MARC BETTS | Eastern Daily Press (UK)

BISHOP and magician, Reverend Peter Fox, known in Papua New Guinea as ‘Bishop Condom’, is retiring from his current role at Old Lakenham Church in the United Kingdom.

He might not be able to change water into wine, but one Norwich vicar certainly has plenty of tricks up his sleeves in his sideline as a member of the magicians’ group, the Magic Circle.

The 66-year old, who has been practicing magic since he was seven, previously held the position as Anglican Bishop of Port Moresby in PNG, making him the only bishop in the Magic Circle.

He said: “There are other clergymen but I am the only bishop, which means I’m the only member of the Magic Circle who’s actually entitled to wear a pointy hat and have a stick.”

After learning the tricks of the trade he eventually left England for Papua New Guinea in 1979 to become a missionary priest.

While there he became an outspoken voice against the dangers of HIV and Aids, which at the time was a massive problem in the country, earning him the nickname of Bishop Condom.

Returning to the UK in 1984 he decided to join the Magic Circle and, along with his wife Angie Fox, performed a mind-reading act under the stage name the Fantastic Dr Fox. Within a year he was invited to appear on Terry Wogan’s talk show.

He said: “Getting an appearance on Wogan was like the Holy Grail for a magician, none of them could ever get on but they just rang me up one time and asked if I wanted to go on. We performed with Lulu, it was great fun.”

He was invited back to Papua New Guinea in 2001 to become the Bishop of Port Moresby before returning to Norwich to be vicar of North Lakenham and Tuckswood in 2006.

During his time back in England he did talks on the history of magic as well as performing for children in schools across Norfolk.

The father of three has always been a strong part of the Lakenham community, hosting annual BBQs for his congregation.

Rev Fox is now retiring to Castle Donnington to travel the waterways of England in his narrow boat, as well as performing a lot more magic.

KEITH JACKSON

THE Australian High Commission in Papua New Guinea has issued a statement on Facebook denying that it has any role in the common roll and other controversies that have dogged the current PNG general election.

But the High Commission has conceded that, “at the request of successive PNG governments, [it] has worked with the PNG Electoral Commission to help support its delivery of elections.”

“Australia has no role in decisions on issues such as updating the electoral roll, in particular on adding or removing names, and on how many ballot papers will be delivered to particular places,” the statement said.

The High Commission said it provided “technical assistance and support” which included Australian Electoral Commission staff and other international experts providing advice to the PNG Electoral Commission.

The statement said Australia has assisted in the training of over 30,000 election workers, supported the development of voter awareness campaigns, and through the Australian Defence Force, provided a number of planes and helicopters to assist in the delivery of election materials.

Some 70 observers from the Australian High Commission, including four members of Australia’s federal parliament, are also participating as election observers and Australia is supporting the Australian National University and Transparency International PNG to independently observe the election across the country.

Candidate for the Goroka Open electorate, Sarah Shelley, commented on the statement that it was “understandable - it's our ticking time bomb and you are just next door”.

While Joe Markham let the High Commission off the hook, commenting that the “election was a mess due to [the] corrupt PNG government led by PM Peter Corrupt O' Neil [sic]”.

KEITH JACKSON

THE chairman of Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), Rob Burns, says the company will “intensify its community engagement” as part of preparations for a renewed Panguna mining project.

Mr Burns said BCL was putting in place the resources and personnel to step up its activities in Bougainville.

“We fully understand that building trust and widespread support among all relevant parties, as well as the people of Bougainville more broadly, is essential if the aim of renewing mining at Panguna is to be realised,” Mr Burns said.

“By working collaboratively with all groups, we have every confidence that outstanding issues can be resolved and the necessary benchmarks can be met for the project to advance.”

BCL said that recent comments by mining hopeful RTG that it had been nominated by one of nine Panguna landowner associations had to be seen in the light of BCL’s first right to develop the Panguna tenement.

This right was “clear and unambiguous” under the Bougainville Mining Act 2015 and he noted RTG’s pledge to fully respect this right.

“There can be no doubt that we are totally committed to exercising our right through the implementation of our development plan, which has the full backing of the Autonomous Bougainville Government and broad endorsement among the landowner associations,” Mr Burns said.

He said it was unfortunate that there was some dispute over the leadership of one of the nine landowner associations but BCL was hopeful of a lasting resolution of the issue and would continue to work collaboratively with all landowners.

“We know there are people with different views, but equally we are encouraged by the levels of support we have received to date and will work hard to further build our relationships,” he said.

The people of Bougainville have a significant stake in BCL, with the Autonomous Bougainville Government a major shareholder.

PETER KRANZ

THE story of the disappearance of the bold aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan after taking off from Lae for a pioneering trans-Pacific flight in 1937, is an enduring mystery which has given rise to many conspiracy theories and creative explanations.

