Selected media, policy, and other writing
2024
The financial lives of Pacific migrants, 3 September 2024, ANU Pacific Migration Update (slides, with Estelle Stambolie)
A brief update on Pacific-Australia migration, 3 September 2024, Australia Solomon Islands Business Forum (slides)
Pacific Migration Update, 2 September 2024, ANU Migration Update (slides)
Migration and the Pacific, 18 July 2024, ANU Migration Hub-Department of Home Affairs seminar series (slides)
ABC Pacific Beat interview on remittance costs, 9 July 2024 (comments; story from 37 min)
The gains and the pains of working away from home, Devpolicy Talks (podcast), 8 July 2024 (with Amita Monterola and Dung Doan)
The Pacific Labour Mobility Survey: Key Findings from Wave One, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, 14 June 2024 (with Dung Doan)
Fiji fights for brain gain amid wave of emigration, East Asia Forum, 8 June 2024 (with Kushneel Prakash and Toan Nguyen)
Tongan Remittances, Pacific Labour Mobility Technical Working Group, 6 June 2024
Small Firm Diaries: A Brief Introduction (with Estelle Stambolie), Pacific Labour Mobility Technical Working Group, 6 June 2024
The migration debate is heating up, but will the war of words lead to action?, ABC News, 25 May 2024 (comments)
Immigration is good, actually, Building Beautifully, 14 April 2024 (comments)
Migration and development, Guest lecture for Governing Global Migration, 19 March 2024
It pays to switch remittance service providers, so what’s stopping people?, Devpolicy, 16 February 2024 (with Hiroshi Maeda and Daniel Suryadarma)
Customer choices are keeping Pacific remittance costs high, Devpolicy, 14 February 2024 (with Hiroshi Maeda and Daniel Suryadarma)
Remittance costs in the Pacific: measurement matters, Devpolicy, 12 February 2024 (with Hiroshi Maeda and Daniel Suryadarma)
2023
Australia’s immigration spike not necessarily driving up housing prices, experts say, The Guardian, 12 Dec 2023 (comments)
Evaluating Pacific-Australia labour mobility, Public Sector Economics Conference, ANU, 21 November 2023
New data to inform big decisions around Pacific labour mobility, Devpolicy, 20 November 2023 (with Dung Doan and Matt Dornan)
The Gains and Pains of Working Away from Home: The Case of Temporary Migrant Workers in Australia and New Zealand, World Bank and ANU, November 2023 (with Dung Doan and Matt Dornan) [Full report] [Two-pager] [Canberra Times coverage] [VBTC coverage] [Radio New Zealand coverage] [AAC 2023 Launch Presentation Slides] [AAC 2023 Launch Presentation Video] [podcast]
Look at the evidence: Cutting immigration would be a mistake for Australia, Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, 1 Nov 2023 (with Steven Hamilton)
The Pacific Labour Mobility Survey: Key Worker Survey Findings, PALM Advisory Group meeting, 15 September 2023, and Pacific Heads of Mission Workshop, 16 October 2023 (with Dung Doan)
PALM Hours, Devpolicy, 10 August 2023 (with Dung Doan and Matt Dornan)
The labour market impacts of lower-skilled temporary immigration: evidence from the PALM scheme, Australian Workshop on Public Finance, 4 August 2023, ANU (subsequently Melbourne Institute and USyd)
Palm oil and economic development: a brief review of recent evidence, ASEAN Chairmanship Energy Sector Event, 2 August 2023, Jakarta
The labour market impacts of lower-skilled temporary immigration: evidence from the PALM scheme, Pacific Update 2023 presentation (with Toan Nguyen)
The Pacific Labour Mobility Survey: Worker Survey Findings, Pacific Update 2023 presentation (with Dung Doan)
Insights on Small Firms in Fiji, Pacific Update 2023 presentation (with Michelle Kempis)
Pacific migration and survey data, Pacific Labour Mobility Technical Working Group Meeting, May 2023 (with Dung Doan)
Women in online marketplaces: new research, Devpolicy
