The islands of the Pacific are in some cases prsoperous with good economies and education systems while others experience widespread illiteracy and some of the highest population growth rates in the world.The Pacific is bipolar, on almost every available indicator, the Pacific’s development path is split in two. One group of Pacific islands, including Samoa...

With the numeracy and literacy skills of five-year-olds, ten thousand indigenous teenagers and young men and women are unemployable because of the educational failures of the last decade.

Many Aboriginal communities have welcomed the Australian Government’s ban on the import of kava, as part of the Northern Territory "emergency intervention". Kava is a ceremonial drink from the Pacific Islands that was introduced into North East Arnhem Land in the 1980s as an alternative to alcohol. Helen Hughes asks what comes next? Clearly banning...

Helen Hughes and Gaurav Sodhi argue that a new $89 million funding package to Vanuatu provided by the US Millennium Challenge Corporation will do little to address the rampant corruption and economic mismanagement that plague the country. The new US funding incorporates none of the lessons learnt from past aid projects in Vanuatu, and risks...

Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are demanding education that will lead to productive employment opportunities with mainstream earnings, decent health outcomes, decent housing and the same security that other Australians enjoy. Helen Hughes argues that reforming separatist policies that have resulted in Indigenous deprivation is essential if Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders are...