BEN WESTCOTT | CNN | Edited

HONG KONG - The Chinese government is leveraging billions of dollars in debts to gain political leverage with developing countries across Asia and the Pacific, a new report presented to the US State Department claims.

The independent report, written by a pair of Harvard University scholars, identified 16 countries targeted by the Chinese government for "debtbook diplomacy.

According to the report, in some cases the huge debts grow to a size too large to pay back, allowing Beijing to leverage the loans to "acquire strategic assets or political influence over debtor nations."

This could allow the Chinese government to extend its influence across the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, encircling India and Australia as well as helping to consolidate its position in the South China Sea, the report said.

Last month, Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said he viewed "with great concern" any foreign military bases being built in the South Pacific, following reports Beijing was in talks with Vanuatu to host Chinese forces.

According to the new report, Vanuatu, just 2,500 kilometers off Australia's coast, has taken at least $270 million in Chinese loans in the past decade, worth 35% of its GDP. Both China and Vanuatu have strongly denied there were ever discussions over a People’s Liberation Army military presence on the island.

A US State Department official told CNN it encouraged China to promote and uphold internationally accepted best practices in infrastructure development and funding.

"We need to ensure recipients have options that allow them to retain their sovereignty and future control of their economies," the official said.

According to the report, there are a number of ways in which Beijing and state-owned enterprises leverage debt to help China's strategic aims.

In one case, infrastructure built with Chinese loans, has then been leased back to Chinese interests to pay off the original debt.

In 2017, an unprofitable Sri Lankan port built with billion-dollar loans from Beijing was leased to Chinese state-owned firms for 99 years to help repay the country's debts.

The report's co-author Sam Parker said there were concerns these ports could be used by Chinese naval vessels once they were under state control.

"There's definitely the potential where they can have it go from commercial, to occasional visit, to logistics, to humanitarian and then maybe finally a military base," he said.

In the Pacific, nations such as Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Tonga all owe the Chinese government billions of dollars in loans, encircling US allies Australia and New Zealand.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China's foreign policy was based on "mutual respect and win-win cooperation."

"As for other parties, they shouldn't be presumptuous based on their own views -- nor should they assume economic cooperation between developing countries always have ulterior political motives," he said.

Many of the loans are being given out as part of China's signature Belt and Road infrastructure program, which gives loans to developing nations to fund ports, railways and other initiatives across Asia, Europe and Africa.

Report co-author and Harvard scholar Gabrielle Chefitz said the loans under the Belt and Road plan, as well as China's other development grants, take a very different form to previous US programs such as the Marshall Plan.

"The Marshall plan was largely grants whereas China is giving this money and expecting something in return," she told CNN.

"And because of the relationship between the state and these companies, it's able to get returns which aren't wholly economic, which are strategic in nature ... like a veto in ASEAN, like a port, or a vote at the United Nations."

But Merriden Varrall, the Lowy Institute's East Asia Program director, told CNN there was still a lack of evidence as to how China was utilising its loans around the region.

"Nobody knows what China's motives are, presumably they're not simply altruistic, Australia's interests in providing aid and investment are certainly not purely altruistic either," she said.

Crossing a stream on the Kokoda Trail - too little to show for $50 million of Australian taxpayers' money

CHARLIE LYNN | Spectator Australia

SYDNEY - The ‘blackbirding curse’ is as damaging to Papua New Guinea’s adventure tourism industry as the ‘resource curse’ is to mining and exploration.

‘Blackbirding’ was a term given to the coercion of native people from PNG to work as cheap labour in Queensland’s sugar plantations in the latter part of the nineteenth century. When the extent of the exploitation became known it was outlawed as a form of slavery.

The ‘resource curse’ refers to the paradox that countries with an abundance of natural resources tend to have less economic growth, less democracy and worse development outcomes than countries with fewer natural resources.

Over the past decade 45,000 Australians from all walks of life have trekked across the Kokoda Trail. Their reasons are many and varied but the wartime significance combined with a sense of adventure in the land of the unexpected is the most compelling motivation.

Kokoda has now surpassed Gallipoli as a priority bucket list item.

Prospective trekkers become self-absorbed as they research trekking companies, camping gear, training methods and the wartime history of the campaign.

They learn of the loyal sacrifice of ‘fuzzy-wuzzy angels’ – those legendary wartime carriers who supported our troops and they look forward to sharing the experience with their descendants who will be employed to get them safely across the trail.

They expect these young guides and carriers will be properly cared for by the trekking company they engage to complete their trek. They expect that government will do its job and put in place rules and regulations to protect them against exploitation.

They expect Australia will ensure the wartime history of the Kokoda campaign will be protected. They expect that local subsistence villagers will receive their fair share of benefits from the emerging trekking industry.

Unfortunately the failure of government to manage these expectations has created a laissez faire market where caveat emptor (‘let the buyer beware’) prevails.

Since the Australian government assumed control of Kokoda a decade ago they have invested more than $50 million of taxpayer’s funds in what is euphemistically called the ‘Kokoda Initiative’. The results are not good.

Trekker numbers have declined by 42% under their watch. Not one of the five strategies or 33 key performance objectives established in their Strategic Plan for the Kokoda Trail from 2012-2015 was achieved.

Over this period there has been ongoing environmental degradation along the trail; areas with significant wartime heritage values have been desecrated; sections of the trail are dangerously unsafe; there are no toilets that meet the most basic of hygiene standards; there is not a single management protocol in place; no audited financial reports have been published by the management authority for at least five years; no newsletters have been produced; and no funds have been distributed to local communities.

The management authority does not have a database. There is no trek itinerary management system. It is not possible to book a campsite. The ranger system has collapsed. Local guides and carriers are shamelessly exploited by being overloaded, underpaid and poorly equipped – one collapsed and died on the trail last year.

Of greater concern however is the lack of any government commitment towards the protection of sites sacred to our shared military heritage along the Kokoda Trail. After a decade in situ there is still no master plan to honour and interpret the Kokoda campaign for future generations.

The only beneficiaries from the $50 million plus we have invested over the past decade are government officials and the consultants they have engaged for esoteric studies relating to climate change, gender equity, capacity building, social mapping, mentoring, village livelihoods and any other fashionable causes that excite progressive Canberra based bureaucrats.

The recent collapse of the management system put in place by these officials and their consultants has led to prime minister Peter O’Neill calling for an urgent review. We should be embarrassed that it has come to this.

The dysfunction has spawned a new breed of blackbirders within the Kokoda trekking industry. Anybody can be a trek operator for a token fee. There is no due diligence check to see if they have a registered company with appropriate insurances, training, experience and emergency gear. There are no rules.

All a Kokoda blackbirder needs today is a plagiarised website and they are in business.

The onus therefore lies with prospective trekkers to ensure they do their research to ensure they are not unwitting exploiters of the local porters who will sacrifice their all to get them safely across the trail.

The unwitting supporters of the blackbirders are those who go for the cheapest option with the trek operator they choose.  They are usually so engrossed with their own their own egos they neglect to check if their blackbirder limits the weight of backpacks to 18 kilograms for their porters which was the maximum allowable weight imposed by the Australian army during the Kokoda campaign in 1942.

They are so concerned with their own comforts they forget to check if their blackbirder issues each of their PNG support crew with a sleeping bag as temperatures drop to near freezing in the upper reaches of the Owen Stanley Ranges – and a suitable mat to protect them from the wet ground they have to sleep on.

There are many other issues to check to avoid supporting a blackbirder. The quantity and quality of the rations for their porters – their rates of pay – their ‘walk-home’ allowance – their trek uniforms – their medical support. These are not important issues for blackbirders but they should be vital to any trekker with a conscience.

