Trade mission from Cairns

The Cairns Post reports very strong interest in a trade mission to Papua New Guinea, to be led by the Cairns Chamber of Commerce next month.

Lowy on violence against women

In the Interpreter blog, Jenny Heyward-Jones comments that ‘action on addressing sorcery-related violence … has to be accompanied by addressing violence against women in Papua New Guinea [in general].’

Bougainville mining legislation

Radio Australia interviews Bougainville’s President, John Momis, who is set to introduce groundbreaking legislation into the Bougainville parliament next week.

Fiji military unrepentant

In response to the publication on You Tube of a graphic video purportedly showing two men in Fiji being tortured by officials, Fiji’s military leader Frank Bainimaramahas told Fijivillage website:

‘I will stick by my men, by the police officers or anyone else that might be named in this investigation. We cannot discard them just because they’ve done their duty in looking after the security of this nation.’

New Zealand’s Dominion Post ran an editorial entitled ‘The brutality of Fiji’s regime laid bare’ , while the NZ parliament is expected to vote this week on a motion to follow the United Nations in condemning the violence.

Outsourcing white collar jobs

The Weekend Australian Financial Review of 2-3 March ran a fascinating feature on how international outsourcing has moved up the value chain. The tasks multinationals delegate to their operations in the Philippines are no longer confined to transactional call centre work. Instead, Ernst & Young has 300 qualified accountants in Manila assisting with audits, while global banks employ local MBAs to do financial analysis, and US legal firms are palming off paralegal work to a nation where English language skills are good, but salary expectations are low.