Was the pair captured by the Japanese, then preparing for war? Killed in a crash in the unknown reaches of the western Pacific? Disappeared in Rabaul’s Simpson Harbour? Abducted by aliens? Survived and assumed a new name under a witness protection programme in New Jersey?  All have been proposed.

But a recent documentary on the History Channel based on research by a former FBI detective has unearthed intriguing evidence that Earhart and Noonan may have survived a crash landing in the Marshall Islands and been taken into custody by the Japanese as suspected spies.

Earhart became the most famous aviatrix of all when she completed the first non-stop trans-Atlantic flight by a woman in 1932.  For this achievement she won worldwide acclaim and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross of the United States, the Cross of Knight of the Legion of Honour from France and the Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society from UD president Herbert Hoover.

As her fame grew, she developed friendships with many people in high office, most notably America’s first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Roosevelt shared many of Earhart's interests and passions, especially for women's causes.

But it is Earhart’s attempt to fly around the world at her second attempt in 1937 which became the stuff of legend.

On 2 July 1937, Earhart and Noonan took off from Lae airfield in their heavily-loaded Lockheed Electra. Their intended destination was Howland Island, a flat sliver of land two kilometres long and 500 metres across.

Their last known position report came from near the Nukumanu Islands, about 1,300 km into the flight. The US coastguard vessel Itasca had been stationed at Howland Island to communicate with Earhart's aircraft and guide it to the island once they arrived in the vicinity.

Through a series of misunderstandings or errors (the details of which are still controversial), the final approach to Howland using radio navigation was not successful.

Although Itasca received their radio messages, Earhart apparently could not hear the replies.  The last voice transmission received on Howland Island from Earhart indicated she and Noonan were flying along a line which Noonan would have calculated and drawn on a chart as passing through Howland.

After all contact was lost, attempts were made to reach the flyers using both voice and Morse code transmissions. It is possible that wireless operators in the Pacific may have heard signals from the downed Electra, but there were no reports of this happening.

One theory is that Earhart and Noonan crash-landed on a lagoon in the Marshall Islands – which were then controlled by the Japanese. 

Anecdotal reports from local people suggest that an aircraft was spotted crashing into the water about the time of her disappearance and that the two aviators were picked up by a Japanese ship. This story now seems to have been supported by a newly discovered photograph.

The image, found in a long-forgotten file in the US National Archives, shows a woman who – side on - resembles Earhart and a man who appears to be her navigator, Fred Noonan, on a dock.

Independent analysts have told History Channel that the photo appears legitimate and unaltered. Shawn Henry, former executive assistant director for the FBI and an NBC News analyst, has studied the photo using face recognition software and feels confident it shows the famed pilot and her navigator.

This most recent theory features in a new History Channel documentary, ‘Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence’, which suggests she and Noonan died as prisoners of the Japanese on Saipan.

Whatever the truth, Earhart was a pioneer and a brilliant woman. She was an international celebrity during her lifetime. Her independence, persistence, coolness under pressure, courage and ambition, together with the circumstances of her disappearance at a comparatively young age, have given her lasting fame.

Earhart is regarded as a feminist icon and hundreds of articles and scores of books have been written about her life, often cited as a motivational story for girls.

Amelia Earhart's accomplishments in aviation inspired a generation of female aviators, including more than 1,000 women pilots of the Women Airforce Service who ferried military aircraft, towed gliders, flew target practice aircraft, and served as transport pilots during World War II.

Another interesting analysis of the photographic 'discovery' can be linked to here - KJ

KENDALL HUTT | Asia Pacific Report

RABAUL Archbishop Francesco Panfilo has said the deportation of New Zealand missionary Douglas Tennent remains an issue whichever government is in power in Papua New Guinea.

“I want to inform all [sitting] candidates and aspiring candidates for national elections that neither the Archdiocese of Rabaul nor the Catholic Bishops’ Conference will take this matter lightly, as it seems to imply that to work for justice is outside of a ‘religious worker’ status.”

Archbishop Panfilo’s call comes after Mr Tennent, who had been working as an administrator for the Archdiocese of Rabaul since June 2014, was deported on 12 June 2017, over an alleged breach of visa conditions.

Authorities claim Mr Tennent was deported due to “blatant abuse” of his ‘special exemption/religious worker visa’ after engaging in “sensitive landowner issues in East New Britain Province”.

However, both Mr Tennent and Archbishop Panfilo hold firm to the belief that Mr Tennent was “just doing his job”.

Mr Tennent was deported after some landowners lodged a complaint regarding his involvement in “sensitive landowner issues”.

It is believed the complaint was related to Mr Tennent’s involvement in remedying a special agricultural business lease regarding Malaysian multinational Rimbunan Hijau’s Sigite Mukus oil palm project in West Pomio.

Archbishop Panfilo stated Mr Tennent is only involved in settling these disputes on his, the archbishop’s, behalf.

 “Mr Tennent was providing legal advice to the archbishop, who was asked by the people of West Pomio to speak up for them,” he said.

The actions of immigration authorities – foreign affairs minister Rimbink Pato and acting chief migration officer Solomon Kantha – have also raised questions about the position of prime minister Peter O’Neill’s government in the matter.

“Any ordinary person knows that orders of this kind cannot be given unless there are powerful and wealthy institutions and personalities behind [them],” Archbishop Panfilo said.

“For the sake of the ordinary and innocent people of Papua New Guinea, we ask the government to come clear once and for all.

 “Let us pray that the national elections may give us leaders who are committed to the achievement of a just and peaceful society,” he said.

Mr Tennent told NZ Catholic in its latest edition on Sunday that his deportation had pitted Papua New Guinea’s government against the Catholic Church.

“I think they didn’t realise when they did the deportation that it wasn’t about me. It was about the whole role of religious workers,” he said.

This was echoed by Archbishop Panfilo.

“To advocate for the vulnerable and powerless, which is the situation of the people of West Pomio, is a gospel mandate, just as it is to educate and care for sick people.

 “It is the duty of any religious worker and of any Christian for that matter, to give effect to the teachings of Christ in word and action. One wonders why those who expose these evil practices should be deported and not the ones who commit them”, he said.

Mr Tennent remains in New Zealand, anxiously awaiting news from authorities in Papua New Guinea about whether he can return.

He is currently in the process of applying for a new visa and is planning court action against the government.

AL JAZEERA

COUNTING is underway in Papua New Guinea’s sprawling election but voting has been marred by claims of rigging, electoral roll flaws and ballot paper shortages.

The last polling stations are due to close today after two weeks of voting for the 111-seat parliament across the vast and remote country where previous elections have been tarnished by violence.

Prime minister Peter O’Neill (pictured) of the People’s National Congress has hailed this year’s poll as “calm and peaceful”, even as some voters complained that their names had vanished from the electoral roll.

Media reported that students in the second largest city Lae burned ballot papers after complaining that an insufficient number was allocated to their university, while election officials were found carrying US$57,000 in cash.

The electoral commission later reportedly said the money was an allowance for polling staff.

Meanwhile voting in the capital, Port Moresby, was delayed for several days after polling officials went on strike over unpaid allowances.

“Polling and now counting is a success,” electoral commissioner Patilius Gamato said. “We should be proud that we have managed to see this election through.”

Mr O’Neill slammed opposition politicians for questioning the commission’s integrity after they called for results in his Ialibu-Pangia seat not to be declared first as it could give his PNC party an advantage.

“Let the electoral commission get on with its job, and in that process these failed leaders of the past must stop trying to tarnish constitutional office holders,” Mr O’Neill said.

There is no opinion polling in PNG, so it is unclear who holds the advantage. But no party has ever won a majority, meaning a coalition is likely, held together by strategic political appointments.

Mr O’Neill’s main threat is seen as Don Polye’s Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party.

Mr Polye claimed leaders in the Hela electorate had been “deliberately and openly rigging the election”, and called on Mr Gamato to declare the vote in the province as failed.

Former New Zealand governor-general Sir Anand Satyanand, who heads the Commonwealth Observer Group monitoring the election, said it was too early to declare any failure.

“I would not responsibly use the word ‘failed’.

“Whether it reaches a pass mark is for this week to establish.”

JIMMY AWAGL

Economic crisis; disappearing revenues
Misappropriation of our natural resources
And where is the prime minister?

Constitutional crisis; despised legislation
Undermining of our mama lo
And where is the prime minister?

Election crisis despite all the gris tok
Roll, ballots, turmoil, delays
And where is the prime minister?

Fraudulence despite all the denials
A clear intention to fiddle the funds
And where is the prime minister?

Hijacking formal process; devious tricks
Intending to bypass moral formalities
And where is the prime minister?

The integrity of a democratic nation ruined
Political tyranny in a sovereign nation
And where is the prime minister?

KESSY SAWANG | The PNG Woman | Extracts

THE people and economy of Papua New Guinea are mired in the resource curse.

Our extractive resources should provide the means, through the income flows they generate, to escape the development trap and move Papua New Guineans towards a substantially improved quality of life.

This was always the hope for the substantial income flow from the liquefied natural gas project – that it would help secure PNG’s shared future prosperity.

Our country’s constitution lays down a directive principle that our natural resources be used for “the collective benefit of us all, and be replenished for the benefit of future generations”.

Natural non-renewable resources are great assets of PNG. When these assets are extracted, processed and sold, they are converted to money which should be used for the collective benefit of Papua New Guineans now and in the future.

In Norway, a sovereign wealth fund accumulating both the proceeds of oil sales and investment earnings has a value exceeding the GDP of Norway. It has made theoretical millionaires of all Norwegians.

Sadly, despite all the grand talk and promises by the outgoing national government, PNG’s sovereign wealth fund has yet to be established.

On the eve of polling for the general elections, Mr O’Neill and his People’s National Congress decided to give LNG landowners and impacted sub-national governments 25% of Kumul Petroleum Limited.

Mr O’Neill valued this equity at K 3.5 billion, possibly the equivalent of up to K 15 billion over the 30-year life of the project.

This represented a significant transfer of wealth from Papua New Guineans outside the LNG footprint to a small group of privileged people - a gross inequity in the distribution of wealth.

Unlike BCL in Bougainville, the equity was transferred from the people of PNG, not from a foreign company. It is the taxpayers of PNG who paid for the government’s equity position in PNG LNG and now they have been denied any returns from 25% of that investment.

This inequity is compounded by the royalty regime applied to the oil and gas sector. Royalty payments are made to the resource owner for the right to extract the resource.

For each kina of royalty paid by PNG LNG co-joint venture companies, they can claim the full kina back as a tax credit. For each kina of development levy paid by PNG LNG co-joint venture companies, they can claim 30 toea as a tax deduction. These are amounts that will be offset from their tax liability. Effectively, it is the taxpayers of PNG who are meeting the costs of the royalties.

Mr O’Neill has set a dangerous precedent and is prepared to abandon a fair distribution of wealth for political expediency. Instead of extracting a greater share of the gas benefits from resource developers, the government chose to take from the non-resource owning people of PNG to give to a small fortunate group.

In the deal struck for the distribution of benefits from our gas project, LNG landowners and hosting provincial governments have secured K1.2 billion for infrastructure grants, K460 million for infrastructure projects and K120 million for business seed capital grants - a total of K1.78 billion paid for by the taxpayers of PNG, most of it before gas taxes and dividends have been received.

In addition, over the project life royalties totalling billions of kina will be fully paid for by taxpayers of Papua New Guinea. Project development levies totalling additional billions of kina will be partially paid for by the taxpayers of PNG.

It is unjust that we forsake the founding values of our country embedded in our constitution to transfer wealth of nearly K3.5 billion from most Papua New Guineans to a few who have been lucky to have natural resources under their land or to have a pipeline or plant situated on their land.

This goes against the grain of our Melanesian culture and against the values enshrined in the constitution.

Why is that we allow our people to be caught in a zero sum game where there are winners and losers when the bigger issue is that we allow our country’s wealth to be exploited by developers at our expense when it should be contributing to our collective national prosperity?

Is it not unreasonable to expect our elected government to govern for all Papua New Guineans?

PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH

FEELINGS of “anticipation and excitement” had gripped Papua New Guinea as polling opened last month.

Auckland University of Technology doctoral candidate Stephanie Tapungu and husband Kenneth Tapungu told our Southern Cross radio program that rising female representation and online engagement were a source of hope.

The PNG Electoral Commission reported the number of female candidates standing in the two-week election comprised 165 of the 3,332 candidates. The only province that did not register a female candidate was West New Britain.

“There’s been a rise in women’s numbers,” Kenneth Tapungu told Southern Cross, “and this has in a way really changed the dynamic of the game itself and this has really challenged the existing status quo of elections and campaigns.”

But the anticipation and excitement was short-lived and quickly descended into condemnation of the electoral roll as thousands of people reported they had not been listed despite registering and there were also reported disruptions at election places.

At the University of Technology in Lae, students set fire to ballot papers in protest and others missed out on voting as only 1,100 ballot papers arrived for a voting population of 5000.

Similar stories echoed across other campuses as 4,000-5,000 students in Goroka were denied the chance to cast a ballot and at the University of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby voting did not take place due to a lack of ballot papers, only 1,200 arriving from the electoral commission instead of the required 5,000.

Allegations of corruption, calls for resignations and fears of a dictatorship also emerged, even as prime minister O’Neill shrugged off the polling chaos, telling EMTV News the elections were a “dramatic change” from previously due the lack of violence and an electoral process that had not been “hijacked”.

“I hear comment from election observers that delays are common in developing country elections, particularly with remote and rugged terrain and diverse cultures,” Mr O’Neill said.

But his comments did nothing to dissuade Gary Juffa, Oro Province governor and opposition candidate in the elections, from expressing fears Papua New Guinea was heading for a dictatorship.

“We are inching closer to dictatorship and ensuing bloodshed and violence that must come from the hostility towards it,” Mr Juffa said.

“But like lemmings and sheep, we are led to that reality with little resistance at all. Is this the Papua New Guinea we all believed in once upon a time?”

He claimed the elections had been rigged – “deliberately set to fail” – due to fraud and issues at the polls.

Peter S Kinjap reported for Asia Pacific Report that rival candidates in Peter O’Neill’s Ialibu-Pangia electorate had also accused the prime mnister of “rigging” the election.

The plethora of missing voter names across Papua New Guinea, despite efforts made to update the common roll, was further evidence of the country’s fall from democracy, Governor Juffa said.

“This will mean that democracy certainly did not prevail in this instance. In fact, many will probably agree that come the end of these elections, democracy was hardly a reality everywhere in Papua New Guinea.”

Keith Jackson, publisher of the PNG Attitude blog, said recent developments meant the international election observer team was “duty bound to investigate when reaching their conclusion on whether this election has been free and fair and provided a just result”.

Amidst the chaos at the polls, electoral commissioner Patilias Gamato told reporters he would not resign in his quest to ensure the general election was “run smoothly”.

A day after Gamato’s statement, four senior election officers were arrested for carrying K185,000 in cash and suspicious documents, resulting in a four-day postponement of polling in Port Moresby.

There were fears the election could be deemed a failure, Kenneth Tapungu told Asia Pacific Report.

He said prime minister O’Neill voted in his village – Kauwo in Southern Highlands Province – on a Sunday, which contravened the country’s constitution.

“The elections were planned to be a failure from the start,” Stephanie Tapungu, whose countenance had been positive as polling opened, reflected.

“It started out positive, but so much happened – from ballot boxes being lost and mix ups, to deferral of counting and polling, and the suspension of election managers. This election was just full of drama.”

ROBYN E ROBINSON

I WANT to thank Scott Waide for his article on the death of oncologist, Dr John Niblett.

How can we as Papua New Guineans say our culture is based in respect when our actions are not in alignment with our beliefs?

Is this how we treat elders and pioneers who contribute to our country? This is not right.

What is the purpose of being in a position of authority when we cannot do what is ethically right in every sense of the word?

It's simple - get out of the chair you're sitting in and attend to the issue at hand.

 A simple approach that the relevant authorities could have done was travel to Lae and visit the late Dr Niblett and his wife and come up with solutions.

When it comes to a person, forget the protocols, procedures and policies – the very fact that a life needs to be saved is our paramount duty.

We could have given Dr Niblett the respect he deserved as a human being.

He was a humble man with a passion to serve our country as an oncologist. I never met Dr Niblett but here was a person who was a passionate in his job and it is evident in the work he did to save cancer patients in our country. 

I'm furious that champions like him can be treated in this manner. This is unethical and an example of arrogance in human treatment.

There are so many pioneers who have face adversity and challenges in our country and who have been committed, loyal and dedicated to serve our people with humility and with a beautiful spirit.

To the late Dr Niblett's wife and family, my prayers, love and thoughts are with you at this time.

May his beautiful soul rest in peace.

To the people of Papua New Guinea – lets’ all stand together and speak up against such ill practices towards individuals who have dedicated their lives to contribute in helping our nation get to where we are today.

“Pasin barata na luksave mas stap olgeta taim”. We cannot call ourselves Papua New Guinean until our actions do the talking.

KEITH JACKSON

THE 24 boxes seized by electoral officials in Buin, Bougainville, and another 18 held in Tinputz because of the electoral commission’s failure to pay outstanding fees, seemed to sand as a metaphor for what has been a disorderly and ill-tempered national election in Papua New Guinea.

But, with voting complete and counting slowly continuing towards an end of July or early August conclusion, what is likely to happen now?

As the Foreign Brief website points out, given that PNG does no opinion polling, there’s no guidance as to which part or group of parties will emerge in control.

But, as in every previous election, it seems improbable that any party will win an electoral majority, opening the door for lengthy and messy coalition talks.

First, however, the election may have to withstand a flood of legal action that is likely to emerge from the many flaws and outright dishonesties of this election.

The decision of electoral commissioner Patilias Gamato to declare all the winners of all 111 seats in Port Moresby has been challenged as wrong in law by two eminent politicians.

Radio New Zealand International reports that Kerenga Kua and Sir Arnold Amet, both former attorney-generals and candidates in this election, as saying the law specifically rules that each electorate's returning officer is responsible for counting.

Mr Kua said his National Party does not encourage "any additional un-prescribed procedures which will simply create more opportunities for fraud, rumours and stress.

"We believe the provincial returning officers will do a better job as they are under the immediate scrutiny of the candidates. The electoral commissioner and his staff in Waigani are not."

Sir Arnold, also a former PNG chief justice, said Mr Gamato's move to announce winners in the capital would deny the right of constituents to learn of the election result in their own electorate as soon as possible.

He has told the electoral commissioner that if he doesn’t rescind the decision he can expect multiple legal suits.

As to the ultimate outcome of the election, the Huffington Post says Peter O'Neill is tipped to retain the prime ministership after a year ago boasting it had the support of 80 members of the 111-seat parliament.

But, as the website concluded, “predicting the outcome of the notoriously volatile PNG election can be a tough task”.