An apathetic government that failed to take a single Kokoda veteran to PNG for the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Kokoda campaign – or send a single MP to represent the Prime Minister at the Anzac Dawn Service at Bomana War Cemetery this year – cannot be relied on to protect the descendants of those who did so much to protect our troops in 1942.

Martyn Namorong - gagged for last year's national election

KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA – The ‘I am not a tomato’ defamation case brought by Papua New Guinea electoral commissioner Patilias Gamato against writer Martyn Namorong returns to the national court in Port Moresby today.

The case began in an unusual way during last year’s PNG election when Gamato complained he was defamed in critical social media posts that likened him to a tomato.

The chaotic PNG election had resulted in wide criticism of his commission’s conduct of polling and counting.

"He made some defamatory statements and also called my surname, which is Gamato, as 'tomato'," the ABC reported Gamato saying about Namorong at a press conference.

"I don't look like a tomato, I'm a human being. He put a big tomato on my head, what if he did that to you?"

Mr Gamato is seeking punitive and aggravated damages for ‘stress, anxiety and loss of reputation’.

National court justice Collin Makail ordered Gamato’s statement of claim be published in newspapers and granted an order restraining Namorong from “further publishing defamatory remarks the blogger made against Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato on Facebook and Twitter”.

Namorong then ceased political commentary for the rest of the election period while publishing a photo of himself in a gagged state.

Gamato’s full statement of claim, signed by Kemno’nga Robin Kawat of Kawat Lawyers, as published in The National newspaper said in part:

“On or about 27 June 2017 in the Defendant wrote or published in his tweeter account by calling the Plaintiff as Mr Tomato, the defendant maliciously wrote and published in his tweeter account and these has gone viral on social media in particular Facebook by tarnishing the surname of the Plaintiff (Gamato) …. He is not a vegetable.”

Martyn in a more relaxed state

At the time former prime minister Sir Mekere Morauta criticised the gag order saying, “I have never seen anything written by Martyn that could be called offensive. Humorous, yes. To the point, also yes. That’s why Martyn’s tweets and quips are so popular.”

Namorong’s defence team in the national court today includes Greg Shepherd of Young and Williams Lawyers and Christine Copland of Simpsons Lawyers.

In a message to his many supporters, the noted commentator, writer and anti-corruption activist said: “You should be more worried about PNG’s future than my plight.”

JEFFREY FEBI

Days are born at first light.
Dead at last light.
Less they care about memories.
Gather, don't they in anniversaries?

Often many a day is grey and boring.
Certainly, a dark day would be raining.
Without winds of determination.
Strong when winds are, it's a confrontation.

But we know a day is ours particularly.
When mild is the heat, wind is airworthy.
Streams refreshing, and noise calming.
A day is great when it's approving.

Many as the stars, may great days be.
And in their last lights, may dark days flea.
First lights herald births of days.

MICHAEL DOM

There is less lyric in pyric passions
Explosive, explicit, exotic dance
Some syllabic maze to navel-gaze on,
Swallowing a shallow, callow cadence.

When the deeper you feel, the more you drool
And as high as some bird flies in the sky
There's somewhere, somehow, some similar fool
Achieving states of ecstasy as high.

Instead, use emotional propulsion 
Let this be surrendered to the rudder 
Thence to the tiller of our tongue, your pen,
Confer your soul: seek emancipation.

Ejaculation is as sure as spit
Show me your poetry, don't just write it.

Map showing scale of Chinese aid in the Pacific (Lowy Institute)

BAL KAMA | DevPolicy Blog

CANBERRA - The ‘China-in-the-Pacific’ dilemma has once again hit the headlines in Australia, this time with a proposed naval base in Vanuatu.

It was promptly rejected by the Vanuatu government, but the likelihood of having Chinese military hardware on a long-term basis in the Pacific has raised significant discussion on the strategic implications for Australia and its allies.

Australia has long maintained a well-established and enduring relationship with the people of the Pacific. But China’s influence is undeniably increasing. Its investment in soft power in particular has been a success, not only in economic terms but also in the lives of ordinary people.

Chinese infrastructure projects, while not always successful, have enabled access to government services, giving people a sense of modernity and development. China’s growing diaspora in the Pacific is also increasingly active in community engagements and maintain a close influence on local politics.

China’s people-to-people relations continue to expand as it becomes a first responder to disaster relief efforts, shows goodwill through local charities, and provides scholarships for Pacific students to prestigious Chinese universities.

To bridge the cultural gap, China is currently considering building Chinese language schools in the Pacific, beginning with Papua New Guinea.

Australia believes, as part of its strategic policy, that a secure Pacific means a secure Australia. China’s emergence in the Pacific is seen by some as a threat to this state of order.

Recent rhetoric in Australia seems to be aimed towards pressuring Canberra to deepen its engagement with the Pacific as a way of countering China and projecting Australia as a partner of choice for the Pacific countries.

But these approaches are not new, considering Australia’s extensive awareness of China’s influence in the region. Australia’s interest in the Pacific has varied over the years, but the Chinese question – at least in the last two decades – has been a cornerstone of Australia’s strategic policy.

However, one problem is how this issue is framed and perceived.

Rhetoric in Australia has mostly been about countering China in order to secure Australia’s interests in the Pacific. There is less discussion about Pacific interests or, more specifically, how Australia’s position on China would secure Pacific interests.

While the rhetoric about ‘securing Australia’s interests in the Pacific’ is hoisted with zeal here in Australia, it is viewed among some in the Pacific as neo-colonialist. Pacific leaders do not want to be seen succumbing to securing Australia’s interest at the expense of that of their people.

Unlike in the past, Pacific leaders are increasingly assertive and well-informed of the geopolitical nuances currently at play in the region. They have intelligent military and political advisors dedicated to consolidating their sovereignty and exploiting the current geopolitical tussle, while acutely sensitive to any sign of bullying or cohesion.

Australia was traditionally a leader in the Pacific, but this has been reconfigured. China sees past Australia to the United States as the force to be reckoned with in the region, and that is apparent to Pacific leaders.

Australia’s prestige and influence is declining in this new regional order, although it still maintains a strong influence on the people’s ‘hearts and minds.’

In ‘The Embarrassed Colonist’, Sean Dorney refers to the lack of Pacific content in Australia’s public consciousness as an important reminder of the disconnect between modern Australia and the people of the Pacific.

Australia will need to return to the time when the Pacific was part of Australia’s ‘family’. The Pacific is embedded in Australia’s history (for instance, see section 51 (xxx) of the Australian Constitution). The camaraderie during the World War II continues to project Australia as brave, while colonialism ties Australia to a common history and shared responsibility to the Pacific.

Australia needs to consider these close historic and political relations when contemplating the appropriate approach to the Chinese question.

Australia is not alone in its anxiety over China’s influence. The people of the Pacific are also wary of China, as its system of government, business model and institutions are at odds with their democratic society. Chinese business influence has resulted in violence in the past. China is aware of these sensitivities.

Within this context, Australia is not an outsider. The important question for Australia, then, is not how Australia can secure its interests in the Pacific, but how Australia’s position can secure Pacific interests in the Pacific and beyond.

This approach will require Australia to be genuine and make some sacrifices. Pacific leaders will honour Australia’s sacrifice if they see it. If this approach is appropriately framed, it will bolster the rule-based regional order Australia intends to create, as well as restore respect of Australia.

Such respect is likely to be followed by appropriate compromises among Pacific leaders, who would be satisfied that Australia has done all it could to secure Pacific interests in regional and global platforms on issues pertinent to the Pacific, such as climate change, good governance, infrastructure development, trade, etc.

Foreign relations are about giving as well as taking, and Australia must be prepared to give the Pacific its proper place of importance if Australia is to receive good tidings from the Pacific in return.

