In episode six we dive deep into the crypts of financial management to unearth which statecraft dividends accrue when money is given as loans to governments in the Pacific. Influence is notoriously slippery and crafty in the finance sector - which raises the question of who has the most influence, those who give the money or those who receive it? Gordon Peake speaks with Godfree Kaptigau - Freelancer, Peter Heijkoop - Owner, Senior Consultant at Universal Financial Management Solutions, and Maholopa Laveil - FDC Pacific Fellow at the Lowy Institute, seconded from the University of Papua New Guinea.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the fifth episode of our investigation into statecraft in the Pacific, we take a closer look at education scholarships as a tool of soft power. What impact do they have - on the individuals who receive them, and on the nations involved? The University of Adelaide Professor Joanne Wallis talks with Gordon Peake about their Statecraftiness story map. Gordon Peake speaks with Godfree Kaptigau - Freelancer, Hugh White - Professor at the Australian National University, Susannah Patton - Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, Dionísio da Costa Babo Soares - Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Adérito Soares - Member of Timor-Leste’s Constituent Assembly and Inaugural Commissioner of Timor-Leste’s Anti-Corruption Commission. Reporter Paula Torres talks with Denilson da Costa Doutel and Adérito do Rosario da Cunha Mambares.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, an army of gender advisors toiled across the Pacific. Gender advisors work in a system they eagerly want to change, swerving their way through atmospheres of complex bureaucracies and evolving cultural norms. In episode 4, Gordon Peake speaks to Anna Gibert, Hugh White, Jennifer Kalpokas Doan, Fremden Yanhambath, Mereani Rokotuibau, Graeme Smith, and Sevu Waqa. We ask them about the effectiveness of their Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) work and in return receive some candid and intriguing answers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the next part of our voyage to understand statecraft in the Pacific, Gordon Peake phones in expert views on the race to build and control telecommunications infrastructure in the Pacific. Along the way, somewhat ironically, he encounters the very obstacles to communication that these same telecommunication infrastructure initiatives are meant to be addressing.  With Maureen Penjuli; Coordinator of the Fiji-based Pacific Network on Globalisation, Amanda Watson; Research Fellow at the Department of Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University, and Graeme Smith; Australian National University Associate Professor.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We kick off University of Adelaide Professor Joanne Wallis's quest by examining one of the most ubiquitous tools of statecraft in the Pacific - police reform - and the extent to which it has garnered influence in Solomon Islands.Gordon Peake speaks with academics, on-the-ground observers and police officers to show that we may never reach 'peak police reform' and discovers the human casualties of this seeming process of forever reform. With ANU Associate Professors Sinclair Dinnen and Graeme Smith; Former Commander of Participating Police Force in Solomon Islands Denis McDermott; Solomon Islands journalist Dorothy Wickham, Kane Johnson and the Agora Food Studio, Dili See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are so many announcements of new programs and projects in the Pacific these days but how much impact and influence do all the efforts actually bring? University of Adelaide Professor Joanne Wallis sends writer and podcaster Gordon Peake on a quest to find out. He talks with academics, policy makers and a senior East Timorese minister to discover that, for all the mechanistic and bloodless language of diplomacy and aid, this is a profoundly human story.  With Joanne Wallis, Bridi Rice, Hugh White, Fidelis Magalhaes and the Agora Food Studio, Dili.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.