‘KASSANDRA KOMPLEX’

We are dying one by one, on this island in the sun
Some call us sister, some call us aunt
Most call us mother, mummy, mums or mum

We are dying one by one, on this island in the sun
Some say we’re witches, some say we’re whores
Most days we feed and care for everyone

We are dying one by one, on this island in the sun
Some are good neighbours; some thrill your dreams
Most go through their life being grabbed by their bum

We are dying one by one, on this island in the sun
Some go to church, some like to flirt
Most usually hear men call them a kan

We are dying one by one, on this island in the sun
Some work in offices, some work at home
Most are ignored until men want to cum

We are dying one by one, on this island in the sun
Some use their fists, some use their tools
Most use their penis like a knife or gun

We are dying one by one, on this island in the sun
Some have been raped, some soon will be
Most suffer mutely and accept what’s done

We are dying one by one, on this island in the sun
Some are your daughters, some are girlfriends
Most will someday marry someone’s prick son

We are dying one by one, on this island in the sun
Some die by childbirth, some die by husband
Most know of someone who’s worse off than them

We are dying one by one, on this island in the sun
In PNG, it’s a death-row sentence being a woman.

©Michael Dom, 7 July  2018

From the cover of the novella by Justin Sheedy, available from Amazon as an ebook 

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - Australia has always had an unfortunate predilection for getting involved in other people’s wars.

If there’s a war on somewhere, we seem to scrabble to be part of it. For some reason we think our involvement is a measure of our relevance as a nation.

We march off with great fanfare, get ourselves mauled and killed and then come home to congratulate ourselves in a never ending and macabre pantomime that seems to grow bigger each year.

Forget Christianity, war is quickly becoming the official religion of Australia.

Immanuel Kant and others have observed that war, with occasional outbreaks of short-lived peace, is the natural default position for human society.

In Australia we go to war because of the very dubious assumption that getting involved in the military adventurism of the big powers will somehow obligate them to come to our aid if we ever get into trouble.

This is a false hope and we know they will only get involved on our behalf if there is some advantage to them, usually economic.

On the one occasion when Australia looked like it was under real threat, the USA joined us in driving the Japanese out of Papua New Guinea.

They didn’t do it to save us however. It just happened that their war with the Japanese had spilled over onto our doorstep. They had started the war and we were unfortunate bystanders who got dragged into it.

It is worth noting that the tactics used by the Americans against the burgeoning Japanese to provoke that war are strikingly similar to the ones Donald Trump is currently exercising against Iran, Korea and especially China.

Apart from World War II our involvement in numerous other wars, starting perhaps with the Boer War and including World War I, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been costly both in terms of resources and casualties for no obvious gain or purpose.

It is axiomatic among big powers like the USA that wars are best fought in other people’s backyards. The war with the Japanese was tailor made for this strategy, as were its other smaller wars.

A war fought this way not only reaps great financial and political benefits but makes a lot of the American government’s domestic supporters very rich.

If Donald Trump does something extraordinarily stupid, as he will, and provokes another war it will be fought somewhere outside the USA.

Now hold that thought and think about where Chinese expansionism is focused. Think about those countries that are currently cuddling up to the Chinese. That’s where any war will be fought. Also think about why this thought creates a distinct feeling of déjà vu.

The term ‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ is remembered largely as a front for Japanese control of puppet governments which manipulated local populations and economies for the benefit of Imperial Japan.

The Chinese Belt and Road initiative is "a bid to enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future". What that means is a push by China to take a larger, probably dominant, role in global affairs with a China-centred trading network.

Donald Trump and many others think this is a threat to American hegemony, just like they thought the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was a threat.

That’s right on our doorstep again and it involves our nearest neighbours again.

Whether it’s war in the literal sense, with guns and bombs, Trump’s cockeyed version of a trade war or something in between, it’s not going to be pretty.

VANESSA GORDON

BRISBANE - There are villagers in remote parts of Papua New Guinea and other parts of the Pacific who rely on radio as their only source of news, information and vital breaking news on matters that directly impact their livelihood.

I am half Papua New Guinean and have witnessed firsthand how the ABC has added value to the lives of my own people who live in remote parts of PNG.

Broadcasting services into the region are a necessity. Period.

News delivered to places that are isolated and disconnected from the rest of this technology-driven world is a necessity.

Literacy is a major issue in PNG. Sadly not all villagers can read and write or they have limited literacy skills. Radio is their only source of being informed. Literacy is critical for economic development; being informed is just as powerful and important.

Taking away this medium from those that relied on it was detrimental – it cut off a lifeline.

Not being able to read does not mean one has no opinion or right to information. Being illiterate or having limited literacy skills does not mean one is lacking intelligence.

Do not underestimate the people who listened to these programs. They still want this service. They need it and they deserve it. They deserve to be informed about what is happening in Australia and the Pacific neighbourhood.

They deserve to be connected to the rest of the world.

It is a necessity.

Ian Ling Stuckey MP says the government must be honest if it is to develop appropriate policy responses to a seriously ill economy

IAN LING-STUCKEY MP | Edited extracts

You can read the Papua New Guinea shadow treasurer’s complete article here

KAVIENG - At a recent conference in Port Moresby, a striking statistic emerged. Economic academics from both the University of Papua New Guinea and the Australian National University said the non-resource sector of the PNG economy went backwards by 5.9% in 2015.

This extraordinary result confirmed what business people and the people of PNG have known for years – 2015 was a year of severe recession in PNG.

Yet the government continues to hide and delay official accounts from the National Statistics Office which would confirm the recession.

More honesty is needed from the government as a first step in addressing the economic problems facing PNG.

“Underestimating the severity of the economy’s contraction has contributed to an absence of an appropriate policy response to what can only be described as an urgent economic crisis,” states the 2018 UPNG-ANU economic survey.

Despite the 100 Day Plan and measures in the 2018 budget, the expert view is still that “there is an absence of an appropriate policy response”.

This is just the latest independent assessment of how serious things have become in our economy. And the lack of data makes it uncertain to know if there has been any recovery.

“Whether the economy has started to grow again since 2015 is unclear,” the UPNG/ANU survey stated.

The key economic challenge being talked about in PNG is the lack of foreign exchange – now by far the greatest concern to business.

This is a problem created by the government, and one that has seriously hurt PNG’s growth. The central bank continues to promise that improvement is just around the corner. But business has have been waiting too long.

We need to get a better understanding of exactly how our exchange rate is regulated. There should be a review of the central bank’s performance in managing the exchange rate and interest rates.

And the government needs to ‘daunim ol pastem’, eat some humble pie and be more open about domestic economic mismanagement rather than blaming outside forces.

An example of this failure to honestly acknowledge that the government can do more to fix its errors was the Treasurer’s presentation to parliament on 5 April. In his presentation, Treasurer Abel refused to acknowledge concerns raised by Moody’s when it moved PNG onto a negative watch. Instead, Abel just talked about how the outlook for PNG was very rosy.

Possibly because he failed to acknowledge the problems, another major credit ratings agency, S&P, downgraded PNG’s credit rating on 16 April. Two major ratings agencies moving PNG down in such a short time has never happened before in PNG’s history.

