Creating an Indigenous Christian leadership in Papua

In eastern Papua, Christian missionaries found a social structure unparalleled in most areas of religious expansion in the world: it apparently lacked chiefs and any identifiable leadership. Nearly all the Massim societies of eastern Papua were matrilineal, and land was passed through females. Here, women enjoyed a higher status than elsewhere in what is now Papua New Guinea. By drawing on the records of missionary agents, both European and Polynesian, this paper shows how the Methodist, Anglican and Kwato (London Missionary Society) missions in eastern Papua all encountered difficulty in fostering a cadre of male leaders, but — as became evident after World War II — they experienced greater success in fostering women's leadership.

Archaeobotany in Australia and New Guinea : Practice, potential and prospects

Archaeobotany is the study of plant remains from archaeological contexts. Despite Australasian research being at the forefront of several methodological innovations over the last three decades, archaeobotany is now a relatively peripheral concern to most archaeological projects in Australia and New Guinea. In this paper, many practicing archaeobotanists working in these regions argue for a more central role for archaeobotany in standard archaeological practice. An overview of archaeobotanical techniques and applications is presented, the potential for archaeobotany to address key historical research questions is indicated, and initiatives designed to promote archaeobotany and improve current practices are outlined.

Gathering for God : George Brown in Oceania

Combining 'the gathering of artefacts with the gathering of souls', George Brown was a key figure in the Christian, and especially the Wesleyan Methodist, history of nineteenth-century Oceania. Using his life as a case study, Helen Bethea Gardner examines the role of Christian missionaries in the Pacific Islands. Brown's career (1860-1908) spanned one of the most tumultuous political periods in the South Pacific, as one by one islands were colonised by imperial nations. He was one of the most politically engaged of all missionaries, encouraging colonial rule in the Pacific by America, Britain, Germany and, eventually, Australia and New Zealand. Originally from the north of England, he worked as a missionary in Samoa from 1860, moving to the Bismarck Archipelago (now Papua New Guinea) in 1875. From the 1880s until his retirement in 1907, he worked in Sydney as the general secretary of the Australasian Methodist Overseas Mission. Gathering for God examines Brown's missionary letters, journals and journalism, exploring how he attracted Pacific Islanders to Christian teachings, analysing his leadership during an armed attack on New Britain villages accused of cannibalism, and looking at his work in the new discipline of anthropology. He was a major collector of artefacts (his collection is now in the Osaka Museum) and photographer of Pacific peoples (his collection is in the Australian Museum).

The regulation of non-local tertiary courses in Hong Kong

This paper reports on some research from an ARC project conducted by the authors into the ways in which Australian universities establish colaborations with partners in Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea to offer courses in those countries. One feature of such collaborations in Hong Kong is the way in which, since 1997, the local Special Administrative region government regulates the provision on 'non-local courses' by mean of an ordinance. The paper describes and analyses the impact of the ordinance on both local and overseas stakeholders. This impact represents a particular enactment of matters of globalisation and localisation in education. The paper reports on the issues, which have emerged which, are leading to current moves to modify the ordinance's provisions.

Academics' experiences of teaching Australian 'non-local' courses in Hong Kong

This paper reports on some research from an ARC funded project conducted by the authors into the ways in which Australian universities establish collaborations with partners in Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea to offer courses in those countries. The research used principally qualitative methods (interviews, observations, document collection and analysis) to develop case-studies of a range of partnerships in Hong Kong. The project commenced in 1999 and is in its final stages. The paper discusses the experiences of staff who developed, administered and taught courses offered in Hong Kong by Australian institutions in partnership with a local provider. It presents and discusses findings on their reasons for working 'off-shore' in Hong Kong, their engagement with local staff and students, and their experience of Hong Kong students' coping with Australian curricula, pedagogies and assessment.

Social policy for sport events : leveraging (relationships with) teams from other nations for community benefit

Recent work on sport events has argued that host governments should do more to leverage events in order to obtain and spread the benefits. This study uses ethnographic methods to compare two cities' implementation of a programme designed to leverage the presence of visiting teams training for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Whereas one city formulated and implemented a detailed strategic plan to obtain benefits from its relationship with its adopted visiting team (Papua New Guinea), the other made no effort to benefit from adopting a visiting team (Wales). The city that leveraged its visiting team obtained new relationships, cultural insights, and improved organisational networks, whereas the city that did not leverage obtained no comparable benefits. The difference was due to the disparity in strategic vision by the two city governments and the vague mandate of the state programme which had caused each city to adopt its chosen team. Future work should explore factors that foster and that inhibit effective leverage before and during sport events.

Are shocks to real effective exchange rates permanent or transitory? evidence from Pacific Island countries

In this article, we consider the stability of the real effective exchange rates for four Pacific Island countries using the Lee and Strazicich (2003a, b) unit root test, which allows one to incorporate at most two structural breaks in the data series. Our main finding is that for Papua New Guinea and Samoa, exchange rates are stable, implying that shocks will have a transitory effect on real effective exchange rates, while for Fiji and the Solomon Islands we find exchange rates to be unstable, implying that shocks will have a permanent effect on real effective exchange rates.