Otherwise, this anxiety about China in the Pacific is likely to continue, as Pacific countries, feeling restless and neglected, search for new allies.

TANYA ZERIGA ALONE | EmNau’sPNG Blog

PORT MORESBY - A family meal in Papua New Guinea is incomplete without rice. Indeed, rice has fast become a staple for town residents in the four decades since independence.

Rice is referred to as marasin [medicine] and has the same effect on some people. One can never go wrong presenting to relatives back home a bag or packet of rice.

Rice is consumed by nearly half of the entire world population and many countries, especially in Asia, are completely dependent on rice as a staple food.

Rice is said to be the world’s food security, and in PNG there is a rush for rice cultivation.

Indeed, a 10-year domestic rice development policy was approved by the National Executive Council in 2005.

The policy aims to establish “a sustainable domestic rice industry that would enhance household food security and nutrition, generate cash income for farmers, and reduce dependence on imported rice”. 

The NEC decision stands even though peer-reviewed studies show rice only makes up 9% of Papua New Guineans diet while local staples make up 68% of the diet.

The government has engaged the Philippines, China, Taiwan and Japan to teach Papua New Guineans to cultivate rice, which is now grown in small scale projects in several provinces in PNG.

Hybrid rice has been introduced in the Ramu Valley in the vicinity of the Chinese Ramu Nico Company by the Chinese themselves. According to the miners, the rice is going to be food security for the local people displaced by the mine.

http://www.grain.org/hybridrice/?lid=203

The big question, however, is whether rice should be encouraged as food security for PNG?

I won’t deny that I enjoy rice ever so often, especially rice from my grandmother’s small rice plot. But, should PNG embrace rice as a food security over our local staple cultivars (like taro, bananas, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, sago and nuts)?

Rice is fast to grow and easy to cook, however, in favouring this faster growing species, we can neglect our local taro and  banana cultivars –a legacy passed on from our forefathers. 

Through breeding over thousands of years, these traditional cultivars are suited for this tropical environment and have adapted to the diseases and pests. 

On the other hand, rice is grown in monoculture is susceptible to outbreaks of pest infestation and disease. Without the protection afforded by adaptation to the local environment, whole crops may be lost.

Rice is fast to grow and easy to cook, but the process from plot to plate is labour intensive. Unlike our native cultivars, processing rice requires time and effort.

First, the rice plot must be kept clean. This is more intensive then the three or four weeding required for a taro garden. 

Secondly, rice need to be harvested as soon as the grains mature. Studies show “that proper timing is important in harvesting the crop as losses could be incurred if rice is harvested too soon or too late.

“Delayed harvesting exposes the crop to insect, rodent and bird pests, in addition to increased risks of lodging and grain shattering.”

In contrast, our native cultivar – the banana - is always the last food crop harvested in old gardens. Now this is food security for people as they leave old garden plots and move to start new plots.

Furthermore, husking rice requires time and effort. A rice mill is the technology to husk rice, but mills are expensive and need fuel to run, and if the mill is not yours you have to pay others to husk the rice for you.

Rice is said to contain more kilojoules of energy per serve when compared to other carbohydrates however, white rice lacks essential vitamins and minerals. Eating a mixture of native carbohydrates with greens and fruits and nuts is nutritionally, a better option.

Rice cultivation smothers and kills native rainforest seedbank.  To cultivate rice requires a plot cleared of all grass and trees and debris; the store of forest seedbank. Continually using this plot of land suppresses the growth of forest and encourages the development of grasslands (as seen in rice growing countries).

Planting rice along river valleys eliminates saplings and shrubs which serve an important role of slowing the velocity and reducing the impacts of floods.  Growing rice also removes trees and shrubs that protects the topsoil from being washed away in this environment where rainfall over 100mm a year is the norm.

Food security for PNG is in its local cultivars. Research should be focussed on the preservation and improvement of these local cultivars to withstand diseases and pest as well as being able to withstand the impacts of the new threat – climate change.

Instead of hiring rice consultants, the government should use the money to fund research to fortify our native cultivars against pest and diseases.

This includes three main staples that have been hard hit: taro (taro beetle), potatoes (potato blight) and bananas (Black Sigatoka).

RASHMII BELL

BRISBANE - Managing connections, exploring ideas and interpretations, refining skills or simply absorbing literary knowledge are amongst the array of reasons why writers and readers gravitate towards each other.

The shape of these meeting points differ, as does their meaning and significance.

Consider the fictional ‘Letters Library’ in the young adult novel, ‘Words in Deep Blue’ by Cath Crowley:

“Customers are allowed to write in the books in the Letter Library. They can circle words that they love, highlight lines. They can leave notes in the margins, leave thoughts about the meaning of things…they leave whole letters and put them between pages in the books…Mostly people write to strangers who love the same books as them – and some stranger somewhere, writes back.”

Crowley’s multi-award nominated book follows the exploits of teenager Rachel Sweetie, whose experience of family grief pivots the trademark stumble from awkward adolescence to adulthood.

Rachel and best friend Henry Jones narrate their changing relationship and share the lives of the small group of dedicated writers and readers around them.

Moments in these lives are revealed through introspective notes and letters placed in the ‘Letters Library’ of the Jones’ family-owned second-hand bookstore, Howling Books.

At last weekend’s inaugural Queensland LoveYA event, Cath Crowley was in conversation with fellow Australian young adult (YA) author, Steph Bowe.

Manoeuvring through a series of author-to-author questions, Crowley explained the inspiration for Howling Books as being drawn from her interconnected view of books as an implement of time travel and second-hand bookstores as a portal for communication through time and place.

And so the imaginary ‘Letter Library’ was created, leaving mock letters in bookstores throughout the Victorian suburbs of Carlton and Yarraville – the fictitious Howling Books bookstore as a centre for communication.

In mid-April, the Creative Industries Faculty of the Queensland University of Technology through its ‘On the Terrace: Writers Seminar’ series explored ideas around defining a literary centre, its importance to a writer’s development and what it means for a writer on the ‘outskirts’.

Esteemed Australian literary identities Nick Earls, Jane O’Hara and Rohan Wilson were panellists driven by thought-provoking questions by academic, lecturer and author Karl Gislason, who sought to address the question of whether Brisbane could be identified as a literary centre.

Panellists agreed that Brisbane has pockets where literary activity thrives, with some places drawing more prominent identities and audiences. The Brisbane Writers Festival Powerhouse, Avid Bookstore (West End) and Riverbend Books (Bulimba) were all cited as forums of storytelling, debate, discussion and sharing ideas to influence how a writer’s craft may take shape and to provide answers to readers’ questions.

Jane O’Hara referred to New York as a long-standing literary centre because of the attitude of an entire industry of writers, illustrators and publishers unapologetically not leaving their place to go elsewhere to be able to ‘make it’.

Nick Earls’ reflections encompassed his early days a writer in Brisbane during the 1980’s, recalled as a time when the literary culture was near-absent and what there was somewhat mocked.

Earl’s first experience of presenting his work was at a poetry night at an art gallery in the suburb of Grange. As a full time doctor pursuing writing part-time, the publication of his early novels did little to stir an urge to leave Brisbane to ‘make it’ as a writer.

Even when transitioning into full-time writing, Earls’ admiration for the Australian reader to contextualise content, in contrast to the process of Americanisation in US publishing, solidified his conviction to ‘stay home’.

Earls’ pondered the potential of centres becoming insular, assessing that this may not necessarily be constructive for the developing writer.

In similar vein, Rohan Wilson’s attachment to his hometown in Tasmania remains a source of inspiration, motivation and productivity.

