JIMMY AWAGL

The dream is bitter
Not really better
than days gone by

I walked your way
To be close to your heart
but it was closed to me

The dream is a fairytale
Your love was legendary
until it all turned to clay

The tale of our good old days
The ambitions we shared
walked out of our lives

Love can breathe new dreams
Touch our hearts once again
perhaps it all be renewed

But regret swirls like the wind
from the mountains, to rescind
a friendship attainable no more

Now my hope is a death rose
Petals wilted, nobody knows
whether a downfallen dream can rise

The last photo Nagoi Jimmy took with his family before borders closed in March 2020 (Supplied to ABC)

MARIAN FAA
| ABC Asia Pacific Newsroom

CAIRNS – Nagoi Jimmy hasn't seen his partner and four kids in a year, but they live just six kilometres apart.

From the shore of his village in Papua New Guinea, Mr Jimmy can spot their island on the horizon.

Between them is a stretch of sparkling blue ocean and Australia's international border, which closed in March when the country went into lockdown.

"It's [been] very stressful," he said.

"You know, kids on their own with their mother and I'm on the other side. It's very difficult."

Map by Jarrod Fankhauser (ABC News)

Mr Jimmy is from Mabudawan village on the coast of PNG's Western Province and his family lives on Saibai Island, in Australia's Torres Strait region.

A special treaty between Australia and Papua New Guinea normally allows them to travel freely back and forth, but it has been suspended to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

After being separated since last Christmas, Mr Jimmy posted a picture of his partner and children on Facebook with the words: "Missing you with every beat of my heart."

He said others were in the same predicament.

"There's a handful of us young couples been cut off from their families," Mr Jimmy said.

"Most of us, like intermarriages, were on this side of the border. And the rest of us were cut off."

'I don't have access to hunt'

Signed in 1978, the Torres Strait Treaty recognises centuries-old trade and family ties between some villages on PNG's Western Province and certain islands in the Torres Strait.

Mr Jimmy said residents in Mabudawan had struggled during the lockdown, unable to go to the Torres Strait to work, trade goods, see relatives or buy food and fuel.

They've also been cut off from important fishing areas in Australian waters.

"I don't have access to hunt dugongs and turtles, even lobsters and crabs because we normally go out on the reef near Saibai Island, on the other side," he said.

Mr Jimmy said food and petrol prices had skyrocketed at the nearest shops, 60 kilometres away.

Locals are now relying on traditional methods of hunting and growing crops to get by.

While most residents on either side have respected the border closures, a small number haven't.

On Friday, Australian border officials located two Papua New Guinean men in the Torres Strait, as part of ongoing investigations into border breaches.

Nagoi Jimmy can see Saibai Island from Mabudawan village in PNG (Supplied to ABC)

A further two men are currently in immigration detention, awaiting deportation, after they were found on Prince of Wales Island last month.

The ABC understands the four men travelled to Australia by boat without visas from PNG's Western Province.

The breaches have raised concern among some Torres Strait Islanders, who fear coronavirus could spread to their community via Papua New Guinea.

Western Province is one of PNG's worst affected regions with more than 200 confirmed cases.

Matilda Nona, from Badu Island, said many people in the Torres Strait were vulnerable.

"We've got mainly old people in our community and people with … diseases like diabetes," she said.

"If Covid does come here all our elders and our elderly people, they're the ones that are going to be taken and that's our history books, part of us will be lost."

Border Force said regular patrols were continuing in the area between Australia and PNG.

Since international borders closed, Australia has provided some aid to Western Province villages.

Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said he reached out to village leaders at the beginning of the lockdown.

"I asked them to see if there's anything that we needed to assist them with," he said.

Packages of rice, flour, sugar, cooking oil, tea, powdered milk and unleaded fuel have been sent to a number of treaty communities.

The Australian Government has also funded a new medical clinic at Mabudawan, which opened in March, reducing the need for emergency medical assistance from the Torres Strait.

Mabudawan resident Malona Villy said the aid had been a big help and hoped it would continue.

"We are really thankful. We thank God for the neighbouring country like Australia," she said.