Use of satellite telemetry on small-bodied waterfowl in Australia

The nomadic or dispersive movements of many Australian waterfowl in response to irregular environmental cues make satellite telemetry studies the only means by which these long-distance movements can be tracked in real time. Unlike some large-bodied soaring species, attaching satellite transmitters to small-bodied waterfowl (<1 kg) is not straightforward because ducks have high wing loadings and need to maintain active flapping to stay aloft. In the present paper, we detail one harness design and attachment method that enabled us to track grey teal (Anas gracilis) for up to 879 days. In addition, we detail rates of data loss, changes in data quality over time and variation in data quality from solar-powered satellite-tags deployed on ducks in Australia and Papua New Guinea. Up to 68% of all locational fixes have a nominal accuracy of less than 1 km, and satellite-tags deployed on wild birds can provide up to 22 location fixes per day and store enough energy during the day to run continuously throughout the night.

Closing the gap? Building surveyors in Oceania

Purpose – The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has implemented a policy to expand its influence around the world. Quantity or construction surveyors had an established presence and history of working overseas, offering their services particularly in the Middle- and Far-East. Property surveyors found the transition to working in European Union (EU) countries relatively straightforward and numerous UK property consultancies have European, Asian, North American and Oceanic offices. Furthermore UK-based firms establishing partnerships with overseas real estate firms expanded significantly over the past decade. Building surveying (BS) is a different case. Small numbers work in commonwealth countries but it is limited and in many countries professional and academic qualifications are not recognised. This paper aims to consider the extent of the barriers and opportunities facing RICS chartered building surveyors (CBS) in Oceania (taken as Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji) and whether the gap is closing.
Design/methodology/approach – A desktop study reviewed the political, economic and sociological issues that affect the employment opportunities and professional services CBS offer throughout the world. Six opportunities and ten barriers were put to the RICS Oceania Building Surveying Faculty to ascertain their perceptions of these barriers and opportunities. No previous study had identified barriers and opportunities in Oceania for the BS and this research adopted a census survey of RICS practitioners currently employed in the region and the results form the most comprehensive picture of the current position.
Findings – Many respondents felt that stronger links and/or mergers with the different Oceania professional property and surveying bodies would open a large field of opportunities to the CBS. Some provided comments on future business opportunities, for example “leaky buildings,”"dilapidations/‘ make good’ work”, and seemed to be in general agreement that, as businesses came to know the benefits of protecting themselves from rogue tenants (and landlords) by using the services of a CBS, then opportunities would continue to rise. The principal barrier is communicating those skills and the value they add.
Research limitations/implications – The limitations that affected this research were time constraints and communicating with surveyors in Oceania, to whom the authors were not permitted direct access. The research methodology methods were, with hindsight, not ideal for the type and range of data that the researchers sought.
Originality/value – The research will be of use to building surveyors and providers of building-surveying education in Oceania.

The emergence of the global workplace : opportunities and barriers for building surveyors in Oceania

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) the professional body representing surveyors in the UK, has implemented a policy to globalise in order to meet the challenges and opportunities the global marketplace was creating for its members as well as protecting and serving its interests (RICS, 1999). Quantity surveyors had a presence and history of employment outside the UK, particularly in the Middle and Far East. Real estate surveyors found the transition to working in European Union (EU) countries relatively straightforward and numerous UK real estate organisations have European, Asian, North American and Oceanic offices. Additionally UK based firms establishing partnerships with overseas real estate firms expanded significantly over the previous decade. Building Surveying is different. Small numbers worked in commonwealth countries but in most countries their professional and academic qualifications were not recognised. With the changes implemented by the RICS, this paper examines the barriers and opportunities facing RICS Chartered Building Surveyors (CBS) in Oceania (taken as Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji).

A desk top study reviewed the political, economic and sociological variables affecting employment opportunities and professional services which were put to the RICS Oceania Building Surveying Faculty. No previous study had been undertaken to identify the specific barriers and opportunities in Oceania for the BS and this research adopted a census survey of RICS practitioners currently employed in the region and the results form the most comprehensive picture of the current position. The findings are that some of the opportunities and barriers will change in significance over time. The main barriers to growth were perceived as lack of support from a Euro focussed RICS and the difficulties associated with being perceived as outsiders. Opportunities were perceived as emerging in new areas of professional services such as sustainability and energy efficiency.

