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On the eve of vote of no confidence (VONC), K90 million was paid to various contractors - a substantial amount to hire car companies. 🧵 on VONC process on 12 September 👇:

Wow, a guy with the "mana" the Kiwis were looking for. MICHAEL KABUNI

I support a depreciating Kina, but it looks like I won't be eating imported grapes in Port Moresby anytime soon. K122 a kilo is 😑

Thought Linkin Park lost their way a bit going mainstream in their last album, but Emily Armstrong is great. No one can replace Chester, but they're getting back to their rock identity with this new song. youtu.be/7F5MKaJMxDc?si…

x.com/theallinpod/st…

Australia spends over $600 mil in aid to PNG annually - but one PNG minister has warned of wastage, duplication and funds being “withheld in Canberra”. tinyurl.com/46wx7u8z

Interested in political economy of local elections? We find that Indonesia's local democratic transition had a mostly negative impact on key public spending and service outcomes, especially in districts where clientelistic practices were pronounced. authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S03…

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My The Lowy Institute colleagues have analysed the global implications of Trump 2.0. As I write in the intro, same man but very different world to the one in which he was last in power, with hot wars in Europe and Middle East. Hoping Mick Ryan, AM is right! interactives.lowyinstitute.org/features/2024-…

Yes, and very good advice for aid workers

Really enjoyed briefing some of the PNG media today on PNG's budget documents and fiscal policy, in a session organised by ABC News media development initiative and Maholopa Laveil!

New blog, new paper: Australians have much to learn about Pacific migration devpolicy.org/australians-ha…

This week, on the Intel, we asked "50 years of independence in PNG: What do we need to think about for the future of the Australia-PNG Partnership?" 👉 ANU's Natasha Turia 👉ANU's Maholopa Laveil 👉The Lowy Institute's Oliver Nobetau Explore the responses: devintelligencelab.com/intel/04march2… Sign up

Here's another recent critique of close elections RDDs. It's unclear whether there is actually good evidence against potentially fatal precise manipulation around the cutoff in these designs. The McCrary (2008) DCdensity and Cattaneo, Jansson, & Ma (2018; 2020) rddensity

Political Analysis Nelson A. Ruiz Janne Tukiainen Maholopa Laveil !

Vincent Pons The Review of Economic Studies Benjamin Marx Vincent Rollet Maholopa Laveil Terence Wood

"This [research] suggests that the national government responds more adequately to the needs of urban local level governments, which is problematic given 90% of Papua New Guinea’s LLGs are rural," says Maholopa Laveil. #PNG #governance devpolicy.org/shining-a-ligh…

"New wards and LLGs have required new rolls, new ballot papers and the coordination of more individual elections, making the job of the PNG Electoral Commission, which is conducting this election, more difficult and creating delays," says Maholopa Laveil. devpolicy.org/shining-a-ligh…

As PNG marks 50 years of independence, the PNG Canberra Students Association are holding the PNG 50 for 50 Symposium at ANU Crawford School of Public Policy on 11 September. Program: devpolicy.org/PNG50.../PNG50… Register to attend in-person (limited spaces) or online: events.devpolicy.org/20250911-regis…