Comments

Thank you very much for this blog post Dr Kama. You mentioned that Papua New Guinea's constitution ensures the independence of institutions such as the Ombudsman Commission, the Constitutional and Law Reform Commission, the Public Prosecutor and the Auditor General. This makes me wonder about the case of the upcoming Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). Does the constitution need to be amended to include mention of the ICAC? Thank you again, Amanda Dr Amanda H A Watson

Concerning the home country concern about 'brain drain': abundant examples can be found to show that, in the longer run, any brain drain will reverse itself to some extent. The return of Indian IT experts from Silicon Valley to India's thriving IT centres is a well-documented example. Many returning skilled workers will to come home with levels of skill and experience far higher than they could ever have achieved at home, given the limited range of employment opportunities in their countries of origin. They may also return with capital to fund start-ups, or they may even have been remitting capital for years to set up the conditions for self-employment on their return. It may take time for such benefits to appear but if graduates of APTC training are unemployed at home after graduation the case of 'circular' migration to high-income countries in the Pacific region is strong. From the viewpoint of Australian employers, the many elements of cultural familiarity they find in the Pacific workforce are a strong positive. Policy measures, applied at both ends of the exchange, can be devised to realise the benefits of such migration.

Arun, thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, APTC graduates in hospitality are not eligible for a temporary skills shortage visa. Only APTC graduates can access this visa if their occupation is on the medium term or short-term skill shortage lists.

I have been reminded that the Timor book I am thinking of was called 'Hello missus'...

Another one to add to the memoirs is 'The Ponds of Kalambayi' by Mike Tidwell -- a Peace Corps volunteer memoir from the country then known as Zaire (now DRC), but one that my development studies lecturer in the US assigned us as a course reading. It's from the 80s but it definitely gave some interesting insights into working with local communities. One genre of aid worker memoir that I find particularly curious though is the sexcapades ones - 'Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures' being the most notable, but Timor-Leste had its own version that was more chick lit comedy romance, I can't remember the name of it now but the cover was some kind of silhouette with a UN peacekeeper hat. This microgenre seemed to be an early 2000s thing though, when publishers were clearly very open to book pitches like 'it's Sex and the City but in a different place!' I think we have become more woke now?

Another first person aid memoir you could include here is my book, 'Where are you this time?', stories about delivering technical assistance in places from Kosovo to Afghanistan, Somalia, Kazakhstan and the Philippines. (Available as an ebook or paperback on Amazon and other online retailers.) I've also been surprised that there are so few memoirs from this field of work. There are so many interesting stories to tell and I would encourage everyone to have a go at telling them.

Sustainability expert Jeffrey Sachs, outlined that Australia can limit its carbon footprint by moving from coal mining to building it's tourism sector. Maybe, the APTC graduates could provide that much needed hopitality workforce the sector desperately needs (specially Western Australia).

Oh dear, my apologies, I should have looked at that first. Thanks Stephen.

Hi Juliet, yes it is all in the Discussion Paper linked at the bottom of the blog. The gender dimensions are particularly interesting, and we're hoping to write a separate blog on this - so watch this space.

Thanks for the blog. Was there any sector- or sex-disaggregated data available for analysis?

Totally agree with Keni Naika. I was wondering, if there were any changes since this 2016 report. Would be interested to see. Comparing it to current (2021).

Thanks Nematullah and Emmanuel for exploring such an important question! The article opened with a reference to a 2018 Parliamentary question asked by then Shadow Treasurer, now Treasurer, the Hon. Ian Ling-Stuckey. Following is a new link to the question that was asked – this is done for reasons of public transparency as such questions are hard to access on the public record (and so I had to add it to my own website) http://pngeconomics.org/2021/02/pngs-descent-to-a-fragile-state-can-it-recover-again/. The question indicates the basis for the current Treasurer's claim that PNG had descended back to fragile state status in 2014 were World Bank and ADB indicators of “fragile situation” countries. The source materials and analysis were included in the question (which is provided to the PNG Parliament’s speaker) and are included in the link above. One particularly interesting element of the background analysis, arguably not explored fully in the Devpol analysis, is the dynamics of such a status. PNG had climbed out from being a "failed state" during the year’s 2007 to 2013. It then fell back into that failed state status by 2014. This was driven mainly by a fall in measures of economic management during the O’Neill years according to the analysis of the World Bank and ADB. Since 2020, the listing has been simplified. PNG is still in the listing as a “High Institutional and Social Fragility” country http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/888211594267968803/FCSList-FY21.pdf. Hopefully, improvements in economic management backed with continued friendly foreign support will allow for one of the positive scenarios in the Devpol analysis. [Disclaimer: The author currently works as Principal Economic Advisor to PNG’s Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey]