PETER KRANZ

WELL Rose and I watched two most magnificent Melanesian films last year and both brought us to tears, so I reckon it's time for a short review.

The first was Mr Pip (yes, it came out three years ago but better late than never) starring Hugh Laurie and Bougainville actors Eka Darville, Xzannjah Matsi and Healesville Joel.

It is based on the novel by New Zealand writer Lloyd Jones and is set in Bougainville during the civil war in the 1990s. The film is marvellously shot and acted and the music is by Tim Finn of the band Crowded House.

Its underlying theme is the power of writing to empower and influence people, in this case Charles Dicken’s novel Great Expectations. This is a theme familiar to many PNG Attitude readers. However, in Mr Pip, the inability of some people to distinguish between fiction and reality leads to bloody and violent consequences.

The film is moving and uplifting but has a too much overt violence for our tastes. Nevertheless it is well worth watching.

The story tells of Mr Watts, the last Englishman remaining in a tropical village in Bougainville during the war. He begins to teach the local children by reading them Great Expectations. Matilda, an imaginative young girl (played by newcomer Xzannjah), is transported into the story of the novel, believing that Dickens' character Pip is her friend.

Matilda's "Pip" world is an extraordinary fusion of Dickens' Victorian London with the environment and people she knows on the island. This wildly imaginative hybrid place is set alongside the film's unflinching portrayal of the horrors of war.

Matilda's passion for storytelling brings terror to the village when Pip's identity is misunderstood by the invading army. Ultimately, her courage and imagination must sustain her if she is to survive.

The second film to grab our imagination, and I think the better of the two, is Tanna, the first feature film to be shot entirely on location in Vanuatu and featuring exclusively Vanuatuan actors. It is based on local tribal stories and most of the cast played their own roles in the film.

"The chief played the chief, the medicine man played the medicine man, the warriors played the warriors," stated the film's cultural director, Jimmy Joseph Nako. The film is shot in the Navhal and Nafe languages with English subtitles.

It is basically a Melanesian Romeo and Juliet story with a background of tribal fighting, ancient superstitions and star-crossed lovers who fall foul of the conflict.

Tanna is one of the best films I have seen in a long time, and unlike Mr Pip, ends on a note of reconciliation as the deaths of the two young lovers lead the tribes to recognise that violence and payback are a dead-end that will destroy their futures.

Both films won awards, but have not been widely released. With the help of a library and the internet I'm sure you can find a means to see them. Both films are highly recommended and perhaps this is a foretaste of a Melanesian film renaissance.

BOB CLELAND

“JULIE, have you got a curved needle and some strong thread?” I asked.

“I think so, I’ll look. Why do you want it?”

“Because I want to sew up a DC3.”

“Oh…. You want to do what?”

While Julie rummaged in her sewing kit, I quickly told her the story.

“There. Will that do?” I wasn’t surprised that she found a needle, living on an outstation, Julie had just about everything associated with sewing.

It was 1959 and Julie and I lived in Balimo, a remote government post about 500 kilometres west of Port Moresby.

“Yes, that looks okay,” I replied. “You’d better come with me right now, we need to hurry.”

I drove the 10 minutes to the airstrip on our only mechanised transport, the Ferguson tractor.

Julie, clutching the curved needle and a reel of strong linen thread, struggled to keep her seat on the floor of the bouncing trailer behind me. On the way, we stopped briefly at the hospital and ‘borrowed’ a reel of four-inch wide sticking plaster.

Earlier in the day, just after the DC3 aircraft landed on its weekly visit, the station tractor was driven under a wing and pulled up beside the door to unload mail, freezer and other cargo.

But the driver hadn’t allowed for a tall stick, which was pointing upright in a slot in the trailer’s tailgate. A labourer had used on an earlier trip to steady himself as the trailer bounced its way from Balimo station to the airstrip.

That stick was just a bit too long. As the trailer passed under the wing, it caught the fabric of the aileron (the wing’s only non-metal surface), leaving a very neat ten-inch, t-shaped rip in the material.

The aircraft couldn’t be flown with a tear like that as the rushing air may have stripped all the fabric from the control surface. The DC3 crew gloomily considered the prospect of being stranded in Balimo until a technician could be flown from Port Moresby – a two-and-a-half hour flight. Someone said jokingly, “Can’t we just sew it up?”

I took the cue.

When Julie and I arrived with the DC3 repair kit, the crew’s mood changed from gloom to optimism.

Between us, we managed a multi-stitched and knotted repair that would have drawn admiration from a surgeon.

Several strips of sticking plaster locked it together and would help smooth the airflow. Both pilots were satisfied.

They had the plane emptied of all cargo, taxied to the runway and took off for a test flight. A slow low-level fly-over enabled us to see that everything was OK so far.

A bit more altitude and some severe zig-zagging, and again the aileron looked OK.

They seemed to use the test as an excuse to throw that DC3 around as if it were a Tiger Moth. We had our own private air show, and very entertaining it was too.

By now a crowd of about 20 people had gathered as the test culminated in a low, full throttle, wheels-up pass straight at us, with a steep pull up over our heads.

The DC3 landed and we could see the repair hadn’t moved at all. The crew were happy, the plane was reloaded and took off for Port Moresby.

I sometimes wonder how much the Department of Civil Aviation was told of that incident.

TANYA ZERIGA-ALONE

THE author of ‘Let the C word Run Free: Desperately Seeking Collaboration’ has now made the C word come to life.

Much collaboration has now culminated in this anthology – a first for all the women of Papua New Guinea.

Rashmii Amoah Bell, a well read and articulate essayist, is the esteemed editor of this new body of work. Copies of the essays she has written can be seen on the PNG Attitude blog.

In all of her well-articulated and sometimes satirical essays, the one thing that comes out most often is her patriotism and heart for her country – Papua New Guinea.

It was in 2015 that her essay on the C word was penned. One year later this book was born.

This anthology, entitled My Walk to Equality, is a book inspired by Goal 10 of the United Nations sustainable development goals. World leaders got together in the year 2000 to make the Millennium Declaration. At the same time there was commitment to promote an equal and just world.

Goal 10 is about ending inequalities around the globe. The world has seen success on some fronts, but progress is slow on others. In PNG, one of the most observed inequalities is the status of women in the community. 

At this time when the developed nations of the world are increasingly pushing for gender neutrality, the women of Papua New Guinea are emerging from under a masculine society – a system born from a harsh environment where women can only find safety with their male relatives.

The women in PNG are starting to find their voice and slowly extending their domains in their society.

This anthology captures candid realities facing the women of PNG; their struggles, their fears, their dilemmas and their questions with regard to their emerging sense of self.  This book is a compilation of such stories on this walk toward greater integration in society.

The book is important because it is a work by Papua New Guinea women writers who are not afraid to put their experiences down as a reference for the future. Women from all walks of life are given the space to share their life stories.

In the reading of this book, both women and men are invited to participate in the experiences with the hope that this insight will help society bring back the balance the way nature intended men and women to be. 

The contributors to the anthology are doubly special. The women of this generation (which is also my generation) are indeed the last keepers of the ways of their fathers. Most of us were born just before independence or shortly thereafter and therefore lack the oppressive memories of colonialism.

This group of women is not yet too immersed in the glamour of the west to shun our roots. We have inherited our culture from our parents at a time when change is happening very fast. Our daughters and children will not have an understanding of their culture like we do. And the generations thereafter will eventually lose that knowledge. They will become citizens of the world. It is our duty to document some of our life story for posterity.

The challenge for the Papua New Guinean woman today is in effectively telling her story.  This is where it is a bonus for Papua New Guinea to have women like Rashmii, who has a keen feel for words and can articulate them so they can be understood by those who need to hear the story.

Through her pen and her words, Rashmii has become a spokeswoman for the sisterhood in Papua New Guinea. 

Rashmii has articulated sentiments which indigenous Papua New Guinean women have had a hard time expressing, and she is understood because she speaks in the language of Keith Jackson, Phil Fitzpatrick. Ed Brumby, Barbara Short, Paul Oates and all those people whose physical body may be elsewhere but their hearts are in Papua New Guinea.

Rashmii contributes the women’s voice to the already notable work of other Papua New Guineans like Michael Dom, Martyn Namorong, Daniel Kumbon, Mathias Kin, Francis Nii and Gary Juffa, to name a few.

There are also women writers, both established and emerging. Take time to read the anthology and get to know them.  These women must be supported as active contributors and influencers in the process of social change.

Though I have never met Rashmii in person, through our passion for writing and social justice I feel that we are kindred spirits, like so many other people the PNG Attitude blog has brought together - virtually.

PNG Attitude has served as a forum for validating concerns raised by Papua New Guineans, whose voices may otherwise float into oblivion without being examined. 

I am honoured to write this foreword to the anthology because I believe in the message it has for Papua New Guinea and the world. 

Women’s issues are close to my heart, after all I am a Papua New Guinean woman living through the challenges.  I am a culmination of all the women who have existed before me. And I have sisters and nieces and girl children who will walk through this same environment. 

Like Rashmii, I am just a spokesperson for my country. Through my writing on my blog and elsewhere, I hope to make some sense of the challenges faced in Papua New Guinea.

In conclusion, I wish for the C word to be embraced more by both men and women; only then will we see progress in our programs, projects and initiatives because many eyes and many minds and many ideas will result in comprehensive outputs.

Collaboration, therefore, is the answer to finding solutions to our problems including women’s issues.  Let the spirit of collaboration run free among us.

A respected writer and commentator, Tanya Zeriga-Alone was born in Kainantu in the Eastern Highlands Province and is the lead researcher with the Port Moresby-based Menggeyao Morobe Consultancy. Tanya graduated from the Australian National University in environmental science and has worked extensively in that field as an academic and researcher

PAUL AMATIO

I’VE been wondering about a few things that appear to be odd, and have reached the frightening conclusion that the 2017 national election is being deliberately set up to fail.

If I am right, then God save our Papua New Guinea.

Consider our present state of affairs. The PNG economy is on the brink of failure. The Central Bank has been printing money for some time now and public debt is around twice the national budget.

Critical information is being withheld, denying people truthful, accurate and much needed facts upon which to make reliable decisions.

Key economic and service delivery infrastructure has not been upgraded or maintained. For reasons of political expediency, funding has been diverted to areas that don’t need it: like building four-lane highways in the national capital (for one percent of the population) while the Okuk Highway, Bulolo Highway and others crumble.

The ‘free education’ policy has proven unsustainable and ineffective. Our children are now less educated. The ‘free health care’ policy has also proven unsustainable - it too is a political gimmick. More people are dying from preventable diseases.

Law enforcement and security agencies have been systematically degraded leaving only shadows of their former selves.

The funding of (loyal government aligned) politicians has never once been cut or delayed while critical services languish.

The mainstream news media has been effectively gagged and reduced to the level of a government propaganda machine.

Michael Somare’s illegal removal as prime minister by Peter O’Neill and others five years ago was quickly recognised by Australia despite a PNG supreme court ruling. Was this because Grand Chief Somare was vehemently against the Manus asylum seeker  facility?

Never forget PNG, that without Australian government support, the O’Neill government would have died in early 2012.

At the 2012 elections, we had several electorates where the polling was deemed to have failed and was declared as such. By law, by-elections should have been held. This did not happen.

Our elections are guaranteed by the Constitution. In my view, what occurred in 2012 was a flagrant breach of our Constitution.

The key government agencies that have a role to play in the forthcoming election have been massively underfunded. The Electoral Commission’s estimates based on past elections have been ignored. The same goes for the police and other security agencies. The resources needed to conduct free and fair elections are insufficient.

Given the massive number of weapons in PNG, attempts to apprehend elements who may be instrumental in provoking disruptions to a peaceful election seem doomed to fail. I don’t blame the police; they can only do so much with the little they have.

If the elections fail, the State will delay appeals until the next elections (there are still cases related to the last election in the courts today). Dissatisfaction or unrest can be quelled using the security forces to put down acts of “lawlessness”.

We all know this government has a track record of ignoring or circumventing laws that do not favour it. I feel it is highly probable that this year’s election has been deliberately planned to fail so current members of parliament can be returned legally unopposed.

I also believe that voting will be terminated at any polling booth where there is the slightest hint of trouble.

So what can we do to avert such a situation?

We must start now, this very minute, to educate every single person.

At the same time, there must be no violence or disorder of any sort at polling booths.

The people of every community must collectively act to enforce their rights to freely, safely and fairly elect the person to represent them on the floor of parliament and in the council chambers.

The community must collaboratively take charge of enforcing the electoral laws at their local polling booths.

The community must take the initiative and collectively support their local security personnel to quickly suppress acts that could impact upon polling.

After polling, the people must collectively escort ballot boxes to the designated storage points before counting.

The community must collectively provide additional security for ballot boxes until counting is completed.

Ensure that no block voting is allowed in your area.

All candidates, as true leaders, must agree to the above conditions – win or lose.

These steps will ensure that the elections do not fail and the person elected is truly the choice of the majority of the people in the electorate.

I hope my analysis is wrong. But let us not take chances as we know who and what we are up against.

God bless you all and God bless Papua New Guinea.

PHIL FITZPATRICK

SEVERAL years ago a few of the pundits on PNG Attitude toyed with the idea of compiling a dossier of corrupt politicians in Papua New Guinea and invited readers to contribute.

The general idea was to provide information for voters in the elections that were then due.

Even though anonymity was offered the response was disappointing.

All those readers and commentators who had railed against the state of politics in Papua New Guinea suddenly went silent, even the anonymous and the vitriolic shut up.

This said a lot about Papua New Guinean politics.

Firstly, it was apparent that a feeling of fear was pervasive, either from potential litigation or, more alarmingly, the possibility of physical retribution.

Secondly, it demonstrated that, despite what they said, the voters of Papua New Guinea lacked conviction and were not prepared to stand up for their rights.

