Coronavirus
Forecasting vaccination in the Pacific
While Australia reopens to the world, its Pacific neighbours continue to face the dire consequences of the pandemic. Despite a guaranteed flow of vaccines thanks in large part to…
National self-interest cannot govern global vaccine distribution
As Australia emerges from its local state-based lockdowns – largely due to its high vaccination rates – many low-income countries in Southeast Asia and Africa remain at risk of…
Politics and Covid-19 funds in Papua New Guinea
In 2020, Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape directed 20 per cent of the District Services Improvement Program funds (DSIP), which are paid to the 89 open MPs…
Overcoming community resistance to vaccination in Papua New Guinea
The Delta variant of Covid-19 triggered a steady increase in the uptake of vaccinations across the Pacific. Countries recognised that high vaccination rates are critical for…
Assessing Australia’s role in global vaccine equity
As global health leaders have repeated ad nauseum during the pandemic, no-one is safe until everyone is safe. Helping vaccinate the world is therefore a matter of national self…
Vietnam had seemingly conquered Covid. Then Delta spread
Ho Chi Minh City and the wider south in Vietnam finished its 24-hour-a-day Covid-19 lockdown of three months last week, allowing people to venture out to buy food rather than wait…
Zooming out of digital diplomacy
We’re firmly entrenched in an era of hybrid diplomacy, floating between in-person and videoconference diplomacy. In speaking to those in the game, three facts have come to light:…
Australia should donate surplus vaccine to Indonesia
In the middle of this pandemic, every vaccine is precious. Australia should give its spare locally-made AstraZeneca vaccines to friends in Indonesia.
Indonesia has a vacuum of…
Indonesia: painted politics
Street art has been much discussed across Indonesia’s airwaves in the last couple of months. Three spray-painted murals expressing a critical perspective on the government’s…
Whipping the Covid-19 vaccine market into shape
The question of equitable Covid-19 vaccine distribution is likely to be an important topic of discussion at the upcoming G20 Heads of State and Government Summit in Rome during…