Opinion & Commentary

Opinion and Commentary contains media articles written by CIS researchers.

End the cargo-cult aid mentality that has ruined our neighbours

16 Apr 2012 | The Australian

Pacific elites have appropriated the bulk of aid, mineral, forestry and other incomes to become immensely wealthy at the cost of villagers. Read More

Pakistan a Chinese pawn to stall India

19 Jul 2011 | The Australian

AT the Shangri-La Dialogue meeting of defence ministers in Singapore last month, Indian Defence Minister Pallam Raju was asked whether India could exercise similar self-restraint should another terrorist... Read More

The Fiji meeting would be a farce if it were funny

30 Mar 2011 | The Canberra Times

‘Melanesia’ is an anthropologists’ construct that has no economic and little other sense. It the arcane world of United Nations politics it was promoted as a ‘region’ to create jobs for bureaucrats,... Read More

What a difference a decade doesn't make to the lives of Pacific Islanders

Helen Hughes AO 1928 - 2013 | 12 Jun 2010 | The Australian

Ten years after the UN pledged to address poverty and poor health and education levels in the Pacific region, the shameful results mock the aid industry, says Helen Hughes in The Weekend Australian, 12... Read More

Army of well-paid advisers keep Pacific poor

Helen Hughes AO 1928 - 2013 | 22 Feb 2010 | The Australian

Poorly targeted aid to the Pacific hinders rather than helps the region. Read More

Pacific angst

John Lee | 11 Nov 2009 | Foreign Policy

The very fact that America needs to negotiate with its Asian allies and partners – and sometimes even compromise – means that Washington will adapt in ways that allow it to remain the preferred security... Read More

Good policy better than guest work for neighbours

Helen Hughes AO 1928 - 2013 | 21 Aug 2008 | The Canberra Times

The announcement that Australia is inaugurating a ‘guest worker’ scheme for Pacific islanders to pick fruit in Australia will earn Prime Minister Rudd a warm welcome at the Pacific Island Forum meeting... Read More

Why RAMSI should stay

Gaurav Sodhi | 20 Apr 2008

Now into its fifth year and with no exit strategy in sight, questions are beginning to be asked about the future of the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI). Should... Read More

Game of Pacific cop and dodgers

Helen Hughes AO 1928 - 2013 | 01 Jul 2003 | The Australian

The Howard Government's decision to help the Solomons by restoring civil order to the South Pacific islands is welcome. Read More

Will Papua New Guinea be a 'failed state'?

Susan Windybank | 08 Apr 2003 | The International Herald Tribune

Papua New Guinea is rich in natural resources. Yet it is facing a very difficult future. The economy has stagnated and the outlook for growth is bleak. Corruption is rife. Law and order have broken down,... Read More

Way out for poor little rich island

Helen Hughes AO 1928 - 2013 | 08 Apr 2003 | The Australian

Nauru - an island of 22sq km, lying near the Equator, thousands of kilometres from the nearest large Pacific island group - was named the Happy Isle by early European explorers for its mix of Micronesian,... Read More

Smaller government the answer for Fiji

Wolfgang Kasper | 06 Mar 2001 | The Sydney Morning Herald

Fiji has scored rather poorly since independence on economic growth, security and social harmony. The country has suffered from backsliding, racial distrust, fear and pessimism. Last Thursday’s Court... Read More

Aid has failed the Pacific

Helen Hughes AO 1928 - 2013 | 30 Nov -0001

Per capita income has grown at less than 1% a year in the Pacific during the past 30 years. In some islands it has declined. Population has grown at more than 3% a year. The discrepancy between population... Read More

Publications

Future Submarine Project Should Raise Periscope for Another Look

Simon Cowan | 24 Oct 2012 | Policy Monographs

Australia should not spend $40 billion to repeat the mistakes of the Collins Class submarine. Nuclear submarines, such as... Read More...
Southeast Asia’s American Embrace

Jessica Brown | 29 Mar 2012 | Foreign Policy Analysis

All Southeast Asian states want to take advantage of the benefits of a rising China, yet none wants it to be in a position... Read More...
The Bipolar Pacific

Helen Hughes AO 1928 - 2013 | 21 Aug 2008 | Issue Analysis

Guest-worker schemes, which have been proposed as a development solution for the Pacific, no doubt benefit the individuals... Read More...
FEATURE: The Illegal Pacific, Part 1: Organised Crime

Susan Windybank | 04 Jun 2008 | POLICY Magazine

Until the islands establish the rule of law, they will continue to suffer from the 'dark side' of globalisation.
Five Out of Ten: A Performance Report on the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI)

Gaurav Sodhi | 31 Jan 2008 | Issue Analysis

The Solomon Islands is stagnating despite 30 years of aid flows of hundreds of millions of dollars, innumerable consultants’... Read More...

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