Pacific Events Calendar
ANU local events
- 25 Jun 2013 State of the Pacific Conference
- 26 Jun 2013 E áu le ‘ina’ilau a tama‘ita‘i: exploring gender equality issues in Sāmoa
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- Kate on Summary of main themes emerging from the conference on Sorcery & Witchcraft-Related Killings in Melanesia, 5-7 June 2013, ANU, Canberra
- Dan Jorgensen on Summary of main themes emerging from the conference on Sorcery & Witchcraft-Related Killings in Melanesia, 5-7 June 2013, ANU, Canberra
- John Burton on Summary of main themes emerging from the conference on Sorcery & Witchcraft-Related Killings in Melanesia, 5-7 June 2013, ANU, Canberra
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Category Archives: News
Mid-year at the Melanesian Spearhead Group
This year, as predicted, is shaping up to be one of great significance for the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and its constituent members. The silver jubilee celebrations have been continuing, and today (20 June) sees the annual leaders’ summit in Noumea, at which point the chairmanship will transfer from Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama of Fiji to Victor Tutugoro, the spokesperson for the Front de Libération et Socialiste (FLNKS) of New Caledonia. [...] Continue reading
Posted in (aggregator), ANU PI, Devpolicy, News
Tagged Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Melanesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nouvelle Calédonie, Pacific Islands, PNG, Vanuatu, West Papua
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New Pacific Islands Field School course at ANU
This new Pacific Studies course introduces students to the Pacific through practical engagement with the islands. The emphasis is on integrating formal learning with first hand experience. The in-country work will include fieldtrips, practical assignments and formal classes and tutorials … Continue reading
Posted in ANU PI, News
Tagged Fiji, French Polynesia, Hawai'i, Kiribati, New Caledonia, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu
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Navigating Pacific Studies
Semester Two 2013 will see the introduction of an entirely online course into the Bachelor of Pacific Studies syllabus – a first for Pacific Studies at the ANU. PASI 1011 / 6001: Navigating Pacific Studies has been jointly developed by Dr Roannie … Continue reading
Posted in ANU PI, News
Tagged Australia, Bougainville, East Timor, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, FSM, Guam, Hawai'i, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Melanesia, Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Nouvelle Calédonie, Pacific Islands, Palau, PNG, Samoa, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, US, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, West Papua
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Vale Dennis O’Rourke (1945-2013)
The friends and colleagues of Dennis O’Rourke are deeply saddened by the death of one of the greatest documentary makers of his generation. Dennis died of cancer on June 15 in his home in Cairns surrounded by his partner Tracey … Continue reading
West Papua – advocacy, dialogue & engagement
On the eve of the MSG Leaders’ Summit, the Pacific Institute for Public Policy argues that, “it’s time to talk frankly and openly about West Papua’s future. Melanesian leaders face a question integral to their collective identity: How and whether West … Continue reading
Vale Helen Hughes (1928-2013)
Helen came to The Australian National University in 1983, a whirlwind of ideas and action. She was on a mission to create the university’s first graduate school and to anchor it in the economics of development with a primary focus on the Asia Pacific region, and with a strong contingent of overseas students. I met her then. Initially the university was not impressed – not about the idea of a [...] Continue reading
Posted in (aggregator), ANU PI, Devpolicy, News, Profiles
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Pacific Buzz (June 19): MSG summit underway | Deep-sea minerals | Fisheries agreements | Tonga budget | More
A roundup of political and economic news by the Pacific Institute of Public Policy and the Development Policy Centre. POLITICS West Papua decision delayed: MSG summit gets underway Political leaders and officials from Fiji, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia’s indigenous political movement–the Front De Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS)–have gathered in Noumea for the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) summit. Members will discuss a wide range of issues [...] Continue reading