As we prepare to go into parliament again on Tuesday 17 July, PNG’s economic leaders must be more honest in acknowledging their mistakes to our people.

We need to be balanced when we talk about the economy. It is important that we do not talk it down, but we also just can’t hide from the truth behind ‘good’ stories.

PNG has a bright future, but it needs to acknowledge our problems, reach out for friendly foreign support, genuinely start living within our means, urgently review our foreign exchange policy and release more foreign exchange reserves.

We need to take some tough medicine and then rebuild our non-resource growth rate back above five percent again, the minimum we should be aiming at to start improving the jobs and income opportunities of our people.

Hon Ian Ling-Stuckey CMG is the shadow minister for treasury and finance

Bougainville Revolutionary Army irregulars of the Wirai faction - the peace process continues in the now autonomous province

ANTHONY KAYBING

ARAWA - Thirteen years ago Bougainville made a historic transition into a more flexible self-governing system that is the autonomous arrangement it enjoys today.

And 15 June next year is the date that epitomises the hopes and dreams of Bougainvilleans as, on that day, they progress towards their referendum on self-determination.

This year on 15 June – just one year before this important vote - the celebrations in Bougainville’s former capital, Arawa, were a little different from others held throughout the country.

The highlight was a reconciliation ceremony between North Nasioi ex-combatants of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army and ex-members of the Bougainville Resistance Forces.

This significant event marked the formal end of hostilities between them.

Kieta District executive manager Tonny Moera said the reconciliation was the first step in uniting the people of Central Bougainville.

“As Bougainville approaches the final laps of its journey to self-determination,” Moera said, “we must not leave any stone unturned, we must continue to work together as a government and as a people.”

Present to witness the ceremony were representatives from the Autonomous Bougainville Government as well as the newly elected member for Central Bougainville Sam Akoitai.

Akoitai expressed satisfaction at the initiative by the former combatants and said it symbolised a new era for Central Bougainville as the autonomous province moves toward the referendum on its political future.

RAYMOND SIGIMET

DAGUA – At a rural evangelical church secondary school in East Sepik, there was a particular student who, despite her best attempt at learning, just could not get things right.

She would sit at the back of the classroom, attentive and well behaved, but, when it came to testing and scores, she was always at the bottom.

Subject teachers would complain, scratch their heads and ask why she couldn’t understand and perform like her classmates. After two years of sitting inside the classroom without any special help, the student failed all her Grade 10 exams and disappeared for good.

Just as in schools around the world, Papua New Guinea has dyslexic students but, because of the ignorance of authorities and teachers, they are not adequately catered for.

Some years later after the event I just described, while I was sitting through an Indian produced movie, ‘Like stars on earth’, it struck me that the events portrayed were similar to the experience of the student at that rural school.

The lead character in the film also had difficulties learning and writing. And like the female student of my experience, the character in the movie was also called “dumb” and “a waste of time and money”.

This 2007 movie explores the life of a boy, Ishaan Awasthi, who has learning difficulties. He performs poorly in tests, his writing is illegible, he is disobedient and easily distracted and cannot be understood by family and friends.

As a result it is no surprise that he has very low self-esteem.

But things improve for Ishaan when his art teacher takes an interest in him and is able to identify his problem and help him to overcome his learning difficulties.

The teacher’s empathy and willingness to help Ishaan find meaning and ease his learning difficulties struck at my heart and my mind. The film opened my eyes to the learning disability called “dyslexia”.

Recalling my time at that rural school, I would have done more to help the student if only I had known about dyslexia and the stigma that goes with it.

Dyslexia is a learning disability that presents difficulties in acquiring and processing language. It’s seen particularly in lack of proficiency in reading, spelling, and writing.

It is an “invisible” disability that causes sufferers to feel isolated and inadequate. In short, it’s a struggle for sufferers.

Currently, there is no information or articles on dyslexia available for Papua New Guinea. There exists a great need for knowledge of this disability especially in the school system. But most people are not even aware of it.

The National Department of Education has no policy to cater for dyslexics. Teachers in the education system are ignorant of it. And, because of this, are unwilling to put in the extra time to help dyslexics in the classroom.

Parents also are ignorant and cannot understand why their child is underperforming and often disruptive.

It is likely that some of the students we characterise as “slow learners” are dyslexic. Most of these young people flop at school and are seen as failures or drop-outs.

Papua New Guinea is fortunate to have organisations that help people with physical disabilities like the Catholic Church-run Special Education Resource Centres which include the Callan Service and Mt Sion Blind Centre.

These are important organisations that play a major role in training and integrating people with physical disabilities back into the communities.

Dyslexia, on the other hand, affects people who have no outward disabilities. It is invisible and sufferers are left to fend for themselves in life.

Dyslexia cannot be cured, but sufferers can be helped to overcome their disability and live normal lives.

We certainly need more awareness of dyslexia and other related learning disorders in Papua New Guinea.

Chris Overland

CHRIS OVERLAND’s submission to the Review of Australian Broadcasting in the Asia Pacific *

ADELAIDE - I served as a Patrol Officer in then the then Territory of Papua and New Guinea between 1969 and 1974. During that time I undertook extensive patrolling in some of the most remote parts of the country and lived in a number of very isolated places for extended periods.

These included Baimuru and Kikori in the Gulf Province, Koroba and Kagua in Hela Province and Popondetta and Kokoda in Oro Province.

In those days, which long predated TV, mobile phones and the internet, communication with the outside world was severely restricted. As a consequence, there was an almost total reliance upon radio to maintain contact with what was happening in the wider world.

One of my first purchases in PNG was a short wave transistor radio. This radio was a source of both information and entertainment for me. In those days it was possible to tune into what were the “big 3” short wave radio stations, being the Voice of America, the BBC World Service and, of course, Radio Australia. The latter was the station to which I tuned the radio most of the time.

Radios were then very scarce outside of the main centres or a government Patrol Post. The administration of the time was therefore encouraging the indigenous people to purchase them and the local ABC radio stations were broadcasting programs in the two main common languages of Motu (Papua) and Pidgin (New Guinea), as well as in English.

It would be fair to say that the acquisition of a radio in a remote village was a very big deal for the people living there. They were avid listeners and would gather round the radio to hear the news as well as enjoy music programs, especially those that included local musicians who were then beginning to write and perform their own distinctive style of music.

Radio Australia was also a very popular choice for listening. The villagers who could speak English would listen to news and current affairs programs and then give their fellow villagers a digested version in their own language. For most people living in remote and rural PNG the short wave radio was literally the only way in which they could gain contact with the outside world.

Now, of course, things have greatly changed in PNG. The use of mobile phones is widespread, the internet is available in the major towns and both radio and TV stations operate across the country. Papua New Guineans are clearly now more connected with the outside world and each other than ever before.

On the face of it, one therefore could easily imagine that short wave radio is now an old and irrelevant technology. This would be an understandable but entirely erroneous assumption.

While the major centres certainly have access to the modern communication technologies, this is not the case for much of remote and rural PNG.

It is hard for a person not familiar with PNG to understand just how incredibly difficult it is to move around the country. Much of the terrain is extremely mountainous, while other parts like the Gulf of Papua or the Sepik delta are vast swamp lands through which flow innumerable rivers and creeks. The islands to the east and north of the mainland are, of course, separated by sometimes large distances. In short, those people living in rural and remote PNG remain very isolated and mostly reliant upon sometimes erratic air and sea transport to maintain physical contact with the wider world.

