Comments

I assume that your assumption about PNG given Ausralians visa-free entry is tongue-in-cheek.

Analysis has shown (OECD, various) that governments will have foreign aid programs whether there is negative public opinion and dissent or not, as aid policy is really an elite issue. Communication on Australia’s foreign aid program should be focused on limiting dissent, educating those elites that have a voice in foreign aid policy such as members of cabinet and parliament and convincing those which are able to be convinced, the 'charity begins at home' crowd, of the importance of Australia’s aid program. This is perhaps an area which is quite unique in terms of public policy formulation and political communication and warrants a deeper understanding

I think it is deplorable that Radio Australia broadcasts have been shelved. In my opinion it is a vital trusted service which they can rely on to be a true account of events for our neighbours, loving Rugby as they do !

Thanks Tess

This issue is on the agenda of the forthcoming meeting of Friends of the ABC 6th October

agreed. A myopic decision made by people who'd never slept beyond the shadow of a Telstra tower.

Thanks John for raising this important issue. There are many radio stations owned and run by PNG firms but they don't cover wide and important news items like Radio Australia did. Like many other Papua New Guineans did, I used to tune in and enjoy wide variety of detailed both local and international news that are very relevant to the country. It is very regretful to lose this vital radio service. Australia must work to restore this broadcast.

Thanks Wes. I don't doubt there's concern in the region about Australia's (crazy) plans to subsidise coal. That said, discussion at the Forum meeting seems to have been managed in such a way as to avoid conflict around such issues. Interesting, right?

Thanks for your interest in the book John. The e-book is available through Amazon, which is the cheapest I can find: https://www.amazon.com.au/Anti-Corruption-its-Discontents-International-Perspectives-ebook/dp/B074JBX8DR The hard copy is available through the publisher (20%discount code: FLR40): https://www.routledge.com/Anti-Corruption-and-its-Discontents-Local-National-and-International/Walton/p/book/9781138698024 I'm also exploring options to distribute it through a PNG publisher, but that might take some time. Best Grant

Thanks for the update, Jo. That is very curious.

Over the past five days, New Zealand First has amended its foreign affairs policy online. Now no mention of aid or the Pacific. (See <a href="http://www.nzfirst.org.nz/foreign_affairs_and_trade" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">here</a>). Perplexing.

Hi Stephen, Thanks for your comment. Stronger parties are probably a necessary condition for programmatic politics (it is hard to see how political collective action problems will be overcome without them). However, they aren't, on their own, a sufficient condition. Many countries with stronger parties than PNG (think Latin America) still have clientelist politics. A particular type of political party is required to shift away from clientelist politics: one that is (at least somewhat) national in scope and also born of reforming social movements. With respect to the quality of elections. There are two major causes of national level electoral issues. 1. Active attempts to capture the system nationally (think Malaysia) 2. Neglect (think PNG). In a country as ethnically fragmented as PNG, it is very hard for national capture to occur. As a consequence, what we typically see is neglect as politicians in a clientelist polity focus either on winning support through patronage spending or through cheating at a local level. (It is possible there were some attempts at actively undermining national electoral infrastructure in 2017 to make localised cheating easier. But the situation, while worrying, still wasn't analogous to Malaysia). Some of the cross-country empirical work on electoral quality finds an association between independent electoral bodies and better quality elections. (There is a lot of debate on this though.) I think a well-resourced and de facto independent electoral commission would help with electoral quality in PNG (the PNGEC is already de jure independent; this doesn't seem to have helped it). The question, however, is why doesn't PNG have a strong independent electoral commission already? The answer to that is, I think, the political dynamic I describe in my post. Should donors and domestic civil society organisations push for a better-functioning, better resourced electoral commission? Sure. I say as much in the other two posts. But the electoral commission's problems didn't emerge from a vacuum. Nor can a better electoral commission be magicked into existence independent of the traits of PNG's broader political economy. Thanks for your comment. Terence