Posted in (aggregator), ANU PI, News
Tagged Fiji, Melanesia, Nauru, Pacific Islands, PNG, Solomon Islands
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Time for coordinated action on equity funding for Pacific SMEs
When it comes to equity funding in the Pacific, there has never been a lack of anecdotal evidence of some success and many failures. Many businesses are stuck in a “vicious circle”. They are starved of much needed investment and unable to raise funds to invest in quality management skills and capital equipment. Lack of management know-how is in turn cited by fund managers as the single most inhibiting risk [...] Continue reading
Reminder: State of the Pacific Conference (SOTP 2013) and Pacific & PNG Update 2013
Pacific and PNG Update 2013 June 27-28 Hedley Bull Lecture Theatre 1, Ground Floor, Hedley Bull Centre, Building 130 Last year we revived the Pacific Update tradition with a one-day event. This year, the Update returns as a two-day conference. June 27th is on the Pacific island region, and June 28th on PNG. This is an event not to be missed for anyone working on the region. The keynote speech [...] Continue reading
PIF Secretariat – Briefing documents for SIDS 2014
The Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States will be held from 1 to 4 September 2014 in Apia, Samoa. It will focus the world’s attention on a group of countries that remain a special case for sustainable development … Continue reading
IISD complete coverage of SIDS meetings (1993-2012)
For the past two decades, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) “has provided the main source of information regarding intergovernmental negotiations and activities to develop and implement sustainable development policy in small island developing States (SIDS). Its Earth Negotiations Bulletin reports … Continue reading
Petition to save KIT Library & The Tropenmuseum (Amsterdam)
The Library of the Royal Institute for the Tropics and The Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam’s ethnographic and multicultural museum [with an outstanding permanent exhibition of art and artefacts from New Guinea and Oceania], may close in the next few years if the Government of … Continue reading
ANU medical students fundraise for Fiji
Photo Left to right: Casey Tipping, Blair Burke, Alistair Michell, Christina Hodge and Juliana Mai (by John Yek). “Fundraising is underway for the seventh Fiji Village Project (FVP), an ANU Medical School initiative to deliver vital services in the South … Continue reading
SWEDOW cows and rotting apricots: bad food aid proposals gaining support of MPs
Just as the US is pushing to reform its long criticised food aid program, Queensland graziers and Victorian stonefruit growers are calling on the Australian government to purchase and send surplus livestock and agricultural products to developing countries in the name of ‘helping’ – and their idea is being backed by some federal MPs. The Australian Financial Review (May 8 2013, Page 7) reported on calls for the Australian government [...] Continue reading
Posted in (aggregator), Devpolicy, News
Tagged Australia, East Timor, Indonesia, PNG, Timor-Leste, US
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Time for a new approach to improving governance in PNG? Try transparency and social mobilisation
In his insightful blog post of January 24 this year, which provoked a lively on-line discussion, Graham Teskey, AusAID’s principal governance adviser, asked the question: What can donors do to improve governance in PNG? His basic argument was that it had to be something different. What had been tried to date hadn’t worked. Graham had several suggestions for what a new approach might look like, including working with non-state partners, [...] Continue reading
Anti-corruption on the front line: an interview with Sam Koim
For those on the front line, fighting corruption in Papua New Guinea can be a dangerous occupation. It wasn’t that long ago that a former Ombudsman Commissioner was shot. Sam Koim, chairman of PNG’s anti-corruption coordinating body, Taskforce Sweep, knows all about the dangers that come with the job. In February this year his office was ransacked. In video footage of the aftermath Sam looks down the camera lens in [...] Continue reading
Australia Awards Fellowships (Round 14 closes 19 June 2013)
Applications are currently open for Round 14, for Australia Awards Fellowships beginning in 2014 (close 19 June 2013). Visit AusAID’s AAF page for more information. Australia Awards Fellowships provide senior officials and mid-career professionals from developing countries with the opportunity … Continue reading