Such isolation includes the inability to access the more modern forms of communications which we are now used to in Australia. The notion that a mobile phone can serve as the sort of all purpose communication device that Australians take for granted is meaningless in places like Baimuru or Kokoda or Telefomin. In such circumstances, radio remains a vital means (and, very often, still the only means) by which to maintain contact with the wider world.

Of late, Australia has somewhat belatedly awoken to the activities of the Peoples Republic of China in the Pacific and Oceania. China is in the process of establishing itself as a major influence in this region and is willing to deploy large amounts of money to do so. Thus far at least, it appears to be having considerable success.

Sadly, the leaders of PNG and other Pacific nations are deeply susceptible to the prospect of easy access to large amounts of money and have little apparent regard to the potential transaction costs involved.

While China is perfectly entitled to pursue its national interests in this way it remains, at bottom, an authoritarian regime. History strongly suggests that such regimes are never really a benign force in human affairs. For this reason alone, Australia can and should be deploying its resources to maintain and, hopefully, extend its influence in the region.

Fortunately, despite the apparent largesse of China, there is good evidence that many people in PNG remain cautious if not suspicious about their new best friend. They especially dislike the way in which Chinese business interests and workers are increasingly taking up residence in their country and assuming effective control of segments of the local economy.

There is, in short, extensive unease about the PNG government’s decision to engage more closely with China through the Belt and Road initiative.

Because Australia was a largely benign colonial power in PNG and because there remain extensive business and personal links between the two countries, there is a large reservoir of goodwill in PNG directed towards Australia.

This is especially true in the remote areas, where successive PNG governments have presided over a slow decline in both the level and quality of public health, education and other services.

Those who can remember, still speak kindly of the Australian administration which, whatever its faults, strove to provide these services in even the most remote parts of the country.

Given this general context, the decision in 2017 to cease short wave radio services into PNG and the wider Pacific and Oceania was a disastrous error in judgement.

At one stroke, Australia lost its ability to communicate with and influence the thinking of a very large segment of the population in that region and simultaneously denied those people access to a well-established and valued source of information and entertainment.

The people who made this decision apparently did so without much regard to its likely impact on listeners, both short and long term. Presumably, the budget impact upon the ABC was the most important consideration.

This enquiry presents an opportunity for key decision makers to reconsider the various factors involved in this decision. It is an opportunity to give much greater weight to the geo-political, strategic and human factors involved than to the budgetary issues.

In short, it provides an opportunity to reverse an unwise and short sighted decision that has harmed Australia’s reputation in PNG and deprived it of a way to maintain contact with people whose goodwill and support is an important national asset.

Thus, for entirely selfish reasons alone it makes sense to resume short wave broadcasting across PNG and the wider Pacific. The fact that it will bring information and entertainment to people who are often starved of both is simply an added, altruistic benefit.

It is not too fanciful to suppose that, one day, Australia will again have very good reason to rely upon the goodwill and support of our nearest northern neighbour. The re-establishment of short wave radio services is an easy, sustainable and relatively inexpensive way to do this and I urge the enquiry to recommend this course of action to the government and the ABC."

Hopefully, common sense will prevail.
___________

* Important note

The Review of Australian Broadcasting in the Asia Pacific is accepting submissions here until Friday 3 August.

Further information is available from Supporters of Australian Broadcasting in Asia and the Pacific. Jemima Garrett, Sean Dorney and Sue Ahearn are happy to help you prepare a submission to the Review if you need a helping hand. You can contact them here:

Jemima Garrett garrett.jemima@gmail.com
Sean Dorney sean_dorney@hotmail.com
Sue Ahearn srahearn@hotmail.com

The Australian government's submission page is a little confusing but, in addition to completing a submission online, there are email and snail mail options too.

Along with the submission, each submitter needs answer the following questions

First name 
Last name
Name for publication
Organisation (if any)
Telephone number 
Postal address
Email (if any)
Can your submission can be made public? YES/NO

Send your submission to:

Email - asiapacificmediareview@communications.gov.au

Post (snail mail) -
The Director, National and Community Broadcasting
Department of Communications and the Arts
GPO Box 2154
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia

A Pacific broadcaster interviews boys in Bougainville (Sue Ahearn, 2012)

NEWSDESK | Pacific Media Watch

AUCKLAND - A group of Australia-based supporters is trying to revitalise Australian broadcasting in the Pacific and Asia region.

For more than 50 years, ABC-Radio Australia was a trusted and respected friend in the region broadcasting independent news and information, says the group in a media release.

But five years ago, the service was almost silenced by budget cuts.

It has recently been revealed that Radio Australia’s shortwave frequencies into the Pacific and Asia have been taken over by China Radio International.

The supporters group says that now, because of a new political environment in Canberra and across the region, the time is right to propose a major upgrade of ABC radio, television and digital services to the Asia Pacific.

The group wants people to have their say at a review of Australia’s broadcasting in the region being held by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Communication and the Arts.

It would like to see the review recommend the reinstatement of full ABC Asia-Pacific broadcasting with a new model of stronger partnerships between Australia and the region.

The supporters group includes household names in the Pacific like former ABC-Radio Australia correspondents Sean Dorney and Jemima Garrett along with former Radio Australia Network manager Sue Ahearn.

Garrett said the Australian media, in the form of the ABC’s international services [Radio Australia, Australia Plus TV, and digital and online services) had played a crucial role in promoting debate, transparency and good governance in the Pacific and Asia.

She said the ABC had provided a powerful role-model and, through its presence and reporting empowered journalists in the region, to tackle stories that are difficult but of important public interest.

Ahearn said this was a chance for those who cared about independent journalism and democracy to be heard.

“Your submission does not need to be long, even a few sentences is valuable. The more perspectives the review receives the better,” he said.

The review is asking for submissions from individuals and organisations in Asia and the Pacific as well as Australia.

The purpose of the review “is to assess the reach of Australia’s media in the Asia Pacific region, including examining whether shortwave radio technology should be used”.

The review will analyse the coverage and access of existing Australian media services in the Asia-Pacific region and the use and value of Australian shortwave technology in the region.

It will cover television, radio and online across commercial, community and publicly funded services including different types of technologies such as analogue, digital and satellite radio and television services and online services.

For more information contact Sue Ahearn or Jemima Garrett:

sue.ahearn@gmail.com

garrett.jemima@gmail.com

The 1974 New Guinea team that beat Papua in Port Moresby. The game ended in a riot

ALLYN HICKS

SYDNEY - Nicknames are common in sport; particularly so in adult male teams. Many rugby league players who graced the playing fields of Port Moresby in the 1960s and 1970s boasted a wide variety of monikers.

Some came to Moresby from ‘down south’ with them already attached by some other body who hadn’t bother to explain them to us.

So we didn’t know why DCA’s James Annand was always referred to as ‘Digger’ or Barry van Heekeren was ‘Mocha’.

But many others were christened after they arrived and, in our usual lazy way, we simply linked. nicknames to surnames.

One more colourful handle I remember was that of Magani lower grade coach Jim Taylor who was called ‘Squizzy’ after the notorious Melbourne criminal.