It will be interesting to see whether these attitudes still hold sway in 2017. I suspect they will.

Collecting dirt on politicians in Papua New Guinea is relatively easy, they are not the brightest peas in the pod when it comes to covering up their nefarious activities.

In many cases they actually parade their venality. It is a useful rule of thumb that any politician with a thick neck and grossly distended belly driving a big black Land Cruiser is probably corrupt.

This point is subjective but points to another problem in identifying corrupt politicians who should not be re-elected.

This problem relates to the state of public commentary in Papua New Guinea, particularly on social media. Bar a few notable exceptions, social media cannot be trusted to be accurate let alone unbiased.

Its sources thrive on gossip and innuendo rather than serious investigative endeavour. Papua New Guinea invented ‘fake news’ long before it became mainstream during the US elections.

While social media can be reckless, mainstream media, print and electronic, can be accused of laziness. They publish government and other press releases verbatim with no questions asked.

There are a few smart politicians who are good at hiding their corrupt activities. This has become apparent recently in Australia where hitherto highly regarded politicians have been exposed with their noses in the trough alongside their less sharp mates.

There is every reason to suspect that this is the case in Papua New Guinea too.

Who then to trust? Who should you support in the 2017 elections? Should you be doing what we are doing in Australia and electing some of the crazies from the fringes?

It is a difficult call, but there are a few pointers.

The first is fairly obvious. Anyone in the current O’Neill-Dion government should indisputably left out.

They may not be taking kickbacks or bribes or selling their people’s future from under them but by supporting a government that is patently corrupt, dishonest, uncaring and inept they are demonstrating a low level of integrity.

Re-electing them again is simply inviting more of the same and is too big a risk. It is also stupid.

But you also have to be careful of those on the opposition benches too. Just because they oppose the government doesn’t mean they are squeaky clean. Some of them are just biding their time for a bigger slice of the cake.

If there is even a hint of wrong-doing and compromise in their past, they too are risky propositions.

On current assessments and taking the above into account, it would seem that the whole swamp will need draining. The best parliament in Papua New Guinea after 2017 might just comprise half a dozen members.

Papua New Guinea has a reputation for dumping a large proportion of its serving members of parliament at each election, around one-half. It is a kind of aberration of the Einstein theory of lunacy, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result each time.

This time around it would be nice to see 98% of them dumped and a completely new lot, wisely chosen, installed.

But we’re not holding our breath.

In a way I’m glad that our early idea for a name and shame dossier didn’t eventuate. There is no way we would have been able to find a dossier big enough. As for sweeping up the dirt, they don’t make wheelbarrows that big either.

KEITH JACKSON

I HAVE never met Bronte Moules who is our (that is Australia’s) deputy high commissioner in Papua New Guinea – an important post in the PNG-Australia relationship.

But if I ever do meet her – and I hope to on a forthcoming visit to PNG – I think I’ll like her. I’ve found Bronte positive, helpful and a person who clearly has Papua New Guinean interests at heart.

Last October, Bronte was also expressing encouragement about what was the forthcoming publication of Rashmii Amoah Bell’s landmark collection of PNG women’s writing, My Walk to Equality, much mentioned in these columns of late.

“This sounds like a great initiative,” Bronte wrote to me in an email. “It’s something that we’d be interested, in principle, in supporting in some way.”

We, in this case, being the Australian High Commission.

Bronte added the mandatory rider in all these exchanges that “the challenge as always is for us to identify a suitable possible funding option.

“We’re not able to provide any guarantees at this stage, but we are looking into possible options.”

Fair enough, that’s as good as it gets at these early stages of seeking to source funds even for knock-down good ideas like this one.

Knock-down good because ‘My Walk to Equality’ is a project that strongly pitches both Australian policy and that of the United Nations.

Australia claims “a steadfast and ongoing commitment to be at the forefront of efforts to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.”

While the UN reckons that the “promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women is central to the mandate of UNDP and intrinsic to its development approach.”

So it’s pretty clear that the first ever collection of PNG women’s writing, in which the authors were asked to address these high-minded global ideals in the PNG context, was targeting the right goals.

There were a lot of challenges for Rashmii, Phil Fitzpatrick and me in getting this book published – but the biggest of all was raising funds so it could be printed and distributed in sufficient quantity create some impact.

I put it to Roy Trivedy, the UNDP’s head honcho in PNG, that, given his organisation’s fine words on the matter, he might come to the party. But no.

“Unfortunately we are not able to assist as it is the last quarter of our financial year,” quoth Roy. “Really sorry.”

And when I tweeted, “A surprise tonight. @UNDP unable to assist distribute first ever book of women's writing from #PNG on theme of women's equality. Stunned!”, Roy rejoindered, “That's inaccurate. We are happy 2 distribute but not able 2 fund publication.”

But you can’t distribute a hard copy book no one can afford to print. So that brought an end to that little exchange.

Meanwhile, back at the High Commission, the Australians were being more positive and asked me to submit a detailed proposal for funding.

Three days later Bronte got my five page submission including information on audience and partners, how we would obtain contributions from writers, publisher, distribution plan, project team, promotional strategy and a full project budget for a targeted 2,000 copies to be distributed free of charge throughout PNG.

That’s about $40,000 worth of books.

“A full funding proposal covering these elements will help us work out whether the project is something we could support through our funding mechanisms,” said Bronte.

Late in November, I heard from Bronte again, this time sounding more hesitant: “We’ve been looking thoroughly into possible funding options and unfortunately the most obvious options did not prove viable.... However we have one more option we could explore.”

By early December a discussion with me on “potential options” was sought – the organisation, UN Women, was mentioned - and a bit later a conversation ensued which made it sound like the project was back on track.

But since then three things have happened -  silence, Christmas and more silence.

Meanwhile other discussions with a private foundation have gone nowhere and the book has been published but there are no funds to print it and get it to the Papua New Guinean readers who would most benefit from its wisdom.

Our own fund-raising has been sufficient to print 100 copies which will mainly feature at the book launches, which we are also funding, in Port Moresby and Brisbane to market the book and recognise the writers.

So we are left with a “great initiative” which, as of today, seems to have no place to go.

Of course, if you’re in a position to buy the book, you can order it online at Amazon. Just follow this link via Pukpuk Publications which will see royalties ploughed back into PNG writing. 

Some organisations have said they’ll purchase multiple copies and distribute them amongst their employees and contacts, which is a terrific idea. Perhaps your organisation could do the same.

Meanwhile, we remain hopeful that a major funder will appear from the many organisations we’ve been in touch with and that My Walk to Equality will set out on that long march to places where it may do some good.

PETER S KINJAP

A MAJOR form of corruption in Papua New Guinea is the abuse or misuse of public funds for personal gain.

PNG will minimise corruption only when we have political leaders and officials in key positions who do not misdirect public money – the people’s money - for their own benefit.

The decision to say no to such abuse can be quite tough. It needs heart, character, vision and a passion to stand tall amongst other lesser people. Leaders who have these values live their beliefs and they can make a difference.

