State, Society and Govenance in Melanesia Program

This discussion paper contains three studies relating to the 2002 National Elections in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Drawing upon firsthand observations and fieldwork experience, the authors focus on aspects of the elections in Enga, Southern Highlands and Simbu Provinces respectively. They each discuss the extent to which the elections were democratic, describe how election campaigns and polls were conducted, analyse ongoing or emergent trends and consider the implications of these for future elections.

Every general election in Papua New Guinea, since 1964, has been the subject of a comprehensive collaborative study by Papua New Guinean and foreign scholars. And every study (with the exception, to date, of 2002) has been published. This volume continues a longstanding tradition. The election of 2007, however, generated particular interest: not only did it follow what has been described as Papua New Guinea's worst election ever, in 2002 (in which elections in six of the country's 109 electorates were declared to be 'failed elections'), it was the first general election to be held under a new limited preferential voting (LPV) system; it also followed the first full parliamentary term under the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates, which had been introduced in 2001 in an attempt to strengthen political parties and create a greater degree of stability in the National Parliament, and was the first to embrace a 'whole-of-government' approach to electoral administration, through the Interdepartmental Election Committee.

Tables 3.1. Altitude ranges in SHP, by land area, population, and population density on land used for agriculture, 2000 3.2. Landforms in SHP by land area, population, and population density on land used for agriculture, 2000 3.3. Average population growth rates (% per year), 1966 to 2000: Southern Highlands compared with other Papua New Guinea regions 3.4. Land quality by land area and populations

Justice for the Poor (J4P) is a World Bank program that engages with justice reform as a cross-cutting issue in the practice of development. Grounded in evidence-based approaches focused on the perspective of the poor and marginalized, the program aims to improve the delivery of justice services and to support sustainable and equitable development processes which manage grievance and conflict stresses effectively. Justice for the Poor research reports are aimed at development practitioners, partner governments, researchers, and others interested in justice reform. Research reports are refereed by at least two external referees who are independent of the program.

Lake Kopiago in December 2003. The young woman in her mid-twenties was held and tortured over a 13-day period, along with five other women including her mother, who died as a result of the injuries she sustained. Although the women involved wish their stories to be told I have protected their identities.

Much impact research focuses on how individual scholars can influence policy outcomes, leading to recommendations about how individual researchers can be more entrepreneurial and engage with policy cycles in innovative ways. This approach is problematic in that it reinforces assumptions about researchers as "heroic" individuals, obscuring consideration of how organizational contexts support or hinder the prospects for research impact. As a result, the importance of organizational context is frequently absent from universities' impact strategies. This article seeks to address this gap by presenting a case study on the experiences of the Department of Pacific Affairs (DPA) at the Australian National University (ANU) in creating a context that supports research impact. DPA's research approach has long included a strong policy focus, aided in part by long-term financial support from the Australian government to build a globally preeminent center of excellence for policy-relevant research on the Pacific. Concentrating on DPA's organizational context as an impact mechanism, the article considers lessons learned that can inform the development of research contexts that serve as an inherently impactful approach to research.

There have been calls for the establishment of a separate Hela province for the best part of three decades now, and although such a province has not come to fruition the Somare-led national government evidently is sympathetic to the needs and wishes of the Hela peoples. In May 2003, for instance, The National reported that the current government had promised the people of the Southern Highlands a separate Hela province by 2007 (The National 11 May 2003). More recently it has come to light that the national government, through the Boundaries Commission, will 'look into the possibility of a separate province for Hela in 2005' (The National 13 August 2004). This paper will comment on the push for the establishment of a Hela province and on the supplementary election results in the Southern Highlands Province (SHP). It is argued that in recent years the support for a Hela province has waned in many parts of the province and that formation of a Hela province may well exacerbate emergent ethnic conflicts.

Both teams were led by Nicole Haley. Given the prevailing security situation in the electorate in 2007 several of the team positions were split. The four local women, for instance, shared a position and made observations in their home areas where their personal security could be more likely guaranteed.

In the lead-up to independence, there was debate in Papua New Guinea as to whether a defence force would safeguard national security or pose a threat to democracy. In the event, the Defence force was retained and has played a significant role in maintaining internal security and contributing to national development, as well as securing the country’s borders. But there has been some deterioration since independence in the capacity and morale of the PNGDF, and several instances of tension between the military and the government, especially during the Bougainville conflict. Civil-military relations since independence are briefly traced and the question of why Papua New Guinea has not experienced a military coup is addressed.