General

PiPP’s activities are regularly reported in regional media.

The following is a selection of articles quoting PiPP. Click on the headline to read the story in its original online version – this will take you to a third party website in a new window.

12 MAR 2012 Young migrants seek education – guampdn.com (Archived version)

06 MAR 2012 Political face off in Vanuatu – radioaustralia.net.au (Archived version) 

21 NOV 2011 Pacific likely to see population start dropping - radioaustralia.net.au (Archived version)

19 OCT 2011 Melanesia expanding role in the global world - radioaustralia.net.au (Archived version) 

12 SEPT 2011 A Polynesian sub regional grouping could strengthen Pacific forum – academic - rnz.co.nz

08 SEPT 2011 Pacific Debate shows student support for ‘sustainable’ urban development – pacificscoop.co.nz (Archived version)

29 JUL 2011 Rapid drift to urban areas across the Pacific – radioaustralia.net.au (Archived version)

28 JUL 2011 Urban areas a magnet for Pacific youth – pidp.eastwestcentre.org (Archived version)

28 JUL 2011 Australia ‘lagging’ in Pacific labour scheme – radioaustralia.net.au (Archived version)

15 JUL 2011 No windfall from Vanuatu’s WTO membership - radioaustralia.net.au (Archived version)

28 JUN 2011 Vanuatu PM’s vote tally removes some uncertainty says analyst – pina.com.fj (Archived version) 

28 JUN 2011 Vanuatu PM’s vote tally removes some uncertainy says analyst – solomonstarnews.com (Archived version)

27 JUN 2011 Vanuatu’s PM vote tally removes some uncertainty says analyst – rnzi.com (Archived version) 

21 JUN 2011 Vanuatu power struggle deepens political uncertainty – radioaustralia.net.au (Archived version) 

26 APR 2011 Fiji’s military ruler uses Melanesian Spearhead Group to end pariah status - guardian.co.uk (Archived version) 

05 APR 2011 Pacific islanders see a friend in Australia – theaustralian.com.au (Archived version) 

05 APR 2011 Islands grow wary of ‘big man’ style – theaustralian.com.au (Archived version)

03 APR 2011 West Papua is not an Indonesian issue says Ayamisiba – freewestpapua.org (Archived version)

02 APR 2011 Majority in Melanesia say yes to West Papua: PiPP Poll – dailypost.vu (Archived version)

02 APR 2011 Youthquake – will Melanesian democracy be sunk by demography? – abc.net.au – Saturday Extra (Archived Version)

31 MAR 2011 PiPP releases findings on first Melanesian telephone poll – pmc.aut.ac.nz (Archived version)

31 MAR 2011 Gloss on MSG Summit cuts no ice in Australia – radioaustralia.net - Pacific Beat (Archived version)

30 MAR 2011 MSG Family Ties – pina.com.fj (Archived version)

30 MAR 2011 AWPA calls on MSG PMs to grant West Papua membership – scoop.co.nz (Archived version)

29 MAR 2011 Are you part of the Melanesian family? – findings from a telephone poll - masalai.worldpress.com (Archived version)

29 MAR 2011 The question of who should be in the Melanesian family – radioaustralia.net – Pacific Beat (Archived version)

29 MAR 2011 FIJI: McCully leads Rudd in treatment of pariah regime – pmc.aut.ac.nz (Archived version)

25 MAR 2011 MSG officials meet behind closed doors – solomonstarnews.com (Archived version)

25 MAR 2011 Continual hammering of Fiji not the right approach – thinktank – pina.com. fj (Archived version)

24 MAR 2011 FIJI: Opening MSG trad meeting closed to media – pmc.aut.ac.nz (Archived version)

24 MAR 2011 MSG officials meet behind closed doors – fijitimes.com (Archived version)

23 MAR 2011 Australia is called on to pay more attention to Melanesia – radioaustralia.net.au - Pacific Beat (Archived version)

