25 Jan 2024
Practical steps to alleviate Papua New Guinea’s unemployment crisis
A good start is workable systems to ensure paperwork can be completed in a timely fashion.
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24 Jan 2024
Drivers of change in the Pacific
The year ahead holds big challenges, in politics, the economy and ensuring that local voices are heard. -
19 Jan 2024
Beyond the try line: What PNG’s NRL team means for development
The plan is to spend big – but is this the right field? -
18 Jan 2024
Nauru’s diplomatic switch to China – the rising stakes in Pacific geopolitics
Australia is a player at the table but Pacific nations themselves hold the most important cards. -
16 Jan 2024
New Caledonia: France’s threat to impose change unilaterally weakened
A French State Council decision, quietly released just after Christmas, has set back Paris’ timetable. -
22 Dec 2023
Why did PNG sign a Defence Cooperation Agreement with the US?
For Port Moresby, this deal is mainly about modernising PNG’s Defence Force – not a geopolitical ploy. -
19 Dec 2023
Australia–PNG security agreement: A revamp for Pacific partnerships
A technical perspective into the intended operation of the bilateral security deal between the close neighbours. -
15 Dec 2023
Gains, pains, and dubious claims from the Pacific Labour Mobility Survey
The large-scale survey produced limited data on complex issues and is no substitute for culturally appropriate social research. -
1 Dec 2023
France as a convening power in the Pacific: The Nouméa SPDMM
A little known regional dialogue offers France and other countries a chance to contribute to the “Pacific way”. -
27 Nov 2023
Papua New Guinea: Learning the lessons of language
Preserving PNG’s linguistic kaleidoscope is as much a connection with the past as a path to the future. -
24 Nov 2023
China and Taiwan are big Pacific donors – but not for gender equality
More clarity on the flows of funds would help to assign what little credit is due. -
23 Nov 2023
Digital dominoes: Australia’s strategic play in the Pacific
Enhancing the region’s digital connectivity goes beyond influence. It’s about sharing prosperity and security, too. -
22 Nov 2023
Does Australia’s walk match its talk about helping Pacific women advance?
Big dollars are one thing, meaningful outcomes another. -
21 Nov 2023
A Pacific “zone of peace” – what will it entail?
An effort is underway to ensure Pacific concepts are not co-opted by geopolitical competition. -
20 Nov 2023
Pacific Aid Map: Big data gaps are skewing the story about women
Better reporting is needed to properly understand which projects are targeting gender issues in the region. -
17 Nov 2023
Australian development cooperation: Urgent and important, but “not a priority”
Development policy contradictions reveal the failure of the DFAT-AusAID integration. -
14 Nov 2023
A Pacific union: Australia-Tuvalu deal goes well beyond climate
This tailored arrangement has implications for AUKUS, legal proceedings, as well as the potential resettlement of climate refugees. -
1 Nov 2023
Loans, not grants, already proving costly for PNG
The latest Pacific Aid Map shows the PNG debt burden is growing and risks loom on the horizon. -
31 Oct 2023
Infrastructure for influence: Pacific Islands building spree
Even with stabilising debt and higher revenues, the region’s needs still outpace funding. Partnerships are key. -
17 Oct 2023
Empowering women in the Pacific: A collaborative effort to confront online abuse
A regional symposium was an important step in tackling technology-facilitated gender-based violence. -
3 Oct 2023
New Caledonia: Independence leader wins French Senate seat over Macron favourite
An extraordinary result further complicates France’s hope of securing early agreement about the future. -
2 Oct 2023
French criticism of nuclear ban treaty highlights Canberra’s dilemma
Can Australia rebuild a strategic military partnership with France at the same time as independence movements claim Pacific support? -
29 Sep 2023
Japan risks its reputation in Oceania with Fukushima discharge
A rollcall of Pacific Island nations have very different views on the release of treated radioactive wastewater. -
22 Sep 2023
The US–Pacific Islands Partnership, one year on
Recognising that it cannot go it alone, Washington needs to coordinate its development efforts with like-minded partners. -
31 Aug 2023
Cultural security in the Pacific: Why it matters for regional security
Of all the complex and evolving threats to the region’s cultural heritage, climate change remains the most calamitous. -
30 Aug 2023
The Fix: Talking about the Pacific
An Interpreter weekly feature about issues, resources or helpful distractions that might otherwise be missed. -
28 Aug 2023
Indo-Pacific strategy: Uniting all the players on the board
Trouble in the Pacific shows that an aligned approach across the sub-regions is essential in the contest with China. -
21 Aug 2023
Putting a PNG stamp on security
As world players jostle for influence, the price of admission may be stronger economic engagement. -
16 Aug 2023
The Fix: We still really don’t know PNG
Your weekly Interpreter feature about issues, resources or helpful distractions that might otherwise be missed. -
15 Aug 2023
Vanuatu: No confidence, but in whom?