Jim, or rather Squizzy, was a good coach but his halftime pep talks could be very confusing. This was because, when excited, he would lapse into Australian vernacular, peppering his speech with jargon like “meat pies, Nazi spies, Julius Marlowes, sink the slipper, all over the shop, come the biff” and a host of other expressions that left most of the players sucking on their oranges and wondering how he wanted the game played in the second half.

Even the Australian players were confused by this outpouring on the Australian idiom while our Papua New Guinean team mates were completely bewildered. Still we won a few games so Squizzy’s messages must have got through occasionally.

Other players earned their nicknames through the way they played. It was easy to see why ‘Knuckles’ Yates of Paga achieved his moniker – and it wasn’t because he had cute fingers.

And there was a tough Papua New Guinean player from Magani who was adept at flattening opponents behind play and otherwise out of the referee’s line of vision without getting penalised. He was accorded the nickname ‘Sniper’. It was well-earned.

Some of our home-grown names were based on the way a person looked. A large overweight player, with very fair skin was referred to as ‘The Pale Whale’. Another, which puzzled me for many years was given to Don Bensted, an ABC employee, Papua Rugby League official and long serving Paga supremo.

Done was referred to as ‘Pieces’. Now this was a hard one; follow me if you can. ‘Pieces’ came from pieces of eight thence to a pirate and then to Long John Silver - who had a wooden leg. Don always wore long trousers and you wouldn’t know one of his legs had been amputated. Not till you saw him walk anyway.

Personally, though, I always felt nicknames based on a person’s appearance or some disability were off limits and should be avoided.

I played a lot of league with Magani and one of the coaches and long serving committee member was a bank johnny who revelled in the nickname of ‘Ferret’. I had countless beers with him and knew him for years yet never learned what his real name was. I still don’t.

The same applied to another long-term friend who ended up managing the Aviat Club. His surname was Vallance. There is no prize for guessing his nickname. It wasn’t until he had left PNG that I found that his first name was Geoff.

But nobody in Port Moresby called him anything but ‘Liberty’.

Paul Flanagan - scrutiny of accounts finds PNG's budget position significantly worse than reported

PAUL FLANAGAN | PNG Economics | Edited extracts

CANBERRA – When treasurer Charles Abel recently announced how his 2017 budget had worked out (known as the final budget outcome or FBO) it showed the Papua New Guinea government had spent K700 million more than it had estimated.

The two largest areas of expenditure increase were in highly undesirable areas – an increase in debt service costs of K251 million and administrative expenses of K316 million.

But there were also areas in which spending was committed to – and not made.

Let me take a closer look at some of the main areas where the government got its budget very wrong.

Superannuation payments for public servants

The budget stated that superannuation payments for public servants were expected to be K404 million but the FBO indicated they amounted to only K175 million, representing one of the major areas of expenditure ‘saving’.

But in my view, this was really a cash deferral of a legal obligation to make superannuation payments, and at some time in the future the government will have to fund these. Working my way through all the numbers, my conservative estimate is that there has been a deferral of superannuation payments of K150 million.

GST payments to the provinces

This one took some detective work as there was a lack of clarity in the expenditure figures but it does look as if the provinces have been underfunded by K200-K270 million.

My calculations showed that K450 million should have been transferred to the provinces but the actual transfer was K180 million – an underpayment of some K270 million which was possibly left in a “trust account”.

Education – unlikely claimed cut of over half a billion

The sectoral expenditure figures show a K710 million cut in provincial funding. This largely reflects the decision to only distribute around 20% of various service improvement programs - a major saving item in the budget. It was politically sensitive and the prime minister objected so it wasn’t mentioned in treasurer Abel’s 2017 supplementary budget speech.

However, the claimed K535 million reduction in allocations to education are extremely confusing. A large cut of over half a billion kina seems unlikely. Possibly some education expenditure was placed in the “miscellaneous” category but this created more accounting problems for me.

The more likely explanation is that ‘tuition fee free’ (TFF) education payments are made through a trust account and whenever you see “trust account” you should know there is great scope to vary the timing of payments.

The original budget for such payments was K602 million. There have been many reports that schools had not been paid all their TFF payments for 2017 and 2018 although there were also reports that most schools had received at least two of their four payments.

One is left uncertain about what is going on here. This is a very major indicated cut – nearly 5% of the entire budget. Almost certainly, a significant proportion of TTF payments have not been paid. However, it is impossible to tell how much of this represents an actual cut in 2017 expenditure.

My conservative estimate is that K100 million represents a deferral of education expenditure. But on the positive side, there were increases in health, law and justice. At least this represents a small clawback from massive cuts since 2014.

On the negative side, the biggest areas of increase were in debt services and administration – undesirable areas of growth.

There are some signs the government is taking some action on the administrative costs blow-out but experience with reform efforts in the mid-2000s, such as rationalising the size and number of public service agencies, indicates how difficult it is to deal with entrenched bureaucratic interests.

The expansion of teaching salaries seems inevitable, both in terms of the number of teachers required to deal with increased school enrolments, as well as delivering long-overdue pay rises. And rationalising the number of government agencies is potentially complicated by the political pressure to have lots of ministers.

Expenditure arrears – a legacy of unpaid bills

The budget documents make it clear that there are large expenditure arrears, but there is little information on the actual level of these arrears.

The simplest way to reduce expenditure is not pay bills, even when services have been provided. These arrears are unquestionably very substantial. For example, the Minister for Public Works recently told parliament that his agency had K700 million in unpaid bills. And the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce recently lobbied Abel about the more than K290 million in unpaid bills owed to its members.

These are very significant arrears. Growing frustration with this issue suggests that this problem was continuing to grow in 2017. Assuming a 25% increase in the level of arrears in 2017, the implied figure of what the government owes in unpaid bills shows an increase of K500 million. Being conservative, let me halve this figure to estimate the increase in arrears as K250 million.

So, overall, my conservative estimate is that actual expenditure liabilities in 2017 was K700 million higher than admitted in the FBO. But it could be as high as K1.5 billion.

Such expenditure under-reporting seriously damages the credibility of the 2017 FBO by treasurer Abel. It is certain that PNG’s budget position is significantly worse than officially reported.

WARDLEY D I BARRY

I

an old woman hops on a PMV
clenching a K2 note
she’s going to Kokopo

she’s getting some money
she’s giving some money not
the K2

II

an old man chews buai
and spits on the kolta
“pikinini, em ol ston blo ples ya”

they speak English
every one of them

III

a young girl stares at her phone
the truck hits a pothole
sending her into the air

she lands softly on her bum
and giggles remembering
old woman frowns

this is taboo
such things you don’t share
even on FB

IV

a boy sits on the side of the truck
clutching the iron bars
as cocoa trees speed by

a moment of ecstasy then
grief settles

V

while all this is happening
I am making notes
not one notices

a poet doesn’t exist
he just happens

5 July 2018:

Sean Dorney was an ABC journalist in PNG around the time he captained the national rugby league team

ALLYN HICKS

SYDNEY – As you, my more faithful readers, will already know from my previous scribblings, during my time in Papua New Guinea I had the pleasure and privilege of playing rugby league with some highly talented players, both Papua New Guinean and expatriate.

