Comments

Samoa, please! Massive back and forth with NZ. Much aid and other projects from Aus.

The economic arguments from the Cook Islands point of view are already very strong, but from a health risk perspective it make sense for NZ to include the Cook Islands perhaps earlier than the other two, given the lack of any cases, proportional application of testing and no transit options outside of the Auckland-Rarotonga airlink.

The Papua New Guinea Minister for Communications & Information Technology, Hon. Timothy Masiu, has announced that the registration deadline for mobile phone SIM cards in PNG is now July 31st this year. After that date, unregistered mobile phones in rural and remote areas will not work. The extension is due to coronavirus. For more information, see this news article: https://www.thenational.com.pg/register-sim-cards-public-told/

Thanks both. I really hope the scheme can be expanded to include our Pacific Island neighbours. Yes, labour mobility should be factored into the design, where we have scheme that works well and where risks have been identified and managed. But so too should risks in some countries where controls around passport sales or citizenship sale may not be as strong as they should be, and which could provide a back door entry from people who might otherwise struggle to get a visa from their country of origin.

Thanks for this Peter. The term 'snatched' is not ours - we were reporting what others (in the sector) were saying. I tend to agree with you - and our article supports your position. There has been industry concern, even outrage, from time to time over the ways in which the Government has interacted with the mining sector (Paias Wingti's decision which we cite here for example), but it hasn't stemmed the flow of investment or slowed the industry significantly. We are concerned though with some of the potential effects on locals of these decisions: they could potentially be left with little but a few crumbs and an environmental and social mess.

Great to hear from you Fritz! Couldn't agree more with your sentiment.

I absolutely agree Richard Curtain, we need a plan for the amazing pacific labour workers to be able to travel to australia under both the SWP and PLS (and also for those currently stuck in Australia to return home to see their families). The economic cash benefits that these programs bring home to their pacific countries is such a huge benefit. Much needed cash is injected into the local communities to keep the schools and businesses operating. to quote the gorgeous Jacinda "a travel bubble" that includes Aus, NZ and the pacific is what we should be aiming for. lets develop a set of 'clear & strick guidelines now so that we can easily transition into the transferring workers within our Pacific bubble. My current solomon workers are wondering when they will be able to return home to their families but they are also weighing up the fact that they may not be able to return to australia for the next season which will impact the future of their families, villages and greater community they support by bringing their hard earned Aussie cash home.

Hi Ian, this photo was supplied to us by the Oaktree Foundation, it would be best to get in touch with them to ask if they have a contact. Their website is Oaktree.org.

I taught in PNG from 1966 to 1978 at Kumbareta and also Lapalama (Enga Province). The site of the Kumbareta Primary School was the site of the Baiyer River Vocational School (formerly Baiyer River Junior Technical School). The principal of the Kumbareta High School is Mane Tambili. I taught Mane when he was in Standard 3 at Lapalama Primary T School where I was the principal. Are you in contact with Mane as a result of your research and if so are you able to put me in touch with him? Many thanks, Ian

I agree with everything you wrote, but the reality is that we are in an extremely competitive industry, with particular pressure on the business development side. Donors don't make it easy, with procurement procedures that require a huge amount of work and resources to prepare a compliant proposal. In the U.S., some large international development consulting firms (and NGOs) have developed proposal factories and it takes tremendous resources and a lot of hard work to compete with them. The trick is how to achieve the right balance of being a successful organization, i.e., competitive with the factories, while slowing down to focus on how to help the poor and our other counterparts and beneficiaries and take care of our own mental and physical health. This requires excellent and enlightened management.

Wonderful insight

Glenn and John, Good backgrounder for people who are interested. Some of the problems (resettlement for example) might have been better addressed if the soft diplomacy/engagement through the use of experienced PNG people had continued as per Placers' time rather than hard security and a concentration of ex military and police in engagement roles. Others from that time have recently been in contact and I am partly quoting their thoughts which I endorse. Without a long term engagement the problems in general will not be solved. If the hardline security remains unchanged these problems will never be solved.