Viewing an absence of Tasmanian writers as an advantage, Wilson contemplated the early days of his career as a period of increasing dedication to refining his work. Although now residing in Brisbane, he advocates that if writers are progressing well in their craft, productive and actively refining their skills, leaving the place they call home to ‘make it’ elsewhere may be counter-productive.

Jane O’Hara’s extensive experience as a curator of literary events pointed to the Jaipur Literature Festival as a literary centre of renown and success in its ability to attract a high number of authors, publishers and readers.

But she emphasised the reality of selling the idea of writers’ festivals to potential donors and backers is particularly difficult, hence the importance of continual lobbying of government for funding.

O’Hara commented that some writers are content with writing and selling a few books, whilst others aim to sell a multitude and follow the trail of promotional tours, literary festivals, author talks and so on.

He said there are authors who start out mainstream then opt for self-publishing, working with the advantage of an established reader-following. O’Hara also observed that some writers who initially self-published have later gone on to sell rights to large publishing houses.

Attending Avid Bookstore’s launch event of Griffith Review's Issue 60, ‘First Things First’, gave me an opportunity to see authors including Dr Sandra Phillips and Dr Joanne Watson speak on the issues of their craft in a setting much like that of the fictional Howling Books.

In particular, it was the presence of award winning Goorie writer Melissa Lucashenko that illuminated the manner in which writers may spread themselves across a range of literary centres.

Lucashenko’s appearance as a session panellist at the April ‘Women of Wonder’ (WoW) Festival and other events illuminated the way in which access to a variety of places is integral to developing a nation of writers and readers.

This article was prepared for the My Walk to Equality Writer Fellowship 2018 sponsored by Paga Hill Development Company. Attendance at LoveYA18, On the Terrace: Writers Seminar (Creative Industries Faculty, QUT) and Griffith Review 60: First Things First Launch event at Avid Bookstore (were all undertaken as literary activities of the MWTE Fellowship 2018.  The fellowship commenced in mid-March 2018 and will conclude at the end of September 2018. Information and regular updates of activities undertaken by fellowship recipient, Rashmii Bell, may be found here or via Twitter: @amoahfive_oh .

Majestic Seafoods cannery line in Lae

SCOTT WAIDE | Asia Pacific Report

LAE - Landowning clans in here are threatening to close down five fish processing plants if the government does not review the existing agreements that govern them.

The clans, which include the Ahi and the Busulum, say they have been cheated of development benefits.

Since the agreements were signed four years ago, they have received K5,000 a year for the five portions of land they own.

The threat comes after three years of complicated wrangling with the government and the companies over landowner benefits.

If the landowners ge their way, Majestic Seafoods, Frabelle and three other fish processing factories will be forced to shut down on Tuesday.

Landowner company BUP Development is calling on the National Fisheries Authority to review the existing agreements so that they receive more in terms of landowner benefits.

After four years, it has become clear landowners got a bad deal.

The landowners are paid a total of K5,000 annually for the five land portions they leased to the companies. The deal was negotiated by the provincial administration at the start of the projects.

Apart from a K2 million premium payment made several years ago, the landowners receive little else.

They are also not party to agreements between the state and the fish processing companies.

They also do not know what the terms of the state agreement are.

The landowner company issued a seven-day notice to the government to come to Lae for negotiations.

They are demanding K20 million in compensation as well as a review of the memorandum of agreement they signed with the companies.

Dr Glen Mola - 'becoming more difficult for doctors & nurses to stay positive'

GLEN MOLA

PORT MORESBY – It’s not always good news. Today we heard at our staff meeting at Port Moresby General Hospital that we have run out of antiretroviral (ART or HIV) medicines.

We have many thousands of HIV positive people on treatment in the National Capital District (and several more thousands around the rest of the country) and they may not have any medicine to take unless new supplies arrive in the very near future.

People on ART must take their medicine every single day: if they stop and start again they are very likely to breed resistant HIV.

This is not only bad (in fact life-threatening) for the patient, but life-threatening for everybody else in the community who might catch HIV from them.

We also don't have any syphilis test kits in the country. Syphilis used to be the commonest cause of stillbirth (babies dying inside their mothers) in our audit statistics - and after we started routine testing of all mothers coming to ante-natal clinics and treating the positives we virtually eliminated this scourge from our pregnant mums.

But now, with no test kits available, the syphilis problem will come back and many babies will die.

And this week we ran out of oxytocin, the drug that prevents women from losing too much blood when they deliver babies.

The commonest cause of death when oxytocin is not available is post-partum haemorrhage (excessive bleeding after the birth); so we are probably going to see a lot more mothers die even when they come to hospital to have a supervised birth.

And we are very short of surgical sutures - the special thread and needle that surgeons use to sew up patients during and after operations.

Every day we don't have some essential item that is critical to standard medical practice.

And the PNG government does not pay for any of the family planning commodities - pills, depo-provera, implants etc. They are all donated to us by the United Nations Population Fund and other overseas donor agencies.

Eventually this will stop, because PNG has recently been upgraded to a middle income country because of our oil and gas extractive industries.

And if the government does not step up and buy the family planning commodities that we need to assist people to plan their families, I’m not sure what the consequences will be.

Most doctors and nurses try to stay positive about their work but in the face of a government that does not support the health system - it is becoming more and more difficult.

We know there are millions of kina available for high profile stuff like various intensive care facilities at PMGH (coronary care, trauma, cardiac catheterisation, renal dialysis) that benefits only a minority (less than 1% of patients).

But how come there is no money for the majority (99%) of patients - the sick kids, the women delivering babies, the people every night needing emergency surgery, the HIV and TB patients, families needing contraceptive to plan their families.

"The answer my friend is blowing in the wind......" - Bob Dylan.

Can we all please start putting pressure on the government to fund the health service properly - and not just through Borneo Pacific.

Dr Glen Mola  MBBS DPH FRCOG FRANZCOG MRACGP is a professor in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of PNG

It wasn't just the LNG tankers that sailed away - the benefits to the people of PNG did too

PAUL FLANAGAN | PNG Economics

Connect here for the complete article including links and references

CANBERRA - The yawning chasm between Papua New Guinea’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) benefit predictions and its adverse impacts on the PNG economy has little to do with the fall in oil prices. Claiming so is a poor and inaccurate defence.

The PNG LNG modelling done in 2008 accurately predicted export sales revenues for 2015 and 2016. While oil prices were some 25% below the model’s mid-case scenario, this was fully offset by actual LNG production being some 25% higher than 2008 expectations.

Price falls were matched by production increases – sales revenues were as predicted. As the marginal cost of production is low (most costs of LNG production relate to the high initial capital costs), sales revenue is the driver for expected benefits.

Export sales of petroleum products increased by almost exactly the predicted 440% – from K2 billion in 2013 to K11 billion in 2016. So the failure of the PNG LNG to deliver benefits as predicated has little to do with the fall in oil prices in 2014.

Of course oil prices did fall from over $US100 per barrel in 2013 to under $US30 per barrel (for a very short time early in 2016). And of course, it would have been really nice for the PNG LNG project and government revenues if the price stayed at $US100 per barrel – although less so for PNG motorists.

However, as stated by the chair of Oil Search at the recent annual general meeting, there is a need for a long-term perspective on projects such as PNG LNG which operate for decades.

This long-term perspective is that oil prices from 1980 to 2017 have averaged just over $US40 per barrel – considerably lower than the 2015 to 2017 average of $US50 per barrel. Oil prices had jumped strongly upwards in the 2000s, but it was always going to be risky to assume such levels would persist. Commodity cycles see prices rise and fall.

Currently, the International Monetary Fund’s international commodity price forecast is that oil prices will drop below $US60 per barrel next year. The New York Futures market has the price dropping from current prices of over $70 per barrel to under $60 per barrel by 2020.

