Before she was elected to the Senate, Jess was an established academic and Pacific policy expert. Here is a curation of her published work.
PhD Thesis
Bird, Jessica Nancy (2013) “Talking with lips” : settlement, transnationalism and identity of Karen people from Burma living in Brisbane, Australia. PhD thesis, Queensland University of Technology.
Peer Reviewed Journals
Bound within Borders or Free as a Bird? Karen Life in Refugee Camps on the Thai–Burma Borderlands
Bird, Jessica (2019)
Journal of Borderlands Studies, 36(4), 675–693.
Doing belonging: Meanings of home and settlement among the Karen Community in Brisbane, Australia.
Bird, Jessica, Cox, Leonie, & Brough, Mark (2016)
Journal of Social Inclusion, 7(1), pp. 72-84.
Transnationalism and the Karen wrist-tying ceremony: An ethnographic account of Karen settlement practice in Brisbane.
Bird, Jessica, Brough, Mark, & Cox, Leonie (2016)
The Australian Journal of Anthropology, 27(1), pp. 104-120.
Podcasts
Pacific Change Makers: Cathy Neap on the Australia–PNG relationship
Cathy Neap, Country Manager for the National Rugby League in Papua New Guinea, speaks with Dr Jessica Collins, Project Director of the Australia–Papua New Guinea Network. Cathy shares her experience as a change maker — what drives her, the challenges she faced, and how she views the Australia–PNG relationship. Reflecting on PNG’s half-century of independence this year, Cathy also shares her vision of what the next 50 years might look like in terms of development and women.
4th of March 2024
Development Futures: 2024 Pacific Aid Map: Key Findings
Each year, the Lowy Institute updates is Pacific Aid Map – the most comprehensive database tracking aid and development flows to the Pacific Islands region ever assembled. In this episode of Development Futures, lead authors Alexandre Dayant and Riley Duke join Dr Jessica Collins to unpack the key insights from this year’s report and explore key questions. How is the international community supporting the Pacific as it recovers from the pandemic? What role is China playing in the region? And how is geopolitics shaping the allocation of development finance? These questions and more are explored in this episode.
27 November 2024
Pacific Change Makers: NZ High Commissioner Dame Annette King on the Pacific, geopolitical competition, and her time serving in Australia
In this episode of Pacific Change Makers, Research Fellow of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program Dr Jess Collins speaks with Dame Annette King about her role as New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Australia.
16 January 2024
Pacific Change Makers – Vanuatu MP Gloria Julia King on women, sport, and politics
Former national football player and Vanuatu MP Gloria Julia King tells Dr Jessica Collins that while barriers still exist for women in politics, sport is
24 August 2024
Aus-PNG Network: Women in politics in PNG – Dame Carol Kidu
This is a special Women in Politics series for the Australia-PNG Network, in which the Lowy Institute’s Jessica Collins sits down with prominent women from Papua New Guinea (PNG) to discuss the deep-seated challenge of women’s political representation in PNG.
7 June 2022
Aus-PNG Network: Women in politics in PNG – Tania Bale
In this fourth episode of the series, Jessica speaks with Tania Bale, an urban candidate seeking election to PNG’s National Parliament. Tania shares her views on the challenges of standing for election, including the difficulties of campaigning in rural settings and how “obscene” amounts of money is spent in cash handouts to gain voters’ support.
20 May 2022
Aus-PNG Network: Podcast series – Women in politics in PNG
In this special Women in Politics series for the Australia-PNG Network, the Lowy Institute’s Jessica Collins sits down with prominent women from Papua New Guinea to discuss the deep-seated challenge of women’s political representation in Papua New Guinea in the lead-up to its national election in 2022.
6 May 2022
Aus-PNG Network: Women in politics in PNG – Damarise Bonga
In the third conversation as part of a series on women in politics in Papua New Guinea, Jessica Collins speaks with Damarise Bonga, a female candidate in the upcoming 2022 national election. Damarise shares her experience of running unsuccessfully in a prior election, and talks about the broader challenges for women trying to represent their communities in parliament.
6 May 2022
Aus-PNG Network: Women in politics in PNG – Vagi Hemetsberger
In this special Women in Politics series for the Australia-PNG Network, the Lowy Institute’s Jessica Collins sits down with prominent women from Papua New Guinea to discuss the deep-seated challenge of women’s political representation in Papua New Guinea in the lead-up to its national election.
21 April 2022
Aus-PNG Network: Women in politics in PNG – Theresa Meki
In this special Women in Politics series for the Australia-PNG Network, the Lowy Institute’s Jessica Collins sits down with prominent women from Papua New Guinea to discuss the deep-seated challenge of women’s political representation in Papua New Guinea in the lead-up to its national election.
