> Is this an idea whose time has come?

It already has. Most of the southern hemisphere's Anglican churches are no longer accepting money from the ECUSA, due to recent disagreement with the appointment of an openly homosexual bishop by the ECUSA. Churches are admittedly a special case, but I'd expect to see even more of this in the future.

Lots of people do very well by doing good. Do-gooding is big business. Land Rovers and Toyotas. Laptops and air flights. Lots of lefty trust fund staff that would otherwise be without work, and more importantly, "a cause." Giving identity and purpose, even if delusional, isn't easy for the natives, but they soldier on. God bless them.

If it isn't a bluff, at some point Papua New Guinea will have to clarify which forms of aid are essential and which are non essential. I would be interested in what they come up with. And then make it the standard for all international aid.

"The Mouse That Deplored"

Australian quality of government is merely bad; PNG's isn't bad, it's close to Central African standards. Still, it's a strange diplomatic move by the PNG govt, but I can't see them following through on this "threat". Aid succours these parasites.

Some background for readers - the "evildoer" in question is an Australian citizen (and the Solomon Islands Foreign Affairs minister) who has been charged by Australian police over alleged child sex offences perpetuated in Vanuatu. The PNG authorities have behaved appallingly over this issue, ignoring the Australian extradition request and sneakily spiriting the offender out of PNG back to the Solomons where he can't be touched because Australia doesn't have an extradition treaty with that country.

Australia is mightily pissed off that the PNG government not only broke the extradition agreement, but deliberately undermined it by refusing to arrest the guy and then transporting him - via a PNG military aircraft - to a nation beyond the reach of Australian authorities.

Perhaps we should employ a first strike policy against rogue nations and remove all funding now before they get a chance to rub our noses in our state charity. That'd teach 'em for threatening us with mere non-dependance, how dare they, who do they think they are?

Lets hope PNG is going to start a trend of small nations opting out of leeching taking foreign aid.

I think Paul is spot on in the 2nd comment. This makes sense diplomatically because it will punish the Australian bureaucrats in charge of administering the aid. They'll lose whatever perks, business travel, expense accounts, contacts and backhanders they get. They don't care about the aid money itself, it's not their money to give in the first place.

Maybe this is the Third World gov't equivalent of a hunger strike. Similar to, but of course not in the same ballpark, as the Norks starving their own people, in order to wring largess out of South Korea and the U. S.