DPA Publications - Q2 2025

In Briefs
 
Papua New Guinea’s Diplomacy in Managing Neighbourly Cooperation: A Personal Reflection
Author(s): Barbara Age

Papua New Guinea’s foreign policy since independence from Australia 50 years ago evolved from ‘universalism: friends to all and enemies to none’, to ‘active and selective engagement’, in its first Foreign Policy White Paper (FPWP) in 1982, reflecting PNG’s strategic position as a bridge between Asia and the Pacific. In 2017 the government initiated a review of its foreign policy and endorsed the theme ‘Connecting for peace and prosperity in a changing world’ (DFA 2017). PNG will launch its second white paper on foreign policy in 2025. This In Brief proposes small state diplomacy — focused on how small states can effectively respond to and influence international affairs and contribute to global stability and development — as a broad framework for analysing PNG’s subregional cooperation. PNG’s small state approach to diplomacy is shaped by its geographic location, colonial history, limited resources and diplomatic leverage, and the need to balance bilateral relations with broader regional interests.

What Should Australian Aid in the Pacific Look Like after the Retreat of USAID?
Author(s): Liam Moore

The 2025–26 budget delivered by Australia’s Labor government is one of the first tangible pieces of evidence of how Australia plans to counter the much-publicised revision of the United States’ (US’) international aid program under the Trump administration and the reduction in foreign aid by the United Kingdom (UK). As the US is only the sixth largest contributor in the Pacific — with $1.1 billion dollars from 2018 to 2022, as opposed to Australia’s $4.8 billion — this move alone ‘won’t break the Pacific’. What it will do is raise questions about what Australia should be doing in the region and how it should do it.

Fijian Foreign Policy or Australian?
Author(s): William Waqavakatoga

A document articulating Fiji’s foreign policy priorities and guiding its international engagements in the next decade was launched in September 2024 by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka. This first Foreign Policy White Paper (FPWP) is centred on the three pillars of sovereignty, security and prosperity and shows how Fiji views the region, the world and its ambitions in foreign policy.

Vanuatu’s First National Referendum Part 1: The Political Significance
Author(s): Anna Naupa

Vanuatu held its first ever national referendum on 29 May 2024. Part 1 of this two-part In Brief series summarises the significance of the referendum as part of the country’s political integrity reforms. Part 2 details the legal and electoral dynamics that guided the conduct of this referendum. The In Brief series provides a Vanuatu case study that can inform future studies of Pacific Islands referenda and democratic processes.

Vanuatu’s First National Referendum Part 2: Management
Author(s): Anna Naupa

This In Brief is Part 2 in a series marking the first anniversary of Vanuatu’s first ever national referendum in May 2024. Part 1 describes the political significance of the referendum and its outcome. Here, Part 2 describes the referendum management process.

Community Order-Making in Melanesia Part 1 – Empirical Findings
Author(s): Miranda Forsyth, Sinclair Dinnen, Ali Tuhanuku, Anthea Roberts

Green Valley, an informal settlement in the midst of the urban sprawl of Solomon Islands’ capital, Honiara, was formerly known as a difficult place to live. Nighttime brawls, the sale of home-brewed kwaso and rampant petty theft regularly kept families awake and forced small shops to close before dusk. Women felt unsafe walking around, taxis and buses were reluctant to drop people off in the settlement, and the police were not responsive when called. During past episodes of urban unrest, the residents from Green Valley were often the first ones on the frontline. However, during Solomon Islands’ last major riots in 2021, the Green Valley ‘boys’ did not attend. These days, local shops stay open later and people quieten down by 10 pm. Local community members attribute this transformation to new community by-laws that were introduced around 2020. Formed from a combination of strong community leadership and processes of dialogue and collaboration, the by-laws are administered by a committee of volunteers and supported by a local ‘taskforce’ that conducts patrols every evening. Green Valley is just one of many communities we visited over the past four years as part of our research into community laws, often called by-laws in Papua New Guinea (PNG), Bougainville, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Fiji. We have found a spectrum of formality in these laws: some are broad principles prominently displayed on village billboards, some are circulated solely within the community, and yet others are ‘checked’ and signed by state officials. We view this production of by-laws as part of an efflorescence of local-level order-making aimed at reinvigorating community governance in the face of multiple stresses.