Anyone who was planning, even if only in their own mind, for oil prices to stay around $US100 per barrel was really betting against the odds and history.  This would not be the way to plan for a country’s growth and development or how to plan for budgets. To do so would be utter nonsense.

The mid-case analysis for the PNG LNG model was $US65 per barrel. Put in a long-term perspective, while possibly understandable in the 2007 bubble before the global financial crisis, it was a somewhat optimistic mid-case perspective.  It was well above the experience of the previous decade.

The PNG LNG analysis also used other scenarios. The low-case scenario was $US36 per barrel – and the project was still economically viable at that level.

I have written this to hopefully correct a misunderstanding of the recent ‘Double or Nothing’ report by Jubilee Australia of which I was co-author.

The lack of benefits relative to predictions is not due to the fall in oil prices. Rather, as covered in the report, there are several gaps that need explanation.

The first relates to the poor modelling of benefits which led to wildly grandiose promises. The Jubilee report focused on assessing the predicted benefits to the whole economy two years after PNG LNG exports commenced as modelled by PNG LNG partners (there was 2016 data available to test these claims).

The long-run estimated impacts (which generally were almost identical to the short-run impacts) can be re-assessed in the early 2020s – until then, we can only comment on the wildly inaccurate short-run predictions.

The second and more challenging element was to try to explain the actual measured adverse impacts on the economy as a whole. This was the ‘helicopter’ view of the PNG LNG project.

Local benefits were acknowledged – the Jubilee report stated: “There were larger indirect benefits during the construction phase, and some individuals and companies have done well, but overall the economy is in a worse situation than if there was no PNG LNG project.”

There were and are some local benefits. As indicated in a subsequent Jubilee report 'On Shaky Ground’, there have also been some adverse local impacts and broken promises at the local level (both lack of infrastructure and general non-payment of royalties).

But from the perspective of the economy as a whole, PNG is now doing worse than its performance prior to PNG LNG.

It has fallen below trend on most economic welfare indicators such as overall employment growth, government expenditure growth, non-resource sector growth (the best available measure for PNG household incomes) and imports.

This is surprising, because the potential benefits of PNG LNG (always much lower than the grandiose predictions of project partners) would still have been expected to have small positive spin-offs for most of the rest of the economy. This did not happen.

As the report analyses, the most likely explanation for this is that the PNG LNG project encouraged poor policy decisions.  The impacts of these poor policy decisions are swamping any local benefits. These decisions indicate PNG has fallen yet again into a resource curse.

PNG should learn from its own history and that of other resource rich countries.

Pretending the problem was a fall in oil prices is both inaccurate and misses the point that PNG needs to change its policy settings towards more inclusive development and project partners need to stop over-stating potential benefits.

Mai High School - "the government is playing games and sabotaging our rightful basic school services"

JIMMY AWAGL

CHUAVE - The government component of TFFE (tuition fee free education) to schools in Papua New Guinea has been slashed to only 50%.

TFFE subsidies are released to schools each term and are supposed to cover the actual cost of running a school for ten weeks.

The actual school fee per student is divided into two segments: lower secondary (Grades 9 and 10) and upper secondary (Grades 11 and 12). Lower secondary students were allocated K1,300 for 2018 and upper secondary K1,600.

The Education Department under the ministry of Nick Kuman adopted the concept last year. But it was not effectively executed. There was a large amount cut from the money supposed to be paid to schools.

Most people, particularly parents living in remote areas and below the poverty line in urban areas, concluded there is a loophole whereby funds have been diverted to other stakeholders. Whatever the actual policy is now, it has not been made known to schools around the country.

There has been no effective survey to analyse the real cost of running schools, but the new ‘slash funds’ policy was drafted and accepted for implementation within the Education Department.

How will remote schools in PNG like Karimui, Kairiru Island, Jimi and Telefomin manage to keep their schools open if the cost is triple that of running schools in a city or town?

Mai High School, located on the outskirts of Kundiawa, has 450 student in Grades 9 and 10. For Term 1 this year it received of K61,960.

According to the calculation of K1,300 per student, it was supposed to receive more than twice that - K127,125.

The governing council and the school administration asked the provincial education authority to find out why half of the money had vanished. The question was in vain. No answer was forthcoming.

Then in Term 2, the school received only K25,000. Another slash of K36,960, much less than one-third of what was budgeted.

“Why is the government continuously cutting funds, which they are not supposed to do?” asked a curious (and perhaps furious) administration.

“The government is playing a game to sabotage the rightful basic services of the children,” said a senior teacher at Mai.

“This practice is causing an imminent downfall of quality education in the country.

“K25,000 is unrealistic since it will be depleted within a week on school rations and fuel. Nothing will remain for the wages of ancillary staff.

“The education authority should be conscious of whether it is seeking to make the country or break the country,” the teacher said.

People are joking that “the funds have gone into hiding”.

“They must have been banked in a trust account of a middleman to pay fees for their prostitute kids,” one person said to me.

Most of the schools in the highlands region, particularly Simbu, are saying they will have to close if the government does not deposit adequate funds into school accounts.

Simbu Schools are now charging individual students fees of K500. This is a lot of money and too much for both non-working and working parents.

The outcome is what you would expect - parents are withdrawing their kids from school.

There are no proper learning and teaching materials. Classrooms and other physical assets are deteriorating. Teachers and ancillary staff are not being paid. School supplies cannot be purchased. Creditors cannot be paid.

The consequences of the failure of TFFE have severely affected school operations.

The policy sounded good but its collapse has been a disaster for schools and it is hindering the quality of learning throughout Papua New Guinea.

KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA – The sudden death last week of one of Papua New Guinea’s best known entertainers has both saddened the nation and raised the hot issue of how PNG treats its gay community.

Moses Tau died soon after collapsing at Port Moresby’s Lamana Hotel, triggering an overwhelming response as thousands of messages of condolence inundated the social media.

The Post-Courier newspaper noted perceptively that Tau had “made a place for the gay community in PNG by forcing this place through his music and performances”.

Government minister Justin Tkatchenko wrote on his Facebook page describing the singer as “vibrant and a true showman”.

“I have lost a wonderful friend who supported me without fear or favour and was so loved and admired by our people. He put fun and joy into our lives,” Tkatchenko said.

Joycelin Leahy observed in her Tribal Mystic blog:

“From simple beginnings, this very colourful and dangerously outrageous talent started a music career. Little did Papua New Guineans truly understand what Moses was up to. Many ridiculed and laughed at Moses’ rhythmic hip pulsating dance movements and high pitched feminine voice which quickly became recognised and loved not only in PNG but across the Pacific islands.

“When Moses stepped on stage, a new era was born in a country closed to gay rights, dominated by men and the ruled by the cultural Melanesian ‘big man’ mentality.”

Tau himself once said:

“It is a very difficult thing in PNG to show your sexuality … is very scary, because it is not an accepted thing in PNG. I just want to do what I have and who I am. I also did it not for myself but for the suffering of we people through many years ago.

“And I told my friends: look, I’ll try it out, if I fail I fail. If I go through it with success, we will all benefit. So I’m targeting to educate the people of this nation to really know that there’s gays living in Papua New Guinea. So I did it. I went through it. It was very painful.”

American law professor Ryan Goodman wrote of Tau’s emergence:

“By the late 1990s, gays were well and truly stigmatised in PNG,” “That was when a gay Motuan gospel singer from Central Province a little to the east of Port Moresby was wooed away from his village gospel group by the PNG recording giant CHM Supersound Studios, who urged him to go solo.

