Comments

Hi Amanda Thanks for pointing out the facts from a well researched article.PC has totally put to shame PNG as a country with its misleading poorly researched dangerous information. But,PC did hit a point ,the trend of Phornography in PNG is really growing,even the 75% of the illitrate rural population are viewing Phorn through Cheaply sold Asians Phones via bluetoth and other sharing device. Thamks

This article touches on the real issues. No one authority is bothering to look at any holistic objectives being set and then maintained and therefore taking an overarching view of what aid money is supposed to achieve. Secondly, the three year scramble for political new agendas in Australia leaves very little in the way of continuity of purpose. Thirdly, only those in Australia that have an active interest in overseas aid are in any way interested in what the government at the time is doing and why? This means that any Minister with any responsibility under any nominal overseas aid program is virtually unaccountable and never really takes any detailed interest in the program. Their PR unit and staff merely seek to impress on a shallow level of sweeping statements and quotes on total funding without any long term planning being undertaken or reviewed. The Australian press seem totally fixated on the sensational without much thought being given to the informative. Finally, the former head of the PNG Anti-Corruption Unit summed it up recently after the current PNG government (that reportedly is totally cash strapped), wanted an injection of Australian funds just before the next general election in order, one might suggest, to quickly distribute the largesse to buy votes via handouts to their loyal supporters. Sam Koim wrote: “Give PNG what they need, not what they want.’ What is needed is a desire to mold all those who are interested in what Australia can achieve in terms of overseas aid together into a viable, effective and objective team. There's the challenge for the Minister and today's government.

As a comparator, you can see a less happy trend in NZ on page 2 here: http://www.cid.org.nz/assets/Financial-summary-CID-Member-Survey-2016.pdf

Thank you very much for the comment and for linking to your presentation. A very in-depth analysis. I am glad to see the database being used, and hope it is useful in to the future for many more researchers. - Rohan Fox

It is about time for the Government together with Department Heads, Organisation Heads to come up with very strict rules regarding Smoking and Chewing of beternut in public places. In ten (10) years time, our country will not have young generation as the data show of the children case of TB. It is also a eye open for us especially the parents to be very careful of our childrens health. HEALTH IS VERY BOBY'S BUSINESS.

Thank you very much for this useful resource. I have used the dataset for a presentation I made at the PNG National Party Convention on 7 April 2017 in Port Moresby. An edited copy of my presentation can be found here: https://pngwoman.com/oneills-budget-scorecard, which shows how I used the data.

The article on governance provides a good case on work around improving governance. But on the hand, there are number of underlying factors that impact corruption. The interesting question is what drives corruption in PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It wont be a surprise if socio-economic factors play role. It is by understanding drivers of corruption that may assist in improving governance. Surely a good governance framework can improve governance practices, but institutionalising and sustaining such practises in the long term has and will continue to be a challenge.

Thank you Sam for you insights. While the call by Australia’s Minister for International Development Concetta Fierravanti-Wells may be unsettling to some, it is about time PNG leaders take greater responsibility and be more intentional about a departure from the aid-dependency syndrome.

Bal, I think your views would find a lot of support in the CIMC NGI Regional Development Forum currently being concluded here in Kimbe..Arianne Kassman from TIPNG gave an excellent presentation on youth and the contribution they must make, including from her experience running the very lively and inspiring annual TI youth democracy camps. But, while a strong feedback from the Highlands Forum was to cut out impactical extra tiers of government, including DDAs, to enable more effective service delivery, in NGI a bigger focus has been on acknowledging the variations around the country and recognising the greater knowledge and capacity at the local level to address local needs: so ensure as much planning and administration occurs as close to the communities as possible, with very limited top down control and that national plans and policies should flow up from the community to the ward through to national plans. As WNB Health Authority urged Waigani, please don't treat us as incompetent, let us plan and manage our funds locally and be locally accountable. ENBP is often shown as having strong local accountability mechanisms and traditions, and certainly the participating provincial and District administrators from the ENBP indicated a high level of responsiveness to local will, expressed both through traditional and recent ICT channels. That was endorsed by the Secretary for Public Service, observing some of the top down mechanisms and projects he's observed imposed from the centre on districts and villages over the years, that turned into a fiasco. We'll have the feedback from 7 break out groups in this NGI forum in the next half hour, on mechanisms for more effective civic participation, to making the system function, considering the cultural and geographical diversity and prevailing or prospective economic conditions.

Thanks Julie. Good question. We provided the sample size in the data download but not in the blog itself. 929 people were surveyed in the first 3 waves of the 16/17 AuSSA. (And it's the first three waves of data we've drawn on in the post). People were randomly sampled, and the numbers we've provided are based on data that were weighted to be nationally representative. Terence

Thank you Paul for this summation of what appeared to be an insightful symposium. Looking forward to reading the report. The Five Strategic Priorities, except the fifth point, appears to be top-down reforms or institutional-based. There is need for some bottom-up approach, I think i.e. how can we engage more with the people to find solutions. Perhaps it is covered under point 5. Also, the country needs to look at the future with the intention of moulding the young people so that they are not entrapped and sucked into these nation-crippling practices outlined in your reflection. I suggest an overhaul of the education system and the teaching curriculum at the primary and high school level so that students (the future generation) are exposed to notions of rule of law, transparency and accountability at an early stage. It would ensure these principles are deeply inculcated into their norms and behaviours. Currently, they are exposed to these issues at a later stage of their life e.g. in universities or workplace. Late exposure means the urge for rule of law, transparency and accountability does not find permanency compared to other underlying allegiance such as ‘wantokism.’ I am not saying people are inherently ignorant but for the majority, there is need for a sustained long-term exposure to think as a nation and reason out what is good for the nation (critical for a diverse tribally-driven country). The battle to revolutionise PNG must be fought at the lowest level with hearts and minds as much as at the highest echelons.

Thanks for the article - how many people in the survey?