8 April 2022
Lowy Institute, The Interpreter
Votes of no confidence at a time of permanent contest: A Pacific Islands year in review
With so much global attention on the region, little shifts can have big ramifications.
18 December 2024
New treaty ties Nauru to Australia via banks, security and telecommunications
But the “permanent state of contest” in the Pacific appears set to continue.
10 December 2024
Australia’s banking on the Pacific
Making money in the region is not easy. But links to international finance are essential.
29 November 2024
Reducing the role of cash in Pacific Island economies
From QR codes to mobile wallets, innovative tech solutions can help the region transition its financial ecosystem.
20 September 2024
Australia’s superannuation rules leave Pacific workers out of pocket
The government must reconsider its tax on the Pacific’s poorest.
3 May 2024
Western banks are vacating the Pacific, and Nauru is turning to China
Financial risks are causing Western banks to flee the region, leaving a void for China to fill.
15 April 2024
Tongan attitudes to the world
A new poll reveals how the Pacific archipelago views US, Chinese and Australian influence.
14 Mar 2024
State of play for Pacific women in 2024
When the playing field is levelled, the dividends are doubled, both in politics and sport.
8 Mar 2024
China and Taiwan are big Pacific donors – but not for gender equality
More clarity on the flows of funds would help to assign what little credit is due.
24 Nov 2023
Does Australia’s walk match its talk about helping Pacific women advance?
Big dollars are one thing, meaningful outcomes another.
22 Nov 2023
Pacific Aid Map: Big data gaps are skewing the story about women
Better reporting is needed to properly understand which projects are targeting gender issues in the region.
20 Nov 2023
The Fix: Talking about the Pacific
An Interpreter weekly feature about issues, resources or helpful distractions that might otherwise be missed.
30 Aug 2023
What does the new International Development Policy mean for the Pacific?
Australia has outlined its case for being the preferred regional partner, but the Pacific needs less talk and more action.
14 Aug 2023
Women belong everywhere and this World Cup proves football can be the great equaliser
Respect for female athletes “tearing it up on the pitch” must translate into respect off the field, too.
4 Aug 2023
Lowy Poll 2023: Australians still jittery about China in the Pacific
Just like Pacific nations themselves, the public are waiting to see pledges by new government translated into outcomes.
22 Jun 2023
Seeking independence: three books to read this summer
From Timorese history and Bougainville’s dreams to Australia’s regional stories, catch up on essential background.
21 Dec 2022
Will the new US Congress still pay for its Pacific promises?
The Biden administration has staked $810 million on a regional strategy and now must ensure bipartisan support.
21 Nov 2022
The Global Fragility Act in PNG: can the US succeed?
A seemingly radical approach that relies on prevention and relinquishing control may be a foreign policy game-changer.
11 Oct 2022
What happened at the Pacific Islands Forum
A historic hugs and dialling-down regional rivalries. How a week of Pacific diplomacy unfolded.
27 Jul 2022
Pacific Islands Forum meeting: the black cloud returns
A continued dispute over the Secretary General position has challenged unity of the Pacific family.
26 Jul 2022
What Australians fear with China pressing in the Pacific
Concern about a growing regional influence can be offset by faith in other actors to do the right thing.
30 Jun 2022
Gender equality in the Pacific: less talk and more action
Pacific women leaders are driving for change, and economic empowerment is key.
27 Jun 2022
An Australia-America-Pacific partnership – for and with the region
Support through consensus and the shared Pacific value system will ensure island nations get what they need most.
27 Jun 2022
Labor’s Pacific plan: ticking the economic box
Tightening up on fees charged for remittances will ensure millions of dollars get to households across the region.
27 May 2022
Changing our view of Pacific visas
Australia’s claims to be part of the “Pacific family” would be helped by more migration options – especially for women.
29 Mar 2022
Australia was quick to sanction Moscow. Why not Myanmar?
It was right to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But that’s different to military aggression much closer to home.
28 Feb 2022
A few remarkable wins for Pacific women in local politics
But what is far too often the exception should become the norm.
18 Feb 2022
Will Australia use its amended sanctions act against Myanmar?
Coordinated international pressure on the coup leaders is urgently needed to stave off a growing humanitarian crisis.
10 Feb 2022
The fallout from Tonga’s volcano goes deeper than the ashes
Local women are especially vulnerable following a disaster that compounds the challenges of the pandemic.
8 Feb 2022
Bang for buck: Getting the most out of Pacific Islander remittances
Cash sent by family abroad is essential for local economies but doesn’t come cheap.
18 Jan 2022