Comments

Thank you for this article, which adds nuance to the COVID picture in PNG without taking anything away from the urgency of the need for Australia to step up. The map is especially useful as a guide, but it's worth noting that the parlous state of the health system in the south of Western Province makes it quite possible that the virus is present there, undetected. Of course this only strengthens your argument for a cross-border approach! This article and Jonathan Pryke's piece in The Australian and on Lowy today both call for Australia to step in urgently - and we should. But this is clearly a situation that would benefit from a larger, more coordinated approach than we can offer on our own. What might be achieved through cooperation with India (who are donating vaccine), Indonesia, the US and even China? I've tried and failed to find a global risk analysis for COVID management but even if the risk to the Torres Strait is minimal, the impacts of an uncontrolled outbreak within PNG, and the risk of transmission east to the Pacific islands marks PNG as a critical piece of the puzzle. A concerted international effort might also be effective in countering the low levels of concern and growing vaccine hesitancy which seem to be widespread in the country.

Richard Curtain: Thank you for your invitation. For what it is worth on job seekers. Jobs are scarce and competition will continue to be high and others are doing what the graduates should be doing. So during training some emphasis should be placed on trainees to think about about how they can create their own employment out of the skills they gain through APTC. PNG Government's policy is five hundred thousand 500,000 SMEs by 2030-50. This presents an opportunity for anyone who is willing to make a positive difference in their own lives and those others less fortunate. Tertiary institutions are being encouraged to offer assistance to make real the government's aspiration of growing the economy through small and medium size enterprises.

Hello Ian. I was one of the interviewers in the DHS 2016. I definitely appreciated your comments and I considered your thoughts a fair justification to policy making in PNG. PNG as i know has some very good policies however most of it gather dust on a shelf. Considering that, i believe that primary information like this is the backbone to a relevant project proposal and if so better project monitoring and evaluation. The stakeholders in doing this survey must be applauded especially AusAID for funding. I see a need for relevance as a main factor and DHS is one. It was done by NSO and so i do think it's not bias as it does not come from NDOH. The government of the day has to decide which areas of concern to address. Most projects planning and design stem from logical framework approach in that case DHS is the great way to access that information. Regards Wellington Panta

Thank you Anonymous. I’m sorry that this happened to you but unfortunately it is so common in this sector. Many years ago somewhere in the Pacific a fellow expatriate tried to break in to my bedroom after I rejected his extremely forthright and intimidating physical advances. I reported the incident to my two male managers, who told me that tensions were raised because we were in a conflict environment and that I would react differently otherwise. I understand that the perpetrator went on to physically assault a local woman and suffered repercussions from her wantoks before leaving the country. Well that’s what one of the male managers told me when he recounted these events to me with humour. Of course I was living back in Australia by then while the said two managers went on to have illustrious careers in the sector. Fifteen years later and I still feel angry about this.

Hi Fredrick, thanks so much for this insightful analysis. I just wanted to follow up on the figure you've quoted for SIP funding in the PNG 2020 budget. You've said that K2,573.4m was allocated to SIP in 2020. I'm looking at the 2020 Budget, and it looks like K2,573.4m was allocated to PIP (Performance Improvement Program) while K1,110.0m was allocated to SIP. Do you have a sense of which figure is correct? I'm looking at page 68 of the 2020 Budget: https://www.treasury.gov.pg/html/national_budget/files/2020/2020%20Budget%20Volume%201.pdf

It may be better for PNG to remember Michael Somare analogous to Cromwell with warts and all. There is much to be deplored in the history of PNG since independence. Michael Somare is an indelible part of this track record. There is a need for young PNG intellectuals to write conscientiously critical, recent and contemporary history - including the role of Michael Somare - to come to grips with these disappointments.

Sorry that you had to go through this, but thank you for sharing your story. We need to collectively stand up to toxic, misogynistic behaviour. I am a Papua New Guinean woman who won't stand for such inappropriate behaviour. It's also of great concern to me that white male development workers can come to my country and advocate for gender equality, yet act in such an appalling manner. We already have a mammoth task on our hands dealing with gender inequality in PNG.

I feel there could have been more in-depth analysis to reasons why RSE workers from the Pacific misbehaved. Threats of blacklisting would create a stigma for retuning workers. Is there re-integration programs as well for the blacklisted, ensuring they're accepted back into society? This social dilemma needs closer observations. The workers are low skilled and mostly from rural continents which means less education, skills and confidence in a foreign land. While the stats are from 2007, it is still alarming. Also, why must inappropriate behaviour by workers be documented? Are RSE workers expected to perfect? Are there counselling support provided? The weight of the integrity of the scheme on one worker if not two, will create negative social impacts if not closely observed.

There is an emergency fund aproved by the parliament which is equivalent to 4% of the budget ( if i'm right). Let's hope this crisis is a one-off situation.

Thanks Helen. Absolutely correct. Seasonal worker program has been a bad scheme. In the Islands you have churches from where your youth/adults list for work. Here it needs a minister to work it, with one, ethical person, whom sole responsibility is the person, the worker. co-ordinating, small farms, not big multi dollar farms. They have the money to pay their workers, small farms, need your workers, but your workers, in a strange land, need cultural, money, house, and food support. We are on to it. sandi, 0413 619 175

Dear anon - I’m so sorry that you went through this traumatic incident, and that it shaped your trajectory negatively thereafter. It’s awful that your employer didn’t have any framework for support to you (eg pre-deployment briefing and real support channels) and it’s doubly awful that this older male behaved with such hypocrisy, and indeed impunity. Presumably for many years. In this story I see myself in one of the clueless male colleagues discussing these things blithely over dinner. I’m going to be doing some reflecting on this. Wishing you all the best.

I am her daughter and seeing my mum like this was very hard it is very wrong to do this and is so incredibly rude. All I want to say is good work mum. ❤️