ODE will not be returning. What’s the best alternative for a modern development program? Intel, Development Intelligence Lab
Seasonal work supports everyday expenses in Tonga, Devpolicy (with Hiroshi Maeda)
2022
Public Sector Economist Conference, Canberra, presentation
Chinese (and Western) aid boosts short-run economic growth, Devpolicy 2022
A proposal for a new regional compact to promote people mobility, Devpolicy 2022 (with Richard Curtain, Max Tani, and Glenn Withers)
Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about migration policy, PODstemology podcast, with Mark Fabian
2021
Indonesia 2045: Towards Water Security, World Bank, 1 Dec 2o21
ABC Pacific Beat interview on the new Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme, Wednesday 15 September 2021
Pacific islanders in Australia, Interdepartmental Committee on Pacific Education and Labour Mobility New Policy Measures, 9 August 2021, Australian Government [Slides]
Does emigration hurt businesses in migrant-sending countries? Devpolicy, 2021
Submission to DFAT’s Pacific Labour Mobility Consultation, 2021 (with Richard Curtain, Stephen Howes, Rochelle Lee Bailey, Charlotte Bedford, and Michael Rose)
NOVAFRICA Sustainable Development Talks podcast, Season 2 Episode 13
ABC Pacific Beat interview on skilled migration, Monday 7 June 2021
Economic development in the Pacific (presentation slides for the course “Understanding the Pacific”)
Australian aid cuts at odds with changing public opinion, DevPolicy, 2021 (with Terence Wood)
Pacific Labour Mobility in 2050: Australia’s role: Submission to the DFAT consultation on the Pacific Islands Forum 2050 Strategy, 2020 (with Stephen Howes)
2020
Blog your development PhD research Devpolicy, 2020
Discussing, refereeing, dealing with rejections, and keeping up to date (presentation slides)
COVID-19 and food systems in the Indo-Pacific: An assessment of vulnerabilities, impacts and opportunities for action, ACIAR, November 2020
Evidence for the Senate Select Committee on Temporary Migration Hansard 14 October 2020 (with Stephen Howes and Holly Lawton)
Evidence for the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Trade Hansard 16 September 2020 (with Richard Curtain)
Pacific islander communities and employment in Australia, DevPolicy, 2020 (with Beth Orton)
Submission to the Select Committee on Temporary Migration, 2020 (with Holly Lawton)
Altruism, China and attitudes to aid, Devpolicy, 2020 (with Chris Hoy and Terence Wood)
Australians support the Pacific travel bubble, DevPolicy, 2020 (with Chris Hoy and Terence Wood) ABC Pacific Beat interview
COVID-19 has not caused a fall in Australians’ support for aid, DevPolicy, 2020 (with Chris Hoy and Terence Wood)
Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, 2020 (with Richard Curtain)
Three insights from the Kiribati Social Development Indicator Survey, DevPolicy, 2020
Study in Australia or teach in the Pacific?, DevPolicy, 2020 (with Satish Chand)
Submission to the review of Australia’s new international development policy, 2020 (with Stephen Howes, Terence Wood, and Sherman Surandiran)
2019 and before
Thinking about brain drain: part three, DevPolicy, 2019
Thinking about brain drain: part two, DevPolicy, 2019
Thinking about brain drain, DevPolicy, 2019
Has resource extraction reduced poverty?, Inside Indonesia, 2017
How has our rising palm oil consumption affected the communities where it comes from?, World Bank Development Impact, 2016
Resource wealth and direct dividend payments: what’s missing?, Devpolicy, 2015
Submission to the Productivity Commission public inquiry into childcare and early childhood learning, 2014
Has this government compromised the most sacred process of all, the budget?, The Canberra Times, 2014
Review of the Pacific Youth Strategy 2010, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, 2011 (with Carly Stephan)