An Australian think tank warns the Pacific is facing a looming economic, social and political crisis unless something is done fast to create jobs.
Sydney's Centre for Independent Studies says it's only a matter of time before the growing army of unemployed and underemployed turns from restless to violent.
The report titled The Bipolar Pacific says the region is divided into two groups: countries that are developing and have reasonable levels of education and health and those that are failing.
It is part of a soon to be published book Aid Has Failed the Pacific by researchers Helen Hughes and Gaurav Sodhi.
They name countries like Cook Islands, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Samoa and Tonga as developing while Fiji, PNG, the Solomons and Vanuatu as failing and lacking even basics like running water and electricity in family homes.
The researchers are critical of aid money, saying it hasn't shown results, and question development ideas like the seasonal employer scheme adopted by New Zealand and now Australia.
They say even high guest worker numbers of up to 50,000 a year for Australia and 25,000 for New Zealand won't won't make much difference to the employment problems of Papua New Guinea, Fiji and the Solomon Islands.