Of the latter group Sean Dorney and Bill Phillips were standouts. In the 1975 season the three of us were the only expats playing for the Port Moresby Club, Paga. The rest of the team was mainly drawn from the New Guinea Islands.

Towards the end of the season we had to play Gulf, a team of big tough players drawn mainly from Gulf Province. A win for us was essential if we were to qualify for the finals.

So to ensure this was the case, one of Paga’s committee was dispatched to Rabaul to obtain a magic potion, or puripuri, which, we were told, if applied to the body would result in certain victory.

Prior to the game we all smeared it on. All over ourselves. Good Rabaul puripuri.

But something went amiss. The game was an absolute disaster for us. Everything that could go wrong did so. We were well and truly thrashed.

I made my own contribution to the debacle by sending a hospital pass to Sean Dorney. The ball arrived at the same time as a big Gulf forward who flattened Sean, slightly rearranging his facial features. Sean, ever the gentleman, refused to apportion any blame on me.

(It didn't seem to do too much damage, the following year Sean went on to captain the Kumuls in the PNG team's first international match - in fact, he's Kumul number 13.)

As we trooped dejectedly of the field, our season over, naturally the question arose as to why the puripuri hadn’t worked. The answer from Paga officials was simply that Gulf’s magic was stronger than ours.

This seemed to disregard the fact that we missed vital tackles, dropped the ball, gave away needless penalties, and failed to capitalise on try scoring opportunities.

It was all the fault of our weak puripuri.

Daishan Dao (aka Peace Ark), now in PNG for eight days, is said by some analysts to be a stalking horse for the Chinese navy's 'blue water' ambitions in the south-west Pacific and beyond

KEITH JACKSON

PORT MORESBY – Earlier this week China stepped up its soft power incursion into Papua New Guinea and the Pacific with an announcement that it will pre-empt November’s APEC forum in Port Moresby with a Pacific conference of its own also in the national capital.

And yesterday, as if to reinforce the deal, the Chinese naval hospital ship, Peace Ark, slipped into Fairfax Harbour to begin an eight-day humanitarian mission in PNG.

Peace Ark (as it known when on humanitarian service) is better known in China as Daishan Dao, a Type 920 hospital ship of the People's Liberation Army Navy.

In accordance with the Geneva Conventions, Daishan Dao, with her crew of 430 with about 100 medical staff, does not carry offensive weapons.

When the vessel was launched in 2007 the Chinese rationale was to give China a platform to provide quicker humanitarian response to disasters, but some strategic analysts contend that it also allows China to extend its navy's expansionist 'blue water' capabilities.

The Chinese Xinhua news agency reported PNG Defence Force chief of staff, Captain Philip Polewara, extending a warm welcome to the ship and thanking “China and the Chinese people for the aid”.

Peace Ark will conduct medical diagnosis, treatment and academic exchanges with local hospital staff.

It will also be open to the public during its stopover “to further promote cultural understanding and friendship between the two countries”.

Xinhua reported Chinese Ambassador to PNG Xue Bing as saying the mission marked the latest step in the relationship and that it built on prime minister Peter O'Neill’s visit to China last month.

PNG is the first stop on Peace Ark’s current mission which also includes Vanuatu and Fiji.

Since 2008, the ship has visited 37 countries and provided free medical services for more than 180,000 people.

WARDLEY D I BARRY

This is not a response to the truthful observations of Michael Dom's ‘We are Dying One by One’. What I'm offering here is another perspective left out of his candid representation of women in Papua New Guinea. I hope this perspective is appreciated by readers of PNG Attitude - WDIB

I am a PNG man, and I love my women
Here is my sister, there is my aunt, she is my niece
I call her mama or mum, and that one is my friend

I am a PNG man, and I love my women
I say they’re all wonderful, I say they’re all worthy
And I love it when we’re together in the kitchen

I am a PNG man, and I love my women
Some are good nurses, and some are inspirational
Instructors, most of them are miles ahead of the men

I am a PNG man, and I love my women
Some go to church, some go to clubs, some weave their bilums
Whatever it is, brown, black or bronze, she is my queen

I am a PNG man, and I love my women
I see them in offices, at home, or marketplace
They’re my purpur, their beauty’s everyplace, not hidden

I am a PNG man, and I love my women
When she falls I raise her with my hands, I use my tools
To fix her broken things, I let her know I am the man

I am a PNG man, and I love my women
They are respected, they’re valued, they are encouraged
Most don’t see that until men are gone and all is done

I am a PNG man, and I love my women
She’s my daughter, she’s my girlfriend and when she marries
A son of PNG, she marries a gentleman

I am a PNG man, and I love my women
When they’re born the hauslain rejoices, husbands are blessed
Most are better off because of good PNG men

I am a PNG man, and I love my women
In PNG, it is special to be a woman.

MARLENE DEE GRAY POTOURA

LAE - When my siblings and I were growing up, our mama looked after chooks in a fenced off hut. Her chooks were snobs, but ma and her feathered brood understood each other.

There was a bastard that grew up with attitude because ma reared him in our house.

She named him Brith. A wrong name.

Now Brith was a mean and cruel fictional giant in a children’s book. He lived on a hill and every now and then stumbled down to the houses below and terrorised the villagers.

Brith the giant had flaming ginger hair. Brith the rooster had ginger feathers. And both giant and rooster had similar attitudes. They sucked totally.

Mama indulged Brith who became a spoilt brat. He wandered around the houses everywhere he chose, more like a mute human being than a bird. No one dared touched him, for fear they would get a scolding or, worse still, a whopping from Mama delivered by a guava twig.

So Brith received exceptional favours.

He slept on the special branch that grew from the rambutan tree close to the veranda. Mama always woke early to sweep under the tree, while aunty Aretha continuously scolded mama, to move the spoiled brat back to the fenced off hut.

"Aretha, go feed your malnourished chickens," Mama would frown and waved her sister away.

Then Brith would go to his usual place and at from his distinctive tray while the chooks behind the fence pecked the food that she threw over to them.

Brith grew into a handsome rooster with bright gingery feathers. He was the alpha among the hens and flirted with them shamelessly. The hens laid perfect eggs that made mama proud. The chicks they hatched were big and strong.

But Brith was a bad husband. When dusk came creeping in and his feathered concubines clucked around and waited for him to accompany them to the fenced off hut, he would scurry to the veranda to sleep on his special branch.

My brothers became irritated with Brith and told mama to slaughter him for New Year.

“He’s family. We can’t eat him,” Mama declared.

“He disturbs us with his crowing before dawn,” Jayrico told her.

“Well, that’s how roosters are in the Islands,” Mama explained.

“Look mama, I do not need a rooster, an edible protein on the food chain, crowing beside my bed at four in the morning,” Tasdei told Mama.

“Find this bird another place to hang or one morning he won’t be there.”

“Cruel!” spat mama, eyeing Tasdei suspiciously.

One Friday morning I prepared the mumu stones and asked mama if we could bake Brith for a private family feast.

“Are you out of your mind? He’s like your brother and you want to eat him?” Mama was distressed.

“Mama, if we don’t slaughter him, the dogs or cats will get him. He doesn’t sleep in the fenced off hut, he hangs on the branch near the veranda,” I reasoned.