The great South African leader Nelson Mandela physically suffered to serve his people. Mahatma Gandhi made decisions of public interest that disadvantaged his personal life. Both men fought against heavy odds to serve their people.

PNG's corruption syndrome is destroying this beautiful country. To save PNG from complete destruction, we need leaders who have heart, character, vision and passion.

In modern PNG politics, Gary Juffa's call for the people to "take back PNG" and the actions that back up this call show that he has what it takes to fight corruption and stand against the current wave of dishonesty that is rooted in our government system.

There are too few PNG leaders who fall into this category.

National leadership should not be about money, how much a politician has and how it will be spent in the elections.

It should not be about where a politician comes from, what family, what tribe, what background.

These are not the criteria by which we should measure our politicians. Let’s instead consider heart, character, vision and a passion to serve and build a desirable PNG.

If we agree that PNG needs change, we need to look outside the box. We need to change the approach of money-oriented election campaigns.

And if we cannot find an individual amongst the list of candidates for 2017, then we must muster the strength to keep hunting.

KEITH JACKSON

PAPUA New Guinea’s deputy opposition leader Sam Basil has said he is “gravely concerned” at government action to delay and change conditions around this year’s national elections due in May.

Mr Basil has also questioned the role of electoral commissioner Patilus Gamato in independently overseeing the success of the elections.

“Mr Gamato must be able to explain his advice to the National Executive Council that provided the inspiration for these major proposed changes to election laws,” he said.

“The changes will have the effect of excluding many viable intending candidates interested in contesting the limited number of provincial and open seats in parliament.

“Unless a future parliament has the numbers to reverse such limiting provisions, PNG can no longer call itself a vibrant democracy.”

Mr Basil said PNG’s electoral calendar must not be politically engineered to undermine the constitutional guarantee of free and fair general elections.

He cautioned citizens to be wary of the proposed amendments to election laws that will have the effect of influencing the rights and choices of voters and the outcome of the elections.

Mr Basil is strongly urging Papua New Guineans to get involved and understand the importance of parliamentary processes.

“Parliament is the arm of government that enacts the laws that the people must live with, therefore we must all ensure that all MPs are voting to support laws for the greater good,” he said.

Mr Basil told reporters that the majority of government MPs have been given ‘sweeteners’ to vote for the passage of bills that they don’t understand or care about.

“Those government MPs are only interested in their own cut of already depleted public funds and not the broader implications of the laws they vote to enact and amend,” he said.

“I want to say that the rampant abuse and mismanagement of public funds by the O’Neill-Dion government has had the effect of bankrupting PNG.

“Therefore, we can see the impact of this shameful negligence now on our constitutional offices, government departments and agencies that are failing to carry out their lawful duties.

“The main problem is the O’Neill government has recklessly spent public funds that should have been managed and allocated to cater for the State’s operations and expenses.

“Instead, the O’Neill regime has paid for their own excessive lifestyles first before worrying about the development and future of our great nation.”

PHIL FITZPATRICK

VERY many years ago I came under the spell of James A Michener, Louis Becke, Frederick O’Brien, James Norman Hall, Robert Dean Frisbie, Beatrice Grimshaw and other wonderful sojourners in the South Pacific.

And I have been fortunate enough to indulge my passion for the delightful backwaters of those myriad islands scattered diagonally across the unending ocean east of Australia and Papua New Guinea.

I am, in short, a sucker for swaying palm trees, white sandy beaches, warm tropical breezes and languid lifestyles.

I have two favourite places in the South Pacific. The first is the Cook Islands, which are sprinkled north of the Tropic of Capricorn and the main island of Rarotonga.

There are magical places among those isolated atolls untouched by the modern world and, unlike their near neighbour, Tahiti, unpolluted by crass tourism and commercialism.

The second is the Western and Admiralty Islands, lying just south of the Equator and north of New Guinea, making up the Papua New Guinean province of Manus.

Whereas the Cook Islands are wholly Polynesian, the Western Islands are Polynesian and the Admiralty Islands are Melanesian.

However, unlike the Cook Islands, the Admiralty and Western Islands are far from unspoilt.

I was sitting on Manus on a shady patch of grass hard up against a tiny, sheltered beach drinking a cool beer served up from a small, thatched bar by an 11 year old girl, her nine year old brother and his black and white spotted dog, when a huge sailfish launched itself out of the water and flew past at what appeared to be touching distance.

I can’t think of anywhere else where that might happen.

And then along came Australia, in collusion with a greedy Papua New Guinean prime minister, and set about destroying the place.

They flew in hundreds of desperate asylum seekers and great numbers of thuggish jailers, police and clueless bureaucrats and changed that beautiful island forever.

Manus has gone from beautiful Pacific island to gulag status in less than four years. Its delightful, easy-going people have been irrevocably changed and may never recover.

Their traditional values, social cohesion and innate friendliness and openness have been effectively trashed.

My little bartender lost his spotted dog in the first year. It was hit by a speeding carload of drunken policemen and tossed nonchalantly onto the grass verge beside the thatched bar for the boy to find in the morning on his way to school.

That incident pretty much sums up Australia’s attitude to Manus. It is considered expendable and far enough away to avoid close scrutiny.

It was the same attitude the Americans had when they removed the people from Bikini Atoll so they could test their atom bombs there.

I do not comprehend how those politicians who planned the destruction of Manus, and now perpetuate the atrocity, sleep at night.

What James A Michener, Frederick O’Brien and all those other suntanned lingerers on tropic shores would say if they were still alive is probably unprintable.

RASHMII AMOAH BELL

10 January: My Walk to Equality, the first-ever collection of writing by Papua New Guinean women, is released on Amazon in Kindle edition.

13 January: My Walk to Equality, the first-ever collection of writing by Papua New Guinean women, is released on Amazon in paperback edition.

17 January: #LetUsWalk Twitter hashtag adopted to point to the need to get My Walk To Equality printed and distributed to as many readers as possible.

THE voluntary collaboration of Philip Fitzpatrick (Pukpuk Publications), Keith Jackson (PNG Attitude) and 45 PNG women writers has accomplished what no other has literary endeavour in Papua New Guinea has managed in 41 years of nationhood.

That the book publication was achieved in three months is remarkable in itself. But that the entire process was undertaken without a prominent benefactor is demonstration of the commitment of the writers and administration team of My Walk to Equality.

It must be highlighted that not one of the 45 writers has benefited financially for their contributions. All original writing has been donated in the cause of developing and adding to indigenous literature in Papua New Guinea.

My Walk to Equality is a milestone publication for PNG writing, particularly for Papua New Guinean women.

So I have something to say to social commentator Amanda Donigi, who likened Keith Jackson’s article yesterday to a “childish tantrum” and “very high school”, and to any others expressing similar objections.

I can understand Keith’s frustration, which reflects my own experience in dealing with individuals in PNG-based organisations who purport to address the national agenda to advance women’s rights. Allegedly.

On this matter, I shall restrain from further comment. For now.

The fact remains that My Walk to Equality exists and epitomises Papua New Guinean women as individuals with self-will, tenacity, resourcefulness and the motivation to encourage positive social change within PNG.