JIMMY AWAGL

A sincere tribute to Francis Nii

Literature is an intrinsic art
Brushed from human intelligence 
Inscribed by paintings of words

Expressing a complete notion
Even if in a flowery form
By an artistic writer come stylist

Informative and catchy as others may be
It is Francis Nii’s paintings in words
That are unique and extraordinary 

His literary output comprehensive
His poetry spartan, perhaps enigmatic
His essays well thought and thought provoking

His short stories strong moral tales
And he encourages others to write
And to leave a legacy of words

Whether you are physically impaired, or not
You can use technology to transform knowledge
People can read who you are from your writing

It is through literature that people grow
Their flowering comes from someone's writing
Which makes writing a remarkable contribution

In the world of literature for the all of us
Francis Nii dominates the scene and what he sees
As a model essayist, novelist, storyteller, poet

He extends to being an editor in chief
A commentator, publisher, inspirer of dreams
An enthusiastic and enduring man of literature

Papua New Guinea - you are fortunate to have him

SERAH AUPONG | EMTV News/Asia Pacific Report

WHILE Papua New Guineans know of EMTV, many do not know how the national television station started.

From humble beginnings as a community television program and children’s show, Kids Kona, in July 1987, a mighty communications medium grew.

Back then, in an effort to get the public behind the new TV broadcaster, display screens were set up in markets around Port Moresby.

Tania Nugent, the presenter of Kids Kona, went on to work for the ABC and is now back with EMTV as a consultant.

“One of the bedrooms was used as the news desk, and one of the other bedrooms was used at the Kids Kona desk, while the lounge as used as the control room,” she says.

“And the news was put together in the Six Mile office - the news editors would have to rush from Six Mile to the apartment at Garden City to get the 6 o’clock news to air on time. Sometimes we really cut it fine.”

KEITH JACKSON

THE PNG election advisory committee resigned en masse yesterday, saying it lacked the information required to to perform its constitutional duties in the current national election

The PNG Facts website reports that at a press conference in Port Moresby Sunday afternoon, committee members Professor John Luluaki and Richard Kassman (pictured) made their dissatisfaction clear.

“We asked for copies of reports noting distribution to electorates, wards, polling stations,” they said.

“We requested copies of reports pre-polling, during polling and post- polling. We were expected to receive summaries pre- counting and now that counting has commenced, regular reporting.

“To date the committee has not received this baseline data and information, nor have we been privy to regular reporting.

“We have requested critical information for specific electorates but no information has been provided.”

Professor Luluaki also said the establishment of the committee just two weeks prior to the start of the election was not enough time to prepare.

The committee’s shock resignation has serious implications for the PNG judiciary which may be called upon to rule on electoral issues and for the international team of election observers who are to report on the conduct and fairness of the poll.

At the time this story was written, no comment had been made available by election commissioner Patilias Gamato (left).

KEITH JACKSON

IN its first published comment on the troubled Papua New Guinean elections, the Commonwealth Observer Group has issued an interim statement that calls for an urgent review of the electoral roll.

The group’s chairman, Sir Anand Satyanand, said it was critical that expertise and funding for creating a credible roll be provided in a timely manner before the next election and said that the PNG government had ignored previous observer group reports addressing the same issue.

"The people of Papua New Guinea deserve better and eligible voters must be allowed to exercise their democratic right and participate in their national elections," said Sir Anand.

Radio New Zealand International reports that the observer group also said vote-buying was also a matter of concern.

The group noted a number of reported incidents of alleged vote buying, including "through using state resources and provincial and district development funds made available to incumbents".

"These funds were alleged to have been used to buy voters' support or for projects to induce voters," said Sir Anand.

He said the observers were told ‘money politics’ had significantly influenced the electoral process and may have led to an uneven playing field for the parties and candidates in the 2017 elections.

Sir Anand also reflected on lack of expertise among electoral officials.

"The group is of the view that an adequate training programme is required, and in advance of the next election, so that polling officials will become more efficient in undertaking their duties, and that outlined procedures are adhered to during the election period,” he said.

The observer team said most polling stations opened late and some were given fewer ballot papers than the expected number of voters, Radio New Zealand International reported.

Furthermore, "adherence to the secrecy of the ballot was clearly not consistent throughout the different provinces ".

The results, Sir Anand said, "should reflect the wishes of the people who participated in the 2017 national elections."

The observer group’s final report will be presented before it departs PNG on Friday.

RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL

PAPUA New Guinea's national court has ordered the country’s Immigration and Citizenship Service Authority to facilitate the return to the country of New Zealander Douglas Tennent.

The religious lay worker was deported last month for allegedly breaching the terms of his religious worker visa.

As a qualified lawyer working for the Archbishop of Rabaul, Mr Tennent had been advising landowners at West Pomio who were involved in a contractual wrangle with logging and palm oil multinational company Rimbunan Hijau.

Mr Tennent was bundled on to a plane and flown to New Zealand despite a stay order on his deportation being presented to Immigration personnel.

The court has ordered Immigration to allow for Mr Tennent's return entry to PNG within two weeks from Friday.

SIR MEKERE MORAUTA

THE resignation of the election advisory committee sends a loud and clear signal that the conduct of the Papua New Guinean election had been highjacked by Peter O’Neill, Isaac Lupari and the electoral commissioner, ably assisted by the police commissioner, the defence force commander and the secretary for finance.

