our blog. It is important to note that the Australia Awards Scholarships Policy Handbook (January 2022) available <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/aus-awards-scholarships-policy-handbook.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow ugc">here</a> states on page 36 clause 2.7.1 “Australia Awards Scholarships are not available for: i. undergraduate courses that are available at tertiary education institutions in the awardee’s home country”. Other clauses list other grounds for exclusion. So this means that no aid-funded scholarships would be awarded for undergraduate degree courses in teacher training, as your example assumes. From my work in evaluating the field of studies of the scholarships awarded, the reference point for the selection committee is a list of priority study areas provided by the recipient government. Richard Curtain

Thanks Peter. From what I've seen, changes in government, and within government in terms of ministers brings about policy change, but not personnel change, except at the top i.e. heads of departments. An example of change in policy when Marape came into power was the scrapping of the free health and education policy, and bringing in the IMF for a staff monitored program in 2020. An example of change in policy was the review of the Department of Justice and Attorney General's office, once Brian Kramer was given the ministry. PNG's fluid political scene makes it very difficult to follow its long term plans such as Vision 2050.

Good morning Michael, I think that is a very valid observation. At the National Level the Government and the Prime Minister have far more significant resources at their disposal to influence members to support legislative changes. In Bougainville, I think the nature of the parliament and the political system differs.The Bougainville Parliament is not divided by the more traditional “government/opposition” dichotomy. Decisions are reached by consensus as a sign of unity. As I noted in my article, it is rare for any Bill to be defeated on the floor of the House. In the case I have cited, the constitutional change was defeated. I believe this was because a select number of members voted by their conscience. The stakes were much higher because had the changes been approved, it would have given the Cabinet unfettered power to hire and fire senior public servants. A similar issue arose when the former Government of President John Momis sought to amend the Constitution so he could run for a third term. I believe that many in the Parliament voted against these amendments because they had the potential to significantly undermine good governance. I’m not sure that really answers your question, but in short, I think that Bougainvilleans are protective of their Constitution, and for many, the proposals put forward by the Government were considered as a step too far. Joe

Thank you Joseph for this interesting piece. It is difficult to defeat government proposal even in PNG parliament with government having high numbers of MPs on its side. It’s more interesting that Bougainville, which doesn’t have an opposition, prevented such amendments. A possibility: the ABG president doesn’t have the resources that PNG PMs have, like the millions of Kina in DSIP/PSIP which PMs use as a tool to get political support for such amendments in PNG?