But with no sign of international borders reopening soon, Mr Jimmy has started saving to apply for an Australian partner visa, which costs more than $7,000.

"I was hoping that things would come back to normal and the border will be open for traditional visits, but ... the lockdown is still continuing," he said.

"So my next option was to try my best to work on my visa because that's the only way I can go and see my family."

Maritime cadets. "It is not a blunder to want better for your country and people. It is not wrong to want to have a fair share of our resources. It is not wrong to think of our children's tomorrows" - Gary Juffa

PHILIP FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - When the so-called baby boomers came of age in the late 1960s and early 1970s a revolution of liberating enlightenment began to sweep the world.

It began in California, swept through Britain and Europe and finally made its way to Australia.

From there it seeped into Papua New Guinea.

Many people paid lip service to the changes, adopting the music and fashions but retaining their old-fashioned establishment views.

For most of the timeworn colonial brigade in Papua New Guinea, the changes were a mild irritant mostly manifest in the sight of young Australian patrol officers, teachers and other public servants sporting long hair and wearing beads and sandals.

The old guard frowned on the easy relationships these young people established with their Papua New Guinean counterparts but secretly admired the miniskirts that the local shop girls took to wearing.

If they complained about what was happening it was usually confined to the bars and lounges of their district country club or, if they were in Port Moresby, the members’ bar of the Royal Papua Yacht Club.

Hippy kiaps and Marxist teachers were never going to make much headway against the conservative establishment in pre-independent Papua New Guinea. At best they could only look upon in puzzled bewilderment.

Then, of course, Gough Whitlam burst on the scene and the scales tipped decidedly leftwards. What was thought impossible suddenly became eminently doable.

For Papua New Guinea it was dramatic and brief conflation of events that changed its future forever.

As surprising as it is, history tends to work this way.

Sudden changes, where the world seems to be tipped upside down, happen more often than we think.

When Bob Dylan sang ‘The Times They Are a-Changin’ in 1964 who would have thought part of that change would be independence for Papua New Guinea?

For the old colonial brigade it was a bitter disaster. For many Papua New Guineans it was the beginning of uncertainty. For the hippy kiaps and Marxist teachers it was the beginning of hope.

Bitterness is often enduring, uncertainty less so, but hope is usually short-lived unless grasped quickly and made tangible through action.

We are now experiencing something similar with the Covid-19 crisis that has turned history upside down again.

Out of that disaster there is hope for change all over the world. Just like the old colonial brigade, the establishment is grimly hanging on to the past – or even trying to render an even more conservative future - while the young and old hopefuls are seeing the opportunity to create a better and more equitable world.

To quote the Indian writer Arundhati Roy:

“Historically, pandemics have forced human beings to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.

“We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, and data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us.

“Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fight for it.”

Unlike that earlier historic upheaval Papua New Guineans are now in a position to drive their response to this historical opportunity themselves.

Battered and bruised as it is from all those years of lost hope, the chance, if grasped, now exists to create change under its own terms and in its own image.

There are no die-hard old colonialists or starry eyed hippies in the way this time. There is just an open road ready to be trod.

The people of Papua New Guinea can choose to go back down the road to the past or they can go the other way and strike out into the future.

As Papua New Guineans face another political crisis, for which they bear no fault and have no part to play, hope is challenged.

Your dreams of a better future are ours too.

TATTIANA ABOLA

The battle seems a losing one
Your opponent tough and strong
You feel afraid, tense, and tremble
Surveying his massive frame

At the back of your mind you’ve lost
It gives not a chance of winning
Are you so weak, or what is this?
Why you're here, and why this fear?

