RAMSI had no mandate to work on political reform and too few Solomon Islands MPs were interested in using the opportunity to push for much-needed changes in the political system.
There are few topics that divide and unite as much as gender equality. That much is already clear from our (still live) Lowy Institute survey on gender diversity in Australian international relations.
Perhaps this is because everybody, in different ways, is a key stakeholder. Our opinions and
This new survey is an important part of a research project being undertaken by the Institute to better understand the nature of the gender balance in Australia’s international relations architecture.
Last weekend Fiji's police force arrested six prominent opponents of the ruling party. Their alleged crime was breaching the Public Order Act by making remarks about the constitution at a conference convened by Pacific Dialogue, an NGO, on Fiji's Constitution Day. The arrests were nothing short of a
Almost three years after the 'stop the boats' election, there is a surprising lack of debate on irregular migration in Australia in this campaign. The bipartisan consensus on offshore processing appears to have removed the political incentive for any serious policy discussion. This week there were
The images on our television screens last week of police firing live rounds into a crowd of students at the University of Papua New Guinea and injured students being carried into hospital were profoundly shocking. Even for seasoned observers, used to disturbing images coming out of Papua New Guinea
I’m glad my paper, Papua New Guinea: Old Challenges for New Leaders, has triggered debate on The Interpreter about PNG’s future. I agree with James Batley and Stuart Schaefer that thinking about development in Papua New Guinea needs a long-term perspective. I am also keenly aware that I am
For the last three years, the Lowy Institute's Melanesia Program has hosted the Australia-PNG Emerging Leaders Dialogue under the auspices of the Australia-PNG Network, with the generous support of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and also of GE I’ve been privileged to
Papua New Guinea’s next generation of leaders should take a new approach in seeking to turn around negative trends in law and order, education, and health. Emerging leaders could make bold and innovative policy interventions in key areas to unblock barriers to progress
Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, gave an address at the National Press Club in Canberra yesterday. The Prime Minister's address was a great opportunity to spur more awareness of Papua New Guinea, but the Prime Minister did not fully embrace it.
Prime Minister O'Neill's speech was
The Lowy Institute launches a new Lowy Institute Paper today, The Embarrassed Colonialist by Sean Dorney, former ABC Papua New Guinea correspondent, former captain of the Kumuls (Papua New Guinea's national rugby league team), legendary Pacific journalist and Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute
This editorial in The Age of 4 January argues the Australian government has sacrificed the promotion of good governance in Papua New Guinea and Nauru in order to sustain its asylum seeker policy, at a cost to local populations and Australia's international reputation.
PNG Prime Minister Peter O'
In this Report, the Lowy Institute’s Melanesia team summarises the outcomes of the third annual Australia-Papua New Guinea Emerging Leaders Dialogue. The Dialogue assembled a group of dynamic young leaders from diverse fields in both countries. Discussion focused on redefining employment,
The Lowy Institute, with the support of GE and the DFAT-sponsored Australia-PNG Network, is hosting the Australia-Papua New Guinea Emerging Leaders Dialogue this week. The Dialogue, which seeks to develop deeper, people-to-people relations between Australia and its nearest neighbour, takes place at
Fiji's 2013 constitution calls for a separation of powers between military and police (Photo: Getty)
Fiji’s Police Commissioner Ben Groenewald ended his contract this week. The official statement from the Fiji government cited personal and family reasons for the Commissioner’s departure,
The PNG government brought down the 2016 budget this week, which drew the government back from the edge of a fiscal crisis. Jonathan Pryke provided his immediate reaction to the ABC, and will provide more in depth analysis in the coming days.
Australia’s minister for the Pacific and international
Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O'Neill comprehensively headed off a motion of no confidence in parliament yesterday over corruption allegations. O'Neill's assertion that his government is stable and will 'continue to provide stability' ahead of handing down a difficult budget next week is
The saga over bribery and pardons in Vanuatu has brought out the worst and the best in the Pacific island nation's political-legal class.
Vanuatu's Supreme Court found 14 members of parliament guilty of the criminal charge of bribery on 9 October. Later that day, in flagrant disregard for the
Pacific Islands Forum leaders met in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea last week. The meeting was highly anticipated for a few reasons. It is the first Forum hosted by PNG’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, who has clear regional leadership ambitions. PNG is celebrating 40 years of independence from
John Garnaut continued his commentary on PNG's looming fiscal crisis, while Liam Cochrane revealed some questionable expenditure items in the recent Mid Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
The PNG Advantage investment summit will take place on 27 and 28 August.
Journalist Ellen Whinnett documents
John Garnaut in the Sydney Morning Herald compares PNG's budget deficit to the Greek economic crisis.
PNG Prime Minister O'Neill defended his government's budget management and assured the nation the government will act to address the debt situation.
