Comments

Hi Moses, thanks for your comment. All great points. There are many Australians today whose ancestors originally come here to work in agriculture. They have made Australia a better place, and have very often been able to help relatives and friends in their home countries. Of course what a pathway to permanency in the PLS would look like we don't yet know (the SWP, as it is about seasonal labour, is a seperate issue I think) but it is certainly something that needs to be considered.

Obrigadu Abelita. Hau konkorda katak programa ne'e diak.

Kerry, thanks for your positive input. There have been concerns in some circles that opening up a pathway to permanent settlement in the PLS might lure away talented people who are needed at home – 'brain drain' is the term that gets used. I however am inclined to agree with you that Pacific/TL workers settled in Australia are coming from places where ties to land and kin run deep, and will likely continue to contribute even if given the chance to resettle in Australia.

Absolutely agree that Permanent Residency should be an option for our Pacific neighbours who have already proven their worth and commitment to Australia, Australians – and helped in the success & increased productivity of those Australian businesses who employ them. They already have a track record in Australia since arriving under the 403 visa programs. This is a fantastic way to prove what amazing role models as new Australian residents they would be. Pacific Islanders will never leave their country behind. They will always send remittances home to aid the extended family and villages no matter how long they stay in Australia. I am an employer of workers under both the SWP & the PLS and our rural region of Australia is far better off having these workers call our small town home whilst they are with us. They are respected for their work ethic, loved and welcomed by our local community and will always hold a place in the hearts of their new extended families.

Hi Sonya, I have marvellous memories of staying in your father's house, playing with your family. (Are the girls still knitting?) Great to hear of your achievements and the begining your business journey. Good luck Sonya

Hi Amanda - it certainly is a moving feast. One thing we have discovered is that not all bundles available are visible on all platforms. The Digicel website, for example, has 30 day 50GB @ around K200 - but this can't be seen via the #777* top-up number. 50GB @ K200 (K0.004 per MB) isn't too bad considering just over a year ago we were paying K600 for 10GB. Almost Netflixable 🙂 Other recent good news is that in Alotau, consistent down/up speeds of 40/40mbps are being achieved through the 3/4G network. VERY fast considering we only achieve 11/0.5mbps through our NBN in Adelaide. Things might be looking up!

Hi Sarah i have read your story and am inspired by your work. Your approach of leading from behind is inspiring. Thank you for sharing your story!!

I am Abelita from Timor-Leste Miss to work with you. Love PLS. Good luck

The PLS and SWP workers deserve to be given permanent residency in Australia. They are not just there to work in Australian farmlands, but they are developing Australia's economy in the Agriculture sector. Even in times of disasters like bushfires and floods, they are helping a part of Australia through fundraising and evacuation as argued by Rochelle Lee-Bailey in her blog post on 17 January 2020. In other words, they are playing the roles of being humanitarians and farmers. The result of their hard work on farmlands are fresh produce, fruit, vegetables and wine that are on the shelves of the biggest shopping malls across Australia and some are imported in huge quantities by Pacific Island Countries. They give effect to Australian Foreign Policy in the Pacific especially on Trade thus they would do so in the future. Tongans being the rapidly growing group, as argued by Professor Howes, the number of other Pacific Islanders would increase in the future as well with an intention to contribute meaningfully to Australia's economy. The PLS and SWP workers want to live in Australia and be part of Australia and as the Timorese say, 'we would always go back and visit'. They want to be visitors to their Rai Doben - The beloved land. Remember, Barrack Obama, when he was still the president, 'visited' Kenya NOT as a Kenyan but as an American and that's exactly what those Timorese meant and I guess other Pacific Islanders would say the same thing. The SWP and PLS deserve permanent residency or citizenship which the policymakers in Australia need to consider.

Thanks Nicola for a provocative post. I think many of the problems you identify derive from the professionalization of adaptive management and its codification into a skill, sub-discipline, site of expertise, etc. But with regards to trying to tie adaptive management to real organisational processes, you may find this study on Sida risk management systems and the relationship they strike between accountability and flexibility of interest: https://www.odi.org/publications/11388-fit-fragility-exploration-risk-stakeholders-and-systems-inside-sida

Hi Robert, Thanks for your comment. The debate I'd like to see an end to is the high-level one about whether aid as some imagined lump of homogeneous matter "works or not". This was the stuff of the polemics of the early millennium. You can still find remnants. Aid is no one thing, it's numerous projects and programmes. We can ask individually whether these worked or not. But better still to learn when aid works, what types of aid work best, and why. That's what I'm in favour of. Terence

Terence, you pose the question: 'Does aid work?' You then go on to declare that: 'The debate should be over. Both sides were wrong. Sometimes aid fails. Sometimes it works. I hope the debate is over.' Your repeated assertion that the debate should be over is surprising, not only for professional and technical reasons, but because as it comes from a member of a university where debating and testing ideas is a fundamental value and duty. On the contrary, I hope the debate is not over. Experienced aid workers routinely explore questions such as: 'Does aid work? If yes, why; if not, why not? What is the nature of the circumstances around why — to use your words —" sometimes aid fails, sometimes it works?" If aid is not working, how can we work collaboratively to address the challenges presented and do better to achieve intended outcomes for the beneficiaries of aid?' Asking questions and debating the evidence are professional responsibilities to the intended beneficiaries and to the Australian community who ultimately pay the aid bills. Surely, if as you claim, 'aid has a positive average effect on development' then we either should be asking these questions to get above the average or abandoning aid in its present form, but not abandoning debates about it as you advocate. The last of your list of 'useful questions' summarises the point I am making here: 'how can aid become a genuine learning enterprise?’ If we cease debating whether aid works or not, we cease to learn and we limit progress. We risk making the same mistakes over and over again. Finally, questions around whether aid works or not are fundamental to the process of why donors bother monitoring and evaluating their aid projects and programs. By all means, ask the other questions you list, but we do need to keep asking 'does aid work?'