Comments

Excellent article, Kingtau. Important lessons for PNG government and policymakers to learn to turn the trajectory of socio-economic development of PNG around for the better.

Thank you, Mark, for an excellent blog with such clearly presented practical advice.

Death caused by mosquitoes is staggering. In rural areas people hardly take precautionary measures to avoid mosquitoes. Unless people themselves taken action, the mosquito problems cannot be solved. And one important fact is that no matter whatever the steps taken, no matter how much clean the place is, mosquitoes cannot be eradicated at all. Only two things can be done, one is to have a good potent vaccine and the other one is to fix mosquito nets in your home.

I am a woman from Afghanistan. We need HRBA support us and help us to continue our lives in freedom with our basic lives. Even I can study and finish my university. I want to have an opportunity for job. I love to have job and be independent. I have 3 children. Nowaday I am jobless with financial problems. The Taliban make my country as a prison for me and like me. All the world know about the situation of Afghanistan for women.

Very good initiative, really support your movement. Commenting from Papua New Guinea. I, as a secondary school teacher, in my lesson plan I will insert this topic of tree planting to combat climate change issues at the community level.

Thank you for this interesting post and my apologies for the lengthy delay in reading it and commenting. To my understanding, there is substantial variation with regard to internet pricing in Pacific Island countries. Research monitoring mobile internet prices in Papua New Guinea (PNG) can be found at the following link: https://devpolicy.org/tag/png-mobile-internet-price-research/ I was not surprised to see that men use Facebook more often than women in PNG because Jope Tarai and Michael Kabuni had written about this in 2022. See: https://www.policyforum.net/pngs-digital-divide/ Which figure was used for the PNG population when creating Figure 1? As was pointed out in a comment by Stephen Charteris, the population figure is unclear. Here is a great piece about the PNG population by demographers Michael Bourke and Bryant Allen: https://devpolicy.org/what-is-the-population-of-papua-new-guinea-20210202-1/ See also Maholopa Laveil’s comments in the following news story: https://www.abc.net.au/pacific/programs/pacificbeat/debate-over-un-report-png-population-seventeen-million/101736986 Amanda

Yi is an ethnic minority so the one-child policy doesn't apply to them.

Hi Jason, Thank you for your comment. I agree that land ownership, as well as the states' incapacity/inability to manage and mediate, is a major challenge for both countries. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts. Terence

Thanks a lot Stephen. This and the previous articles provide really helpful analysis. The lesson from your analysis of the pattern of the large numbers of protection visa applications is to not jump to conclusions based on observed behaviour, but to dig further and really understand why people are acting the way they are. Let's hope for positive reforms that can keep PALM strong.

Free agency would most likely lead to instability in the program because the original sponsor would have little control over a worker just deciding on a whim to relocate to other work. Seasons typically start slow and ramp up to peak harvest then taper off towards the end. The huge up-front costs to employers would have more risk if a worker decides a few days of low hours (weather, crop related), would see them up and go. The solution that keeps being raised is to allow greater flexibility between Approved Employers to allow them to transfer workers. Currently this is only possible for labour hire but should be opened up to ALL AEs. A significant number of absconders run because the AE cannot transfer them to more work (even for a month or two) to account for a decrease in hours. Even when labour hire companies can transfer to another AE, they are met with weeks and weeks of red tape - making the transfer process time ineffiecient and not worth it. A simple way is to introduce a fast-track system, including reducing the market testing requirements and to have pre-approved accommodatons. We are after all, all for maximising a positive worker's experience and attending to their welfare. Stalling initiatives to allow inter-AE movement of workers appears to be detrimental to worker welfare. I wonder if this topic will come up at the Pacific Labour Mobility Annual Meeting held in Brisbane this week? We watch with interest.

Dear Dr. ZHANG Denghua, Greetings from Shanghai China. I am a staff from the International Center for Teacher Education of ECNU where we deliver Chinese foreign aid degree programs for developing countries. I would like to know that whether Australia run such kind of degree programs in the country's universities?

It's inspiring to read about efforts that successfully averted an ecological catastrophe. It shows how collective action and proactive policies can restore fragile ecosystems and protect biodiversity. This story is a powerful reminder that with dedication and cooperation, it's possible to turn the tide and create a more sustainable future.