ANZ launched a new report on PNG's power sector
The Lowy Institute for International Policy, in cooperation with the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat with the support of PACMAS and the ANZ Bank convened a Dialogue with emerging leaders from Melanesia in Port Vila, Vanuatu on 23 June.The Dialogue, entitled Melanesia New Voices:
The Centre for Global Development's Owen Barder previews the Third International Conference on Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa this week.
With negotiations well underway for the post-2015 development goals, how did the Millennium Development Goals fare? The 2015 UN MDG Report
Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers are meeting in Sydney this week but may struggle for the spotlight as regional attention is focused on the Pacific Games, being hosted by Papua New Guinea. Port Moresby hosted a stunning opening ceremony on 4 July. It was one of several events this year
Following a successful no-confidence motion in Vanuatu Prime Minister Joe Natuman, Sato Kilman was elected the new PM, his third turn in that office. But another former Prime Minister, Edward Natapei, has lodged another motion of no confidence and has restarted a debate about changing the
ABC's 7.30 program revealed this week that Nauru's President and Justice Minister are implicated in allegations of bribery.
Prime Minister Natuman is confident his government is secure despite the motion of no confidence lodged in parliament last week. The motion will be debated tomorrow.
Papua New Guinea has reacted to Australia's recent decision to establish a diplomatic post in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville by banning Australian travel to the province. This spat is proving to be an irritant not only for the friendly relationship between Canberra and Port Moresby, but also
2015 is a significant year for Papua New Guinea. The country will mark 40 years of independence from Australia, host the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting and the Pacific Games. The Papua New Guinea economy will record the highest GDP growth rate in the world in 2015 but will
As the Prime Minister exhorts Australians to attend centenary Anzac Day services in order to support 'our country's values', I find myself reminiscing about my first experience at an Anzac Day service in Gallipoli a decade ago.
In 2005 I was privileged to attend the first of three Anzac Day services
Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill did something remarkable last Thursday. In a wide-ranging policy speech at a leadership summit in Port Moresby, he acknowledged the oppression of the people of West Papua. It was the first time an incumbent prime minister of Papua New
In this Report, the Lowy Institute’s Melanesia team summarises the outcomes of the second annual Australia-Papua New Guinea Emerging Leaders Dialogue. This Dialogue set a new standard for frank and broad-ranging discussion between young leaders from diverse fields in both countries. Food
Tess Newton-Cain gives us an idea of what the year ahead might hold for Pacific politics in this piece from Devpolicy.
The collapse of energy prices could have a devastating impact on PNG's resource-dependent economy. Paul Flanagan argues that PNG must adjust to lower LNG/oil prices to avoid a
Chinese President Xi Jinping is traveling to Fiji following the G20 summit to meet with Pacific Island leaders. Philippa Brant was interviewed on Pacific Beat about what this might mean for Chinese aid to the region.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be visiting Fiji to meet with
The count in Fiji's elections is well underway following a smooth, apparently trouble-free poll yesterday. Provisional results are expected today, with the process of allocating seats in parliament to follow. It seems likely that FijiFirst, the party of incumbent Prime Minister
After eight years of Voreqe Bainimarama's military rule in Fiji, there is much excitement about the prospects for Fiji's return to democracy with elections next week. Seven parties and one independent candidate will contest 50 parliamentary seats. 591,095 Fijians have registered to vote; 120,000
The election will only be the first step in Fiji’s transition to democracy after eight years of Voreqe Bainimarama’s military rule. Australia should use its influence to assist the workings of the Fiji Parliament, the development of an unfettered civil society and media and an independent
Pacific Island leaders will meet at the annual Pacific Islands Forum meeting next week in Palau. Prime Minister Abbott has cancelled his travel plans in order to focus on the response to the MH17 disaster and is sending Deputy Prime Minister Truss in his stead.
Pacific leaders will be disappointed
A remarkable 72 hours in Port Moresby has seen an arrest warrant issued for Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, the Attorney-General and Deputy Police Commissioner sacked, and PNG's anti-corruption agency, Taskforce Sweep, disbanded. Respect for the rule of law and good governance from the highest
The Lowy Institute's Melanesia Program convened its second PNG New Voices conference in Port Moresby yesterday. We assembled a group of interesting and passionate young people with strong views about the future of their country. They spoke on a range of topics across three key themes: Papua New
The Abbott Government will next week bring down its first aid budget, a budget which itself will contain two interesting firsts: it is the first since the integration of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) with AusAID, and the first since the transition of the very expensive Regional
In this Analysis Lowy Institute Melanesia Program Director, Jenny Hayward-Jones, argues that Australia’s massive expenditure of $2.6 billion on the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) was a high price to pay for restoring stability in a small country.