23 MAR 2011 Youthquake: will Melanesian democracy be sunk by democracy? – scoop.co.nz (Archived version)

23 MAR 2011 Youthquake: will Melanesian democracy be sunk by democracy? – pina.com.fj (Archived version)

23 MAR 2011 Youthquake: will Melanesian democracy be sunk by democracy? – actnowpng.org (Archived version)

08 FEB 2011 What’s the future of Australia’s aid programme? – radioaustralia.net.au - Pacific Beat (Archived version)

07 FEB 2011 Mixed outcome on Australian aid to Vanuatu – radioaustralia.net.au - Pacific Beat (Archived version)

15 DEC 2010 The Micronesian Exodus – devpolicy.org (Archived version) 

14 DEC 2010 The Micronesian Exodus – scoop.co.nz (Archived version)

10 DEC 2010 Unblocking the Melanesian bloc – lowyinterpreter.org (Archived version) 

26 OCT 2010 Discussion paper questions relevance of the Pacific Islands Forum – fsmpio.fm (Archived version)

22 OCT 2010 Vanuatu group says Pacific forum out of step – pireport.org (Archived version) 

18 OCT 2010 Outcomes of MSG dialogue on PACER Plus – forumsec.org (Archived version)

18 AUG 2010 Fiji’s isolation linked to stalled PACER Plus negotiations – radioaustralia.net.au (Archived Version) 

05 AUG 2010 Regionalism has failed the Pacific – vanuatunews.com (Archived Version)

03 AUG 2010 Disappointment from Pacific island forum - radioaustralia.net.au (Archived version)

19 JUL 2010 Forum’s Pacific Plan said to be still infancy five years on – islandsbusiness.com (Archived version) 

05 JUL 2010 Papua New Guinea to approve fruit picking scheme – tvnz.co.nz (Archived version) 

04 JUL 2010 New language for aid needed says Pacific think tank - rnzi.com (Archived version) 

22 JUN 2010 Aid, Trade, Charade? – solomonstarnews.com (Archived version) 

21 JUN 2010 Aid, Trade, Charade? - pina.com.fj (Archived version) 

18 MAY JUN 2010 Vanuatu pledges ongoing support to RAMSI – solomontimes.com (Archived version) 

28 APR 2010 Think tank wants Australia to take more Pacific migrants – pina.com.fj (Archived version) 

28 APR 2010 Enhancing opportunities for regional migration - eventpolynesia.com (Archived version)

27 APR 2010 Think tank wants Australia to take more Pacific migrants - radioaustralia.net.au (Archived version) 

27 APR 2010 Enhancing regional migration in the Pacific – scoop.co.nz (Archived version) 

08 DEC 2009 Pacific think tank urges policy shift - richbowden.blogspot.com (Archived version) 

06 DEC 2009 Pacific plea on migration ahead of climate talks – thefreelibrary.com (Archived version) 

05 DEC 2009 Pacific plea on migration ahead of climate talks – google.com/hostednews (Archived version) 

03 DEC 2009 Climate impact on Pacific islands people… – scoop.co.nz (Archived version) 

29 OCT 2009 Business: move aside Samoa, Vanuatu a shining star? – islandsbusiness.com (Archived version) 

20 OCT 2009 Casting the net to define PACER ‘Plus’ – pina.com (Archived version) 

04 AUG 2009 Vanuatu’s recent economic success: Lessons for the Pacific – eastasiaforum.org (Archived version)  

31 JUL 2009 Vanuatu economy soaring as world economy struggles – pitic.org (Archived version) 

29 JUL 2009 G20 Consultation Responses – blogs.odi.org.uk (Archived version) 

29 JUL 2009 Vanuatu growth rate shows Pacific can do well – rnzi.com (Archived version) 

JUN 2009 Putting substance into PACER Plus – ictsd.org (Archived version) 

24 JUN 2009 Pacific reacts to Australia’s new prime minister – Radio Australia In The Loop 

29 MAY 2009 PACER Plus: the art of negotiation – pacnews.com (Archived version)

29 MAY 2009 PACER Plus: the art of negotiation – islandsbusiness.com (Archived version) 

18 MAY 2009 Call for leaders to resolve Fiji conflict Pacific style – radioaustralia.net.au (Archived version)

15 APR 2009 Vanuatu could be victim of own success – abc.net (Archived version) 

14 APR 2009 Vanuatu bucks trend of international economic downturn – abc.net.au (Archived version)  

31 MAR 2009 Pacific lessons from EPA – samoaobserver.ws (Archived version) 

25 MAR 2009 Beyond fish and coconuts: Trade agreements in the Pacific – pina.com.fj (Archived version) 

18 MAR 2009 EPA Media Updates – sydafrika.dk (Archived version) 

16 MAR 2009 Pacific Island members of ADB warned of cash contributions – rnzi.com (Archived version) 

20 AUG 2008 Vanuatu election primer launched – Radio Australia   

18 AUG 2008 Launch of Political Parties and Groupings of Vanuatu – pireport.org (Archived version) 

14 AUG 2008 Record number of candidates for Vanuatu elections – islandsbusiness.com (Archived version) 

13 AUG 2008 Record number of candidates vie for Vanuatu general elections – Radio Australia Pacific Beat 

12 MAY 2008 Opinion Piece from the Pacific Institute of Public Policy – ypcnfiji.com (Archived version) 

2008 Vanuatu general elections – wikipedia.org (Archived version) 

Written by Stephen Howes on November 10, 2010 
First published on the Development policy blog 

Ever since the 1980s, Australian academics and official reports have called for Pacific Islanders to be given better access to the Australian labour market. To its credit, the Rudd Government introduced the Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme in August 2008. The scheme allows Pacific Islanders to engage in farm work in Australia for up to seven months a year. Unfortunately, the scheme has never taken off, with less than 100 Islanders participating in the two years since its launch. Theories for its failure abound ranging from excessive red-tape to the prolonged drought.