“He adopted a generic Pacific style of singing, using falsetto voice, and so his first song Aito Paka Paka was born. It was an instant hit, and was soon followed by others. The accompanying video clips were all designed by Moses himself: the island-girl dancing style and costumes, lavishly replete with flowers, brightly coloured sarongs, outrageous hats and of course, the Pacific-signature swaying grass-skirt.

“He even managed to work a selection of tropical fruit into the dance scenes—the symbolism is obvious. It was the first public display of cross-dressing and trans-genderism in the country—and it worked wonderfully. Moses became a star.

“Nevertheless, it wasn’t all easy.”

It certainly wasn’t. Tau’s own Motu people through the Motu-Koitabu Council took offence, the chairman stating:

“We [Motu Koitabuans] … do not approve nor do we encourage homosexuality in our society—traditional or contemporary … [we] are disgusted and not happy at all—to say the least—to have a very important and serious aspect of the culture portrayed at a festival for homosexuals.”

Throughout his life, and even in death, Moses Tau continued to be a controversial figure in a PNG society in which many people denounce homosexuality and gay rights with extreme passion.

But as Tau himself said:

“We have these kind of people, this kind of community of people, that live in this country. We have no choice, we can’t change them, but let’s give them a chance to show their package, what they have. Give them a freedom for what they can do, for them to enjoy life. We can’t keep them in a cage for them to live in fear all the time.”

Elvina Ogil tweeted after his death: “Moses Tau gave more to PNG over his life than a few recently deceased Papua New Guineans but Papua New Guineans would rather issue homophobic condemnations than celebrate and respect a man who lived his truth.”

As Ogil suggested, Tau was much more than an entertainer. As a person of insight and purpose, he also understood his community role, “travelling around villages at his own expense, distributing condoms and promoting awareness about gay rights, HIV, the dangers of consuming homebrew alcohol and marijuana”.

Former prime minister Sir Michael Somare eulogised, saying that whatever others may perceive as his shortcomings, Tau was a deeply religious person with a gregarious personality:

“He loved to please! His passing is premature and his music and contribution to the entertainment industry will surely be missed. He sang, he wrote lyrics and most of all he entertained us. I salute you, Moses Tau, and thank you for bringing laughter and music into our lives.”

Moses mother, Shirley Tau, said Tau had throat cancer and had been fundraising for his surgery. She said he always had time to help people in need even as he fell ill in the weeks leading up to his death.

“When Paradise Foods donated him boxes of biscuits after hearing of his fundraising for surgery overseas, Moses took the boxes and drove around the village handing it out to people who needed them” Shirley said.

Kishti Sen - PNG has significant short term economic problems but beyond that a resources comeback makes future looks good

KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA – Kishti Sen, an economist with the ANZ Banking Group, has offered a mixed message about Papua New Guinea’s economic prospects.

At a recent business conference in Brisbane he warned companies in PNG to “run a tight ship, have lean operations and survive two to three years.”

But he reassured them, saying “there will be significant returns to be had once the mining recovery starts.”

Sen said PNG’s growth rate was forecast to be 2% both this year and in 2019, “well below PNG’s long-term average.

“If you look back 27 years, you get long average growth of about 4% a year. So 2% is well below and it means you can’t absorb the increase in the labour force to keep unemployment steady.”

But he was more optimistic about the medium term future.

“For the next decade, PNG is setting itself up for very strong growth. It is a good opportunity for the government to secure a broad-based economy once the boom ends.

“The government wants to live within its means, it has a debt-to-GDP ratio it wants to adhere to. It has to think about the credit rating agencies as well.

“There are reports of cash flow problems. It is something that needs a solution.

“But they know this is not the time for austerity. They have to come in and give some stimulus to move the economy along but they are limited in what they can do.

“That leaves the economy in the doldrums until the next mining boom happens,” he said, adding that importers are “struggling” but there are limits on what the government can do about the economic slowdown.

“There are reports of cash flow problems,” Sen said. “It is something that needs a solution.

“Investors are willing to invest in PNG if they can’t get their profits out of the country.

“The kina is overvalued and it needs to get to its fair value as quickly as possible because, once it gets to its fair value, it will help exporters immensely.

“It will bring more kina into the country, which will help in making business planning decisions, investment. It can kick start the economy, and help exporters.”

Sen said PNG has a “narrow commodity-based economy” and the challenge for the government is to broaden the economy caused by investment booms and busts by paying more attention to tourism and agriculture.

Overall, though, Sen is optimistic: “The recovery is thankfully not far away,” he said. “Something big is going to happen in terms of new projects.”

Watna Mori - government still owes much money from past spending on public spectacles

WATNA MORI | The Interpreter | Lowy Institute

PORT MORESBY - It is not clear when the big-man politics in Papua New Guinea’s foreign policy began.

It was likely during the prime ministership of Sir Michael Somare in the early 2000s, when he pushed for PNG to be an aid donor to the region.

At the time, and to this day, PNG continues to be Australia’s largest aid recipient, so Somare’s aim seemed hugely ironic. The ambition kicked off debates in the national newspapers between Somare’s cohorts and critics.

With the exit of Somare and the entry of Peter O’Neill, the benevolence grew. In 2013, O’Neill unveiled the Pacific aid program and proceeded to make donations to various Pacific countries, including a whopping US$18.5 million of funding for the Fiji national elections in 2014.

The O’Neill government also needed to deliver on several infrastructure-heavy commitments made in the heat of promised liquefied natural gas (LNG) returns. These included the Melanesian Arts Festival in July 2014 and the South Pacific Games in July 2015.

The Melanesian Arts Festival was a last-minute scramble, hosted in makeshift premises. The South Pacific Games, although heralded a success, went ahead with several venues incomplete.

However, this didn’t stop then sports minister Justin Tkatchenko and then Governor-General Sir Michael Ogio from announcing a possible bid for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Three years later, some of the South Pacific Games venues are still to be completed, others are not open to the general public and many have been closed temporarily due to unpaid service bills accumulated from the Games.

This is an example of what may happen to the infrastructure being built now to host the APEC summit in November this year, which expects to see leaders from 21 economies, and potentially thousands of officials and delegates, visit Port Moresby.

In the absence of accurate government facts and figures on the economic benefits these commitments will bring to PNG in real terms, it is difficult to be enthusiastic about immense government expenditure on only a few days’ meetings.

This is especially so given the bust PNG is experiencing after the heights of the LNG pre-production stage when economic growth rates were more than 10%.

Some of the startling boom-to-bust figures were highlighted recently by a Jubilee Australia report which O’Neill was quick to label “fake news”.

Although the Jubilee report may go too far in insinuating the LNG project should never have occurred, it remains true that many of the predicted benefits for PNG and its people have not manifested, largely because of government mismanagement.

The major earthquake that affected the LNG area in March this year highlighted the lack of benefits available to the communities affected.

Most commentators, apart from the PNG government itself, agree that the country is in a dire economic situation. Until the 2018 budget was delivered, O’Neill refused to acknowledge that the economy was in crisis. He now says the “economy is recovering”.

However in April the ANZ Bank released an analysis stating the PNG economy looked unlikely to recover until after 2019 and even then not until certain fiscal measurements, such as devaluing of the kina, occurred.

At the recent Australia Papua New Guinea Business Forum and Trade Expo in Brisbane, O’Neill again stated that APEC was good for PNG because it would put the country on the map, ensuring “everyone will remember where Papua New Guinea is” and not confuse it with an African country.

This may well be the most accurate statement as to why PNG is hosting APEC in 2018.

Architect's drawing of the ornate main building with its feature cupula planned for the Tkatchenko estate

KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA – Papua New Guinea's sports and APEC minister Justin Tkatchenko and his wife Catherine are being frustrated by 178 pesky neighbours and the powerful city council in creating their dream estate in the Brisbane suburb of Brookfield.

