[Anthropgrad] CDI SEMINAR | Mon Aug 20 | 3pm | The Use & Abuse of Electoral Development ("Slush") Funds in PNG | Dr Joseph Ketan

[Luke Hambly]

[Apologies for cross posting & please feel free to distribute further]

Centre for Democratic Institutions (CDI) | Seminar Notice
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CDI Policy Paper Series on Political Governance presents:

The Use & Abuse of Electoral Development Funds & their Impact on 
Electoral Politics & Governance in Papua New Guinea

Dr Joseph Ketan

3 pm | Monday 20 August 2007 | McDonald Room | *Menzies Library | 
Australian National University | Canberra

All Welcome but RSVP ESSENTIAL to cdi at anu.edu <mailto:cdi at anu.edu>
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PNG's recent national election has highlighted the central importance of 
electoral development funds (often known as "slush funds") to PNG 
electoral politics and governance. These funds have been a prominent 
part of representative democracy in PNG for a number of decades. 
However, their impact on democracy and governance has become 
increasingly crucial. While local services continue to deteriorate, 
election victories, parliamentary votes and policy decisions are 
increasingly determined by the allocation of slush funds. 

This new CDI Policy Paper represents the most comprehensive study of the 
impact of electoral development funds on PNG politics yet published. 
Author Dr Joseph Ketan, a well known Papua New Guinean commentator and 
academic, provides a devastating assessment of the impact of slush funds 
on PNG democracy.

The stated justification for these funds - currently 500,000 kina per MP 
per year, with a further 2 million kina available to each MP annually 
under various other grants - was to allow individual politicians to 
bypass development bottlenecks and support local projects. However, they 
are often criticised for contributing to corruption, cronyism and 
non-accountability. Moreover, the amount of such funding has 
skyrocketted over the past decade, with more than 1 billion kina now 
allocated to parliamentarians over each parliamentary term on top of 
their salaries and other entitlements. 

As well as analysing the impact of the funds on democracy and governance 
in PNG, Dr Ketan's paper also suggests a number of reform options to 
restore confidence in the funds and ensure that they are used for 
development, unimpeded by corruption. 

All are welcome to this seminar but RSVP is ESSENTIAL to cdi at anu.edu.au 
<mailto:cdi at anu.edu.au>
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Dr Joseph Ketan is a keen observer of politics in Melanesia, with 
research interest in state-society relations and the impact of political 
culture on democracy and governance. He was awarded a fieldwork-based 
PhD in History and Politics from the University of Wollongong, NSW, 
Australia, and has held academic posts at the Institute of PNG Studies, 
the PNG National Research Institute, the University of Papua New Guinea, 
and recently at the Pacific Institute of Advanced Studies in Development 
and Governance at the University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji. He 
has observed the 2006 general elections in Fiji and numerous PNG 
elections, including the testing of the limited preferential voting 
system in the 2004 LPV by-elections in Anglimp-South Wahgi and Moresby 
North-East electorates. Dr Ketan is the author of /The Name Must Not Go 
Down: Political Competition and State-Society Relations in Mount Hagen, 
Papua New Guinea/ (IPS, USP, 2004).

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To download a pdf version of this paper & more detail on the CDI Policy 
Paper Series & associated seminars, see the CDI Policy Paper Series on 
Political Governance web page @ 
http://www.cdi.anu.edu.au/research/PPS_Home.htm

*The Menzies Library is building no. 2 off Fellows Rd (square D3, on the 
ANU campus map @ http://campusmap.anu.edu.au/largemap.asp) 
<http://campusmap.anu.edu.au/largemap.asp>

All Inquires:_ _

Luke Hambly | Executive Officer | CDI | E: Luke.Hambly at anu.edu.au 
<mailto:Luke.Hambly at anu.edu.au> | P: +61 (0)2 6125 3197 | 
http://www.cdi.anu.edu.au/ | CRICOS Provider Number: 00120C |


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