James Marape

Sep 6, 2024 | samoaobserver.ws | James Marape |Pat Conroy |Miranda Forsyth |Sinclair Dinnen

Tonga is a unique country in many regards. It is illegal to exercise or do chores on Sundays and every Tongan high school has a brass band. Tonga was also the only Pacific country to avoid being colonised. But Tonga’s military – with only 590 personnel including support staff, and today one of only three sovereign militaries in the Pacific – was not set up to deter potential aggressors from attack or to project power. Tonga’s military instead serves as an arm for peace and diplomacy.

Sep 4, 2024 | samoaobserver.ws | James Marape |Pat Conroy |Miranda Forsyth |Sinclair Dinnen

Information on the number of registrations for the ballot for Australia’s new Pacific Engagement Visa has been released. 56,127 people across the Pacific applied for the visa by registering for the ballot. Demand for the PEV was highest in Fiji, where there were 102 ballot registrations -- or primary applicants -- for every visa (Figure 1). Tonga took second place, with 37 primary applicants for each visa, and Timor-Leste was in third spot with 23 per visa.

Sep 3, 2024 | samoaobserver.ws | James Marape |Pat Conroy |Miranda Forsyth |Sinclair Dinnen

Attitudes towards the Australian government’s foreign aid spending have always fluctuated. Yet most Australians support the idea of aid, especially within the Asia-Pacific region, and this support is fortified by a genuine commitment to Australia’s being a good humanitarian neighbour, not just to aid that serves Australia’s national interests. At the same time, the cost-effectiveness of aid spending relative to other priorities remains important to both taxpayers and policymakers.

Sep 2, 2024 | samoaobserver.ws | James Marape |Pat Conroy |Miranda Forsyth |Sinclair Dinnen

Improving the wellbeing of people engaged in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme is a priority for the Australian Government. Despite this, significant barriers remain for PALM participants in accessing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and information, including support for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).

Aug 27, 2024 | devpolicy.org | James Marape

This is an edited excerpt from the 2024 PNG Update opening address, delivered at the University of Papua New Guinea on 21 August 2024. A recording of the full address may be viewed here. In 1975, we were fused into one nation and merged over 1,000 tribes, the most diverse nation on the face of planet Earth. There is no other nation like ours which speaks over 800 languages. Those languages each have their own matching cultural and ethnic structures.