I wish I could endorse all Tim Anderson offers in this clear eyed but tunnel visioned review of Oz-Pac relations. But it is what he omits that troubles me. He states that Honiara residents are keen to see the back of RAMSI. Can he say the same for those outside the capital? I don't doubt his arguments on the mis-dynamics of Australian aid or even the misbehaviour of our high commissioner. And the Moti farce and diplomatic fall out are the acts of a bully.
But the UN has questioned Mari Alkatiri's role in East Timor's troubles which I suggest makes that situation more complex than the author writes. And while the Moti affair was ridiculous, it has exposed some strange compoundings on the part of Michael Somare's government. The man who thought he was above the need to remove his shoes is showing all the signs of a south seas potentate. All these small state leaders should join howard's mob in a cold shower and perhaps a bit of third party mediation. Is Helen available?

Leigh: "I'm alright Jack" (well, that's what his posts generally amount to).

His deep understanding of Australia's political and historical relationship with our Pacific neighbours is almost indescribable.

Like his compassion for our farmers, and his expressed humanity towards NESB Australians.

As a Pom, I bet he's proud to be an Aussie citizen.

CJ,
Leigh just suffers from self loathing which he then projects outwardly to compensate for his lack of personal and emotional success. Poor bugger.

PS. Go the Greens!

Tim Anderson advances a slanted perspective of the Australian Aid Programme, presumably to support a specific partisan objective. That is a pity, because the subject of his thesis deserves, indeed needs, to be debated rationally and free of resort to invective. The subject of this debate, the people of the Pacific islands deserve nothing less.

The weakness of Anderson's opinions is that he fails to acknowledge that the bulk of Australian aid money to PNG since 1975 has failed to reach village levels directly as a result of PNGs own political and civil bureaucracies' actions, or should that be inactions. At PNGs insistence the bulk of the billions of Australian taxpayers dollars has been delivered as untied aid in cold hard cash, most of which has never been applied to the provision of basic services to the village people in the provinces.

If Australia is to be condemned at all it should be for failing to take a harder line against corruption back in the 80's and 90's when it was still in its infancy - and today these "chickens" have come home to roost!

Travel outside of PNGs provincial headquarters and you will witness the decrepit condition of community infrastructures, roads, schools, hospitals, police posts - it is heart-wrenching to meet ordinary village people whose standards of life have regressed because not one level of government functions in the way it should to give them security, education and health services, all of which are so vital to a developing nation.

Ask any ordinary Pacific Islander today what she or he thinks of the tougher stand over Australian aid being taken by Howard and Downer and I feel certain that the response will be overwhelmingly in the affirmative!

It is hard to believe the above comments by Tambu are the genuine opinions of any person. However the deception and misleading claims certainly do need to be addressed. PNG certainly does have problems, and those problems are the direct result of Canberra imposing a government based on European culture and incentives without any regard to the Melanesian people and culture whom it expected to become mimics of this alien and in my view foolish western lifestyle.

Too many village children see visiting westerners with cars or aircraft and camera and a host of exciting looking toys, and they are told that if they come to town and work for a few months they too can have all these things. The empty promise helps break their traditional community values and when they do go to town and find unemployment and then gangs to become bully-boys. You point your finger and say it is because of poor Papuan management and that Canberra is not responsible.

Canberra uses PNG and the Solomons to try and paint a picture called "arc of instability" to scare the Australian public from supporting West Papua's human rights to decolonization from Jakarta.

A perfect example of this bias, SkyNews in April reported the Solomon PM stepping down due to public protests over his accepting Chinese bribes as "Mob rule wins"; but, for Nepal they said "Victory for People power" where 21 people had been killed during three weeks of violence. You have to see through the political spin and look at the facts.

John Howard has been using the Melanesian States as a punching bag all year in defense of Jakarta's hold to West Papua, and you are foolish to imagine money and the US corporations are not behind this.

You don’t wish to debate, Nathan. You merely want to tell me that I’m wrong and you are right. If you think that, fine. There is no point in telling me about it. I’m sure of my beliefs and opinions as, I’m sure you are of yours. Best to say what you think, not to criticise what others think. We have enough people here now who never make an original comment of their own, who do preach to people who do express their opinions as a way of getting the dirty water off their chests, and expressing their frustration.

Pointless and pathetic, really. Contributors, not posters, submit their ideas for comments. I’m not the slightest bit interested in what other posters think of my posts and what I think, and I certainly don’t expect people to agree with me.



C.J. Morgan,

“As a Pom, I bet he’s proud to be an Aussie citizen”?

Grammar, please!!

You worry about the historical relationship with our Pacific neighbours if you wish to, and I’ll concern myself with the present, which is full of do-gooding, bleeding hearts like you who are a menace to Australia