In stark contrast to Australia, New Zealand has always offered preferential migration treatment to its Pacific neighbours. It has granted citizenship to all residents of the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau. The Samoan Quota Scheme set up in 1970 allows up to 1,100 Samoan nationals to become permanent residents of New Zealand every year. And the Pacific Access Category introduced in 2002 allows another up to 750 Pacific Islanders to become permanent residents.

New Zealand also got ahead of Australia in terms of temporary migration, introducing a seasonal workers scheme (the Recognized Seasonal Employer or RSE program) one year before Australia, in 2007. Again in contrast to Australia, this scheme has quickly taken off. In 2009, some 8,000 Pacific Islanders worked in New Zealand under it.

Now World Bank economist David McKenzie and Professor John Gibson of the Waikato Management School in New Zealand have released their long-awaited evaluation of the New Zealand RSE scheme. Read more

Stephen Howes is Professor of Economics at the Crawford School and the Director of the Development Policy Centre. He is also a member of the Pacific Institute of Public Policy (PiPP) Board.

The sirens have sounded on climate change. Pacific islands are on the frontline and some are facing an existential threat to their very existence. The world was watching in anticipation for a global deal on climate change at the Copenhagen summit, but we were left disappointed by the outcome. For the Pacific island states, the climate count down has well and truly started. And, for some there may be little time left.

Climate change threatens the region in a way that may warrant declaring a state of emergency – even if only to send a strong message to the international community. It is time to act and global mitigation targets must be ambitious. Rapid and significant reductions in emissions and switching to renewable energy sources are presented as the best options to start tackling what could end up being the greatest challenge of our time.

Global carbon trading has been offered as a win-win solution, especially for Pacific countries. Pay land owners not to cut down trees. It seems pretty straight forward and more than welcome in a region that has suffered devastating logging of forests. But the Clean Development Mechanism3 is anything but simple and does not include deforestation. The private schemes on offer so far only seem to benefit the fly-by-night opportunists. Dr Payet further notes that “carbon trading is just beating around the bush, it will not in itself reduce greenhouse gases. The problem is the structuring of the global financial system that rewards debt and resource exploitation. Most developing countries have energy legislation that is primitive and generally written by the corporate sector.”

Some Pacific island governments have moved to apply the technological advances that make renewable energy sources more viable. The rest of the region and the world should follow by putting in place renewable energy strategies and legislation. Regional collaboration could help with bulk purchasing to lower costs.

Harmonising donor spending will be even more critical as huge sums are made available for climate change adaptation. Best intentions not withstanding, any ad hoc application of these funds pose the risk of undermining efforts to address the wider development challenges. And the burden should not rest solely on Environment Ministries to coordinate the necessary whole of government responses required.

It’s time to act and address the Pacific’s development challenges, made all the more urgent by climate change

In the lead up to Copenhagen, PiPP released a discussion paper canvasing the most important aspects of the debate in a Pacific context: the human impact of climate change, and how adaptation measures should be about meeting existing and future development challenges.A copy of the discussion paper can be downloaded here.

The peoples of the Pacific have a long history of adapting to change. With climate change, however, the challenge is global and there will need to be a sustained and co-operative effort by the world’s leaders to tackle it.

PiPP is an accredited observer to theUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).

The President of Kiribati will host the Tarawa Climate Change Conference on 9-10 November 2010.

The conference will bring together selected representatives from the key negotiating groups within the UNFCCC process to attend a one day high level conference on climate change. 

A dramatic account of how climate change is impacting life in this remote atoll country by Kirivid.  

PiPP will be attending the Non-State Actors (NSAs) Dialogue on the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Plus trade negotiations to be held in Honiara, Solomon Islands on 18 October 2010.

For more details see the press release from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

At the same time, Honiara will host the second round of negotiations between the 14 Forum Island Countries and Australia and New Zealand on the proposed and controversial Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER-Plus).


A recent article in Solomon Star News asks ‘what’s in it for Nauru’?

We are proud to support the Development Policy blog that has just been launched to provide a platform for the best in aid and development analysis, research and policy comment, with a focus on Australia, the Pacific and Asia.

The blog is run out of the just-created Development Policy Centre housed in the Crawford School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University.

The Development Policy blog is a forum for the Development Policy Centre and is edited by Stephen Howes (PiPP board member) and Matthew Morris (PiPP advisory council member) who are economists at the Australian National University. The views expressed in this forum are those of the individual authors and do not represent the views of the Crawford School, ANU, the Development Policy Centre, or PiPP. Visit the blog here