“Dee, the cats and dogs don’t think of eating Brith. They know he is family. But you? Go buy a pig from uncle Moiku and make your mumu,” she said, angry now.

Anyway, not long after I went to Rabaul to do Grade 7 and when I returned for holidays, Brith was still there. Handsome, crimson comb, tail feathers fluttering in the wind.

Uncle Ukamora came over and asked Mama, “Sister in law, I want to pluck Brith’s tail feather.”

“For what?” mama asked with barely disguised hostility.

“I want to put it in my hair.”

"First, you hardly have any hair and secondly go cut your dog’s tail and glue it to your head."

When I next returned home after finishing Grade 8, I noticed that Brith’s claws and spurs had grown dangerously long and sharp.

And I witnessed them in action.

One afternoon, Mama threw some grated coconut and cooked rice next to the banana trees at the end of the yard. Brith stood proudly next to his hens as they clucked and pecked away.

Whenever he found a nice piece of coconut or rice, he called one of his hens over to eat it. He was busy dining and romancing when, out of the corner of a beady eye, he saw a cat prowling. The cat slowly approached and began eating the rice.

Brith attacked the cat with a rooster karate ripping out its left eye. The cat squealed a weird high pitched unearthly howl and rolled on the ground. 

Jayrico ran over with a knife and started chasing Brith.

“Leave Brith alone Jay, the cat asked for it,” yelled Mama.

“Mama, this is my cat and that rooster has become a monster,” Jay yelled back.

“He is just protecting his territory,” Mama responded.

“Animals and birds don’t have territories here Mama. If this cat dies, Brith’s going in the mumu,” Jay announced, leaving to take care of his cat.

The now one-eyed cat survived and Brith continued to rule our yard, our house and our lives.

When I came home after completing Grade 9, I had the shock of my life. Brith’s once beautiful feathers had become distressingly limited.

“What happened to Brith, Mama,” I asked.

“He is old now, Dee,” Mama answered sadly.

I noticed other handsome roosters who were content in the fenced off area.

“They are Brith’s sons,” Mama told me. “Brith has given me a new breed. Handsome, strong and tough

“Can I mumu one of them?” I asked.

“You sure can dear,” Mama smiled, as she wove a basket with coconut leaves.

On Christmas morning, we found Brith floating face down in a drum filled with rainwater.

With tears in her eyes, Mama dug a hole beside the fence, covered Brith with a colourful laplap with pink hibiscus flowers and put him in a carton and buried him.

“We should have eaten that chook. What a waste,” Tasdei complained.

“He is family, you dope. You don’t eat your brother,” I hissed, sounding just like Mama.

Arrogant or not, anyone you raise and wins your heart is truly family.

PHIL FITZPATRICK

‘The Northumbrian Kiap: bush administration in self-governing PNG’ by Robert Forster, UK Book Publishing, Whitley Bay, 2018, ISBN: 978-1-9-12183-36-4, 294pp. My copy from the Book Depository UK, AU$25.80 with free postage

TUMBY BAY - By 1960 the training of local indigenous officers for the public service in Papua New Guinea had accelerated dramatically.

These officers were paid the same rates as expatriate officers. As a result the wages bill of the Australian Administration rose rapidly.

In 1962 Minister for Territories Paul Hasluck decided to restructure the public service. His aim was to cut costs by turning it into “an essentially territorial service based on local conditions and rates of pay, staffed as fully as possible by indigenous officers and assisted by an auxiliary service staffed by expatriate officers”.

This was the beginning of what later became known as “localisation” and signalled the end of career paths for expatriates in the then Territory of Papua and New Guinea.

This development caught a lot of people by surprise, including a lot of local staff whose salaries were suddenly reduced.

A group of surprised Australian cadet patrol officers about to commence their induction at the Australian School of Pacific Administration in August 1963 were told abruptly that no more permanent positions would be available and they were offered six year contracts instead.

There were further changes to expatriate recruitment as independence loomed.

When I joined in 1967 it was still a requirement that cadet patrol officers be unmarried and under the age of 30.

These conditions then began to be modified. Cadet patrol officers soon gave way to assistant patrol officers with “accelerated” training.

Then, by the early 1970s, older, married recruits with “life experience” were being employed. They were colloquially referred to as “instant kiaps”.

Robert Forster became a kiap in June 1971. His life experience included a stint as a forestry worker at Bundi after being recruited in England by Voluntary Service Overseas, “a government-sponsored organisation which recruited restless young people who wanted to exhaust their surplus energy while working in underdeveloped countries”.

His cohorts comprised an unusually large and disparate group. “There would not have been a straightforward CV among them,” Forster writes.” The age range was 19 to 41, eleven out of the intake of 39 were married, seven were born in the UK, one in Canada and two were Vietnam veterans. Perhaps half had secured a tertiary qualification”.

Forster at least had experience living in the bush and knew Tok Pisin but many of the others had no experience at all. Compared with previous intakes, they all looked pretty scruffy.

Quite a few didn’t last the distance. We had one from Forster’s intake arrive at Balimo. He was a likeable Englishman with a likeable English wife and two lovely kids but they were gone within 12 months.

Balimo was a muddy, soggy, mosquito-infested backwater and I can’t blame them for fleeing back to England. Shortly after they left, I too engineered a move out of the place.

However, those tail-enders who stayed on were important because they saw through an important stage in Papua New Guinea’s history.

I’m not sure I entirely agree with Fortser’s assessment that the 1972 general election “triggered a political earthquake” or that the Administrator “hurriedly evacuated his office” and made certain files disappear into the night before handing over his job to Michael Somare, but it was, nevertheless, an interesting time.

Rather than an earthquake, I think what happened after 1972 was entirely expected and understood, especially by the more senior and longer serving kiaps.

It was no secret that Michael Somare and many of his ministers had an intense dislike of kiaps and the power they wielded. Out in the districts, they often competed with local political aspirants for the minds of the people. Something had to give.

When the politicians and senior Papua New Guinean public servants began to seriously interfere in the work of the Australian kiaps by undermining the decisions they made, the writing was on the wall. Many kiaps realised this and accepted their fate.

As I recall, a very apt quote, attributed to Lawrence of Arabia, was doing the rounds among the kiaps: “It is better to let them do it themselves imperfectly, than do it yourself perfectly. It is their country, their way and our time is short.”

In Port Moresby, the boss of the kiaps, Tom Ellis, pretended to grovel and crawl across the floor of the House of Assembly and asked Somare and his cohorts, “Is this what you want?” And, of course, the answer was yes.

Up in the Highlands at Minj, where Robert Forster was posted, assistant district commissioner Nigel Van Ruth, a pugnacious Dutchman, launched a long last stand, shock and awe patrol under the guise of political education to demonstrate his power.

He was promptly arrested and moved on at the behest of Kaibelt Diria, the local member and Minister for Posts and Telegraphs.

Many of the more senior kiaps watched all this unfold and decided their best course of action was to keep their heads down and concentrate on securing promotions to bolster the amount of their final golden handshake.

The timidity and paranoia induced among many senior kiaps following the Van Ruth affair and similar incidents is nicely illustrated by an event at Bereina in 1973 on the day self-government was declared.