The crowd is cheering for the champ
No one shouts for you
It’s time for battle, but in your head
The echoes say 'not you'

Dread and doubt flood in
Trembling at what might come
Your emotions about to spew
Sweat and fear companions now

The first round went your opponent’s way
But the battle isn’t over yet
This is not the end, there’s more
To be stronger, to overcome

The next round comes quickly
It’s tougher, but still you stand
Your weaknesses now exposed
But you hold on holding on

You give your best, complete the round
Your strength is painful and dying
But you won’t go down without a fight
And now the fight is you

You don’t want to show defeat
You’re weak but act you’re strong
You have a goal, a dream to match
This fight is not just for you

It’s for your country also 
Recall those sacrifices made
And all the struggles faced
You must now allow defeat

Keep the strength you have, dig deep
Hold on tight to a little spark of hope
Appear strong, weakness concealed
Confuse your opponent, bluff

Caged behind your guard
Keep things firm and tight
Focus on the need to win
Gathering your strength again

Give it your best shot now
Be determined, persevere
Ha, your opponent staggers
This fight is truly yours

Edited by Andrew Molen & Keith Jackson

SIMON DAVIDSON

SONOMA - The current saga about the opposition’s attempted hijacking of parliament and the subsequent legal battles portray a gloomy picture of the nation’s political landscape.

But behind the two forces battling in the corridors of power are the powerful economic ideologies that each group represents.

The opposition represents the interests of foreign corporate exploiters thinking of plundering the nation’s abundant natural resources by manipulating a weak political system.

Their dream is to make their shareholders filthy rich, while the citizens suffer.

The government on the other hand represents the national interest, and its chief aim is to gain maximum benefit for the nation while ensuring investors gain a fair return for their investment.

The bold and game-changing decision taken by the Marape Government to take greater control of our natural resources was for the long-term good of the nation to gain economic independence.

But for greedy, exploitive foreign conglomerates and their spin doctors, the Marape government is a serious threat to their economic dominance.

They are trying everything within their power to remove Marape. Rumours peddled in the viral space opine that the flush of cash in the opposition camp is a testament to this fact.

In history, individuals of wealth and power like the Medici family in Italy, the Rothschilds originating from Germany and many others used their economic power to remove governments whom they saw as inimical to their economic interest.

In international politics, the United States uses its political and economic might to support friendly governments and to overthrow regimes it saw as oppressive and hostile to its economic interests.

This has happened in many third world countries. In Papua New Guinea, for example, it is believed that Sir Julius Chan was supported by CRA during the Bougainville crisis in his efforts to flush out rebels.

Now it seems to be happening again in PNG with Barrick Corporation said to be directing cash to the opposition. That's the talk, anyway. It's disturbing.

As the country’s leaders reconvene in parliament next Monday, a vote of no confidence may be moved against the Marape government.

The most important question that should occupy the minds of all elected leaders is: Whose interests am I representing? Who am I fighting for? What is my mandate as an elected representative of the people?

And there are other important questions.

What will be the consequence of my decision for the economic future of this great nation? Am I fighting for the national interest or foreign corporate interests?

Am I change maker and destiny shaper or simply fighting to line my pockets? Do I want to leave the nation better than I found it, or will I leave it in worse shape?

Leaders in both camps need to think, and especially the loose particles in opposition who are simply there to make quick bucks.

Are you there just for your own personal gain? Or does your conscience rule and you fight every day for the constituents who elected you?

We do want you to blow around like a ragged flag in the political winds. We do not want you to sell the soul of the nation for a pittance.

It is unforgivable that some of our elected leaders put on a brazen face and support foreign interests to elect a government that will wreck the nation and plunder our nations treasures.

What is needed now, when the nation is at an economic crossroad is for national leaders who can think, who are clear minded, who are visionary and who are true to their duty to let their conscience rule, to be captive to higher principles and be willing to die rather than sell out our nation for pittance.

Mike Jelliffe on the Aramia River near Balimo, 2018

KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA - Nenge Books is a small Australian business based in Coramba near Coffs Harbour, NSW, which publishes independent authors and is the brainchild by a man with strong roots in Papua New Guinea.

The company was established by author Mike Jelliffe to publish his own writing and has expanded to include other works and provide advice to authors seeking low-cost publishing.

“I am always willing to consider publishing any Papua New Guinean authors who are looking for a publishing opportunity,” Mike told me. Authors can email Michael here.

Flying pastors with MAF in the highlands, 2015

Mike arrived in PNG from Australia in 1971 and spent most of his working life there, mainly in aviation as a pilot, manager and trainer. You can read more about him at the end of this article.