Why Some Community By-Laws Stick and Others Slip Part 2 — An Adaptive Cycle Explanation
Author(s): Miranda Forsyth, Sinclair Dinnen, Ali Tuhanuku, Anthea Roberts

As explained in Part 1 of this In Brief series, our research comprises a multi-country comparative analysis of community rule-making in Melanesia. Across the region, people are actively participating in the shaping and reshaping of order in their communities, rather than being the passive subjects of state or customary forms of governance. We have found some examples of real success — where by-laws have helped transform once violent and unsafe neighbourhoods into more peaceful and vibrant places where residents can sleep at night and commercial activities occur without disruption. We also found examples where these local innovations can contribute to normative changes, such as around the acceptability of family violence or violence more broadly. On the other hand, there are many examples of by-laws reinforcing the patriarchal authority of older male leaders, suppressing other voices, such as those of women and youth. By-laws often start as promising initiatives but then slowly grind to a halt as momentum runs out or obstacles are encountered.

Intergroup War Prevention Strategy — Can It Work in Papua New Guinea?
Author(s): Patrick Kaiku, Molly Kola, Zaffocca Injo

The Counter-Terrorism Act 2024 (CTA) was unanimously passed in Papua New Guinea’s (PNG’s) parliament on 28 November 2024. It repealed the Internal Security Act 1993 (ISA), which was enacted to prevent acts of terrorism and through which government could designate ‘proscribed organizations’. The ISA was never enforced, because the Supreme Court found it inconsistent with due process provisions of section 42 of the Constitution of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. The CTA created an entity called the Counter- Terrorism Joint Security Taskforce and expanded the surveillance powers of law enforcement. Under section 17 of the CTA, the Commissioner of Police can direct telecommunication providers to supply intelligence to prevent or respond to potential offences. Social media platforms and telecommunication devices are now used by criminals to coordinate crime. Hence, the CTA focuses on the surveillance capabilities of law enforcement through telecommunication providers. When Prime Minister James Marape introduced the bill in October 2024, he touted it as ‘a tough law that allows police to be proactive rather than reactive’ (Post-Courier 24/10/2024). This In Brief critiques the CTA and proposes instead that stakeholders make a collective effort towards addressing intergroup warfare as a matter of national importance.

An Innovative Golden Passport? Exploring Nauru’s New Economic and Climate Resilience Citizenship Program
Author(s): Ningning Jiang

In November 2024, at COP29, Nauru launched the ‘Nauru Economic and Climate Resilience Citizenship Program’ (NECRCP), becoming the first Pacific Island state to explicitly link a citizenship-by-investment (CBI) program with climate adaptation finance. With fees starting at US$105,000 for a single applicant, NECRCP presents citizenship both as a mobile asset and as a financing tool for coastal restoration, water security, and environmental recovery. This In Brief draws on early insights from my PhD research on investor-citizenship in the Pacific region, focusing on structural and symbolic factors rather than personal motivations. NECRCP serves as a pilot study showing how island states reshape citizenship programs under pressures of climate risk and economic instability.

Autonomy for East New Britain, Independence for Bougainville: Identities and Subnational Governance in Papua New Guinea
Author(s): James Stiefvater

Dynamics between Indigenous identities and government development practices play a key role in understanding provincial politics in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and are especially salient when examining efforts for political restructuring at the subnational level. In East New Britain (ENB), this aspiration is found in the quest for special autonomy, a unique constitutionally guaranteed political status that would grant the province substantial control over administrative, financial, and political affairs. In the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (ARoB), autonomy is perceived as a means to an end: independence from PNG a goal since at least the 1960s. Understanding how local groups coexist, comingle, and contest their visions for governance arrangements can shed light on why some provinces like ENB strive for greater administrative powers but opt to stay in the colonially created bounds of PNG, while the ARoB and its people are ready to move on. This In Brief is based on PhD research in ENB and the ARoB. Using relational tok stori methodology to centre Indigenous voices, it seeks to understand the meaning of Indigenous identities, their dynamics with state-led development, and how they shape political aspirations.

Discussion Papers

Voting Methods and Their Distribution in Papua New Guinea
Author(s): Thiago Cintra Oppermann, Nicole Haley, Colin Wiltshire

In this Discussion Paper, we propose a systematic classification of polling practices in Papua New Guinean national elections, using data gathered by election observers in 2022. Our classification permits a more careful examination of electoral inequality in Papua New Guinea, its geographical distribution and, with the use of data from previous elections, its change over time. It does so by focusing on the mechanical process of voting (or more generally, producing and destroying completed ballots). While there are important limitations both to this data and the proposed classification, they provide a valuable perspective on the geography of subnational political inequality and have a number of important applications in the analysis of Papua New Guinean politics and electoral administration.


Since its inception, DPA has been regularly publishing research and critical commentary on topics of interest to a wide audience of academics, policy-makers and others interested in contemporary Pacific issues. We welcome submissions to our various publication series.