Search the SPREP Catalogue

The South Pacific region is defined as that served by the South Pacific Commission, containing 22 island states separated by vast ocean expanses. The largest country in population and land area is Papua New Guinea (462,243 km2 and 3.6m) and the smallest Tokelau (10 km2 and 0.0016m). While the Pacific island countries are disparate in natural resource and environmental endowments and in population density, culture and ranking in the human development index (UNDP, 1996), they commonly face problems of natural resource and environmental depletion (Thistlethwaite and Davis, 1996) and urbanisation (Connell and Lea, 1993; Connell and Lea, 1995). While major industrial centres and the problems associated with them are absent, growing populations are gaining access to urban housing, piped water and sewage and at the same time to a wide range of consumer goods and foodstuffs. The environmental problems associated with demands on resources and on the assimilative capacities of fragile environments have been well documented.

Pacific Islander (PI) communities are underrepresented in US higher education, and hold bachelor's degrees at rates lower than the national rate (US Census 2012). Empowering Pacific Island Communities (EPIC and Asian Americans Advancing Justice 2014) reported that Guamanians (13%), Samoans (11%), Tongas (11%), Fijians (10%), and Micronesians (4%) all hold bachelor's degrees at less than half the rate of the national population of the United States (285).

Papua New Guinea under the O'Neill Government: Has There Been a Shift in Political Style? In SSGM Discussion Paper 2017/6

Melanesia is characterised by complex interactions among land and natural resource uses, legal and political institutions, and interest groups. These interactions play out at the national level, where institutions have been profoundly shaped by an interplay of 'local' and 'global' orders and by the political and economic systems which affect natural resource exploitation.

The creation of two new provinces, Hela and Jiwaka, in 2012 will be remembered as a great event in the political history of Papua New Guinea. However, like all great events it had many false starts and some near fatal collisions. The period from 2010 to 2012 held exciting times for PNG. There was an unprecedented political impasse between Sir Michael Somare and Hon Peter O'Niell, attempts were made to remove provincial electorates and Exxon Mobil was preparing to invest heavily in a gas pipeline and processing plant. This discussion paper will attempt to provide some insight into some of these events and consider why after 36 years the dreams of the Hela and Jiwaka people were finally fulfilled.

This discussion paper is based on a public speech delivered by the Hon. Patrick Nisira MHR, the Vise-President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which was organised by the State, Society & Governance in Melanesia Program of the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific on 28 April 2016

The creation of two new provinces, Hela and Jiwaka, in 2012 will be remembered as a great event in the political history of Papua New Guinea. However, like all great events it had many false starts and some near fatal collisions. The period from 2010 to 2012 held exciting times for PNG. There was an unprecedented political impasse between Sir Michael Somare and Hon Peter O'Niell, attempts were made to remove provincial electorates and Exxon Mobil was preparing to invest heavily in a gas pipeline and processing plant. This discussion paper will attempt to provide some insight into some of these events and consider why after 36 years the dreams of the Hela and Jiwaka people were finally fulfilled.

This discussion paper looks at the shifting media landscapes in four Melanesian countries in 2015 - Fiji, PNG, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. It charts and links the key developments, and considers their potentially wide-ranging impacts on policy, politics, free speech and good governance. Of the many profound and rapid changes experienced in 2015, some of the most significant can be linked to the growing use and influence of social media.