The Tkatchenkos intend to build an ornate main dwelling, a three bedroom second dwelling, two pavilions, a large greenhouse, a big gym, an ornamental lake with two fountains, a 25 metre swimming pool, animal stables and a 30 aviary complex for 600 finches.

And now the saga of the property at 15 Upper Brookfield Road that they purchased for $1.77 million in 2015 has made it all the way to the courts.

The Tkatchenkos have lawyered up to fight for their rights as they struggle with Brisbane City Council over what to the naked eye is a lavish multi-million dollar transformation of the mini-estate.

Aerial view of the Tkatchenko estate (the area contained within the blue perimeter line)

The Brookfield property is a substantial 8.5 acres and supplements the Tkatchenko’s other $1.1m investment home in the prestigious Brisbane suburb of Fig Tree Pocket.

Journalist Robyn Ironside reported that “plans lodged with the council in 2016 proposed a 320sq m house almost 11m in height, 30 aviaries over 380sq m, plus a lake, fountain, pool and small animal stables.”

But the Tkatchenkos ran into trouble from their neighbours with 178 of them lodging objections in which they raised concerns about noise and odours from the aviaries and stables.

The buildings were also embarrassingly described as an “eyesore”, which would not have pleased the designers, local firm Argo Architects, Engineers and Master Planners.

“A seven-page submission from the community-based Rural Environment Planning Association said the scale of animal keeping was not consistent with a reasonable person’s definition of a hobby,” reported The Australian.

Mr Tkatchenko inspects the Brookfield site

The plans were subsequently modified to reduce the number of aviaries from 30 to nine, but the council refused the development application anyway.

The eight grounds for refusal include lack of noise modelling, the height of the main building and the proposed use of animal keeping not having a direct relationship with the land.

Lawyers for the Tkatchenkos rejected the council’s reasoning in knocking back the development and the matter has now been kicked upstairs to the Planning and Environment Court.

Proceedings before the court are continuing.

AMY SINCLAIR | NewMatilda

BRISBANE - The natural wealth of Pacific nations is disappearing overseas.

Unseen and unheard, the voices of Pacific island communities on the frontline of deforestation, irresponsible mining and seabed exploitation are being overlooked and human rights abuses are going unchecked in remote rural regions.

Voices from the Pacific need lifting to overcome the tyranny of distance and ensure that businesses operating in the region respect human rights.

The Pacific Ocean is a treasure trove of islands, hiding an abundance of precious resources. Cloaked in hardwood forests, rich veins of copper, bauxite and gold lie in its earth and rare mineral deposits sit buried in its sea floor.

Previously untouched, many Pacific island countries are poised to experience escalating exploitation by foreign-owned companies headquartered in Australia, China, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Without regard to international rules requiring respect for human rights in business, this threatens the sustainability of life in the Pacific for future generations.

Revenue streams from natural resources are a key source of actual, and potential, income for many Pacific nations.

Cash flows from natural resource extraction can be directed to improving schools, infrastructure and health services, aiding development and relieving poverty and inequality. Many Pacific countries are well placed to fund fairer societies.

And yet, in much of the region, its people face seemingly insurmountable challenges to ensure they receive a fair share of sovereign wealth for themselves, and their children. Their inheritance is being chopped-down, dug-up and shipped-off at an alarming rate.

States keen to attract overseas investment often unwittingly welcome irresponsible companies with open arms, grateful for injections of foreign capital into struggling agrarian economies burdened by debt. Local laws may be conveniently forgotten.

Those charged with protecting the local people and enforcing regulation repeatedly turn a blind eye, sometimes colluding directly with the very companies they are employed to control.

The activities of foreign-owned extractive companies can be hugely damaging to local communities, with few benefits flowing. Mining operators are shipping tonnes of earth wholesale, to be processed offshore. Logging, another high-risk sector, occurs both legally and illegally.

Licences, often obtained in highly questionable circumstances, have led to widespread deforestation in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Deforestation rates in both these nations are amongst the highest rates globally, fuelling an international trade in illegal timber.

Corrupt practices further diminish the rule of law, impeding equitable profit-sharing between companies and customary landowners.

Local communities are inadequately equipped to counter these challenges.

To access the internet, a villager in the Solomon Islands may spend six long hours in the back of a truck travelling along poor roads. Or a week by ferry to reach the capital on erratically scheduled passenger ferries to check the progress of a complaint at the police or Ministry of Forestry. This is no match for the satellite dishes and instant access to Honiara officials enjoyed in the logging camps.

Seabed mining, we are told, will happen many kilometres offshore, well away from local communities and fish stocks. Its impacts, say the mining companies, will harm neither the people, nor their food supplies.

Those who depend upon the Pacific’s blue economy have a different perspective. They have seen the results of the exploratory testing and the clouded water it creates. When the mining company divers come, they fear for their futures and those of their children.

Once mining licences are granted, they believe the damage caused by exploratory drilling will be replicated on a grand scale, polluting Pacific waters, destroying fish stocks and harming life along the shoreline.

A bonanza of exploitation is underway in the Pacific. The voices of affected communities, often isolated by great distances and limited means of communication, are going unheard. They have been overlooked by the rest of the world and abuses are going unchecked.

A unique capacity-building program on business, human rights and the sustainable development goals held earlier this month in Suva aimed to challenge this reality.

Organised by the Pacific Islands Association of NGOs, Citizens Constitutional Forum, the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, UNSW Institute for Global Development and the Diplomacy Training Program, the event brought together participants, representing civil society in eight Pacific countries.

The pilot training and research program was developed to equip Pacific communities with tools to address the challenges of unchecked economic encroachment into their lands and lives.

“Building awareness of the UN guiding principles on business and human rights is an urgent priority in the Pacific given impacts of mining, logging, palm-oil and seasonal labour migration schemes,” said Sara Bulutani Mataitawakilai, chief executive officer of the Citizens Constitutional Forum.

It is a small drop in a wide ocean, but ideas, like ripples, can spread far and wide. As the human rights of communities are increasingly impacted by new and developing business activities across the Pacific, its people need supporting so that when they speak-out, their voices are heard far and wide, and reach the places where action can bring change.

With stakeholders working together – communities, governments, the UN and business itself – a fairer pattern of economic development can be achieved in the Pacific. International rules oblige companies to respect human rights. Governments should promote these rules and Pacific communities have a right to expect they will be implemented.

Local communities and their advocates need greater access to international frameworks and mechanisms such as UN and OECD complaints procedures, as well as to local, regional and international civil society networks.

Distances may be great, but Pacific voices deserve to be heard and need elevating to global platforms. In this way, communities can be supported in their efforts to achieve stable, sustainable growth that will protect the futures of those that follow.

As they say in Pacific, “We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we keep it for our children and return it without injuries.”

STAFF CORRESPONDENT | Asian News International (ANI)

WASHINGTON DC - In a secret report it commissioned recently, the US State Department has warned that China is offering a hundred billion dollars worth of loans to Australia's smaller regional neighbours in a bid to gain economic leverage and strategic and military prowess in the Asia Pacific region.

According to an article published by the Australian Financial Review at least 16 states, including Vanuatu, The Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Tonga and Micronesia and Papua New Guinea are falling for China's so-called "debt book diplomacy".

For example, the AFR article cites the case of Papua New Guinea. Historically, it has been in Australia's orbit and now news is in circulation that it has accepted Chinese loans that it possibly cannot afford to repay.

What concerns both Washington and Canberra is the fact that PNG is strategically located in the Asia-Pacific region and has significant liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other resource reserves which Beijing could have access to in the long term.

The AFR quotes co-author and Harvard researcher Sam Parker, as saying, "China is giving hundreds of billions to countries that cannot afford to repay it, and it's going to want something in return for that money."