On that note, I want to invite the PNG Attitude community of writers, readers and supporters of Papua New Guinea to congratulate these individuals who have been pivotal in the evolution of My Walk to Equality:

Publisher: Pukpuk Publications

Project Team:  Philip Fitzpatrick, Keith Jackson and Rashmii Bell  

Cover Design: Tania Basiou 

Foreword: Tanya Zeriga-Alone and Elvina Ogil

Writers: Tanya Zeriga-Alone, Elvina Ogil  Lapieh Landu, Marlene Potorua, Dominica Are, Regina Dorum, Professor Betty Lovai, Florence Castro-Salle, Doloose Wo’otong, Samantha Kusari, Florence Jonduo, Stacey Tarua, Alphone Huvi, Betty Chapau, Roxanne Aila, Vanessa Gordon, Roslyn Tony, Julie Mota Kondi, Florence Castro-Salle, Alythea Siraba, Rose Kranz, Theresa Meki, Matilda Kond, Betty Wakia, Joyce Onguglo, Iriani Wanma, Dhyane Kendo, Tania Basiou, Martinez Wasuak, Caroline Evari, Madeline Ruga, Wendy Jerome, Genevieve (Gen) Hobden, Loretta Bele Kuwalu, Madlyn Baida, Emma Wakpi, Helen Anderson, Leila Parina, Leiao Gerega, Alurigo (Alu) Ravuriso-Kali, Vinzealhar Nen, Wavie Kendino, Watna Mori, Diddie Kinamun Jackson.

As the editor, I am honoured to have spent this time voluntarily working towards establishing and developing rapport with the women writers, reading their personal stories, being exposed to a rich tapestry of writing techniques, and developing technical editing skills under the mentorship of Philip Fitzpatrick and Keith Jackson.

Thank you all for granting me this incredible opportunity.

Thank you to the PNG Attitude community of readers and writers, and those who support PNG-authored literature for PNG.  

Thank you to Ms Jo Holman and Paga Hill Development Company whose financial support facilitated the printing and distribution costs of the first consignment of the paperback edition and will fund the launch of the book in Port Moresby and Brisbane.

I look forward to launch day, International Women’s Day on 8 March, continuing the process  of facilitating the distribution of My Walk to Equality throughout all regions of Papua New Guinea, and providing more updates in the near future.

We did it!

#LetUsWalk

PETER S KINJAP

THE O'Neill-Dion Government has secured a loan amounting to K6 billion from Exim Bank of China to fix the Okuk Highlands Highway.

This great highway is a lifeline for much of the economy of Papua New Guinea. It serves provinces that contribute massively to the country.

Just a few days ago, we learned that the Wandi section of the deteriorating highway in Simbu Province had been fixed by businessman Jacob Luke of Mapai Transport Ltd.

If he had not acted, the road would have become almost impassable, like in this photo of another section of the highlands highway.

Heavy trucks struggle to get through PNG’s major arterial route which is getting worse each day.

There are some serious questions the people of Papua New Guinea need to ask the government.

Why it did not act quickly to resolve the Wandi road calamity while spending K11 million on Hela security operations? Where is the loan of K6 billion received to fix the road?

There is a promise that Grade 12 students will be accepted into the new Western Pacific University in Ialibu. Is this still happening?

The chairman of the APEC forum committee announces there is no money to complete the APEC complex yet we see the government telling the international community it will be delivered on time.

And what is the logic of saying APEC will bring economic benefits while the highlands highway is deteriorating?

PNG! There is a high level well coordinated "legalized corruption" is in Papua New Guinea now and this Government is behind it.

If we are not going to change the current thread of the way we are going, the country is going to fail. The economy will collapse.

To change this course, every PNG citizen has to think hard about their votes in the May election.

And why is the government saying it will change the election dates? And why is it increasing the nomination fees from K1,000 to K10,000?

Our country is run by cowboys and reckless people who don't care about the future but only think about themselves. You have the say at the polls. So over to you.

PHIL FITZPATRICK

I GOT my first lesson in lateral thinking and innovation from Ross Allen, the Assistant District Commissioner at Mount Hagen in 1967-68.

Ross was one of those people who was difficult to categorise. On the one hand he frowned on my habit of wearing suede, elastic sided, desert boots and rolled down walk socks instead of polished brogues, but on the other hand, especially where it mattered, he had decidedly liberal views.

The lesson came in his innovative use of district development funds. On his advice I applied for funds to build a road that I had already completed using free kalabus labour and help from the local villagers who would benefit from its construction. They had done the job with simple spades and shovels.

When the funds arrived we bought a Massey Ferguson 135 tractor and trailer. This was despite the fact that the funds were earmarked for labour, not capital expenditure.

With the help of that little tractor, we built and maintained a few more roads. Later, using the same formula, we secured two more tractors.

The District Commissioner knew exactly what we were doing but looked the other way. He had probably taught Ross these techniques in the first place.

This kind of lateral thinking and innovation was not uncommon in pre-independent Papua New Guinea. Just about every kiap worth his salt maintained a ‘slush’ fund with which to do good works.

This fund was generally tucked away in the back of the station safe. It comprised money from diverse sources.

Money saved by bringing projects in under budget was never given back. Other funds came from things like ‘unofficial’ entrepreneurial endeavours like back-loading empty charter aircraft with vegetables from the station garden. These were sold in the district headquarters.

When the Kennecott geologists working on the Ok Tedi discovery packed up their camp at Olsobip they left behind a heap of groceries, so we sold them through our ‘unofficial’ trade store and used the money to buy a lawnmower. Ol kalabus troimwe sarip na bihainim lawnmower tasol.

Nowadays, of course, this sort of thing would be impossible. Lateral thinking and innovation, like everything else, has become corrupted.

District development funds still get diverted but the money ends up in someone’s pocket rather than being spent on something useful.

Because everyone in an organisation is now regarded as potentially corrupt, stringent controls and reporting on funds are strictly and necessarily enforced.

As a result lateral thinking and innovation have become virtually impossible.

The old kiap system relied heavily on trust and honesty. That doesn’t exist anymore in most organisations.

Not only do the bosses fear that staff will steal money they also fear they will manipulate the use of funding to enhance their own prestige and prospects.

This means that a major consideration in awarding funds to particular projects and causes is how the project or cause might enhance reputations.

Many worthwhile projects never get funded.

While organisations such as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) or the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have specific functions designed to help worthy causes. the people in those organisations are not so much looking forward at the benefits such a project or cause might create but backwards to see whether their support will pay dividends in terms of prestige and other kudos, either personally or for the organisation.

When you apply for funds the question they don’t ask but which they mean to, is, “What’s in it for me and my boss?”

This means that an organisation set up to, say, help women achieve equality, is not necessarily interested in women achieving equality but in increasing and maintaining its own prestige.

So if you add all these things, the individual and corporate motives, and it is easy to see why neither DFAT nor the UNDP is interested in funding the distribution of something like the My Walk to Equality anthology.

