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Hi Natasha thank you for sharing. In my case, some companies in Australia which I applied has offered me a job, especially in trade jobs, however able to provide sponsorship but they have requested me to apply for full working rights in Australia. Therefore, how would I apply for the working rights permit/visa? Your advice or direction would be highly appreciated. Thks.

Thank you Graham a very interesting perspective. Probably a great follow up would be the Global South perspective. I’m currently working on the Asian Relations conference of 1947 in New Delhi and recently about Bandung in 1955 - both of which explored and articulated important visions for governance in the Global South as did the NIEO in 1975. China’s work since 2000 in its Africa partnerships is another interesting example.

Hi John, I think the best path would be the next HIES capturing these employment margins, thus allowing at least some level cross-sectional comparisons across these sub-groups. I wouldn't speculate on the changes based on that, but would still be helpful. SDES, HFPS, and Census don't have that level of employment detail so absent an LFS, HIES seems the best bet, in my humble opinion. Warmest wishes, Ryan

The "millions of villagers who produce and sell cocoa, coffee and vanilla from their customarily owned land" are for the most part not employed in formal private sector employment, and thus not included in the dataset. The article and the linked paper it is based on clear and transparent on who is observed and how measured. Outside the OECD most employment in the agricultural sector is not formal or in the private sector per se. Yet, this hardly means that looking at what is going on in the formal private sector is unhelpful or unimportant, especially if reliable and representative data elsewhere is non-existent.

What a valuable and interesting piece of work! If only it were possible to complete the picture by finding the data for formal economy 'non-superannuable' workers whom we ought to see as a more vulnerable and intermediate group -- working perhaps for formal enterprises but not themselves fully 'formal'. And then additionally, wouldn't it be great if we had data over a similar period for the great mass of informal economy workers (presumed in many cases also to have access to subsistence incomes). We might speculate that the real incomes of these two groups (the vulnerable/fringe formal and the urban and rural informal groups) will prove to be related in various ways to what is happening in the formal (superannuable) economy. How to find out more?

Does the study take into account the millions of villagers who produce and sell cocoa, coffee and vanilla from their customarily owned land. If not, how can they be included in the PNG "agriculture sector"?

Thanks Natasha, your research and survey insights are very helpful as they point out progress and challenges (that require attention) in the process. I was late to apply in the initial round and am in anticipation for the next round to open in June 2025 so I can finally apply. I hope there will be some improvements in the process so that applicants can be assisted properly without too much stress and waste of time/resources by the applicant.

Kolombi’s situation reflects a broader crisis in rural PNG, where government neglect, corruption, and weak leadership have allowed entire districts to collapse. Mr. Mako's call for effective leadership, accountability, and government intervention applies to many struggling rural areas across the country.

Congratulations Graham on your immense contributions to governance over the last 3 decades. I am responding to your blog on governance from the education sector. The inadequate treatment of governance in education, especially at the system level, has significantly contributed to the learning crisis in education. Governance reform was rarely included in education projects across developing countries. During my tenure at the World Bank, governance was the purview of public sector management. Therefore, it remained at a generic level rather than embedded in sector substance. Education sector staff were seldom involved with the implications of governance reform for all matters education. Questions such as, how one governs teachers’ performance and its connections with training or how one governs curriculum development and its rollout into instructional material, were never dealt with in depth. Limitations with the generic treatment of governance could account for the decline of “governance” from 2015, which coincided with the recognition of the crisis in learning. I would maintain that governance reform can be appropriate and effective when it is embedded in a sector and system functioning. In recent years I have worked on education in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. In both countries, the formal and/or informal policies and most importantly, policy implementation in the different areas directly related to education service delivery require urgent attention. The sectoral embedding of governance reform will be critical for student enrolment and learning.

Hi Natasha, Thank you for sharing your article. My wife is the primary applicant and it has been extremely difficult to convince employers about the PEV, the uncertainty of when the PEV can be granted has been difficult to convince employers and has subsequently led to the employer not confident of offering employment as they want an immediate start or at least a month, most cannot wait. The provisional visa makes alot if sense. It's extremely stressful, plus for those of us still working, the PEV support should consider after hours sessions or on weekends, we take alot of time off weekly to attend to PEV matters and it affects our current jobs.

Job requirements are the confusion we are creating. All successful applicants, their names are already registered in the Centrelink. They need to apply for visa without job offer.

PNG is not like Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Fiji or Marshall Islands. PNG has a big land mass with over 10 million people of cultural diversity. You confined yourself in one out of 22 provinces, Goroka town in the Eastern Highlands province. Could you make a second and visit all the provinces and redo the judgment? And what do you mean by Pacifica?