Posted in Funds and Jobs, News
Tagged Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis & Futuna
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Australian influence on WB and ADB loans to Fiji: the China factor
A recent excellent article by Stephen Howes argues that it is contradictory of Australia and NZ to have influenced the World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to not lend to Fiji while increasing their own aid to Fiji. Howes was concerned that the WB and ADB appeared to be instruments of rich countries like Australia, rather than “problem-solving tools for all countries”. All well and good. But then [...] Continue reading
The Pacific Plan and non-self-governing territories in the Pacific
In the latest Podcast from the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Program (SSGM), Nic Maclellan “discusses the capacity of United Nations agencies, the Pacific Islands Forum and other regional organisations to advance decolonisation initiatives in the region” with specific … Continue reading
Posted in ANU PI, Events, News
Tagged Australia, Fiji, Melanesia, Pacific Islands, United States
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Breaking the Spell: update on sorcery and witchcraft conference
“Widespread practice and belief in sorcery and witchcraft are not only linked to brutal violence and killings in Melanesia – they are stifling the development and modernisation of the region” writes Belinda Cranston. Read her article, or more about the … Continue reading
Posted in ANU PI, Events, News
Tagged Fiji, Melanesia, New Caledonia, PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu
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Pacific Buzz (June 5): PNG death penalty | Fiji loan block | SDP to exit Ok Tedi | Pacific workers in Oz | More
A roundup of political and economic news by the Pacific Institute of Public Policy and the Development Policy Centre. POLITICS PNG repeals Sorcery Act, enacts death penalty The parliament of Papua New Guinea has responded to a spate of globally publicised crimes with legislative amendments. In the same session that the Sorcery Act, which provided a defence for violent attacks on suspected sorcerers, was repealed, the parliament voted to apply the death [...] Continue reading
PNG Sustainable Development Program to exit Ok Tedi
At its 2012 Annual Report Meeting held in Port Moresby today, the PNG Sustainable Development Program (SDP) announced its willingness to negotiate an exit from OTML, the company which runs the Ok Tedi mine, PNG’s largest. SDP is currently the majority shareholder in Ok Tedi, with a 63% shareholding. But the PNG Prime Minister has made clear his determination to remove SDP from Ok Tedi, and now the trust-fund, established [...] Continue reading
Are Papua New Guineans stealing Australian jobs at the end of the resource boom?
Viewers of the ABC’s 7.30 Report on the 28th of May this year might have been alarmed by a story that represented half a dozen Papua New Guinean diesel mechanics on 457 visas as a threat to the livelihoods of upstanding white citizens in the coal mining communities of northern New South Wales. As reporter Matt Peacock put it: ‘What makes it worse for the Gunnedah locals is that while [...] Continue reading
“Hijacking decolonisation”: French Polynesia at the UN
“In a historic decision, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on 17 May to reinscribe French Polynesia on the UN list of non-self-governing territories. The resolution, sponsored by Solomon Islands, Nauru and Tuvalu with support from Vanuatu, Samoa … Continue reading
Oceania Newsletter No.70
Oceania Newsletter No. 70 (June 2013) is now available from the Centre for Pacific and Asian Studies at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
In conversation: Philippa Brant on China’s aid to the Pacific
Earlier this month, Myer Melanesia Program Director Jenny Hayward Jones released a new paper, Big Enough for all of us: Geo-Strategic Competition in the Pacific Islands, challenging assumptions about what China is up to in the Pacific.
Jenny’s wor… Continue reading
Update on GEF IWRM projects in Pacific Island Countries
The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Pacific Implementing Sustainable Water Resources and Wastewater Management in Pacific Island Countries project recently issued progress snapshots for: Fiji, FSM, Majuro Atoll (Marshall Islands), Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.
