Comments

Firstly, I particularly impressed with the new Australian Foreign Minister, Senator for South Australia, Hon. Mademoiselle Penny Wong, MP., because she impresses as a seasoned career politician who understands deeply the concerns of many Small Island States (SIS) including independent Pacific Island Countries (PICs). Papua New Guinea is greatly challenged by a myriad of key development issues that the current political elite have consistently failed to address over the years since 1990. For example, according to the 2020 and 2021 Human Development Index, Papua New Guinea Education Index remained at 0.04 per cent from 1990 to 2021. This is hardly an improvement for the Education sector particularly the primary and secondary sector. The proposed Pacific Engagement Visa – part of a larger scheme of Pacific migration policies certainly goes a long long way to helping Papua New Guinea get its economy back on track and improve its financial as well as economic ratings back on track. This Pacific migration policies will have enormous benefits not just in terms of Pacific labor mobility but also in terms of addressing unemployment, poverty alleviation, health, sanitation, and hygiene including further education in Australia. This same people will also send remittances back to their countries of birth hence contributing directly to the economies of these countries throughout the Pacific region. In foresight, the Australian Labour Government can build on these policies in which the proposition of a Pacific Free Trade Block or a Pacific Commonwealth Union (PCU) in which Australia remains the dominant economic driver of the PCU to rival that of the European Union and the Association of South East Asian Nations or ASEAN is feasible and not a mere imagination in the not too distant future if the current Australian Labour Government manages this Pacific migration policies with care and support for Pacific communities and the Australian people as well. In conclusion, I believe that the Pacific Engagement Visa is a positive step in the right direction for all stakeholders and a big win for the local Pacific Islanders who have contributed immensely to the Australian Way of Life over the years.

Hi Terence - from your colleague delivering a program titled "Policy Monitoring and Evaluation" to students at the University of Papua New Guinea. I'll repeat - for your possible comments too - part of my earlier comment on https://devpolicy.org/the-coalition-and-aid-a-story-of-two-halves-20220603/ More generally across the APS, former Prime Minister Morrision promised to embed program evaluation (back) into the APS (following the Thodey Review) – from which it had been allowed to lapse in the Howard years after 1996. This requirement applies to DFAT too. The Department of Finance’s Resource Management Guide 130 on APS program evaluation (https://www.finance.gov.au/government/managing-commonwealth-resources/planning-and-reporting/commonwealth-performance-framework/evaluation-commonwealth-rmg-130) is only the beginning of this embedding. It can all too-easily be ignored by time-poor and/or indifferent APS management. Especially in the aid area. More to the point, I do suggest that it is not the changing amount of dollars in any aid budget that should be the target. It’s what those dollars later achieve – demonstrably. Like children vaccinated; clean water projects delivered; maternal mortality reduced (as just some examples in the Health area with which I’m familiar). Again to the point, I do not recall any Foreign Minister publicising such results and highlighting just exactly why Australia delivers foreign aid. And thus creating a domestic constituency for this Budget and Australia’s part in reducing poverty and hunger in the developing world. In 2017, just under 700 million people globally were living in extreme poverty on the World Bank’s revised figure of US$2.15 a day. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/factsheet/2022/05/02/fact-sheet-an-adjustment-to-global-poverty-lines. As Scott Bayley has suggested, Australia’s programs for reducing these poverty levels need to be removed from Ministerial and political priorities and handed to independent experts.

Ankave Tribe We will not entertain any investors into our Land with out our consultation Kariava oil and gas. We don't to do the same mistake again. We learnt that the world have just turn away from us Ankave tribe. Papua New Guinea government also robbed us our rights to access to Puplic service. There should no be no Play games. Ankave tribes struggled from 2015 to 2022 to get Land Resister the Land get ILG.

Hello Terence. I agree, nothing could be more fruitless. Prestige projects may look like progress but they are not. PNG has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world among other indicators they could not be happy with. Mostly preventable. Potential solutions are complex and will take time to implement. But here's the sad thing. The models of development supported by a precession of our governments have been wide of the mark. Top down, "one way street" systems generally don't work in Melanesia and probably never will. We ignore the community contribution at our peril. It is time to put resources into working directly with communities to build a foundation of financially self reliant community based services linked back to functional government facilities.

Hi Liam, the 50k number often mentioned is the number of prescreened workers in the work ready pool. The only target for growth was the previous government's of 25k workers, with no longer term targets given so far. https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/marise-payne/media-release/pacific-work-ready-numbers-double-ahead-australias-harvest-season

Hi Stephen, I agree that there is no need to end up in that particular type of contest with China. Let's hope it's avoided. Terence

In my opinion there is no need to match useless infrastructure projects of the sort pushed under China's programmes. I do agree with Minister Conroy that effective aid is what is needed, particularly in the areas of community economic empowerment (especially women), primary health care and education service delivery. These are the items communities across PNG are crying out for. Designing models of assistance that give communities greater agency over the outcomes they desire is the way forward. I believe both Ms Wong and Mr Conroy are well aware of this and commited to allocating some resources towards these objectives.

Thank you Andy.

Thanks Satish, I definitely agree on the idea of a review. Terence

Excellent analysis, Terence. Agree that the challenge highlighted by this statement: "The more Australian aid is focused on countering China and shoring up allegiances with political elites in Pacific countries, the less likely it is to actually help people in need" would also significantly undermine aid effectiveness in the region.

Question: Has the federal government given longer dated targets for PALM visa numbers. I heard the number 50,000 mentioned, but haven't been able to verify.

Thanks for this blog Terrence. Agree that a comprehensive review of aid, very much in the spirit of the 1984 Jackson and the 1997 Simon reviews, is well overdue.