Bryan Kramer

STAFF REPORTER | PNG Tok

MADANG - A week-long forum is being held in Madang to recognise women’s participation in Papua New Guinean politics.

The program is part of a United Nations initiative to promote more women parliamentarians.

Despite not having representatives in this Parliament, women around the country are working to ensure they participate in the future.

Member for Madang, Bryan Kramer, missed Tuesday’s sitting of parliament to join the Registrar of Political Parties and Candidates, Dr Alphonse Gelu, at the forum.

Dr Alphonse Gelu

Mr Kramer spoke of his experience in the 2017 national election as a way of helping women plan their way to a political career.

Dr Gelu said his organisation understood the need to promote more women leaders in PNG.

UN representative David Ephraim said 110 people were invited to the forum, mostly women.

The different parties and individuals involved in the forum are hoping programs as such will inspire and provide ideas for women aspiring to be politicians.

JULIE KONDI

KIMBE - The laulau trees rustled gently against the afternoon breeze as willy wagtails chirped on their branches while the blue sky looked down happily.

The open sea, in a crimson shade, glistened as men and women went about their chores leaving behind in the village the old, the frail, the sick and children.

The village was quiet as the older children tended to their tasks as the younger siblings played.

Old Makuri hummed a soft tune in her head, a faraway look on her face.

The lahara wind had started to dance again last night. Tossing and tearing things in its path. And the river bed was cracking and opening its jaws in the remorseless heat. The merciless weather had been too hard and too long.

The old people in the village called it ‘baimara’, the season of deep hunger.

This reign of misery was a hollowed restlessness that drew goodness from all around, weighing hard on the spirit.

Gone was the labour of harvest. Now the barren fields lay desolate and deserted. The swaying coconut palms seemed to stand aloof from this, like loyal soldiers on parade. But the scruffy cocoa trees were ill-mannered neighbours loudly stating their dissatisfaction with life.

Not far in the distance, the once thriving forest of old with its myriad of beautiful treasures had become the shadow of its former self, its scrawny bones protruding to the heavens like sculptures of beggars pleading for crumbs.

It was a defeated scene of poverty and strife and vile deeds leered in the backdrop of the survival of the fittest.

Yet the old people never gave up.

People like old Makuri, elders of great wisdom, who held the village together. The men discussed great battles and survival schemes for the looming drought. The women made plans for food and wove great art in music, dance and craft which brought back nostalgic memories of the good times.

At nights the old women sang the baimara songs, whose melodies rang into the starry night, the chords playing on people's hearts stirring emotions, bringing tears and quieting feelings of helplessness.

Surely the winds will change, it’s just a matter of time. The wet season will come again. Thus said the old people.

Yet in that picture of simple village life the garamuts of the dead were beating; the death songs waiting to snatch the life of the most vulnerable and destitute in acts of social obligation. A traditional public act of honour and stature between brother and his sister.

Down at the valley of Makasi, old Heagi sat puffing his ancient pipe in full concentration. Little Miti sat on the bare earth watching her grandfather swallow huge drafts of smoke.

Lately he had begun chewing on the ends of the pipe as he smoked. He was increasingly given to his own quiet musing, sometimes disrupted by a tirade of coughing and wheezing that emerged from his thin frame.

Squatting by the fire side next to Heagi bubumeri Aya was baking cassava and stealing glances at her husband. It was like a silent conversation between the two and she was in the script with the lesser role of an observer.

She had the gentle look of a bubu meri that could calm even the most heated argument and it was there now.

It was hot and humid, the breeze barely felt. Aya had an emotional craving to belong yet could not escape the feeling of being an outsider.

Yet she was not an outsider, a loner perhaps but outsider, never! She just could not shake off the feeling of being unfulfilled and unattached.

Saku whined and wiggled out of Aya’s hands as she sat still, waiting the tension to erupt. She could feel the words going back and forth yet none was spoken aloud.

Slowly bubu meri reached out and touched Heagi's hand as he looked into her eyes. Her face lightened as she obsrved both of them staring at her.

"Miti your grandfather and I have been thinking and decided we will need to host a Mademai feast for you".

A what, bubu? Miti could not believe her ears as she stood up to make a retreat. Whatever for bubu, she asked amid tears.

"Harem pastaim, Miti, "the old woman pushed Miti back to her seat.

It was wok kastom, a traditional ceremonial feast that took away her mother's life. How dare they make a suggestion like this to her?

"Because you are our only grandchild from our late son," the old woman's shouted back at her.

"You are a member of a long lineage of warriors and chiefs. Don't you dare forget that!” she added with such emotion that her voice shook.

"I will not. Because I will remember that is these customary feasts that deprived me of my mother," she spat back the words as the old woman tightened her grip.

"Stop!" Heagi's voice boomed.

"Miti, we are in a world that is neither fair nor without flaws,” he said.

"We live in a world where we need to make hard decisions for survival. Sometimes whether we like it not we have obligations. And you have obligations whether you like it or not."

With tears streaming down her eyes she bowed her head at her grandfather’s admonishment.

"We are going to host a feast of belonging. It is quite different from the kastom in which your mother died,” he said slowly.

She stole a glance at their faces, sensing the unease of her grandparents.

It was an ugly truth that spat out that venomous pain. The funny looks and whispers she had endured growing up had now been laid out to her. For all these years they had never once raised the issue.

Why did they have to spoil her departure with these ancient customs? lt was unfair.

“You will be living away from home and it is important we prepare you for your place in our society. It is our duty as your guardians. The new ways and borrowed ways are for our learning, but our traditional ways bring order to us.

“Change is sweeping through our land and we are rapidly losing more than we are gaining.

“This is our way of preparing you to face the world with an open mind. We cannot ignore the signs before us. We all need to act to protect and maintain what is ours by birth right.”

In the sweltering heat Miti's grandparents explained the Belonging Wok Kastom feast.

It was a special feast that held public significance to announce or declare a clan's linage connection. It was a customary statement of declaration and civic responsibility through a wide cross section of the community because a child was a community responsibility.

That evening the tarvur, the traditional messenger conch shell, was blown to summon the villagers to the public square .

There the village elder announced the customary feast date and notices for the event.

Old Heagi identified his feast helpers and outlined his intentions for the ceremony. He also gave tasks to others who became suppliers of goods to the ceremony.

Most of the people had minor parts as audience and witnesses who would share in the food exchange they would all contribute to - the ceremonial collection known as kori.

The announcement caused a great buzz of excitement.

The feast was held the following month as the dry season made her swift exit The rivers began to fill to overflowing and the prawns and carp were teeming again.

All the while the ocean currents brought in their own delicacies of grubs and shells and fish.

As the waters of the Earth brought forth these fruits so too did the ground and trees fill the air with aromatic perfume that swirled its blessing upon mankind.

This was what the old people called the season of good harvest.

As the day drew near, there was great preparation. The yard was trimmed and weeds pulled out. Woven pandanus mat known as karukah were gathered along with the traditional shell money, pram tabu.

On the week of the feast bundles of taro, sugar cane and other crops were brought and placed on a food platform built on high stilts in the front yard.

Many elders came to visit the family from far villages where family links had extended over many generations. Some came to contribute cash or in kind while others came as helpers for the feast.

There were those who would dress Miti on the day as well as others who would take part in various other chores and responsibilities.

There were so many people coming and going Miti could not think properly.

On feast day, the rooster crowed at daybreak and the village women came bearing fresh firewood and utensils made of the finest carved wood, shell and stone.

The night before the village women elders had gathered clay pots and water vases.

Five fat sows that Heagi had bought were slaughtered. They were spread across the food platform for the distribution ceremony.

A contribution mat, the kadis, was put at the side of the platform where people who attended the ceremony could place their contributions.

After everyone had made a contribution, the gifts were distributed according to a list of recipients identified on the family tree.

When all was completed, a speech was made and gifts distributed to maternal and paternal uncles.

Heagi and Aya were dressed in the traditional clan bilas with the sacred body paint smeared over their bodies.

An eerie cry was heard from a corner as an aunt of Miti crawled on her knees calling out Miti's parents’ names. Time stood still. It was as if she was calling out to appease the dead and to reassure that Miti was loved and cared for. This was the merest glimpse of the sacred place where the dead dwell and watch over in silent vigilance.

A hypnotic trance seemed to embrace the group of elderly women who sang the traditional clan ritual song as they dressed Heagi and Aya.

The audience gasped and watched mesmerised and then, as swiftly as it had begun, the chanting and singing stopped.

There was a brief interlude before the gift presentations followed by the food distribution and the formal ceremony ended.

Even after all the guest had left, Heagi and Aya continued to pay traditional shell money to the people who had assisted in the ceremony.

A strange thing happened to Miti after the feast. She felt a sort of belonging to the community and its way of life. She felt a new sense of communal respect and goodwill.

She had learned something about kinship and heritage.

John Momis & Peter O'Neill - hostilities move into the open

KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA – It wasn’t so much the content as the arrogance of prime minister Peter O'Neill’s airy statement about Bougainville’s political future that came as a bombshell.

Bougainville’s ‘independence’ referendum scheduled for 15 June 2019 will not go ahead unless key conditions are met, O’Neill told the Papua New Guinea parliament on Tuesday.

And yesterday, Bougainville president Dr John Momis predictably reacted with anger, and said O'Neill was dead wrong.

“The referendum is inevitable. It's been decided. We will have a referendum," came the sharp retort.

Addressing the PNG parliament, O'Neill had stated that Bougainville’s autonomous government will be required to meet certain criteria before the referendum can be held.

These, O'Neill said, included “a proper establishment of rule of law, proper establishment of a government structure [and] proper disposal of weapons.

“All those issues are yet to be met as we speak today," he added.

"I don't want Papua New Guineans and Bougainvilleans to think that it's an easy path, that we'll just wake up tomorrow and have a referendum.

"It may be such that it's not possible."

Dr Momis said if O'Neill acted on his comments, it would be both unconstitutional and a breach of the Bougainville Peace Agreement.

“After the referendum is a different matter,” he said, “with the international community, through the United Nations, at that stage to decide whether [whether] what is happening in Bougainville meets international best practice.”

The referendum was formally agreed in 2001 in an internationally endorsed constitutional and legal treaty which brought to a close the bloody 10-year Bougainville civil war, a conflict which cost the lives of an estimated 10-15,000 people.

O’Neill has previously shown himself to be lukewarm on the referendum and other elements of the peace agreement.

In fact PNG has long been in breach of the agreement by showing itself unwilling to provide legislated reparations to Bougainville and failing to progress effective institutional arrangements to conduct the referendum.

O’Neill claimed that pre-referendum "conditions" still need to be met including establishing the rule of law, creating an effective government structure and disposing illegal weapons.

It was a specious list at best, as Bougainville has made great progress in each of these areas despite being strangled financially by the PNG government.

And, as Dr Momis said, "Weapons disposal, fiscal self-reliance, good governance - all these things are not conditions.

"They are considerations that we need to take into account in determining the date for the referendum. That's all."

In fact, it has been O’Neill’s failure to provide agreed funds and his tardiness in progressing negotiations towards a referendum that represent the main stumbling blocks to progress.

O’Neill told parliament the PNG government would help Bougainville “resolve the problems".

"We need to work harder in making sure that we attend to the issues that are clearly defined and stated in the peace agreement," he said.

But what his unilateral statement to the PNG parliament reinforced for Bougainvilleans was that Peter O'Neill cannot be relied upon to stick to an agreement, honour his promises or offer an honest helping hand.

As a prominent Bougainville politician told me, "Het bilong mipela ino pas" ['we're not stupid'].

Indeed, O'Neill's lack of consultation, his wilful misinterpretation of what the peace agreement says and his patronising tone may well project the Autonomous Bougainville Government into taking long-considered legal action against the PNG government. 

The number to call if you're experiencing family violence

LISA MARTIN | AAP

PORT MORESBY - An iron rod, an angry husband, and a petrified wife locked in a storeroom at work.

Defusing potentially deadly scenarios is a typical day at the office for counsellors at Papua New Guinea's domestic violence hotline, which has just clocked up its second anniversary.

Violence against women in PNG is at epidemic proportions with an estimated two-thirds experiencing physical and sexual abuse in their lifetimes.

The hotline has instigated police intervention 900 times since its inception.

It receives some funding from ChildFund Australia and has answered almost 8,000 calls, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Surprisingly, 49% of callers are men seeking relationship advice.

Family and sexual violence, relationship issues and child welfare were the top three issues for people calling.

In 63% of violence cases, the perpetrator was an intimate partner.

As well as police and legal services, the hotline provides referrals to face-to-face counselling, medical care and safe houses.

Central, Morobe, East Sepik, Southern Highlands and Eastern Highlands had the highest volume of callers compared to other provinces.

PNG readers seeking help and counselling for family and sexual violence should phone the 1-TOK KAUNSELIN HELPIM LAIN national hotline (715-08000)

WARIME GUTI

LAE - The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea has lost one of its senior pastors, the theologian, academic and profound philosopher Rev Dr Zirajukic Kemung.

Dr Kemung was called home to rest last Saturday while preaching at the pulpit. After a short introduction to his sermon, he said a word of prayer and collapsed. He was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead after an hour.

Dr Kemung was awarded his doctorate in theology from Neudettlesau, Germany, in 1996. He was the second of four Papua New Guinean Lutheran theologians to hold a doctorate in theology.

The others are former head bishop the late Chief Rt Rev Dr Wesley Kigasung, current Martin Luther Seminary principal Rev Dr Michael Wann, and dean of the ministry faculty at the Pacific Theological College in Fiji, Rev Dr Kiki.

Dr Kemung began his pastoral ministry in 1979 in the rural mountains of Teptep between Madang and Morobe.

In 1980, he went to serve in Goroka. By 1982 he was a lecturer at Martin Luther Seminary, serving there for 35 years until his death.

During his long service at the seminary he furthered his studies in Australia, the United States and Germany where he was awarded his doctorate in theology.

The haus karai is at Dr Kemung’s residence at the Martin Luther Seminary in Lae. The funeral service will be held on Friday 6 October at the seminary’s chapel.

The next day he will be flown home to Finschhafen to be laid to rest.

For more information on funeral service, haus karai and contributions contact Ms Kaire Kemung on 70011857, email wguti@elcpng.org

EDDIE TANAGO

Eddie Tanago

PORT MORESBY - The Papua New Guinea government's decision not to water down the powers of the proposed Independent Commission Against Corruption has been welcomed by community advocacy group Act Now!

Two-weeks ago Justice Minister Davis Steven said the government had amended draft legislation creating the ICAC to remove its powers of arrest and prosecution.

However, following concerns raised by Act Now! and other civil society groups, that the government was creating a “toothless monster”, Mr Steven announced the government would stick with the original 2015 ICAC bill with no revisions.

We welcome the minister’s statement the bill is not being watered down and the full powers of arrest and prosecution will remain as in the published version.

It is positive the government is listening to community concerns.

We now urge the government to go further and extend the same powers of arrest and prosecution to other anti-corruption institutions like the Auditor General, Ombudsman Commission and any future Commission of Inquiry so these bodies can enforce their own findings.

Act Now! is still concerned that, under the draft legislation, it is the prime minister who will head the appointments committee for commissioners.

An independent commission must be truly independent and there should be no role for the prime minister or any member of the government in appointing commissioners.

The government should remove the prime minister as head of the committee and replace him with the chairperson of Transparency International or a similar civil society figure.

This is necessary to remove any suggestion of bias or political control.

In Oro Province, the Queen Alexandra's Birdwing species is dwindling (Angelus Palik/SBBT)

SUBHOJIT GOSWAMI | Down to Earth | Edited

NEW DELHI - It is perhaps because of their beauty and grace that they were named after the wife of Edward VII.

Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing, the largest butterfly in the world with a wingspan of 30cm—at least 10 times the size of common butterflies—was discovered in Papua New Guinea in 1906.

More than a century later, one of the world’s rarest species has become the most endangered. In Oro Province, its last frontier, the density of this butterfly has shrunk to only 10 per square kilometre. They are now handful in number, but what’s causing the species to dwindle?

PNG has an ideal climate for palm production and the industry is fast expanding.

With traditional locations for plantations running out, companies are turning to clearing unexploited tropical forests - natural habitat of the birdwing butterfly.

Not only are trees being cut indiscriminately, the areas earmarked for palm oil production are set on fire as a preferred method of clearing. The extent of damage done in the tropical rainforest is evident in satellite images.

There have also been reports about government losing control over palm plantations, which are being increasingly privatised, with Chinese, Malaysian and Indonesian investors appropriating land to increase the network of oil palm plantations.

The same region, whose landscape is undergoing a rapid change, is home to three out of the top 10 endangered species of shallowtail and birdwing butterflies.

While Queen Alexandra's birdwing is considered endangered, Papilio moerneri is one of the rarest and least known of all PNG swallowtail butterflies and it has not been seen since 1924. The Southern Tailed Birdwing is also considered vulnerable.

Habitat alteration due to volcanic eruption in the 1950s and habitat destruction for oil palm plantations are key reasons why they are pushed to the brink of extinction.

Fortunately, a new initiative is coming to the rescue of these beautiful creatures. The Swallowtail and Birdwing Butterfly Trust (SBBT), led by entomologists and conservationists, has been established to conserve and protect butterflies of the Papilionidae family globally. Its first project is Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing.

With funding from the Malaysia-based Sime Darby Foundation), SBBT is trying to create a state-of-the-art captive breeding and release facility in New Britain Palm Oil Limited’s Higaturu palm oil estate—the heart of the butterfly’s home.

The captive breeding and release programme will be accompanied by habitat enrichment and protection of remaining forest areas around oil palm plantations.

“Sustainable conservation requires high quality, practical, on-the-ground conservation, with local communities and business working in partnership,” says Mark Collins, chairman of SBBT.

SBBT is providing technical, scientific and international support for studying the best areas to release the butterflies in the forests surrounding the palm oil estates, cultivating vines in those areas, and making sure there are supplies of the butterflies' favourite food plant, the Dutchman’s pipe.

Dr John Momis - angered by Peter O'Neill's comments on the referendum on Bougainville's political future

DON WISEMAN | Dateline Pacific, Radio New Zealand

WELLINGTON - The president of Bougainville, John Momis, says Papua New Guinea prime minister Peter O’Neill is ill-informed and misleading in his statements on the region's independence referendum.

Earlier this week Mr O'Neill told parliament that the referendum may not go ahead.

The referendum is the final act of the Bougainville Peace Agreement which was signed amid much fanfare in Arawa on Bougainville in 2001.

The agreement followed the end of a bitter civil war that is thought to have claimed as many as 20,000 lives. Under the deal, an autonomous parliament was set up in Bougainville in 2005, and given the power and responsibility to guide the province towards a vote on possible independence by June of 2020 at the latest.

To avoid a clash with its own election schedule, Bougainville decided on a date for the vote of 15 June 2019.

This week, in response to a parliamentary question, Mr O'Neill said the vote would not happen if certain conditions laid out in the peace agreement were not met. These include the establishment of the rule of law, a proper government structure on Bougainville and disposal of illegal weapons.

"It's a long way off so I don't want Papua New Guinea and Bougainvilleans to think it's an easy path, just that tomorrow we will wake up and we'll go and have a referendum,” Mr O’Neill told parliament.

“It may be such that it'll be not possible. So we need to work between now and then, to work harder in making sure that we attend to the issues that are clearly defined in the peace agreement."

PNG's minister of Bougainville affairs, Father Simon Dumarinu, himself a Bougainvillean and a new MP, defended the prime minister, saying he had issued Bougainvilleans a challenge to ensure they are ready for the referendum.

"For me, it's a challenge,” Fr Dumarina said. “It's a challenge to the Bougainvilleans, the government on the ground and the people together. It's a challenge to them from the prime minister in regards to this question."

Fr Dumarinu says both governments need to work together to meet the timeline. But the president of Bougainville, Dr John Momis, is furious at the prime minister's claims. He says Mr O'Neill's comments are dangerous and misleading.

"Weapons disposal, fiscal self-reliance, good governance - all these things - are not conditions,” Dr Momis said. “They are considerations that we need to take into account in determining the date for the referendum. That's all.

“The referendum is inevitable. It's been decided. We will have a referendum."

Dr Momis says if Mr O'Neill acted on his comments, it would be a breach of the peace agreement. He says Bougainville and the PNG national government are equal partners in the implementation of the agreement.

But he says development has been held back by Port Moresby deliberately withholding funding that it is constitutionally obligated to send to the province.

Dr Momis says ultimately it will be the international community through the United Nations that will determine whether both sides have fulfilled their obligations under the peace agreement.

John Momis - enough problems without Peter O'Neill playing games with a volatile Bougainville

GRANT WYETH | The Diplomat

SYDNEY - Tensions between Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) have again arisen concerning Bougainville’s independence referendum scheduled for June 2019.

PNG prime minister Peter O’Neill has informed the national parliament that the criteria established in the Bougainville Peace Agreement of 2001 — which would enable the region to hold a referendum — have yet to be met.

According to O’Neill, the region has yet to establish a solid rule of law, maintain functional government structures, nor has it fully disarmed the island’s militias.

However, the ABG has been arguing for some time that the PNG government has failed to live up to its financial obligations to allow the ABG the resources to fully implement the required conditions.

That the PNG government earlier this year had the power cut to government buildings due to unpaid bills, and lost its vote at the United National General Assembly because of a failure to make its annual contributions, could indicate that the ABG may be justified in its complaints.

The guarantee of referendum over Bougainville’s sovereignty was one of the primary requirements of the 2001 peace agreement that was brokered by New Zealand after a civil war that had been waged for most of the 1990s.

Were this agreement to be undermined, due to a failure to meet obligations by either party, then there is the potential for instability on the island to again resurface.

The position of Bougainville within PNG has always been an awkward one.

Bougainville Island is geographically and ecologically part of the archipelago that forms the Solomon Islands. The archipelago became contested within the colonial endeavours of both the British and Germans.

While most of the Solomon Islands came under British control in 1900, Germany maintained its hold on Bougainville Island. However, during World War I, the island was occupied by Australia, who subsequently administered it within the Territory of New Guinea.

The island unilaterally declared independence as the Republic of the North Solomons several days before PNG gained its independence from Australia in 1975.  Yet the republic was never recognised by the international community, and was absorbed into the newly sovereign PNG within six months.

In 1988 the tensions derived from this uneasy relationship became funnelled into a dispute involving the Panguna copper mine, operated by Rio-Tinto.

Grievances over the distribution of royalties and the environmental damage the mine was causing led to a revolt by the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) against the national PNG government, and a decade-long civil war that left up to 20,000 people dead.

A truce was called in 1997, with peace talks sponsored by New Zealand beginning in 1998. In 2001 the Bougainville Peace Agreement was signed, which created the Autonomous Bougainville Government and established a roadmap towards a referendum on independence, to be held no later and 2020.

Prime Minister O’Neill’s assertion that the ABG is not living up to its obligations within this roadmap has the potential to derail the trajectory towards this independence referendum. Yet if the national government is unable to provide the financial resources for the ABG to honour these commitments, then there is an obvious impasse.

If PNG is unable to provide the ABG with the resources it requires, it may fall to Australia and New Zealand to provide the necessary assistance in order to ensure that tensions do not escalate. However, this may be deemed to subvert the authority of PNG, and would potentially undermine these countries’ neutral positions on the prospect of an independent Bougainville.

The situation also poses the question of how the national government is assessing the ABG’s current situation, and whether strict interpretations of the criteria concerning “a proper establishment of rule of law, proper establishment of a government structures” are actually achievable for the region.

The dominance of “big man politics” and clan affiliations within Melanesian societies has ensured Western conceptions of governance and fiscal accountability find it difficult to adapt to the local cultural landscape.

The national government obviously also struggles with these tensions, and therefore should be wary of setting standards that the convergence of these two phenomenon cannot smoothly accommodate.

With the recent end to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) providing a successful transfer of full sovereignty back to the Solomon Islands government, any forces that may provoke a return to instability in the region would be of great concern to the Pacific neighbourhood.

The PNG government should be very wary of returning the country to the conflict of the 1990s, and seek to find a way to ensure that the Bougainville Peace Agreement continues to be adhered to by both parties.

William Duma & Fabian Pok - with the election over, stood aside ministers resurface

MEDIA ROOM | Transparency International PNG

PORT MORESBY - Transparency International PNG has grave concerns about prime minister Peter O’Neill’s commitment to integrity, given recent remarks justifying his dramatic change of mind in making two key ministerial reappointments,

These effectively acting against his own earlier decision which, in accordance with principles of good governance, was to protect the investigation into the K46 million Manumanu land deal by sidelining William Duma and Fabian Pok until such time as it had been completed.

Last Tuesday, responding to questions in parliament by Peter Isoaimo, Member for Kairuku Hiri, and James Donald, Member for North Fly, the prime minister is reported to have justified his controversial decision to re-appoint Mr Duma and Dr Pok to ministerial portfolios.

“We will address the issues that may come to light at the end of the enquiry,” Mr O’Neill said. “It’s no point me pre-empt [sic] the outcomes of the enquiry under our jurisdiction, the members should know all citizens are innocent until proven guilty.”

This is a direct contradiction of the prime minister’s statement to the media in February of this year when he said Mr Duma and Dr Pok “will step aside from their ministerial responsibilities pending the conclusion and outcomes of the Commission of Inquiry [now an administrative inquiry].”

Furthermore, Mr O’Neill said that, “It is now clear that these agencies of government have not worked together in a coordinated way to facilitate the implementation of the 2012 government NEC decision.

“The acquisition of this land has been done in clear violation of the government’s decision and resulted in K78.4 million being paid.”

In a media statement, Lawrence Stephens, chairman of Transparency International PNG, said “Papua New Guineans know that if a minister is being investigated he or she must step down to preserve the integrity of the office they hold.

“The PM must follow through his earlier commitment to integrity and revoke the appointments of Duma and Pok until the administrative inquiry into the Manumanu land deal is completed and the results made public.”

Mr. Stephens also observed that the members of parliament and media must be commended for reminding the prime minister of his commitment to integrity and protecting the course of justice.

Charles Abel & Peter O'Neill - serious contradictions in views about cash hand-outs to MPs

PAUL FLANAGAN | PNG Economics | Edited extracts

You can read Pauls’ detailed analysis of the supplementary budget here

CANBERRA – On Wednesday Papua New Guinea’s new deputy prime minister and treasurer, Charles Abel, presented the promised 2017 supplementary budget to parliament. It is a very mixed document.

There are positive messages about medium-term paths for getting fiscal policy back on track, including a worthy attempt to target a more reasonable budget deficit of 2.5% of GDP in 2017 relative to the excessively high 4.6% in 2016.

Some key expenditure priorities are being protected and there are sensible cash-flow fixes (such as pharmaceutical drugs, office rentals and interest costs) and small initiatives (such as funding the coffee berry borer disease response).

On the face of it, it appears that the government has started doing some of the hard yards required to get the budget back on track.

There will be an expenditure reallocation of K800 million to pay for cost over-runs and a further cut in expenditure of K494 million – a total of K1,294 million.

Given the original 2017 budget had total expenditure at K12,008 million (excluding donor grants), this is a domestic expenditure saving effort late in the year of 10.8%.

An extraordinary effort. However, there are significant doubts about the true nature of the “savings”.

The supplementary budget includes massive cash reductions to district and provincial support improvement programs totalling K925.22 million - so 71.5% of the total “savings” in this budget are for various support improvement programs.

But there was no mention of this anywhere in the treasurer’s 14 page speech. This is deeply disturbing.

The silence on these major cuts is particularly problematic given that the prime minister declared from New York that the programs would not be cut. So what is actually happening?

The reduction in district and provincial improvement funds provides a powerful lever for the prime minister to build government numbers as he can now argue there are not enough funds to pay all DSIP or PSIP allocations and that the government must be extremely selective about which MPs get paid.

With a game being played on something supposed to deliver over 70% of savings, the supplementary budget inevitability loses some credibility.

There is likelihood that the deficit will be significantly larger due to revenue shortfalls. Kumul Petroleum is expected to pay a dividend of K350 million – unlikely after the large losses it suffered on the foolish Oil Search transaction.

Statutory authorities, many of which are facing cash flow problems, are also still expected to pay dividends of K375 million. These numbers don’t seem credible.

On average in each of the last three years, revenues have fallen some K1,800 million short of the budget prediction for that year.

Based on past experience, I’d expect actual revenue outcomes to be down by well over K500 million on forecasts.

There are some real strengths in the 2017 supplementary budget. It demonstrates the declared intent to improve PNG’s budget crisis. As things are so bad, this cannot be a short-term fix. The medium-term planning for adjustment is welcome. Updates on the 100 day plan are welcome.

However, after going through the figures, the 2.5% deficit figure just does not seem credible. The International Monetary Fund thought the best possible outcome was a bit over 3% for the deficit. This would certainly seem to be the case after allowing for likely significant additional revenue shortfalls.

However, the greatest hit to credibility in this budget is the total silence in the treasurer’s speech on the actual treatment of the various support improvement programs. These represent 71% of proposed savings and there appears to be a major disagreement with the prime minister on them.

Clearly political power games are underway by the prime minister to get new members on the government benches. However, the supplementary budget indicates that the cupboard is too bare for these promises to be met (at least in 2017).

This moves the burden of proof of the government’s economic credibility to the 2018 budget. The people of PNG and international investors will look to the new Treasurer for better explanations and actions.

There is an easier and wiser course for PNG. If there is a chance that the new Treasurer can demonstrate to the international community that the government as a whole is willing to make the necessary adjustments, then there are prospects for many billions in additional funding to help ease the pain of adjustment.

This supplementary budget has just delayed some necessary hard decisions.

“We will put up a fight for you. We’re gonna do it, and we will never back down”

AHMAD KHAWAJABY | Real Sport
| Extract (read the full article here)

TODAY: PNG Hunters v Penrith Panthers: 2.40pm (Queensland time) at ANZ Stadium, Sydney. Watch the game live on Channel 9

PORT MORESBY - “We will put up a fight for you. We’re gonna do it, and we will never back down.”

Those words from their team song are enough to tell you what the PNG Hunters are all about. A loyal following behind them, they are the only non-Australian based side in the whole of the National Rugby League, and they are out with a point to prove.

Four years after their formation, they were crowned as the first non-Queensland side to win the Queensland Cup (reserve grade) after defeating the Sunshine Coast Falcons in a dramatic final.

Today they have their biggest clash so far, against NSW Cup champions the Penrith Panthers in the In-Trust State Championship blockbuster.

How did they get here?

After finishing just outside play-off contention in their inaugural season in 2014, the Hunters were eliminated in the finals series in 2015 and 2016 but showed the positive steps being made.

This year was another step in their development as they dominated the competition from start to finish. They lost only four games on their way to the minor premiership.

The team has the ability to incur those basic errors but the physicality in their pack has meant they have been able to contain teams when required. It has meant on some occasions this season they have been able to grind out wins late in the game.

And while it was not their best performance of the season, the season culminated in their historic first premiership with a dramatic last-minute win over the Falcons.

A champion team

It isn’t full of big stars, which shows the effort they have to put up just to get to this position. Eleven of the squad featured for the PNG national team, the Kumuls, in their international win against Fiji earlier in the season.

The Kumuls will also line up in next month’s World Cup held in New Zealand and Australia. Michael Marum, a four-test hooker for PNG, has been at the helm as head coach since their inception, besides having recently taken over the reins of the Kumuls as well. He was named Queensland Rugby League coach of the year at the annual awards recently held.

They have been able to recruit PNG-born players this season, including props the Albert brothers, Stanton and Wellington, who had come up through the NSW Cup ironically for the Panthers in their NSW Cup side. They have been instrumental in the Hunters’ success this season.

The team will also look to Queensland Rugby League player of the year and inspirational captain Ase Boas to be running the show as he so often has during the season.

Boas has been a point-scoring machine during the season, with the ability to kick a goal from anywhere on the field. He was also responsible for that miracle grubber kick that sent Willie Minoga in for the try that brought them level in last week’s grand final.

The journey back

This is PNG’s second inclusion into the Queensland Cup, with the Port Moresby Vipers representing them in the 1996 and 1997 seasons. This was in the pre-Super League era and the PNG side did not have a home base. As a result, costs of transport to and from Australia were too much to manage for the team’s financial situation, and they were not invited back to the competition the following year.

Back in 2011, the idea was to form a PNG based side to enter the NRL. An agreement was reached to send them into the feeder competition again at the insistence of former Hunters CEO Brad Tassell, however, this was not without reservations.

This included logistics of sending teams from Australia over to PNG, health risks and safety (pointing to instances of over-invested crowds having tear gas sprayed at them during the annual Prime Minister’s XIII match). Queensland teams indeed had to be looked after in this respect.

That it took nearly another two decades for the Hunters to be provided their platform was disappointing, but having seen the professionalism displayed on and off the field in their time in the competition, and the subsequent scenes that unfolded after their win against the Falcons, administrators are confident the right decision was made.

One which has helped extend rugby league’s reach in the right direction going forward. As QRL’s former General Manager of Major Competitions reflected on the Hunters’ journey back, he noted, “whilst rugby league is a business, it’s a business built on emotion and that was on complete display last Sunday.”

"For at least one day, the Hunters will be Queenslanders"

RIKKI-LEE ARNOLD | The Courier-Mail

BRISBANE - WHEN COACH Michael Marum talks about what Sunday’s Intrust Super Championship means to the PNG Hunters, it’s not just another chance to win for their country, but also for their state.

Marum’s team made history last weekend, when they claimed their first Intrust Super Cup premiership.

Today they represent the entire Queensland competition as they come up against the winners of the NSW competition, the Penrith Panthers.

For Marum, this means that for at least one day, the Hunters will be Queenslanders.

“We now represent the country and Queensland,” he said.

“We won’t let our country and our state down in Sydney. It’s important to us because now we can prove that our competition is tougher than NSW.”

Given how much Papua New Guineans love rugby league, it is hardly a surprise the Hunters are thriving on the chance to represent the Sunshine State.

Their victory song is the same “aye aye yippee yippee aye” tune made famous by the Maroons on the Origin stage.

After their stunning, last-minute 12-10 victory over the Sunshine Coast Falcons at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, skipper Ase Boas said that the team knew they had to fight until the dying seconds because “that’s what this ground is about”.

It’s clear they are proud to be in the Queensland competition.

And in return they hope plenty of Queenslanders rally around them today.

With their match the curtain-raiser to the NRL grand final, there will no doubt be plenty of Cowboys and Storm fans in the crowd and Channel 9 commentator Scott Sattler said everyone needed to get behind the Hunters.

A former Maroons player himself, Sattler said what the Hunters did against the Falcons was “Origin-like”.

 “It’s fair to say if you broke the game down and looked at them from a statistical point of view, it wasn’t a great game to watch and it was one of their worst performances of the year,” Sattler said of the Hunters.

“But the emotional attachment to the game, that second half, the way it finished ... everyone forgets the standard of the game.

“What they did, it was Origin-like. They shouldn’t have been in the game but they were, purely based on their ability to never give up. They stayed in the game based on pure resilience and toughness.”

After they played in front of a record 11,260-strong crowd last Sunday, Sattler said he thinks the Hunters will have plenty of support again at ANZ Stadium.

“It’s the perfect scenario for every Queenslander,” he said.

“They have the Cowboys or Storm … now they’ve got the PNG Hunters side.

“Even though they’re representing their country, they have also won the hearts and minds of all Intrust Super Cup fans.

“This team has captivated the whole state … this team has an emotional attachment to every Queensland fan.”

PNG Hunters v Penrith Panthers

2.40pm Sunday (Queensland time) at ANZ Stadium. Broadcast live on Channel 9

Hunters: 1. Stargroth Amean, 22. Wawa Paul, 3. Bland Abavu, 4. Adex Wera, 5. Butler Morris, 6. Ase Boas (c), 7. Watson Boas, 8. Wellington Albert, 9. Wartovo Puara, 10. Stanton Albert, 11. David Loko, 12. Nixon Putt, 13. Moses Meninga, 14. Rahdly Brawa, 15. Willie Minoga, 16. Enock Maki, 17. Brandy Peter, 18. Esau Siune. Coach: Michael Marum

Panthers: 1. Mason Cerruto, 2. Maika Sivo, 3. Jed Cartwright, 4. Tony Satini, 5. Christian Crichton, 6. Jarome Luai, 7. Darren Nicholls (c), 8. Moses Leota, 9. Mitch Rein, 10. Sitaleki Akauola, 11. Viliame Kikau, 12. Kaide Ellis, 13. Sione Katoa, 14. Tom Eisenhuth, 15. Corey Waddell, 16. Nick Lui-Toso, 17. Jack Hetherington, 18. Lachlan Stein, 19. Oliver Clark. Coach: Garth Brennan

ECONOMIC NEWS | Oxford Business Group

LONDON - A new trade policy looks set to shift Papua New Guinea’s focus towards the development of bilateral ties and away from multinational agreements as part of broader efforts to create a more balanced trading environment.

Launched in early August, the National Trade Policy (NTP) 2017-32 sets out guidelines for the country’s trading future, with a strategic implementation plan, currently in draft form, set to follow.

Commenting at the launch of the NTP, Charles Abel, deputy prime minister, said that future trade policy would focus on securing market access for local products through the signing of free trade agreements with countries that welcomed the participation of PNG businesses.

Under the NTP, PNG will set out to establish a policy framework and clear vision aimed at steering the country towards a competitive, export-driven economy, built on and supported by an expanding domestic market.

To that end, bolstering support for workers and home grown businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, is at the heart of the NTP.

Coordination between state agencies and exporters is expected to be stepped up, while efforts to improve the processes involved in facilitating trade will be prioritised.

In a sign that PNG plans to adopt a tougher stance where it deems necessary, the government announced the immediate suspension of its import tariff reduction program when giving details of the NTP.

The program was originally introduced in 1999, with the aim of raising standards among local firms by exposing them to greater levels of international competition.

Abel said the government would use its discretionary powers when negotiating trade agreements to ensure they were fair to PNG.

“We have reviewed our trade agreements through a cost-benefit analysis study and have decided which agreements are more important to us,” he said. “Our international trade rights and obligations need to be balanced.”

PNG’s shift in trade policy was evident when the government said in August that it had decided against signing the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Plus treaty.

Under the agreement, signatories will gradually phase out tariffs on imports, matching the duty-free access they have to Australian and New Zealand markets.

Explaining its decision, PNG’s government said it had concluded the country would be better served by strengthening bilateral trade ties and retaining the option of tariff protection for the local economy.

Critics of PACER Plus believe it to be skewed in favour of Australia and New Zealand due to the lowering of tariffs on products from these two countries. Promised investments and incentives, they claim, fail to offset the loss of tariff revenue and higher competition for local producers.

PNG will pursue alternative arrangements with Australia and New Zealand under the new NTP, Abel said, adding that such a process would result in direct and indirect benefits in terms of foreign direct investment, capital inflows, export earnings and job creation.

The NTP is expected to play a key role in helping the country reduce its reliance on extractive industries, according to Richard Maru, minister for national planning and monitoring.

PNG is keen to broaden its trading base. The country recorded a healthy trade surplus last year, according to IMF data, with exports totalling $8.3bn, against imports of $3bn. However, outward-bound shipments were heavily weighted in favour of hydrocarbons and minerals, which, accounted for 68.1% of the total.

Maru, who assisted in developing the NTP in his former role as minister for trade, commerce and industry, is confident that the new policy will help insulate PNG’s economy against fluctuations in international markets and boost overall performance.

“The trade policy is therefore the ongoing government’s declaration of more autonomy and control over international trade matters to ensure that PNG businesses and PNG workers maintain an equal and fair opportunity in the global market,” he said.

One of the aims of the NTP is to streamline trade procedures and speed up the movement of goods and services.

PNG ranked 119th out of 190 countries surveyed in the World Bank’s “Doing Business 2017” report, but placed 164th in terms of trading across borders.

According to the report, documentary and border compliance procedures for exports from PNG take around 96 and 42 hours to complete, respectively. Processes for imports are even lengthier, at 120 and 72 hours.

In a separate assessment, PNG ranked fourth in the Pacific region in the 2017 UN Regional Commission’s survey on trade facilitation and paperless trade, behind Fiji, Vanuatu and Tonga, despite having far higher levels of international trade.

To support the NTP, the government has said agencies facilitating trade will modernise operations, cut red tape and reduce the cost of trading.

Benny Wenda - "My people want to be free”

BEN DOHERTY & KATE LAMB | Guardian Australia | Extract

Read the complete article here

SYDNEY - The UN’s decolonisation committee will not accept a petition signed by 1.8 million West Papuans calling for independence, saying West Papua’s cause is outside the committee’s mandate.

In New York last week, the exiled West Papuan leader Benny Wenda presented the petition – banned by the Indonesian government, but smuggled across Papua and reportedly endorsed by 70% of the contested province’s population – to the UN’s decolonisation committee, known as the C24 and responsible for monitoring the progress of former colonies towards independence.

The petition asked the UN to appoint a special representative to investigate human rights abuses in the province and to “put West Papua back on the decolonisation committee agenda and ensure their right to self‐determination … is respected by holding an internationally supervised vote”.

“In the West Papuan people’s petition we hand over the bones of the people of West Papua to the United Nations and the world,” Wenda said of the document.

“After decades of suffering, decades of genocide, decades of occupation, we open up the voice of the West Papuan people which lives inside this petition. My people want to be free.”

But on Thursday the chair of the decolonisation committee, Rafael Ramírez, said no petition on West Papua could be accepted because the committee’s mandate extended only to the 17 states identified by the UN as “non-self-governing territories”.

“I am the chair of the C24 and the issue of West Papua is not a matter for the C24. We are just working on the counties that are part of the list of non-self-governing territories. That list is issued by the general assembly.

“One of the principles of our movement is to defend the sovereignty and the full integrity of the territory of our members. We are not going to do anything against Indonesia as a C24.”

West Papua was previously on the committee’s agenda – when the former Dutch colony was known as Netherlands New Guinea – but it was removed in 1963 when the province was annexed by Indonesia as Irian Jaya.

Ramírez, Venezuela’s representative to the UN, said his office was being “manipulated” for political purposes. Ramírez did not say the petition had not been presented to the committee, only that it was not able to accept it.

In a statement, Ramírez said that he supported Indonesia’s position that West Papua was an integral part of its territory.

Rob Parer, Sr Cecilia Prest & Marg Parer

ROB PARER 

BRISBANE - I received an email last Friday from Franciscan missionary Sister Cecilia Prest Mfic who has spent 15 years at Woorabinda, an indigenous community town 180 km south-west of Rockhampton in Queensland.

Previously Sr Cecilia was in the Aitape Diocese of Papua New Guinea for 28 years - most of the time in charge of the health centre at small mission station of Fatima near Lumi.

She told me that Fr Bruno Pokule was visiting Woorabinda for a few days, adding that she had delivered him when she was based at Sissano. Sr Cecilia remembers she was up all night as it had proved to be “a very difficult delivery”.

Fr Bruno, who visits Australia every year for marriage tribunal meetings and has been staying with Bishop Austin Crapp OFM at Townsville, studied canon law in Rome in the Italian language. How smart is that?

When Sr Cecilia was at Fatima she saved the life of Australian of the Year and eminent environmentalist, Prof Tim Flannery.

Village people had carried an unconscious Flannery from nearby Mt Somoro. He had been treating himself for malaria.

Genius that she is, Sr Cecilia found he actually had scrub typhus. She has studied tropical diseases in the United Kingdom and knew how to diagnose the mite borne sickness which is often fatal.

In his book, ‘Throwim Way Leg’, Flannery wrote that his life was saved by a nun but didn't mention Sr Cecilia by name.

Sr Cecilia had been one of Marg Lourigan's midwifery students at Mater Mother's Hospital in Brisbane. Ms Lourigan is my dear wife, Marg Parer.

Sam Basil - once thought to be the incorruptible great hope, now waiting for Peter O'Neill to fail

BRYAN KRAMER MP

LAE - On 1 September, I posted an article confirming rumours of a split in the Pangu Pati in which eight members, led by the party leader Sam Basil, made the decision to cross the floor of parliament to join prime minister Peter O’Neill’s government.

Seven other members, including me, decided to remain with the opposition.

The decision had been made at a secret meeting convened at the Lae International Hotel the previous day.

When contacted by the media about what had happened, I replied that the best person to answer that question was party leader Sam Basil and the members who supported the decision to move.

In other words I wanted to hear his response his before I made mine.

However, when Basil was contacted to confirm or deny the rumour, he refused to comment saying, “If anything [happens] we will call a media conference".

It wasn’t until 10 days later on 11 September that Basil and O’Neill staged a press conference at parliament house in Port Moresby confirming the move of 10 members of Pangu.

So, if the decision was initially made on 31 August, why did it take Basil and O'Neill 10 days to formally announce it?

What the public didn’t know was that following the meeting in Lae these members all went to the bar at the Lae International to celebrate their decision and wait for O’Neill to fly in from Port Moresby to stage a press conference.

However O’Neill did not show up. He said he would fly the next day.

On the following day, Basil and company travelled to Nazab Airport to welcome O’Neill. Again O'Neill was a no show.

Why?

It was rumoured through political grapevine that members of the government ranks opposed the plan for Basil to join the government. A deal had been cut between O’Neill and Basil without their knowledge or consent.

So how did this come about?

Following the formation of the new government on 1 August, Basil and O’Neill were in constant contact for Pangu to join government.

A week later Basil flew to Singapore to secretly meet with O’Neill where they cut a deal that Pangu would move to join the government and receive four senior ministries.

It is alleged the deal also included a substantial financial incentive, an issue I’m currently looking into.

My view as to why O’Neill would be keen for Pangu to join government is that he was concerned about William Duma, who held the balance of power with nine members in his United Resources Party (URP).

After the recent election and before the split in Pangu, the opposition had 48 members, the governor of Eastern Highlands was on the middle bench and the O’Neill government had 61 members.

The majority needed to form government was 56 (being half of the 111 seats in parliament).

URP was the second largest party in the government coalition second to O'Neill's People's National Congress Party. URP held the balance of power, meaning if it defected to the opposition 48 + 9 would equal 57 O'Neill would be removed as prime minister.

This explains why URP was able to hold key ministries in government - state-owned enterprises, police and petroleum & energy. Having the balance of power means one can dictate terms.

To neutralise Duma's influence and threat of defection, O’Neill needed to bring a counterweight - a party with equal numbers to still maintain a majority in the event URP defected.

O’Neill initially approached his former friend and staunch ally, leader of the National Alliance Patrick Pruaitch. However Pruaitch refused, knowing too well O'Neill's word wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.

Sadly the politically naive Basil – over-ambitious to become prime minister - was easier to mislead.

The problem O’Neill faced was how to make available the four senior ministries promised to Basil, which included works held by Michael Nali and energy held by Fabian Pok, without dividing his own governing coalition.

The answer was he couldn’t, hence the 10 day delay in announcing the move.

So why, in the end, did Basil cross without any ministries?

After a third failed attempt to join government, I made it known to Basil through a third party that I would write an article exposing the plan and the embarrassing fact he was being rejected by a corrupt government.

The very next day Basil and O’Neill staged a press conference announcing that Basil and nine other Pangu members had joined O’Neill government.

I can only assume Basil and O’Neill were concerned about both of them looking desperate and that this forced Basil to move without securing the ministries.

It is important to note that Basil's decision had nothing to do with opposition leadership, or a power play over Pangu's leadership following Sir Mekere Moratau’s decision to join.

It had to do with Basil’s ambition to be prime minister, confirmed in my own discussion with him.