Posted in News
Tagged Fiji, FSM, Majuro Atoll (Marshall Islands), Nauru Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
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Combatting family and sexual violence in PNG: Ume Wainetti
Ume Wainetti (of the PNG Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee) gave a talk at the ANU hosted by the Development Policy Centre on 22 May 2013 titled ‘Combatting family and sexual violence in PNG: What has been achieved and … Continue reading
PACE-Net Newsletter No.6 (May 2013)
PACE-Net newsletter No.6 (May 2013) is now available. It provides an update on PACE-Net initiatives and PACE-Net “Recommendations for a Strategic Plan on Research, Innovation and Development in the Pacific” that will guide the PACE-Net+ collaboration over the next few … Continue reading
The power sector in the Pacific: big pay offs from limited reforms
This blog summarises an article published in the latest issue [pdf] of the Pacific Economic Monitor. The analysis is based on data collected as part of a benchmarking study undertaken by the Pacific Power Association. The reliable and affordable supply of electricity is critical for development. Power supply facilitates economic activity, enables the delivery of other infrastructure services (such as ICT), and contributes to the delivery of government services (including [...] Continue reading
Australia’s ban on the World Bank and the ADB lending to Fiji
If you go to the DFAT website to look at the sanctions Australia imposes on Fiji because of its military rule, you will conclude that they relate to military assistance and personal travel. You wouldn’t guess from that website, and you won’t find it from any other official one, that another sanction which Australia imposes on Fiji is that we, together with New Zealand, prevent the Asian Development Bank and [...] Continue reading
From the ground up
“It would be better to give Australian aid and governance support to Timor-Leste’s local communities rather than state institutions,” argues JOANNE WALLIS in her latest post to the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific website.
The official evaluation of the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme: an opportunity missed
Midway through 2008 the Government announced a program that was set to usher in a new era of low skilled temporary migration: the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme. The program had two distinct objectives: to contribute to economic development in the Pacific, and to assist Australian employers in the horticulture industry. The Government commissioned an evaluation of the Pilot, which was completed in September 2011. Unfortunately, it took until January [...] Continue reading
An ex-volunteer’s perspective on improving the Australian Volunteers program
The Australian Volunteers for International Development (AVID) program offers an incredible opportunity for Australians to live in a developing country, to build cross-cultural knowledge and to share skills. For many, it is a life changing experience. Ask anyone who has taken on a volunteer assignment what is was like and they will usually gush out a string of positive adjectives. It is also a public relations boon for the aid [...] Continue reading
Pacific Buzz (May 22): French Polynesia on decolonisation list | Major powers court leaders | Australian aid budget | Fishing deals
A roundup of political and economic news by the Pacific Institute of Public Policy and the Development Policy Centre. POLITICS French Polynesia re-inscribed on UN decolonisation list Former president Oscar Temaru managed a last minute political victory, seeing French Polynesia re-inscribed into the United Nations decolonisation list on the same day he handed over his presidency to Gaston Flosse. The resolution was introduced to the 193-member UN General Assembly by Solomon Islands, Nauru, [...] Continue reading
Defence White Paper: French Pacific power ignored
Denise Fisher is a Visiting Fellow at ANU’s Centre for European Studies. Her book, France in the South Pacific: Power and Politics, will soon be published by ANU E press.
The Australian Defence White Paper 2013 was not the only such document … Continue reading
Posted in (aggregator), News
Tagged Australia, France, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Nouvelle Calédonie
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An Information-communication revolution in the Pacific
A World Bank update on ICT in the Pacific and a new project by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to bring broadband to the Pacific… [read this update or more background on the World Bank’s Pacific Regional Connectivity … Continue reading
Australia-PNG: Maintaining momentum
Papua New Guinea has been the beneficiary of an awful lot of love from Australia of late.
Our nearest neighbor has been treated to visits from the Governor-General, new Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs Matt Thistlethwaite, Foreign Aff… Continue reading
Four fascinating years in Timor-Leste
Gordon Peake is a Visiting Fellow at the State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Program, ANU.
Interpreter readers with long memories may remember my name from a series of pieces on Timor-Leste posted a year or so ago. The articles included pro… Continue reading
Big enough for all of us: geo-strategic competition in the Pacific Islands
China’s growing engagement in the Pacific Islands has fueled talk of great-power competition in the region. But viewing China’s activities in the region in geo-strategic terms is inappropriate and potentially counter-productive. Australia and the United States should focus on cooperating with…
Publication Type: Analysis