Now, if there were a bunch of old kiaps running these outfits….

TRISH NICHOLSON

My Walk to Equality, edited by Rashmii Amoah Bell, Pukpuk Publications, 278 pages. Paperback $US10.53 or Kindle $US1.00. ISBN-10: 1542429242. ISBN-13: 978-1542429245. Available here from Amazon

MY Walk to Equality is a remarkable achievement. Not only as Papua New Guinea’s first anthology of women writers but also for its inclusiveness, breadth of vision and balance.

The 45 writers of these 81 stories, essays and poems originate from many different parts of PNG and its islands.

Their day-jobs include aircraft mechanic, nurse, educator, lawyer, home producer, student and administrator.

They write as mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, friends and neighbours as well as professionals in their respective fields.

Equally diverse are the topics addressed: from village childhoods to competitive urban employment, taking leadership initiatives and engaging in inter-nation events.

The reader is cleverly guided through this rich feast by the anthology’s structure of four main themes: relationships, self-awareness, challenging gender roles and legacies.

The writing sparkles with originality and imagination.

But perhaps most remarkably, My Walk to Equality projects something few books of women’s writing manage to do so well: a clear understanding that gender equality is not simply a women’s issue – it is a complex societal problem that requires attention to male as well as female needs in rapidly changing times.

Among the prose and poetry are moving protests against the physical and psychological abuse so many women in villages and cities contend with. But the contributions also speak of important roles women play in family, community and nation.

These women writers are not victims but aware, self-empowered, strong, active women, and each within her sphere has achieved much.

One indication of their strength is their recognition of the positive roles men can play in gender equality: stories that honour farsighted fathers and uncles, celebrate transformed brothers and husbands, and acknowledge dedicated schoolmasters.

In this sense it is not simply an anthology ‘about and for women’; it is a book for our present world of growing inequalities of all kinds, within and outside Papua New Guinea. Only through gender-balanced leadership can any of us tackle our current challenges both local and global.

While a few of the anthology’s contributors are established writers, others are only now discovering and gaining confidence in their talent.

But it would be misleading to look upon any of them as ‘new voices’ – the cultural roots of their self-expression go back through millennia – rather they are ‘newly heard’ voices or, as one contributor puts it, ‘freely heard’.

The freshness and authenticity of indigenous literature – which no ‘other’ can convincingly appropriate – is here melded with insights embracing the future.

Through their wisdom, optimism and hope, these women’s voices create a significant presence on Papua New Guinea’s literary stage and a worthy addition to the world’s narratives.

Stories wield power. Our freedom, indeed our survival, depends on having our stories heard and listening to those of others.

My Walk to Equality is the first anthology of Papua New Guinea’s women writers – it must not be the last.

Trish Nicholson's most recent book, Inside the Crocodile, was published in 2015. You can read Phil Fitzpatrick's review here. Her next work, A Biography of Story, A Brief History of Humanity, is forthcoming 

ACT NOW PNG | Edited extracts

IN NOVEMBER 2015, Manila in the Philippines hosted an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

Civil society mobilised to protest against the meeting. There are cogent reasons why people were so angered by APEC and what it represents.

Here in Papua New Guinea we should be similarly outraged as the same reasoning applies.

Ahead the Manila summit, Philippines’ social movements, unions, indigenous groups, farmers’ organisations and international activists mobilised to protest against the two-day annual meeting.

But why were so many people in the Philippines and around the world infuriated by the APEC summit?

Here are four reasons:

Firstly, over the years, APEC economic development has worsened poverty and inequality while strengthening corporate power.

APEC pushes free trade, deregulation and privatisation in the name of building economies in the Asia-Pacific region. But the claimed benefits of neoliberal globalisation promoted by APEC have been empty promises for poor and working people.

While APEC economies swell and transnational corporations reap major profits, the purported trickle-down of wealth and increased opportunities for those who need them most has never been realised. Poverty, inequality, and misery haven’t decreased as promised—they have increased.

“Only the big nations are reaping the rewards of globalisation under APEC, not the Philippines," said Teddy Casino, former member of the Philippine Congress and a leader of the People’s Campaign Against APEC and Imperialist Globalisation.

After years of unequal development, groups in the Philippines and beyond united to reject more of the same policies that destined so many people to poverty and marginalisation.

Second, APEC listens and responds to corporate interests not to the needs of workers, farmers and indigenous people.

As APEC leaders met with global corporate shakers, the demands of the Philippines’ indigenous people and working class continued to fall on deaf ears.

“It’s appalling that our own government was much more willing to listen to foreign investors in the APEC summit,” said Datu Jomorito Goaynon, spokesperson of a protest known as Manilakbayan.

Third, poor and homeless people were detained in the name of “cleaning up” Manila for APEC.

As the Philippines aimed to put its best foot forward and show off its developmental gains to visiting APEC leaders, Manila’s poor and homeless—among the global losers of APEC policies—were rounded up and taken out of sight ahead of the summit.

Over 140 street children were rounded up in what the government called “rescue operations” in the week leading up to APEC. At least 20,000 homeless people were removed from the streets of Manila. Road closures across the city put the chaotic city into a tranquil state for arriving world leaders while creating transit challenges for locals.

Fourth, APEC economic doctrine promotes resource exploitation and environmental destruction.

While APEC 2014 put climate change in the spotlight, many of the bloc’s economic policies have had negative impacts on the environment and threaten to worsen climate change.

Trade deregulation promoted by APEC has enabled massive corporate sell-offs of land and increased the ease with which transnational corporations can exploit resources and open mining concessions around the world, often with grave environmental impacts for local communities who don’t see any economic benefits from the projects.

In the Philippines, mining corporations mostly from Australia and Canada have been granted massive permits for millions of hectares of land to extract minerals and precious metals.

“We all know this means further poverty, destruction of the environment and incessant militarisation in areas where resistance against development aggression flourish,” said Datu Jomorito Goaynon.

Fifth, the cost of the APEC summit was huge, and Filipino people bore the brunt of it.

The Philippine government allotted a budget of over US$200 million, a huge amount for a country whose GDP is about US$330 billion.

What’s more, total costs to the economy were considerable as a result of the government shutting down factories and declaring national holidays and cancelling over 1,000 flights to avoid airport congestion during the summit.

As Francisco Tatad asked in a Manila Times article, “Should a sizable number go to bed without food, just because they were laid off their daily work by the great economic summit?”

What can we expect in Port Moresby next year?

PHIL FITZPATRICK

THERE are some interesting books coming out in the USA about the tide which brought us the seismic shock of the American election which tomorrow delivers us President Donald Trump.

This tide is the same one that has given us Brexit and the rise of far right political parties in Western democracies.

It is possible, but highly unlikely, that the same tide will wash through Papua New Guinea in 2017.

The undertow that created this tide is a growing disenchantment with conventional politics and the growing inequalities between rich and poor.

In the wash of the tide are serious questions about the very nature of democracy.

The politicians, by their selfish behaviour and corruption, have been trashing democracy and now the collateral damage is so great it looks like they will be paying the price for it.