He made it clear he was sick of being in opposition and deciding who in the government would be prime minister. He emphasised he made Peter O’Neill become prime minister, he made Belden Namah, and Don Polye become opposition leader and almost made William Duma prime minister on 1 August 2017.

"The prime minister will always come from government side and not the opposition," Basil told me.

This explains why he was keen to join the O’Neill government. The irony is that, while Basil is right if there is a split in government, it is always the opposition who decides which candidate in the government will be the next prime minister.

What he failed to understand is that the 27 members in opposition will decide and I can assure him it won’t be him.

Now I understand there will be a few members in both the government and opposition who will take issue with this article. What they need to understand is I didn’t seek elected office for financial incentive, political convenience or the opportunity to one day be prime minister.

It was to save this country from the corrupt people running it into the ground.

The future of our great country lies in the next generation and I will be doing my part to ensure they are afforded a better foundation to succeed us.

Just as I was able to overcome a corrupt electoral system and election rigging to finally get elected, I intend to share every experience and skill I have to help others who share the same passion, value and principles achieve the same.

JOHNNY POIYA & JEFFREY ELAPA | Pacific Media Watch | Extracts

Read the complete story here

PORT MORESBY - A rampaging crowd has attacked Papua New Guinea prime minister Peter O’Neill’s official vehicle and business interests in Mendi, Southern Highlands Province.

The Toyota LandCruiser V8 vehicle was stolen, and construction and mining logistics company Wildcat Construction base looted and torched, on Saturday afternoon.

South West Air’s airport hangar was ransacked also although its fleet of fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft had earlier been moved elsewhere.

O’Neill’s LandCruiser was among 10 vehicles, including an excavator, backhoe and grader, stolen by a rampaging crowd that had ran amok through the town.

An expatriate manager was rescued by bystanders when the prime minister’s premises were attacked.

Wildcat Construction and South West Air are the two biggest locally owned companies in the province and employ many locals and foreigners.

The attack followed the declaration of William Powi as Governor of Southern Highlands on Thursday.

Witnesses in Mendi said the rampaging crowd blamed O’Neill for the long delay in counting and eventual declaration of Powi as Governor.

All government services and businesses were closed and Mendi town was quiet and deserted yesterday.

Also on Saturday afternoon, two policemen were shot dead while another was seriously wounded and to Mt Hagen General Hospital.

Two teachers were with the policemen when attacked; one of them had his hands chopped off while his colleague is still missing.

Sources said police in the province have sought refuge with the candidates, allowing criminals to take over the town, firing guns indiscriminately.

Governor Powi condemned the actions of the minority who continue to take the law into their hands.

He said it was the work of the police to maintain law and order but the province had been taken over by warlords.

Dr Howard Ralph

KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA –Dr Howard Ralph is an eminent Australian wildlife vet who on Monday night featured on ABC-TV's Australian Story, which told of his epic and self-sacrificing commitment to Australia's bush creatures.

Howard Kenneth Ralph, we knew him as ‘Howie’ but I doubt this was his preferred mode of address, taught in the highlands of Papua New Guinea in the mid-1960s and has for many years now been known one of Australia’s best-known, most reclusive and most revered wildlife vets.

Howard trained as a cadet education officer at the Australian School of Pacific Administration in 1962-63 alongside me and other worthies who had committed some years of our youth to the then Australian jointly administered territories of Papua and New Guinea.

We arrived in PNG to start our new careers in November 1963, a week before President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.

Howard initially went to Navuneram in East New Britain for a final practice teaching before his first formal posting to Mt Hagen Primary School in the Western Highlands.

In 1965, he was despatched as teacher-in-charge to Nunga between Mt Hagen and Banz, where he stayed as for two years

Howard lived a solitary life at Nunga, focusing on his school duties and on saving money to undertake the medical degree he had yearned to acquire. He lived frugally, when I visited him there in mid-1966, he was living on brown rice, kaukau and tinned mackerel pike.

He didn’t make it into medical school first up, but in 1967 began studying veterinary science at the University of Sydney. After graduation, he practised as a vet for three years before embarking on a medical degree at the University of NSW.

Graduating from there, Howard decided to become a GP while continuing to work in his veterinary practice. The combination became too difficult to manage, especially as he’d also taken on further studies for a Diploma of Fine Arts and then a master’s degree in veterinary science specialising in wildlife medicine and particularly in anaesthesia for wildlife.

This rich combination of expertise has directed his life until the present.

At first the weighting was to medicine and he took up a position at Calvary Hospital in Canberra working in emergency medicine, skin cancer surgery and anaesthesia.

He and his wife Glenda, a physiotherapist and veterinary nurse, bought a property east of Canberra at a small place called Tarago, near Braidwood.

Here they were to establish their veterinary hospital – for wildlife.

Howard still works as a hospital anaesthetist one day a week and this funds his work to help injured or orphaned wildlife.

The hospital is dependent largely on voluntary contributions and voluntary labour.

Howard’s wildlife work, perhaps considered by his peers to be a bit beyond the mainstream, has never been the recipient of significant funding nor even the recognition that might be expected.

But his commitment is unwavering, despite serious illnesses and a roof-fall at Tarago that may have killed a lesser person.

Howard is now in his early seventies and, as Australian Story showed, he is beginning to turn his  mind to ensuring his legacy as a friend and protector of Australian wildlife continues long after he is able to continue.

Judging by the passion and dedication of the people who support him, he’s well on the way to ensuring this.

Credit: Images are screenshots taken from the ABC's 'Australian Story'

K19 billion & 10 years to get Panguna mine operating again

KEITH JACKSON

PORT MORESBY– Panguna’s copper and gold mine will take about 10 years to re-establish at a construction cost of up to K19 billion ($A7.7 billion), a Bougainville Copper Ltd chief has told a tax summit in Buka.

And no decision will be made to re-open the mine until BCL is convinced of the viability of the project and has conducted a ‘bankable feasibility’ study, said BCL company secretary Mark Hitchcock.

Mr Hitchcock said a realistic timeline for Panguna would see the mine operational around 2025-26 and potential tax revenue had to be viewed as a longer-term prospect with no short-term, direct tax generation

However the project’s development and construction period would present income generation opportunities for Bougainville.

The three-day tax and revenue summit was an initiative of the Autonomous Bougainville Government to assess the financial outlook of the province and the ABG’s ability to fund public services.

Mr Hitchcock told the summit that the project’s reconstruction phase would cost an estimated K13-19 billion.

Once developed, the mine would generate significant tax revenue for its operational life, expected to be more than 25 years.

Mr Hitchcock emphasised the need for certainty in the tax regime and warned that excessive tax imposts would undermine the project’s viability.

Mark Hitchcock

“One potential pathway is for the ABG and PNG national government to work towards a joint agreement to provide assurances regarding applicable taxes that would apply over the long-term,” Mr Hitchcock said.

In addition to tax revenue, the Panguna project would have a multiplier effect in terms of economic benefit.

“A project of this scale will help stimulate the economy in a multitude of ways in areas such as training and employment, new business opportunities in the supply of goods and services and the provision of new infrastructure to name a few,” he said.