title: The development impact of a best practice seasonal worker policy: New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme

authors: Gibson, John

subjects: seasonal migration

abstract: Seasonal migration programs are widely used around the world, and are increasingly seen as offering a potential “triple-win”- benefiting the migrant, sending country, and receiving country. Yet there is a dearth of rigorous evidence as to their development impact, and concerns about whether the time periods involved are too short to realize much in the way of benefits, and whether poorer, less skilled households actually get to participate in such programs. We study the development impacts of a recently introduced seasonal worker program which has been deemed to be “best practice”. New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) program was launched in 2007 with an explicit focus on development in the Pacific alongside the aim of benefiting employers at home. A multi-year prospective evaluation allows us to measure the impact of participation in this program on households and communities in Tonga and Vanuatu. Using a matched difference-in-differences analysis based on detailed surveys fielded before, during, and after participation, we find that the RSE has indeed had largely positive development impacts. It has increased income and consumption of households, allowed households to purchase more durable goods, increased subjective standard of living, and had additional benefits at the community level. It also increased child schooling in Tonga. This should rank it among the most effective development policies evaluated to date. The policy was designed as a best practice example based on lessons elsewhere, and now should serve as a model for other countries to follow.

text: The development impact of a best practice seasonal worker policy: New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme Seasonal migration programs are widely used around the world, and are increasingly seen as offering a potential “triple-win”- benefiting the migrant, sending country, and receiving country. Yet there is a dearth of rigorous evidence as to their development impact, and concerns about whether the time periods involved are too short to realize much in the way of benefits, and whether poorer, less skilled households actually get to participate in such programs. We study the development impacts of a recently introduced seasonal worker program which has been deemed to be “best practice”. New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) program was launched in 2007 with an explicit focus on development in the Pacific alongside the aim of benefiting employers at home. A multi-year prospective evaluation allows us to measure the impact of participation in this program on households and communities in Tonga and Vanuatu. Using a matched difference-in-differences analysis based on detailed surveys fielded before, during, and after participation, we find that the RSE has indeed had largely positive development impacts. It has increased income and consumption of households, allowed households to purchase more durable goods, increased subjective standard of living, and had additional benefits at the community level. It also increased child schooling in Tonga. This should rank it among the most effective development policies evaluated to date. The policy was designed as a best practice example based on lessons elsewhere, and now should serve as a model for other countries to follow.

year: 2010-11

title: Anthropogenic relief features in tropical northern Australia: A physical and chemical analysis of the Weipa shell mounds

authors: Fanning, P

abstract: Large mounded deposits of shell are prominent archaeological features across much of the north Australian tropical coast. Many of the shell mounds are composed almost entirely of the bivalve Anadara granosa (Linnaeus 1758), a food source for Aboriginal people in the past. They are identified in the field by their distinct mounded topographic form and the unique vegetation community growing on them. A relatively long history of inquiry into the nature and significance of the shell mounds has focused primarily on analysing the shell component as clues to Australian Aboriginal coastal economies in the past. This paper presents results of new analyses on the non-shell sediments of mounds located near Weipa in far north Queensland, examining the physical and chemical signatures of deposi- tional and post-depositional processes with a view to obtaining insights into how the mounds formed and for what purposes, and how their morphology, structure and content may have changed since they ceased accumulating. We also consider how such changes might relate to past and present environmental conditions. The mounds we studied are primarily located on topographic high points, such as cliffs, hillslopes and beach ridges, though a proportion are located on estuarine floodplains at low elevations. Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) of a sample of 51 shell mounds demonstrates substantial variation in mound size and shape, and suggests patterning in mound form re- lated to age as well as position on the landscape. However, radiocarbon chronologies demonstrate that the mounds do not conform to a model of linear formation of a shell deposit, suggesting mound histories are variable in both the nature of shell deposition as well as post-depositional processes. Soil physical and chemical analyses indicate that post-depositional diagenetic alteration has strongly influenced the present day composition and form of the shell mounds, in particular the accession of carbon and silica to the mounds by environmental burning aided by strong leaching under seasonal high rainfall conditions. As such, mound chemistry is more likely to reflect modern environmental conditions rather than provide an archive of the past.

text: Anthropogenic relief features in tropical northern Australia: A physical and chemical analysis of the Weipa shell mounds Large mounded deposits of shell are prominent archaeological features across much of the north Australian tropical coast. Many of the shell mounds are composed almost entirely of the bivalve Anadara granosa (Linnaeus 1758), a food source for Aboriginal people in the past. They are identified in the field by their distinct mounded topographic form and the unique vegetation community growing on them. A relatively long history of inquiry into the nature and significance of the shell mounds has focused primarily on analysing the shell component as clues to Australian Aboriginal coastal economies in the past. This paper presents results of new analyses on the non-shell sediments of mounds located near Weipa in far north Queensland, examining the physical and chemical signatures of deposi- tional and post-depositional processes with a view to obtaining insights into how the mounds formed and for what purposes, and how their morphology, structure and content may have changed since they ceased accumulating. We also consider how such changes might relate to past and present environmental conditions. The mounds we studied are primarily located on topographic high points, such as cliffs, hillslopes and beach ridges, though a proportion are located on estuarine floodplains at low elevations. Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) of a sample of 51 shell mounds demonstrates substantial variation in mound size and shape, and suggests patterning in mound form re- lated to age as well as position on the landscape. However, radiocarbon chronologies demonstrate that the mounds do not conform to a model of linear formation of a shell deposit, suggesting mound histories are variable in both the nature of shell deposition as well as post-depositional processes. Soil physical and chemical analyses indicate that post-depositional diagenetic alteration has strongly influenced the present day composition and form of the shell mounds, in particular the accession of carbon and silica to the mounds by environmental burning aided by strong leaching under seasonal high rainfall conditions. As such, mound chemistry is more likely to reflect modern environmental conditions rather than provide an archive of the past.

year: 2017

title: Māori Goddesses in Literature Part 1: pre 1880 - 1900

authors: Yates-Smith, Aroha

subjects: Atua wāhine

abstract: Many contemporary Māori are familiar with atua wāhine, Māori goddesses, through accounts that have been passed on to them by word of mouth. Few, however, have had an opportunity to consult accounts of atua wāhine that date from the early period of Māori-Pākehā contact. Those who wish to do so may have considerable difficulty in sifting through all of the written materials for the information they seek. For this reason, this paper provides a review of the literature pertaining to atua wāhine from pre-1880 to 1900, together with a commentary on the sources to which reference is made. A review of literature on atua wāhine which appeared after 1900 will appear in the second volume of this journal.

text: Māori Goddesses in Literature Part 1: pre 1880 - 1900 Many contemporary Māori are familiar with atua wāhine, Māori goddesses, through accounts that have been passed on to them by word of mouth. Few, however, have had an opportunity to consult accounts of atua wāhine that date from the early period of Māori-Pākehā contact. Those who wish to do so may have considerable difficulty in sifting through all of the written materials for the information they seek. For this reason, this paper provides a review of the literature pertaining to atua wāhine from pre-1880 to 1900, together with a commentary on the sources to which reference is made. A review of literature on atua wāhine which appeared after 1900 will appear in the second volume of this journal.

year: 2000-10