But getting back to the books.

One of the most interesting is JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. Vance explains why so many disillusioned working class people voted for Donald Trump.

He makes it clear that those people, of whom he is one, didn’t vote for Trump because they liked or agreed with him. They voted for him to protest the system, the establishment and the status quo.

Vance is one of the few hillbillys who has managed to pull himself out of the quagmire of unemployment and poverty in America’s rust belts. He did this by fighting to get an education.

In discussing the problems manifest in these areas, he cites interesting research carried out in the US in 2011-12, the National Survey of Children’s Health.

This survey established a number of key adverse childhood experiences contributing to the parlous situation in those rust belt regions.

Adverse childhood experiences are potentially traumatic events that can have long lasting negative effects on health and well-being.

The most common adverse childhood experience reported is economic hardship. Also there are marriage breakups, abuse of alcohol and drugs, and exposure to violence.

These factors lead to problems such as obesity, alcoholism, crime, imprisonment, drug abuse, mental problems, suicide and a host of other negative behavioural and health outcomes in adulthood.

Children who are sworn at, insulted or humiliated by their parents, who feel their family doesn’t support them, who have parents who are separated or divorced, live with alcoholics and drug abusers or someone who is depressed, mentally unstable and suicidal, who are forced out of school early or never actually attend school and have seen loved ones physically abused are the ones headed towards dysfunctional adulthood.

All of these things are commonplace somewhat in Australia but moreso in Papua New Guinea. There are a lot of hillbillys in Papua New Guinea.

In Papua New Guinea some of these factors are culturally embedded.

If the adverse childhood experience factors established by the survey in the USA are equally applicable in Papua New Guinea, and I can’t imagine why they shouldn’t be, then is it no wonder that large parts of the population, especially in the cities, are dysfunctional or potentially so?

Bernie Sander’s Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In, which I have commented on elsewhere, offers some solutions.  Bernie is a left-leaning democratic socialist (as distinct from a communist) who gave Hillary Clinton, the Wall Street darling, a run for her money and, given the opportunity, might have beaten Trump.

Bernie’s not finished by a longshot. His book is a manifesto for change and has created a popular movement to push it along. It will be interesting to watch where it goes. Aspiring politicians in Papua New Guinea would do well to read it. But I forgot, they don’t like books do they?

Sanders and Vance come from opposite ends of the political spectrum. Sanders is a progressive and Vance is a conservative but together they offer analysis and solutions to the problems bedevilling modern democracy.

Politicians can’t change culture and tradition, at least not in the short term, but they can act to prevent many of the other adverse childhood experience factors like economic hardship, poor health and lack of education.

That they don’t is an indictment of their callous disregard for their people.

FRANCIS NII

I READ somewhere that our brain can process images 60,000 times faster than it can process words - and that images can convey ideas which stick with us much longer than the words on a page.

I am sure this rings true the moment you see the images accompanying this story.

The two gentlemen you see in this first picture are Hon Glen Elmes MP, the local member for Noosa in the Queensland Parliament, and Tony Wellington, the mayor for Noosa Shire, proudly showing the gifts of sand paintings donated to them and the people of Noosa by Daniel Kumbon and his wife Julie.

During last year’s McKinnon-Paga Hill sponsored study tour of Australia, Daniel, Martyn Namorong and I didn’t discuss bringing PNG arts and crafts for our Aussie friends.

However, of my own accord, I brought gifts of highlands bilums of different styles and, without me knowing it, Daniel and Julie did the same. They brought bilums, caps and two large sand paintings that vividly depict the Engan culture.

Keith and Councillor Ingrid Jackson’s home in Noosa was filled with excitement and hilarity when Daniel, Julie and I presented our gifts at the second of two receptions hosted by Keith and Ingrid.

We also presented copies of our books to our Aussie friends. In this picture Ingrid is showing off her gifts.

A hilarious moment came when Daniel handed over Enga caps and a few of the Australian gentlemen had to strain their head muscles to wear them. Everyone burst into laughter to see too small caps perched on the heads of Glen and Keith.

Glen, Tony and everyone who attended the receptions were lovely and cheerful people. Amongst them was Deborah Carlyon, a Simbu-Aussie descendant and author of Mama Kuma: One woman, two cultures. I was very happy meeting my wantok and chatted with her about her Sinasina origins.

The receptions were the most enjoyable moment of my trip, even though I was down with terrible flu on the first evening.

My heartfelt thank you goes to Glen Elmes and Tony Wellington for receiving us and giving us special recognition at the political level, which made our visit more meaningful and significant.

Thanks to Keith, Ingrid, Ben and Becky for everything that they did for us. Their hospitality was awesome. Ben Jackson’s management of the whole week was exceptional, especially for a young man. I could see Keith’s pedigree in him.

Thank you to the many friends in Brisbane - Rob Parer, Bob Cleland, Bernard Cordon, Murray and Joan Bladwell, Lindsay Bond, Patrick Hynes and others including the Brisbane Writers Festival organisers and big Ted and his brawny boys at Donation-in-Kind for treating us with generosity and kindness.

Thank you also to the friendly Air Niugini ground staff both in Moresby and Brisbane and the flight crews. They all made our tour of Australia smooth and enjoyable.

One thing that made my heart cry while I was in Brisbane, and even to this day, is that apart from Ben Jackson most of our friends and patriots of our cause are in their older years.

What will happen to our relationship after these people are gone? Every time I think about this, my heart cries. I would be happy if more young Australians come on board and strengthen the relationship.

Although I didn’t bring a boomerang home for my children to keep as memorabilia of my visit to Kangarooland, we left our footprints behind and I would like this tradition of art and culture exchange to continue to build strong relations between writers and politicians of our two countries.

PS: This article should have appeared in PNG Attitude some time ago but my old desktop PC on which I wrote it decided to go into sleep and only recently came back to life. Nevertheless, better late than never.

ROBIN-LUKE NAHON SUANG

HE sits on the couch. He knows he was lied to, knows he was taken for granted, knows he was humble, knows he lost everything, knows he could no longer smile one more time.

He knows he will cry as soon as the song reaches the chorus bai mi diriman tasol.

He knows he did everything to sustain it, knows he showed he cared.

As he listened to this Tarvine Toune song called Riah, he reminisces about all the girls who had broken his heart.

Every time he asked her out, every time he tried to be nice, every time he was sweet…. She would always come up with excuses.

The thoughts of where he went wrong, what he should do, why the rejection, whether em nogut o?

Call it self-pity, call wondering, or day-dreaming, or remorse.

A guy must be strong and tough. A guy must believe in every girl he ever asks out, but….

Tears of misfortune, tears of broken promises, tears of sacrifice, tears of embarrassment, tears of putting himself down, tears for all the affection he gave.

In his dreams he saw the angel.

He searched far and wide, across the seas of the Bismarck, around the Manus islands, the island of Musau and many more of the bilas peles karanas….

Across to the beautiful mystical atolls of the Autonomous Region, thence to the Motuan mermaid coast, the slipping volcanic ash of Tavurvur, the modern jewel of Kinabot, the abandoned island of Manam….