Examination of the "all hazards" approach to disaster management as applied to field disaster management and pre-hospital care in Australia

Disasters, emergencies, incidents, and major incidents - they all come back to the same thing regardless of what they are called. The common denominator is that there is loss of life, injury to people and animals and damage and destruction of property. The management of such events relies on four phases: 1. Prevention 2. Preparation 3. Response 4. Recovery Each of these phases is managed in a different way and often by different teams. Here, concentration has been given to phases 2 and 3, with particular emphasis on phase 3, Response. The words used to describe such events are often related to legislation. The terminology is detailed later. However, whatever the description, whenever prevention is not possible, or fails, then the need is to respond. Response is always better when the responders are prepared. Training is a major part of response preparation and this book is designed to assist those in the health industry who need to be ready when something happens. One of the training packages for responders is the Major Incident Medical Management and Support (MIMMS) Course and this work was designed to supplement the manual prepared by Hodgetts and Macway-Jones(87) in the UK. Included is what the health services responder, who may be sent to an event in which the main concern is trauma, should know. Concentration is on the initial response and does not deal in any detail with hospital reaction, the public health aspects, or the mental health support that provides psychological help to victims and responders, and which are also essential parts of disaster management. People, in times of disaster, have always been quick to offer assistance. It is now well recognised however, that the 'enthusiastic amateur', whilst being a well meaning volunteer, isn't always what is needed. All too often such people have made things worse and have sometimes ended up as victims themselves. There is a place now for volunteers and there probably always will be. The big difference is that these people must be well informed, well trained and well practiced if they are to be effective. Fortunately such people and organisations do exist. Without the work of the St John Ambulance, the State Emergency Service, the Rural Fire Service the Red Cross and the Volunteer Rescue Association, to mention only a few, our response to disasters would be far less effective. There is a strong history of individuals being available to help the community in times of crisis. Mostly these people were volunteers but there has also always been the need for a core of professional support. In the recent past, professional support mechanisms have been developed from lessons learned, particularly to situations that need a rapid and well organised response. As lessons are learned from an analysis of events, philosophy and methods have changed. Our present system is not perfect and perhaps never will be. The need for an 'all-hazards approach' makes detailed planning very difficult and so there will probably always be criticisms about the way an event was handled. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, provided we learn from it. That means that this text is certainly not the 'last word' and revisions as we learn from experience will be inevitable. Because the author works primarily in New South Wales, many of the explanations and examples are specific to that state. In Australia disaster response is a State, rather than a Commonwealth, responsibility and consequently, and inevitably, there are differences in management between the states and territories within Australia. With the influence of Emergency Management Australia, these differences are being reduced. This means that across state and territory boundaries, assistance is common and interstate teams can be deployed and assimilated into the response rapidly, safely, effectively and with minimum explanation. This text sets out to increase the understanding of what is required, what is in place and how the processes of response are managed. By way of introduction and background, examples are given of those situations that have occurred, or could happen. Man Made Disasters has been divided into two distinct sections. Those which are related to structures or transport and those related directly to people. The first section, Chapter 3, includes: • Transport accidents involving land, rail, sea or air vehicles. • Collapse of buildings for reasons other than earthquakes or storms. • Industrial accidents, including the release of hazardous substances and nuclear events. A second section dealing with the consequences of the direct actions of people is separated as Chapter 4, entitled 'People Disasters'. Included are: • Crowd incidents involving sports and entertainment venues. • Terrorism From Chapter 4 on, the emphasis is on the Response phase and deals with organisation and response techniques in detail. Finally there is a section on terminology and abbreviations. An appendix details a typical disaster pack content. War, the greatest of all man made disasters is not considered in this text.

The millennium development goals and beyond : international assistance to the Asia-Pacific

The book examines how international aid donors and NGOs can assist countries in the Asia-Pacific region achieve the Millennium Development Goals. It examines the progress countries have made towards the MDGs and highlights the need to tailor the goals to individual country circumstances. The countries examined include Papua New Guinea, Cambodia, Solomon Islands, and Thailand.

Are exports and imports cointegrated? Evidence from two Pacific Island countries

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether there is long-run relationship between exports and imports for two Pacific Island Countries -- Fiji and Papua New Guinea (PNG). This is an important issue because long-run convergence will ensure that trade imbalances are sustainable. We explore this issue using the bounds-testing approach to cointegration and find that while exports and imports for Fiji and PNG are indeed cointegrated, the coefficient on exports is unity only in the case of Fiji. These results imply that Fiji satisfies the strong form of its intertemporal budget constraint while PNG satisfies only the weak form of its intertemporal budget constraint.

Tourism and economic growth: a panel data analysis for Pacific Island countries

The contribution of tourism to the economic growth of Pacific Island countries (PICs) has achieved significance in the past decade. The shift in the economic policies of the PICs from the late 1980s has been decisively away from import substitution and agriculture to urban-based manufacturing and services sectors. Tourism is the main component of the services sector in the PICs. The contribution of tourism to economic growth in Fiji, Tonga, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea is expected to grow. The authors use panel data for the four PICs to test the long-run relationship between real GDP and real tourism exports. They find support for panel cointegration and the results suggest that a 1% increase in tourism exports increases GDP by 0.72% in the long run and by 0.24% in the short run.