Forster had been transferred there from Minj and wasn’t enjoying it at all. Like me, he had found himself stuck in a hot, muddy mosquito-infested backwater with an apathetic population and nothing much to do.

In this case, member of parliament and founder the Papua Besena political party, Josephine Abaijah, momentarily helped enliven the ennui by deciding to visit Bereina to declare Papua independent of New Guinea.

The assistant district commissioner panicked and ordered a clandestine action to defend the station from the insurrection that was bound to erupt with Josephine’s presence. On the day he gathered all the expatriates in one house, made sure they were all armed, and awaited the long knives.

A more down-to earth, trade store owner, Dulcie Hides, the widow of Bruce Hides and sister-in-law to the famous Jack, arrived in her “best frock carrying a bottle of gin and a handmade .22 rifle … she wasn’t going to miss out on a rare chance of company and conversation”.

Nothing happened of course. Josephine “declared independence for Papua in front of not more than one hundred mildly enthusiastic people, and almost as many newsmen and cameras, then returned to her vehicle and left”. The end of Australian colonial power in Papua New Guinea was quickly descending into low comedy.

Meanwhile, out at the coal face, it was left to the tail-end kiaps, like Forster, to bear the brunt of the changed times and try to ease the transition towards independence for the ordinary villagers.

He finally and reluctantly left in 1975 after his family life began to suffer. Quite a few of his cohorts stayed on, some into the early 1980s.

I’ve always been surprised at the number of men who stayed on as kiaps well after independence given that their authority was reduced and constantly undermined and that the worsening law and order situation was making life onerous for their families.

This eloquent book is an important contribution to the history of Papua New Guinea and the kiaps in particular because it covers the end days of Australian colonialism, a subject that hasn’t had much attention before.

Robert Forster returned to Northumbria and became a successful journalist but the bones of the book were essentially compiled in 1977. In polishing it for publication he remarks that, because of its earlier manifestation, the “temptation to indulge in hindsight has therefore been resisted.”

This is an important book, even if you don’t entirely agree with its assessments and sentiments.

Couture versus culture. Melan[es]ia Trump in her kumul dress: for Melania just 'pretty'; for many Melanesians pretty offensive

VANESSA GORDON

KOKOPO - East New Britain has been buzzing this week as the South Pacific Export Mask Festival and Tolai Warwagira welcomed visitors from all over the world to experience the magic and wonder of an intricate and unique culture.

The annual festival showcases dances from East New Britain, West New Britain, New Ireland and other provinces in Papua New Guinea.

One of the highlights is the Kinavai ceremony which starts on the beach at dawn. Dukduks and tubuans arrive on canoes just as the sun rises.

Dukduk is a secret society, a sacred part of the Tolai culture. The society represents spirits. The dukduks represent male spirits and the tubuans are female spirits.

The only way to differentiate between dukduk and tubuan is by the mask worn by the dancer. The dancers are always male. Always.

Even though they may be representing a tubuan. the dancer will always be male. Females are not allowed in the society.

As the canoes approach, villagers, residents and tourists congregate on the shore of Omorong Beach.

Hundreds gather and wait in silent anticipation.

I witnessed my first Kinavai in the 1990s. My heart beat in perfect timing with the drums. The chanting was mesmerising. Everyone around me immersed in the perfect rhythm of their heartbeat and the drums pulsating in unison.

The beats lured me into a trance igniting emotions I had never felt before. I was simultaneously fearful, excited, curious, proud and in awe. It was a pivotal moment in my life.

I was home and suddenly my identify was clear and precise. I am a Tolai.

No-one could take this away from me. No-one. Here was my birthright.

It was unfortunate that this year I was unable to attend this incredible festival, instead having to experience it through eyes of others thanks to the internet.

Plenty of video calling. And between video calls my 69-year old mother sends me hourly updates. Every hour on the hour without fail.

This week in East New Britain has proven to be one of significant cultural immersion for those visitors that have travelled from all over the world to witness our festival, providing an opportunity for Papua New Guineans to shower our guests with real Melanesian hospitality.

Culture, tradition and hospitality are fundamental values of Papua New Guinea. They lie at the core of our existence. I can hardly explain this to a non-Papua New Guinean, this way of life. This unique and beautiful presence.

Sometimes I worry that this will be lost. Not me personally but lost if I fail to communicate it to my children or if they fail to do the same. And it will be lost.

We are the caretakers of our culture. We must be responsible. We have to learn the dances, languages, intricate details of weaving and the marks and symbols. We have to learn the legends, stories, carvings, dialects and family trees.

Because this is who we are and what we are.

And so it was that this past week Papua New Guineans around the globe took to social media for a spirited discussion – almost an online battle - about a dress worn by that Melania Trump.

It featured a bird of paradise motif. The kumul that is the most eminent symbol of our Papua New Guinean culture.

A Papua New Guinean did not design this dress. A Papua New Guinean did not wear this dress. But thousands of Papua New Guineans had a lot to say about this dress. Much of it unfavourable.

But this dress bearing our motif provoked a challenge to us to talk and argue about our culture and practices and our responsibility to partake in them and protect and preserve them.

Our culture is the essence of who we are as Papua New Guineans - no matter where we are from or which province or tribe we identify with.

We have had so much taken away from us so we must protect what remains. And that is a rich, vibrant, positive spirit that is deeply planted within us.

So I challenge my dear country-people, we who share our Melanesian-ness, to focus on the positives and spread stories of hope. There are many stories and legends to share. We are a sharing people and we can share these representations of who we are online or in person.

This is our Pacific mythology and these are our Melanesian legends and the stories our bubus told us. The are there to share.

We Papua New Guineans have an incredibly unique culture.

Let’s so what we must do to preserve and protect it.

Nauru - once little rich guys, now little big noters profiting from Australia's refugee cruelty

MONG PALATINO | Global Voices | Asia Pacific Report

Read the complete article by Mong Palatino here

SYDNEY - Protests have been gathering force over the Nauru government’s ban on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from entering the country to cover the Pacific Islands forum leaders’ summit in September.

Nauru has accused Australia’s public broadcaster of biased and false reporting.

The summit is an annual gathering of Oceania’s heads of state, where important matters concerning the region are addressed.

On 2 July, the Nauru government issued a statement restricting the number of people who can attend the summit because of “very limited accommodation.” But it singled out the ABC and explained why it banned the broadcaster:

“No representative from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation will be granted a visa to enter Nauru under any circumstances, due to this organisation’s blatant interference in Nauru’s domestic politics prior to the 2016 election, harassment of and lack of respect towards our president in Australia, false and defamatory allegations against members of our government, and continued biased and false reporting about our country. It is our right, as it is the right of every nation, to choose who is allowed to enter.”

The ABC aired a documentary in 2016 alleging torture and child abuse linked to Australian government’s offshore asylum-seeker processing centres, which are managed by Nauru. It also published a report which alleged that Nauru’s president and some of his ministers received bribery from an Australian phosphate dealer.

Nauru condemned both reports as “racist” and “biased political propaganda”.

The small island nation was a mining site for several decades until phosphate deposits were exhausted in the 1980s. It received aid from Australia and hosted an Australian immigration detention facility.