He adds, "China's public-private economic model makes it possible to transform economic debt into strategic influence and wealth."

According to the State Department report, China is spreading its wings in the Asia-Pacific region and is well on its way to ousting the United States as a power to be reckoned with in the region.

Taking advantage of President Donald Trump's lack of economic commitment to the region, Beijing has been providing infrastructure financing to countries through the one trillion dollar Belt and Road Initiative, using institutions like the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank.

The State Department commissioned report warns that this "debt book diplomacy is likely to play a key role in China's multi-faceted campaign to erode strategic benefits" from America and its allies and shift the balance of power in Asia.

Vanuatu is already "deep in debt" to China and now the latter "is positioning itself to capitalise on the impending fiscal plight of the Pacific Island states," the document states.

Last month, Fairfax Media reported that China held tentative talks with Vanuatu over the construction of a military base for naval vessels in the South Pacific Ocean less than 2,000 kilometers from Australia.

China and Vanuatu both denied that any plans were in progress, but Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has taken this claim seriously.

Turnbull has warned Beijing that Australia will strongly object to a Chinese military base in the South Pacific over fears that it could endanger regional peace.

Last month, he is reported to have sought reassurance from Vanuatu's prime minister that a China-funded port would never be used as a military base in his country.

American and Australian security experts fear that China's economic influence on Pacific nations could allow the Chinese military access to strategic defence infrastructure such as ports and airstrips near international waterways patrolled presently by the US Navy.

Andrew Shearer, a former National Security Advisor to Australian prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, believes that the threat from China is real and risky and must not be ignored.

He cites the example of the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka and how Beijing has been able to secure a 99-year-long lease to manage the port's operations because of Colombo's inability to pay off a USD8 billion loan that it took from China-controlled companies.

"The establishment of a military base in one of the key islands near our northern approaches would be a major problem for Australia," said Shearer, now a senior advisor for Asia-Pacific Security at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"Australia remains an influential country in the region and an important source of support, but should step up its engagement and co-ordinate its efforts with other partners such as New Zealand, Japan and the United States."

China has poured money into Pakistan's Gwadar Port. It has invested in 760 projects in Laos. There are many examples of China using its overpowering economic muscle in countries like South Korea and the Philippines in previous years.

Beijing, according to the AFR article, is posing a challenge to traditional Western financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

It quotes David Lampton, director of China Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, as saying that "China is financing a mix of "good and bad" belt and road infrastructure projects."

At the same time, he also says, "In fact, many Chinese are worried that China is throwing money into hopeless projects."

China's debt has ballooned from 141% in 2008 to more than 250% of GDP.

"I believe China is taking a 30-year perspective. The Chinese are likely to write off much, but at a strategic level, they believe that once this infrastructure is created, it will be theirs to reorienting production chains as labour costs rise and the flow of assets towards China," Lampton adds.

The State Department report recommends that Australia, India, Japan, and the United States engage in a joint dialogue in which New Delhi's role as a regional leader is strengthened to ensure rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific.

It also suggests that Washington extend support to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a bargaining chip to make China a more responsible lender.

Dr Schram's detention in PNG on academic fraud charges has caused international concern

KEITH JACKSON

PORT MORESBY - The national court in Waigani has allowed former University of Technology vice-chancellor Dr Albert Schram to return to Italy for three weeks to obtain his original doctoral credentials.

Dr Schram had his passport seized and was detained in Papua New Guinea after being arrested earlier this month and charged with obtaining employment through ‘false pretence’.

Police allege he produced a fake PhD certificate to Unitech in 2012 when he successfully sought the post of vice-chancellor there.

Dr Schram denies the charges and has produced copies of his credentials in the past and, more recently, even published them on the internet

“Paulina and I are still filled with disbelief and incredulity about being charged, that the case has not been dismissed yet, that we have received no support from our country [the Netherlands], and that we are still here as tourists on a very expensive involuntary holiday,” Dr Schram told me.

Judge Panuel Mogish yesterday varied Dr Schram’s bail and ordered his passport to be returned to enable him to travel to the European University Institute in Florence to obtain his original credentials, the subject of the case in the committal court.

Justice Mogish said it would be academic and career suicide for Dr Schram to abscond from bail and not return to PNG.

“I do not think any reasonable man would just walk away leaving a trail of serious allegations unanswered,” he said.

“His standing in the academic world would be seriously affected.”

Dr Schram will be allowed to leave PNG with his bail increased from K2,000 to K10,000 and two guarantors committing K10,000 each.

He has been ordered to return by Tuesday 12 June.

The former vice chancellor and his wife Paulina have been nervously awaiting this outcome for more than three weeks in a Port Moresby hotel.

The matter of Dr Schram’s PhD was first raised in 2013, not long after his appointment as vice-chancellor, when he began to implement measures to improve financial transparency and accountability at the university.

His reforms caused controversy among some senior staff at the university causing then pro-chancellor Ralph Saulep to challenge the veracity of the doctorate.

DAN MURTAUGH & AARON CLARK | Bloomberg | Extract

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LONDON - The tiny, impoverished nation of Papua New Guinea came out on the short end of a $19 billion development with Exxon Mobil Corp to build one of Asia-Pacific’s biggest energy projects.

But, as the company pushes to expand the venture, the government is vowing that round two may require a much bigger payday for the locals.

By most accounts, the liquefied natural gas business that Exxon and partners built from scratch is an engineering and commercial success.

The PNG LNG venture, which started operating in 2014, is delivering more fuel than expected to Asian economic giants Japan and China.

It’s so promising that the US company -- with annual revenue 10 times larger than PNG’s economy -- declared the Pacific island a key building block for its future growth and plans to double output.

Trouble is, the original deal reached a decade ago has failed to deliver the windfall to Papua New Guinea that the government and an Exxon-commissioned study predicted.

An International Monetary Fund analysis showed “quite limited benefits” for the country, which granted Exxon generous rights to recover certain costs before paying taxes or fees.

While the initial investment was welcome, the government has formed a new team to negotiate better terms before it approves the proposed expansion.

“There is a general view that PNG gave away too much for the first LNG project,” said Peter Koim, a member of the negotiating team who is also director of the country’s gas project coordinating office.

For the next round “the country will not give away concessions as was the case in the PNG LNG project,” he said.

PNG LNG produces gas from wells in the forested mountains known as the Highlands, and sends it 700 kilometers southeast via pipeline to a processing plant on the shores of Caution Bay, near the capital, Port Moresby.

The gas is super-chilled to liquid form and loaded onto special tankers for shipment overseas. Originally designed to process a maximum of 6.9 million metric tons a year, the plant produced more than 8.2 million in 2017.

Exxon last year spent as much as $3.9 billion buying access to additional reserves and drilling rights in the country and is working with partners including Australia’s Oil Search Ltd. and France’s Total SA on a separate $13 billion venture known as Papua LNG.

The development would add 8 million tons of additional annual processing capacity at the existing PNG LNG plant, but tap gas deposits in a different part of the country and require a new pipeline.

The country will negotiate separately with Exxon and Total on the different projects that will contribute to an overall expected rise in the nation’s gas exports, Koim said.

Demand for the gas has been strong. Long-term supply contracts were signed with buyers including chemical makers and utilities that are as much as 4,500 kilometers across the sea from PNG, which is located on an island just north of Queensland.

With global consumption booming, analysts see a shortage of LNG coming in the early part of next decade, right when an expansion project would come online if work were to start soon.

Prospects are so promising that Exxon’s chief executive officer Darren Woods said as recently as March that he is counting on PNG and several other countries to help reverse declining output at the company, one of the world’s largest energy suppliers.