He and his wife Kathy raised their three children in PNG and lived and worked in many regional areas - Oro, Western, Sandaun, East Sepik, Southern and Western Highlands, Simbu and Morobe - as well as Port Moresby

Mike published his first novel, The People of the Bird, in 2014, and since then Nenge Books has steadily grown to over 30 published works. The current book list can be linked to here.

Handing over books to church representatives in Port Moresby

A number of Nenge publications are PNG-related and include autobiographies, general interest books and literacy primers. Two new PNG books are summarised below.

Mike says he’s “been grinding away at a sequel to The People of the Bird” and is also midway through editing Pombereol, written by a nurse in Mendi who narrates stories told by her grandfather of life around Mendi before first contact with the outside world.

The People of the Bird is available as a free PDF for Papua New Guineans, who can request it by emailing Mike here.

 RECENT PNG-RELATED BOOKS FROM NENGE

The Treasury of Teapu: Discovering the real gold in Bougainville by Ray Grindley, ISBN 978-0-6488206-1-1, Nenge Books, November 2020, 366 pages, paperback, includes many photos and pictures. Discounted at AU$30 + postage for PNG orders. Available early in the new year from the publisher at nengebooks1@gmail.com

1969 was a turning point in Australian Accountant Ray Grindley's life. As a Christian volunteer working with the United Church in Bougainville he meticulously recorded details about the life and culture of the people of Teapu in northern Bougainville.

Now 50 years later, he has combined the stories, along with his own experiences, into one work. There’s a lot in this book: traditional stories, conversations, events in travelling, history, kinship systems, initiation ceremonies, archaeology, spiritual beliefs, mission work and more.

The book is supported by many photographs, making it a valuable record of Bougainville village life at that time. What makes it more valuable is that much of information was lost to the people during the 10 year civil war of the 1990s, when an estimated 20,000 people died.

Each chapter takes the reader on a personal journey with Ray, who arrived in a state of despondency following the death of his girlfriend and left a year later transformed having discovered what he calls the real gold of Bougainville - the love and acceptance of a people previously unknown to him. It’s an inspirational read.

Dekeleba - the Lake Bird by Sarah Kende, ISBN 9780648428480, Nenge Books, 2020, 34 pages, paperback with photos. AU$12.00 + postage for PNG orders. Available immediately from the publisher at nengebooks1@gmail.com

This is a short story of the life of Pastor Kitapateke, who was one of the first converts to Christianity in the Erave-Samberigi-Polupa area of the Southern Highlands. It focuses on his early life and parental influences, his participation in Dobu trading patrols as a messenger and translator, his marriage before conversion in 1961 and his training and pastoral ministry in remote areas east of Erave.

THE MIKE JELLIFFE STORY

Mike Jelliffe

From 1971, Mike had  a continuing involvement in PNG aviation for 42 years as a pilot and flight instructor and later as a manager in Talair, Macair and general manager of the Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF).

In recent years he has conducted training for rural airstrip operators in several provinces.  Since 2008 he has been the government-appointed director of PNG Air Services Ltd, now NiuSky Pacific, the State aviation enterprise that manages air navigation and aviation communication services in PNG. 

In addition to his aviation qualifications, Mike has an MA in Intercultural Studies and spent 1987-1991 as a missionary and trainer in the Evangelical Church of PNG and he continues to conduct training for rural pastors in particularly in Western and Southern Highlands provinces and Port Moresby.

"I love to spend time with my rural wantoks that these opportunities provide," Mike says.

Training pastors at Dewara in Western Province,  2018

"Many of these people have known me since my early days flying there. Training and facilitating others to achieve their potential is at the core of who I am and hence the focus on training."

Mike understands that Nenge Books has a role that extends beyond book publishing.

"I believe the most effective role in training and empowering others is through the written word.

"I hope I can be of assistance including training for PNG friends wanting to publish."

Evah and Sarah

EVAH KUAMIN

Hi olgeta, this is an excerpt from my unpublished book. I am seeking sponsors to help me publish the book and spread the message about children with special needs. If you or know anyone who can assist me, please let me know - EK

MADANG - When everything is going well and then suddenly life decides to take its toll on you, you lose your footing, your mind and all hell breaks loose.

The worst is the pain a mother feels seeing her own child succumb to illness and suffer.

