Newsletter: 2015 Harold Mitchell lecture | Aid conference public sessions | SWP employer survey | Public support for NGO aid flat | Greg Taylor scholars

Mari Pangestu to deliver 2015 Harold Mitchell lecture

We are pleased to announce that the 2015 Harold Mitchell Development Policy Lecture will be delivered by Dr Mari Elka Pangestu on 12 March at the ANU at 5.30pm. One of Indonesia’s leading policy voices and intellectuals, Dr Pangestu served as Indonesia’s Minister of Trade from 2004 to 2011, and as the Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy until October last year. She is also Professor of International Economics at the University of Indonesia. Mark your calendars, and stay tuned for more details on this lecture. Registrations will open shortly.

The annual Harold Mitchell Development Policy Lecture is made possible by the generous support of the Harold Mitchell Foundation, the core supporter of our Centre’s work.

2015 Australasian Aid Conference: public panels and keynotes

Registrations for the conference have now closed. But we are opening up some of our plenary and keynote sessions to the wider Canberra development community. Join us to hear from leading experts on recipient perspectives on the new aid landscape, aid for health, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and aid from India. Thanks to all of those who have registered, we look forward to seeing you in less than two weeks!

Seasonal Worker Program: demand-side constraints and suggested reforms

The Seasonal Worker Program (SWP) was established in 2008, initially as a pilot, then in 2012 as a permanent program, to help meet the labour needs in Australia’s horticultural sector and to provide labour mobility opportunities to Pacific islanders. But why aren’t more employers demanding SWP workers? And what reforms would increase employer demand? Jesse Doyle and Stephen Howes will present findings from a joint World Bank-ANU 2014 survey of employers and industry associations across the Australian horticulture industry on Wednesday 18 February. World Bank Vice-President for East Asia and the Pacific Axel van Trotsenburg will chair the forum.

Donations to development NGOs flat

Not only is government aid being cut, but recent analysis from Jonathan Pryke and Stephen Howes shows that donations from the public to Australia’s international development NGOs have only kept pace with inflation for the last five years. We became more generous in the years before the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, and then because of the Tsunami, but giving has not increased since. The authors ask: has compassion fatigue set in?

Welcoming our Greg Taylor scholars and a Visiting Fellow

We have recently had the pleasure of welcoming Logea Nao and Futua Singirok to the Centre. Both have been named as Greg Taylor scholars for 2014/2015. Logea and Futua are part of the next generation of economists in Papua New Guinea and will undertake research at the Development Policy Centre on important economic issues in their home country. Both are currently undertaking a Masters of International and Development Economics at ANU. Logea was previously a researcher at the PNG National Research Institute, and Futua was an analyst at Bank South Pacific, Port Moresby.

Logea’s research is focused on the important problem of domestic, family and sexual violence in Papua New Guinea, using the recent PNG Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES). Futua is also analysing the HIES to understand the characteristics of internal migrant households in PNG.

We have also recently welcomed Nematullah Bizhan as a Visiting Fellow. Nemat is a Global Leaders Fellow at Oxford and Princeton universities and a recent ANU PhD graduate. Nemat’s PhD examined aid and state building in Afghanistan, and he is now engaged in a broader comparative-historical analysis of aid to fragile states.

PNG Update call for papers

Our annual PNG Update in conjunction with UPNG School of Business Administration will be held in Port Moresby on 18-19 June.

The PNG Update, which recommenced at UPNG last year after a gap of some years, is the premier forum for the discussion of research and analysis relating to contemporary economic and public policy issues in PNG.

The conference is multi-disciplinary in nature, and we are currently calling for papers under the general theme of “Development challenges in the LNG era.” More details on how to submit an abstract are available here.

Upcoming events

Recipient perspectives on the new aid landscape

Thursday 12 February, 1.50 – 3.20pm. Molonglo Theatre. Register here.

Aid for health and its influence on health systems

Friday 13 February, 9 – 10am. Molonglo Theatre. With Barbara McPake. Register here.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

Friday 13 February, 1.40 – 2.30pm. Molonglo Theatre. Register here.

Aid from India

Friday 13 February, 2.30 – 3.20pm. Molonglo Theatre. Register here.

Seasonal Worker Program: demand-side constraints and suggested reforms

Wednesday 18 February, 1 – 2pm, Acton Theatre. Register here.

2015 PNG Update

18-19 June, University of Papua New Guinea. Details here.

Blog highlights

How does Australia’s latest Gavi pledge stack up?

The case for special migration treatment for Kiribati and Tuvalu

Hear about Niue’s future from the country’s Premier

Terence Wood analyses the Solomon Islands elections

On the blog

Tourism, regionalism and Niue’s quest for self-sustainability: an interview with Premier Toke Talagi by Toke Talagi and Tess Newton Cain

Education and development: limitations and unintended consequences by Grant Walton

Julie Bishop, aid and taxes by Terence Wood

PNG in 2015: the year of the State of Emergency? By Bal Kama

The 2014 elections in Solomon Islands: did anything change? Will anything change? By Terence Wood

Australian public giving for international development flatlining by Jonathan Pryke and Stephen Howes

Making the case for preferential access to labour markets for Kiribati and Tuvalu migrants by Sophia Kagan

PNG’s booming arrivals by Carmen Voigt-Graf

In brief

A case for the Commonwealth (at last!)

A decent injection: Australian funding for Gavi

Gates’ annual letter makes big bet on a bright future

Pacific economic monitor launched in Vanuatu

This is the fortnightly newsletter of the Development Policy Centre at Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, published every second Friday.

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