The members of the committee, ombudsman Richard Pagen, Richard Kassman and Professor John Luluaki are all extremely capable men of high integrity. They will not have taken the decision to resign lightly.

They have resigned because they have been ignored by the electoral commissioner and prevented from fulfilling their obligations and their role, which they take seriously.

All honest and concerned Papua New Guineans value their decision, but lament the causes of it.  It is a very sad day for Papua New Guinea, and sends shivers of fright about the future of democracy in our country.

The utter chaos of this election is deliberately organised. It is rigged. What rigging and deliberate chaos do we see?

Failure to provide the election advisory committee with any of the information it requested

Failure to complete an electoral roll that in any way shape or form reflects the eligible voting population

Failure to include names of people who had registered, with particular disenfranchisement of particular groups of people, such as students and educated working people

Failure to provide copies of the electoral roll to the public

Failure to provide sufficient ballot papers in areas where there were eligible voters listed on the Roll

Provision of extra ballot papers to People’s National Congress or pro-PNC candidates

Voting numbers in PNC-held seats that far exceed the number of eligible voters

Tens of thousands of ghost names on the roll

Illegal voting on Sunday and after 6pm

Deferral of voting in many areas, causing confusion and reduced voter turn-out, especially from the working population

Deferral and slow process of counting in selected areas

The list goes on.  People have been deliberately disenfranchised.  There is a growing surge of anger and disbelief.

The behavior of electoral commissioner Patilias Gamato is deplorable. He has turned a most powerful independent constitutional office into a political puppet show, and he should be held accountable.

By law he does not have to listen to anyone, apart from the advice of the election advisory committee.  But he has chosen to be an outrigger of PNC. He has chosen to be a political football, kicked around for political scoring by Peter O’Neill and his henchman, Isaac Lupari.

They will do anything to hold on to power, including destroying the nation.  They will do anything to prevent further exposure of their wrongdoings.

The resignation of the committee is a sign of the very dangerous waters that Papua New Guinea is heading towards.

Papua New Guineans must not just let these issues go.  Peoples’ rights to take part in any meaningful democratic process have been destroyed.

Patilias Gamato should immediately resign.  He has failed Papua New Guinea.”

Australia has nurtured the O’Neill regime and the election process.  It must take some responsibility for the chaos. 

I do hope the High Commission and its masters in Canberra are finally hearing the growing chorus of Papua New Guineans expressing their disapproval of this government and their anger about the chaos and rigging of the election.

If any hearing aids or spectacles are required, I am more than happy to provide them.”

The return of the O’Neill government would spell disaster for Papua New Guinea and change its democratic character.

I urge all political parties and all independent members of parliament, when elected, to abandon PNC.

If PNC comes back to power, the economic and social cost of repair and rebuilding the nation may be beyond any honest future government to undertake.  No-one with a conscience should allow PNC to form the government.

PAUL FLANAGAN | PNG Economics

THE resignation of the election advisory committee has been a devastating blow to the credibility of Papua New Guinea’s general election.

The failure to provide this high level constitutional committee with factual electoral information suggests deliberate acts to hide the truth

In its resignation letter, the committee indicated it was “prevented from performing its constitutional duties and roles” because it has not been provided with “baseline data and information nor have we been party to regular reporting”.

Detailed information was required to unpack possible deliberate ‘cooking the books’ in the general chaos and mismanagement of PNG’s 2017 election.

At an aggregate level, initial statistical analysis indicates that no clear pattern of bias can be determined at an electorate by electorate level.

However, the devil is in the detail. The analysis needs to be done at ward or even polling station level to determine if there is systematic bias. And this type of information appears to be hidden from the electoral advisory committee and the people of PNG more broadly.

Without such information, it is difficult to understand how the international observers to the election can form a view on whether it has been a free and fair election.

Denying a thousand votes to even one area by failing to distribute enough ballot papers or omitting a substantial number of previous electors from the electoral roll, yet alone organising to stack a ballot box or steal one, can easily swing the outcome. And it is this type of information which has been denied to the committee.

Australia must take some responsibility for this mess. Protecting a democracy so close to our shores (PNG is less than 10km from Australia) should have been a much higher priority than supporting the planned APEC meeting in 2018, yet alone the funding provided to the Manus asylum seeker centre.

The next steps in this saga are very uncertain. Six electorates were considered “failed” in the 2002 election, but over 100 electorates were considered fair and a new government was formed. 

Concerns appear much more widespread in this election although it has been more peaceful than some earlier ones. 

The resignation of the advisory committee removes yet another important check on the fairness of the election: “Following careful deliberation the members … wish to advise that it is unable to undertake one of its primary functions and which is to consider and recommend failure of an election”.

Maybe it is not too late to save this election.

Actions by returning officers, scrutineers, police and Electoral Commission officers can still have important impacts in helping protect the remaining integrity of this poll.

