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Papua New Guinea has made numerous pledges in the last few years, particularly to other Melanesian countries but also to the Pacific region as a whole.

PNG and Timor both run aid programs. Vietnam provides aid, at least to Laos.

I wonder what this means: The Treasurer then argued that we were sending aid to countries that were “in some cases, providing aid themselves” With the exception of Indonesia which has given small amounts of aid (eg. <a href="http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2012/07/25/Indonesia-emerging-aid-donor.aspx?COLLCC=2365339945&amp" rel="nofollow">see her</a>e) does anyone know any countries that receive bilateral aid from Australia that could be called aid donors? Pakistan perhaps?

Thank you Busa and John for this article. Some of the issues currently seen from the 'buai ban' reiterates the importance (or not) of the informal sector. The chief problem with the Informal Sector Act 2004 appears to be the lack of enforcement. Aligning certain legislation with national policies is critical, but unless an enactment is properly administered and enforced, there's little to be gained in terms of reform. Perhaps the sensitivity surrounding informal sector economy may have restricted a functioning enforcement mechanism. Another issue that is often missing in discussions concerning informal sector is the influx of foreign entities engaging covertly in informal economy. Under the Act, the informal sector is reserved for Papua New Guineans. However, what is increasingly happening in the country, especially on the streets, is that people are being used as conduit to sell store items from shops. They call them 'street-sellers' and most of them are teenagers, even some are under-aged to be engaged in labour. This 'street selling' may have fall under informal sector economy, but authorities failed to realise that it is part of a pervasive and exploitative business venture. Foreign companies that are using these conduit to sell on the streets are exploiting a gap in the informal sector legislation that does not extensively regulate the supplier of goods on informal market. The present reform needs look beyond its narrow scope of policy and institutional orientation to take into account these concerns that borders on human rights, corporate illegality and economic sustainability.

Lovely to read, and such a generous tribute.

I have long admired Joel's work on Africa. I look forward to entering the debate more fully when I am free to do so after my return to Australia in September. However, I want to put a little balance into the Security Council/Africa discussion. I know for a fact that the increase in aid to Africa was decided long before the 2007 election. Kevin Rudd and I had our first discussion of this question even before he was leader and I became Shadow Minister. On another matter, the emphasis on mining was a direct result of requests from African governments. We would articulate our priorities and then they would regularly ask us to add mining to the list. So we did and I believe it was a good idea. More from me on all this after I return.

Hi Matt, One very late comment. It has to be noted that ever since 2009-2010, the government has been financing some of its expenditure through new domestic borrowing. This is reflected on the increase of 'RBV's claim on Government' (Table 1) and the increase in 'Outstanding Government Bond' (Table 25) in this <a href="http://rbv.gov.vu/attachments/article/299/Quarterly%20Economic%20Review%20March%202014.pdf" rel="nofollow">Quarterly Economic Review</a> by RBV. These are old data but the trend should be considered when analyzing the economic loss from Pam. Tanna Coffee is probably the major agricultural exportable products affected. -Simon

Ross and John, Thank you for the beautiful tribute to a remarkable man. This fills a gap for me having heard Ross speak of him in the past. Our University was blessed in those years.

This helps me for my homework that I have to do for social study's thank you. 🙂

Hi Matthew, The analysis is certainly useful. According to the Merchandise Trade Statistics (VNSO, 2015), Luganville contribute to 70 % of export and Port Vila 30% in 2014. Luganville represends the 4 northern provinces and Port Vila represents the 2 southern provinces. Pam damaged the 2 southern provinces. So the impact of Pam on agricultural export may be disqualified in your analysis. Tourism may be impacted. But tourism has is always been fragile. The inflow of Pam Aid should certainly alleviate some loss, at national level. -Simon Tiwok PS: I'm currently studying an MPP programme at VUW. I used to work at the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu. All views expressed here are my own.

Joel, good but depressing article, thanks. Luckily there are other countries interested in development in Africa - For instance, I am working on a Tanzania project (a study of illicit financial flows, for the central bank) funded by Norway. Australia does run a risk on missing out on an interesting and strong-growth future. Best, Alex

I am not convinced by the "long game" argument - it reaffirms that it is difficult in PNG and many other countries to get tangible results in the short term. I agree there must be policy reform and the political will to ensure an equitable distribution of the benefits of economic growth. Others are better qualified to comment on how best to do this? I also agree with the Australian aid focus on health and education. As the major development partner, we should be able to address both ie "walk and chew gum". However, aid often doesn't reach the grassroots, raising questions about its effectiveness over the past decade. My experience, based on nearly 15 years working at provincial level in PNG health, is that health indicators generally have not improved and the vast majority of Papuan New Guineans are no better off than they were a decade ago. For many, the situation has gotten worse.