Then the misty highlands of Chimbu, na ples tu stap klostu lo Enga, aburusim Kandep, go lo Banz Jiwaka luksave lo mauten Giluwe, then setting sail to fly and swim the banks of the mighty Sepik River, to the road and ending up at 37.

Being battered, beaten, chewed and spat out.

Sapos wanem hap angel stap lo em, toksave samting bata ya woklo painim em yet....

If an angel is there, tell me if you have found her yet….

KESSY B SAWANG

IT’S a very good deal for PNG LNG and its associated companies.

For each K100 million of development levy they pay to the PNG government, they can claim K30 million as a tax deduction.

For each K100 million of royalty they can claim K100 million as a tax credit.

So let’s express this is the little kina amounts which most of us understand.

For every K10 paid to PNG by the resource companies, they get K7 stripped off their tax bill.

This kick back is funded by the PNG government – or should I say the people of PNG.

This is the gross unfairness imposed on Papua New Guineans who aren’t from the so-called “gas provinces”.

So, while we sympathise with those landowners who await in frustration the payment of their royalties, we should also spare a thought for the taxpayers of PNG.

They are effectively foregoing hundreds of millions of kina because of the sweet deal the PNG government made to have its gas resource exploited by these big companies.

Think of what PNG could do with that kind of money if it was applied to urban and rural development projects that would benefit the people.

PAUL FLANAGAN

THE year 2016 saw the Papua New Guinea government muddle down through a series of poor policy decisions.

This continued the negative trend set in 2015, when the country went from having the highest expected GDP growth rate in the world to crisis management mode.

In the political realm, PNG continued promoting its international profile by hosting the African Caribbean and Pacific Leaders Meeting, the FIFA Under 20 Women's World Cup and preparatory meetings for APEC in 2018.

But domestically there were increasing concerns about corruption and the growing arrogance of the current government under the leadership of prime minister Peter O'Neill.

The first half of 2016 also saw escalating protests from students and civil society groups, which culminated in the police shooting and injuring over 20 university student protestors.

Among these protests and corruption allegations, in July the Supreme Court ruled that a long-delayed opposition motion of no-confidence in the government must be considered by parliament.

Despite three former prime ministers siding with the opposition, the vote was comfortably defeated. Those members of parliament who appear to be disloyal to the government face losing their annual constituency funding of more than $US3 million.

In terms of the economy, PNG's exact growth performance is unknown.

In March, the National Statistical Office released new figures on PNG's GDP. But these have since been removed from the website. They showed an extraordinary upward revision of 40% on PNG's 2013 GDP estimate.

This was a suspiciously convenient estimate and would have unburdened PNG of breaching its debt-to-GDP limit.

Such dubious figures bring into question the trustworthiness of government statistics, especially given that the government is seeking to avoid any inconvenient accusations of a recession in the non-resource sector.

Regardless of government statistics, evidence of this recession is obvious, with a 16% fall in retail sales in 2014-15 as well as a real decline in domestic tax collections of over 20%. That's on top of falling agricultural exports, employment and imports.

Business groups expect tough conditions to continue until at least 2018 when the possibility of another major LNG project and prospective copper and gold mines might start lifting growth performance again.

The proposed 2017 budget also looked slightly dodgy, being filled with unrealistically optimistic revenue assumptions and forward expenditure assumptions. This casts serious doubts on the credibility of fiscal policy and the government's plan to return to surplus by 2021.

On top of this, in May PNG moved to a fixed exchange rate against the US dollar, which is significantly overvalued relative to the market rate.

This move led to ongoing foreign exchange shortages and controls hurting growth and confidence as well as driving imports down to their lowest levels since 2006.

Paul Flanagan is the Director of PNG Economics. This article was part of an EAF special feature series on 2016 in review and the year ahead

HENRY SHERRELL & STEPHEN HOWES | Dev Policy Blog | Extracts

MANY people have commented on the stubbornly low number of Pacific islanders coming to Australia.

The tiny number of Papua New Guineans is particularly egregious even by Pacific standards. There are more people of Samoan descent in Australia than there are of PNG descent.

But there are signs this may be changing, at least when it comes to students. A blog post last year documented international student commencements in Australia for the Pacific and PNG between 2002 and 2016.

The numbers from the Pacific are stagnant, except for PNG, where student commencements grew from 2,800 in 2002 to 7,600 in 2015.

This post dives into this growth in PNG student enrolments.

Three categories dominate PNG student migration to Australia: higher education, vocational education (VET) and school students.

The other two visa categories – for English language intensive courses for overseas students and non-award visas for people studying courses which do not lead to a formal qualification – only make up a very small proportion of PNG students in Australia.

Commencements into higher education, vocational education and schools have all shown strong growth since 2002.

Vocational education commencements grew nearly tenfold to 3,500 in 2012. The next largest category is of children studying at primary and secondary schools, which has grown solidly though less dramatically reaching 2,500 in 2015. 1,700 PNG students started higher education studies in Australia in 2015.

This student mix makes PNG an outlier. While PNG higher education and vocational commencements are equal to just 0.2% and 0.4% of all Australian commencements respectively, PNG school commencements accounted for 2.6% of all school migrants in Australia for 2015.

For a country with a small Australian diaspora and low rates of overall emigration, PNG really stands out.

It has the highest proportion of school students to all international students when looking at all 80 countries with 1,000 student commencements or more in 2015.

This proportion, 34%, is ten times higher than the average for all countries. In October 2016 (the most recent month for which data is available), PNG was the seventh largest source of overseas school enrolments in Australia.

School student migration from other Pacific countries, though not on the increase, is also unusually dominant.

The Solomon Islands had almost 600 total commencements in 2015, 33% of whom were school students. Nauru and Tonga had school student proportions of 64% and 26% respectively for 2015 but only had 113 and 92 total commencements compared to over 7,500 in PNG.

According to the PNG Aid Portfolio Performance Report there were 1,160 PNG students supported by the Australia Awards program in 2015-16. However these are overwhelmingly for higher education, not for school students, so what we are seeing in the PNG numbers is a private sector phenomenon.

Given the costs involved, the relatively large and growing number of primary and secondary school international students from PNG reflects a demand for school education from wealthier PNG citizens who are clearly unhappy at the local education opportunities for their children.

And now, many more have the ability to pay as well – though given PNG’s current economic woes, how long that will last remains an open question.

On the one hand, the relatively high and growing number of PNG students attending school in Australia can be looked at as an indictment of poor schooling standards in PNG, and high levels of inequality. Other developing countries focus much more on sending post-school students overseas.

But there are also positives. For those who believe that PNG has suffered from a lack of international mobility and falling education standards, the growing number of students, of all types, coming to Australia is a positive development.

And for those who bemoan weakening people-to-people links between the two countries, this data suggests a generational change, and that a growing number of young Papua New Guineans will have Australian connections, and vice versa.

Henry Sherrell is a Research Officer at the Development Policy Centre. Stephen Howes is the Centre’s Director