ABC news director Gaven Morris criticised the decision of Nauru:

“The Nauruan government should not be allowed to dictate who fills the positions in an Australian media pool. It can hardly claim it is ‘welcoming the media’ if it dictates who that media will be and bans Australia’s public broadcaster.”

The Nauru government quickly responded by describing the ABC statement as “arrogant, disrespectful and a further example of the sense of entitlement shown by this activist media organisation.” It added:

“We remind the ABC that we – like Australia – have every right to refuse a visa to any person or organisation that we believe is not of good character, and that entry into our country is a privilege not a right. The Australian media do not decide who enters Nauru.”

Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Nauru’s decision was “regrettable” but refused to intervene on behalf of ABC.

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, an Australian network of media workers, said the government should pursue the issue with Nauru officials:

“This is an attack on press freedom that our government needs to condemn in the strongest possible terms. Recognising the sovereignty of another nation does not extend to accepting they have the right to prevent free and open reporting.”

Australia’s Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery threatened to boycott the event in Nauru:

“If the ban is not reversed, the media pool will be disbanded. If one cannot go, none will go. We oppose the Nauru edict because it is wrong in this instance and because it sets a dangerous precedent. What other Australians might be banned from a similar group by another government in future? We stand for a free press, not a banned one.”

Dr Viola Kuo Huang - not possible for China Radio to provide a service targeting a Pacific islands audience

JOHNNY BLADES | Dateline Pacific Radio New Zealand

WELLINGTON - China Radio International is seeking to bridge the gap in understanding about China in other parts of the world. That's according to Dr Viola Kuo Huang, a principal researcher at China Radio International's English Service in Beijing.

China Radio International recently took up frequencies formerly used by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's short-wave service into the Pacific Islands. It broadcasts globally in 65 languages including Mandarin. Dr Kuo Huang spoke to Johnny Blades.

VIOLA KUO HUANG: The English service of China Radio International is trying to braid the misunderstandings between the outside world and China. So we have hourly news about what's happening in the world, what's happening in China and what's happening in some English-speaking regions.

We have feature programs called Studio-Plus. This covers social events and literature, music, film, technology developments and stories of Chinese people and foreigners living in China.

We have language learning programs to learn Chinese in an interesting way and have programs about Chinese literature, telling it in a story-like way so people can understand what's happening. We also have talk shows which are called ‘round-table’.

JOHNNY BLADES: Discussions?

VIOLA: Yes discussions. People talk about culture and conflicting issues happening in China and around. We have Chinese panellists and foreign panellists who discuss together, finding out different perspectives, viewing events from different cultural backgrounds, and what is coming out is normally mutual understanding.

Sometimes people need further discussions, even after the topic. This program is really welcome. And we have business programs covering the news globally, what is happening in the stock market, policies, especially what's happening in the world (and how it) could influence China and other regions.

JOHNNY: When Pacific islanders can tune into China Radio International these days will they hear any content about them, about the stories and issues that they are confronting?

VIOLA: Yes, anything which is significant and that is interesting would be the content that China Radio International are interested in. But it wouldn't be possible for us to provide a specific service to targeting this audience. China Radio International is very interested in mapping the whole world, to all the audiences it can reach. But, for all the stories that happen in this region, I would say that it comes to one that is very significant only.

JOHNNY: How much of a role does the Chinese government play in the daily operations of China Radio International?

VIOLA: Well, like all the public service, we have funding. But editorial decisions are made by the media practitioners and they don't intervene with our news. We just do it as other public service, we choose the stories important to cover.

JOHNNY: And what about radio as a format in China, is it highly valued?

VIOLA: Yes, if you pay attention to audience surveys, you would figure out that in some particular regions, and even in some developed countries, radio is not dying at all. It has loyal listeners and this is happening in China. And we have an increasing audience, listeners who I would say are loyal to the programs. This is global. Because some of them have grown up with programs they like, so they keep close contact with them.

BLADES: Is China Radio International expanding digitally?

VIOLA: The multimedia approach is adopted by almost all radio stations. We have some eyes on the website and social media as well. But the basic stories we cover and the basic service we provide are radio programs. In terms of the digital realm, we would say that coming to digital is decided by your audience.

PHIL FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - Have you noticed the new level of scrutiny that seems to accompany everything we do nowadays?

The days when you could safely potter away at something by yourself without causing offence to anyone seem to be well and truly over.

I’ve got neighbours who know exactly what I’ve been doing on any given day and at any given time of the week. Not only that but they’ve got video to prove it.

Talk about big brother – I’m surrounded by dozens of big brothers, big sisters, big aunts, big uncles and big nieces and nephews.

When I go into town to buy my groceries there are cameras everywhere, even when I walk down the street. It seems they record my every move.

In the supermarket the muzak is routinely interrupted by a jarring voice ordering security to one of the aisles where some sort of grand larceny has been picked up on their monitors.

As they march off a 10-year old with his hand still stuck in an open packet of Cheezels I realise that my confused perambulations in search of the rolled oats or kidney beans are being watched.

When I get home and turn on the computer to check my emails and tomorrow’s weather forecast I’m bombarded with targeted advertising.

Not only do they know that I’ve been searching for books I’m thinking of buying but they’ve got suggestions about others that they seem certain I will find equally if not more interesting.

Not only have they got into my computer, they’ve been inside my head.

If I check some fact about, say, the Middle Sepik on the internet, the next time I turn on the computer I’m confronted by suggestions that I’d probably find a river cruise in Europe much more satisfactory.

Me, on a European cruise? What on earth makes them think I’d ever want to be trapped on a floating hotel for two weeks with a bunch of geriatric retirees and no way of escape?

And who are these people making suggestions and parading what they think are alluring pictures of mouldy German castles?

Good grief, they live in London, or is that Hamburg, it’s hard to tell. And some of the other online touts trying to flog stuff to me come from China and Nigeria of all places. How on earth do they know where I live, how on earth do they know I’m retired, who gave them my name and address?

I should have seen all this coming of course, what, with all human automatons wandering around mesmerised by the little blinking screens in their hands.

Unfortunately I’m one of those people who still think that the fountain pen is a marvellous piece of technology. I bought my cherished silver and gold Parker in Port Moresby in 1972 and it’s still going strong.

Which reminds me, have you ever heard of a pop group called the Beatles? Really lovely music.

I’m being flippant. The point I’m trying to make is that it once took time to get used to innovations. Remember when it was wise to wait a couple of years before buying a new model of a car or electric gizmo to make sure it was any good?

Not anymore. People queue up overnight to buy the latest gadget. They seem to have supreme confidence that it will work as intended and make their lives tremendously richer.

And the gadgets they queue up for are invariably machines that pry into our lives. The more modern a gadget, the more it knows about us and the quicker it passes that information on to others, including people wanting to sell us stuff and organisations trying to influence the way we think and act.

Once upon a time we took pride in calling ourselves free thinkers. We could independently muster the facts on an issue and come to a conclusion best suited to our needs.

Nowadays those decisions are made for us. The mind benders know what we think and they provide pre-packaged conclusions for us.

And the medium through which they deliver our ideas for us are those gadgets we fall over ourselves to buy as soon as they come on the market.

It’s almost like we are all blindly marching with glazed eyes towards some sort of dystopian future.