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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?

Very important political database ... whether official or not, the database will provide a good 'pointer' for anyone interested in PNG politics.

Thanks Maholopa - the numbers are very instructive. Is there now scope for a further examination of the consequent decision-making by the Government(s) of the day(s) please? If Governments are regularly replaced by Votes of No Confidence or resign to avoid them, what does this mean for continuity in "government" (with a small "g")? Does this then disrupt the relationship(s) between Ministers and their Departments and thus the continuity in public administration and the effectiveness of that administration? Do programs as administered by PNG public servants retain their momentum? Something that is part of the current debate in Australia about the long-term effectiveness of the Australian Public Service.

I agree with you. At the end of 2021, last December to be exact, I conducted research on waste management strategies in the city of Dili (Dom Aleixo sub-district as a sample), it was found that there was a lack of awareness in managing waste properly, properly and efficiently. This fact eventually created a waste problem in the capital Dili and continued to the Final Disposal Site, Tibar. Another interesting fact from my research is that socialization activities regarding waste management strategies by several stakeholders are not comprehensive and adequate. Sometimes we hear them talking on television and reading in the mass media various solutions to the waste problem in Dili, but the facts give different data.

This is a very interesting breakdown by Richard Curtain and Stephen Howes of the current situation with student visas and their funding sources. However, there is a fundamental issue that I would like to interrogate insofar as the evidence applies to aid-funded scholarships. Threaded through the analysis is the view that private and aid-funded students represent a suitable pool for migration of skilled workers to Australia. This is no doubt true, but there is a major developmental impact for developing countries that become, in effect, donors filling gaps in Australia's professional workforce. Whether donor or recipient countries benefit more from aid scholarships is a long-standing issue, but perhaps not one that has changed fundamentally in the last 20 years. In 2002, I wrote an analysis of the opportunity cost to Papua New Guinea's universities of Australian aid scholarships (available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274529990). The estimate was that if the funding applied to the then annual average of 375 scholarships for study in Australia (at a unit cost around A$28,600 in 2000) were applied to scholarships for teacher education students at the University of Goroka (with a unit cost of A$6,9000), the effect would have been to increase UOG student numbers by 270%, from 920 to 2510, increase the UOG budget from K15.0 million to K41.0 million, and increase Australian award numbers (and their potential for goodwill) from 375 to 2510. Developmentally, this could have allowed UOG to meet the shortfall of badly needed secondary and technical teachers in PNG by increasing annual output by some 500 a year. In goodwill terms, it could have multiplied the number of Australian award recipients 6.7 times. Instead, within Australia, the real effect of aid scholarships was to provide even then an outmoded, unnecessary and regressive subsidy for its universities to compete against their developing country counterparts. Scholarships might generate goodwill but private students can carry home the good news at their own expense. In educational terms, it could be argued that the standard of teacher education programmes in Australia justified the overseas study. Certainly, my observation then, as Foundation Professor of Education at UOG, was that some of the student grades given were remarkably generous, but the bottom line was that the pass standard provided graduates competent to apply their skills within the PNG system. Thus, the counterargument was that the relevance of the UOG training was much higher (especially, in my jaundiced view, given the propensity of Australian universities to imbue their overseas students with often culturally-irrelevant educational theories and practices). A constructive alternative in the long-term interests of Australian universities was to support their developing country counterparts with substantive partnerships based on complementary skills and functions that stood to bolster the capabilities of the overseas partners and position Australian universities to capture with them a share of large home markets. Of course, that analysis may be deemed to be well out-of-date, so it would be interesting to learn from Richard and Stephen or others how current aid programme activities do, or do not, deal with the issues raised.

Hi Charlotte! I'm interested in the data for Fig 2, I tried to follow the link but the page is no longer there. Any chance that you can lead me to it?

What is expected in the up coming Mini Budget on March 17th, 2022?

My understanding is that Tonga's sole international communication cable has now been repaired and services are being restored today. This should make it much easier for seasonal workers in Australia and New Zealand to communicate with loved ones in Tonga. The following story by Radio New Zealand contains details: https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/462052/the-southern-cross-cable-that-connects-tonga-to-the-outside-world-is-fixed

Thanks, Chris. It is so good to hear your comments here. I will get in touch with you - it has been ages since our IDSS days. 🙂