This one's a cracker - covering everything from New Caledonia and the tensions between geopolitical agendas and Pacific sovereignty, what to do about rising tensions in Bougainville, and the state of democracy in the Blue Pacific.

“[Allan] Bird is widely admired. Many would say that he has the leadership qualities to be PM and challenge Marape. The same cannot be said of [Rainbo] Paita. Someone more embedded in the grand game of PNG politics would be hard to find.” Top analysis from Henry Ivarature

We asked Islands Business Magazine (Fiji)'s Nic Maclellan, "Political settlements in the Pacific are under pressure. What’s Australia’s next move?" His take? 🇦🇺 should spend less on security cooperation in the Pacific and more on drivers of unrest. 👉ow.ly/PUf550SauVj

This week, on the Intel, we asked "Is it in Australia’s interest to put fragility back on the radar?" 👉Development Intelligence Lab's William Leben 👉The Asia Foundation's Adam Burke 👉 Conciliation Resources's Ciaran O'Toole Explore the responses: devintelligencelab.com/intel/04july20…

(Seeing two guys i don't like) Hey, get a load of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum over there Lol. (Third guy joins) Wow, a meeting of the minds! (Fourth guy) Think Tank alert! Look out! (Fifth) It's the Marketplace of ideas

Yesterday we brought together special guests from SIGAR and other big thinkers for our Situation Room x Fragility. We dove into lessons for Australia on fragility, statebuilding and stabilisation in our region. Sign up to our mailing list here: ow.ly/K7IK50SvEUH

"While they aren’t a majority, in 2024 a large share of Australians believe their government gives too much aid. If you are trying to figure out where the heart of this hostility lies, it appears to be foremost amongst the old and on the right."

A key question when I was an analyst working on PNG was 'how much bad governance can PNGeans take?'. What does it look like if simmering dissatisfaction and lack of faith in leaders boils over? This piece raises another question: how much bad governance in PNG can Australia take?

Aussies: listen to ordinary PNGeans, they don’t want an NRL team. 102 out of 118 MPs elected in 2022 were/are being challenged in court for corruption and bribery during elections. You’re dealing with a very unpopular and almost illegitimate parliament.

Pleased to be able to contribute insights to this unfolding story about China’s apparent pivot towards providing budget support in the Solomons. Many questions remain, but key for me is what will be the development impact of this aid arms race? abc.net.au/news/2024-07-1…

Speaking to ABC News, the Lab's Head of Analysis & Engagement Heather Murphy says "Whilst capitals will focus on the PRC's geostrategic intentions, an equally important question is how this money will be used to deliver services to communities?" abc.net.au/news/2024-07-1…

BREAKING: Pat Conroy enters cabinet as Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery; Minister for International Development and the Pacific.

A good stock take here from Development Intelligence Lab On upside, hopefully the lag in country/sector strategies etc means that there'll be some rigour in these. On downside, the fact that so many implementation areas have "no public information available" shows the transparency decline.

Hot off the press - a high-level review of the first year of Australia's international development policy. Our key takeaway? There's been slow and steady implementation progress, but heaps more to do. Especially if govt wants make development an impactful element of statecraft.

#AP4D Founding Co-Convenors Bridi Rice & Richard Moore & Development Intelligence Lab colleague Heather Murphy offer some thoughts on how to "maximise the impact of what could be one of [🇦🇺's] most powerful elements of #statecraft" in their year one appraisal of Australia's #development policy.

Pat Conroy MP in action at McKell Institute today talking about Pacific Policy. Headlines below on China, Coalition Pacific Policy, Climate Change and Labor future focus. Authentic Pacific cred on display.

What's happened in the year since the govt dropped its international development policy? There's been slow, steady progress - not all of it visible or transparent. But if Australia wants to make the most of its development program, it needs to get serious. Read our brief below:

Today we hosted Minister Pat Conroy MP, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 🇦🇺 & 40+ experts in a dynamic dialogue to mark the 1-year anniversary of Australia’s International Development Policy. We reflected on progress & future pathways. Sign up for upcoming insights and analysis here👉 lnkd.in/gqwsKNnm

Bruno is in too much debt to be taking risks like this

Great fun today guest lecturing at ourANU with Graeme Smith 史林 on the politics of aid and development, alongside Cam - talking about the development game, its rules, the rhetoric, and what really happens in “the field”