Australian diplomacy must be examined after a supposed security deal leaves the local government teetering. -
14 Aug 2023
What does the new International Development Policy mean for the Pacific?
Australia has outlined its case for being the preferred regional partner, but the Pacific needs less talk and more action. -
10 Aug 2023
Young voices on Fiji’s new political era
Six months after a democratic transformation, a new government strides ahead – with the biggest hurdles still to come. -
7 Aug 2023
For America’s atomic bomb legacy, the past is present
The fallout of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – as well as nuclear testing in the Pacific – continues to hang over the US regional reputation. -
4 Aug 2023
Women belong everywhere and this World Cup proves football can be the great equaliser
Respect for female athletes “tearing it up on the pitch” must translate into respect off the field, too. -
2 Aug 2023
The Fix: Long road to inspiration
An Interpreter feature about issues, resources or helpful distractions that might otherwise be missed. -
2 Aug 2023
Can PNG afford more debt?
Betting on the potential of future resource wealth has proved a risky strategy. History holds valuable economic lessons. -
31 Jul 2023
A call for medical détente in the Pacific Islands
Pooling the expertise and resources of development partners is a win not only for regional healthcare but soft diplomacy. -
28 Jul 2023
Solomon Islands: Invest in people and police before military
Australia and foreign partners should work with existing institutions. A new military capability could make matters worse. -
13 Jul 2023
Samoa and the Alliance of Small Islands States show climate security is also about loss and damage
Adaptation and mitigation strategies alone will not be enough to recover from the effects of climate change. -
10 Jul 2023
Military hospital ships from China and the US are plying across Pacific Islands. But this growing competition can do more harm than good
Large white hulled ships are big public relations yet do little to address significant health system issues in the region. -
30 Jun 2023
The looming fate of Fukushima’s contaminated water
Environmental concerns in the Pacific also come with political risks for Japan’s prime minister. -
23 Jun 2023
Bracing for 3000 Pacific Engagement Visas
Australia’s new permanent resident scheme must prioritise the people of the Blue Pacific who will be most impacted. -
22 Jun 2023
Lowy Poll 2023: Australians still jittery about China in the Pacific
Just like Pacific nations themselves, the public are waiting to see pledges by new government translated into outcomes. -
11 May 2023
The disproportionate attention on the Solomons-China security pact
A tendency to “securitise” problems via a geopolitical lens only downplays legitimate aspirations of local communities. -
4 May 2023
The cost of crime and corruption on Pacific fisheries
The need for a well-funded response to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing has never been greater. -
4 May 2023
The case for opening the ADF to citizens of Pacific Islands nations
The potential benefits in a contested region extend far beyond a military need. -
27 Apr 2023
Bringing the Blue Pacific and Indo-Pacific narratives together
More than a distraction, geopolitical competition shapes the regional security agenda – and that carries opportunity. -
20 Apr 2023
Questions about Australian aid to fund the Pacific Games
Australia is backing a sports tournament over urgent development needs, and doing so may break international aid rules. -
18 Apr 2023
Not the Indo-Pacific: a Melanesian view on strategic competition
The states of the southwest Pacific are not interested in a zero-sum contest between the United States and China. -
14 Apr 2023
A strategy for engaging for small developing states
If Australia is serious about climate change, it needs better relationships with island nations – near and far.