The electoral commissioner should resign. The influential role of recommending the outcome of the writs to the Governor General should be moved to someone seen as more independent of the O’Neill government and the mismanagement of the election.

Possibly the independent advisory committee itself should be asked to perform these key high level roles with the administrative functions going to the deputy electoral commissioner.

Alternatives such as a year of chaos preparing for yet another election or actions by the armed forces are not at all appealing.

JORDAN DEAN

Out of his sugar-coated mouth
Came words of gold;
Boastful tales
And promises of development.
Praise the Lord for such a servant!

We thought he was the messiah
Sent from the Haus Tambaran
To heal our moni- sicknesses
And give us our daily bread
Oh Hallelujah!

We voted him
And made him king.
Time passed;
One year, two years
He never returned

Tough luck for us
‘Oh Father, hallowed by thy name
Please hear our cries
And send your messiah back to us.
Amen.’

But, alas, there’s no answers
Only prayers.

STEFAN ARMBRUSTER | SBS World News

PAPUA New Guinea’s prime minister Peter O’Neill and the electoral commissioner have defended the conduct of the national poll, after a critical report from international observers and the resignation of the election advisory committee.

Opposition leader Don Polye claims the poll has been “rigged” and former prime ministers condemned the conduct of the process, with the 'Father of the Nation' Sir Michael Somare, calling it "the worst I have ever come across."

On Sunday the Election Advisory Committee resigned claiming it had been denied access to electoral roll and polling booth information needed to make recommendations on the legitimacy of the outcome.

A Commonwealth election observer interim report on Monday recommended "all aspects" of the electoral process be reviewed immediately after the poll, and raised concerns about “widespread” electoral roll discrepancies, allegations of voting buying and violence.

Counting is underway in 38 seats, yet to start in 72 and one has been declared.

Voting was due to finish on the weekend but has been extended until today in many electorates due to widespread polling issues.

“Our electoral commission has done the best it can, with the best people it could employ, and it is delivering a free and fair electoral process,” said Mr O’Neill.

“There will always be critics, there will always be people with vested interests, but in June and July 2017 our people have had their views heard.

“The process was not perfect, but you tell me a country where the process is perfect. You can look to elections in industrialised countries like the United States or Australia, to other countries around Asia.”

Electoral commissioner Patilias Gamato rejected allegations by the electoral advisory committee - made as they announced their resignation - that his office had denied access to polling information.

“It is a pity unfortunately they resigned prematurely, I can say their resignation is premature because the election is still in progress,” Mr Gamato said.

“The committee made some requests and we tried to be helpful but both the role of the committee was to give advice and recommendations, not to judge the election.

“It is an advisory committee, perhaps there was a misunderstanding.”

Opposition leaders and former prime ministers have condemned the election.

“This election is the worst I have ever come across,” former prime minister Sir Michael Somare told EMTV.

“I have stood for nine parliaments, and yes we made a lot of mistakes at the beginning but we corrected them and everything was good.

“I won’t even comment on the Electoral Commissioner and the people who run this election.

“There’s a lot of discrepancies in the ballot papers and ballot boxes. I have run elections and I know.”

Opposition leader Don Polye told ABC Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat he agreed with former members of the AEC about the transparency of the election

“At the moment the election in PNG is rigged, and we have lost the integrity of the free and fair election in this country,” Mr Polye said.

He accused electoral officers of being supporters of the prime minister and highlighted vast inaccuracies of the common electoral roll, but said the opposition would not boycott the election process.

“I think we should stop the counting, we should now all declare the election in Papua New Guinea in 2017 has been rigged, and failed - and a fresh election should be called,” Mr Polye said.

Former prime minister Sir Mekere Morauta who came out of retirement for the poll was also scathing of its conduct and called on Australia to take “some responsibility”.

“The utter chaos of this election is deliberately organised. It is rigged,” he said.

“Patilias Gamato should immediately resign. He has failed Papua New Guinea.

“Australia has nurtured the O’Neill regime and the election process. It must take some responsibility for the chaos.

“I do hope the high commission and their masters in Canberra are finally hearing the growing chorus of Papua New Guineans expressing their disapproval of this Government and their anger about the chaos and rigging of the election.”

Mr Gamato has also denounced police intimidation of election observers during the election count and has written to the police commissioner to ensure there is no misunderstanding of their role.

“As electoral commissioner I’m deeply concerned about the manner in which election observers have been treated, as this does not reflect well on us as the host nation.”

“I’ve written to police commissioner Baki and requested him to remind security forces to allow election observers to carry out without being subject to harassment or aggression from security personnel.

One incident at a counting venue in the capital involved a PNG national employed by the Australian National University.

“He was punched by security personnel and his mobile phone smashed,” Mr Gamato said.

“The second incident brought to my attention involved member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group. The MSG observers were also subjected to harassment and aggression by security personnel on two occasions.”