Comments

Farmers are never appreciated for their hard work, the exporter and third party make a profit on their hard work. Farmers need to be educated on the value of their organic products and be able to market at right price. Western world has a short supply of organic produce, most produce have huge toxins from chemicals they use. Farmers in PNG must not gamble the value of their produce at the cost of greedy third parties. Knowledge is power and the better educated our farmers are the value of their produce will go up.

Please define and explain Hard Kina Policy in a simple context.

Thanks for this. I am hoping to expand on the topic later and will certainly draw on this source. Best wishes David

To be well content with the meaning of Christian means that life with God is real so law is just made to govern us not to force us into doing things with out hesitate to worship God.

Devaluing kina to increase revenue for the agriculture sector is not a solution. The simple point is that how much will a farmer save at the end of the day counts more than how much he or she earns. In a situation where kina is devalued cost of farming will increase. A farmer will have to spend more on imported goods(tools, fertilizers, pesticides, etc) than how much he or she earns. To increase a farm earnings is to increase production and reduce farm cost. Policy makers including exchange rate have to be addressed innovatively by thinking outside the box and not focusing on devaluing the currency.

From a laymen perspective, I agree to arguments made by Songo Nore. The Government should think outside the box in addressing policy issues and increased exports targeting the non-extractive industry. Devaluing kina will cause more harm then good.

Hi David, those comments about the UK lottery fund not funding international development aren’t quite correct … I’ve worked for development INGOs that have received those funds. And here’s a list of some £100m of international grants. Fair to argue that this is insignificant if there have been £80bn of total disbursements though. https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/grants?programme=International%20Grants

Good article. Also, the unexploded ordinances, bombs, etc. from World War II need to be removed from Solomon Islands by those involved in the war, especially US & Japan, as these unexploded ordinances continue to kill Solomon Islanders to this day.

How can help update the electoral roll?

Thanks Peter. I agree, it would be great to see political leadership on this. Terence

The only agenda that does not have support from the other PIF is the DSM with calls to establish PPADSM for wider consultation, which Cook Island openly disapproved the moratorium. Apparently, it is a desperate move for resources less island state to venture into this investment portfolio because they are feeling the pinch of economic inflation. The impact of COVID-19 and other global economic crises are putting them on the crossroad so they are outstretching their capacity to exploit whatever mineral resources they have within their exclusive zone to mine it to float their economy. A blind or little attention to the impact it might have in their ocean is not considered seriously. Essentially, it is call for increase support from bigger economies to step in and help.

Thanks Terence. Good to know that Australians do support our aid programs. It would equally be much better if the various Ministers for Foreign Affairs had done the same. Or the various junior Ministers for International Development (etc). It's a long time since I've heard any Minister say something like: "Australia gives aid to help develop countries without the wealth of Australia. In support of our international obligations to assist in implementing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. We also pass on some of Australia's wealth to the 700 million people globally living on less than (US) $2.15 a day - living in extreme poverty. Australia continues to have successes with our aid too. Welcome examples have included ..." The last is what I always look forward to, where our Ministers tell Australians how effective our progams have been. The money in the aid budget is important, but it's what those expenditures demonstrably achieve is far more important. If DFAT can demonstrate its aid performance and final outcomes. By applying the Finance Department's Resource Management Guide 130 https://www.finance.gov.au/government/managing-commonwealth-resources/planning-and-reporting/commonwealth-performance-framework/evaluation-commonwealth-rmg-130