For me, it came unexpectedly. I didn’t have anyone in my paternal or maternal family had been diagnosed with such a disease.

Back then I was at a loss and all I could think of was my daughter getting better.

She needed a miracle – and desperately.

In 2015, my once bubbly, talkative and cheerful six-year old daughter Sarah suddenly fell ill with TB meningitis.

Sarah was hospitalised for three months at Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae, Morobe Province. It was the most traumatic year of my life. Depressing, stressful, challenging.

My faith in God was tested beyond heavenly boundaries.

I struggled to keep my hopes up and searched to find the courage and strength to keep my little gem happy.

I don’t know how or why my Sarah caught the disease, yet I feel maybe I am to blame for her condition.

It breaks me because I can’t bear to see her the way she is now.

By the awesome grace of God, I have come to accept her for who she is despite the fact I miss her normal bubbly, cheery self, her chats, her grumbles, her laughter and her voice.

I am learning to build and help her heal.

US ambassador Ebert-Gray with Evah Kuamin, who won the Award for Essays & journalism in the 2017  Crocodile Prize 

If you were to see my Sarah today, it would be hard for you to believe that I almost lost her five years ago. Sarah had hit a low of nine kilos and was all skin and bone.

She was placed on a nasogastric feeding tube - a medical process involving the insertion of a plastic tube down the throat and into the stomach for feeding.

Since then Sarah has lost all her ability to sit walk, talk and be normal.

I am grateful to God for each day that I live to be with Sarah. I am happy that I have her and, regardless of how she is now, I choose to be happy.

I have done all I can for her and I will still continue to do more at the least be who I am to her – a mother.

This year, 2020, Sarah turned 12 and in the coming year she will be a teenager.

‘My Love –Natugu’ is the story of my journey as a mother throughout the years of my daughter’s suffering and healing.

It gives words of encouragement and hope to people who share similar struggles to mine.

It is about being strong, about beating the odds, about persisting and hoping and maintaining faith.

May you always view life with love, courage and hope.

Link here to an earlier story about Evah and Sarah

Gary, Wayne and friends - "We are all fortunate to know good people and have great friendships. They are precious gifts. Until we no longer have them"

GARY JUFFA

ORO - Some years ago - in the mid-eighties, I was this skinny kid growing up in Arawa on Bougainville.

I had a great friend at school, Wayne Grieshaber. I met him the day I entered Bovo Primary School.

I’d just transferred from Kokoda, where I spent three years schooling and living with my grandmother on our small cocoa plantation. No electricity and a hefty dose of challenge and difficulty.

At Bovo, I knew no one and found it adjustment hard. Still I was still thrilled at being in a city once more and able to sit in a car after three years of walking to and from school and everywhere else.

Now I had electricity, lights, hot water, radio, music, and my own room.

But I missed my grandmother, my dog Santo, my rooster and the creeks and streams and picnic spots of Kokoda.

I missed my cousins and knocking down coconuts and searching for wild honey and mushrooms. I missed the forest.

Wayne invited me to his house soon after we met and became instant friends.

We became like brothers and spent most of our free time in together.

That’s Wayne in the picture. His family were like my family. That’s his lovely mother and sister Rosina (in the green swimsuit) and her friend Melinda who sent me the photo not so long ago.

Thanks Rosina for this memento and opening a door to the past from which amazing memories tumbled.

You were such a chatterbox and always giggling but you were kind and happy to follow and pester us.

So the photo brought back a flood of memories. But also transmitted great sadness.

That’s how life is I have come to realise.

Life measures out in equal parts of happy and sad.

Ying and yang.

I never got to know Wayne as an adult and sadly I never will.

Somehow he passed on before I could find him.

Nevertheless, I will never forget this childhood friend.

We spent so much time talking, telling outrageous lies to impress each other and having many adventures with our friends and his parents.

Best friends we were.

We picnicked all through beautiful Bougainville. We knew every creek and every river and hill and swimming hole and fishing spot.

Life was carefree and full of joy and adventure. The people are a beautiful, peaceful, gentle people.

Eventually, as is often the case with childhood friends, we moved apart to circumstances beyond the control of a child.

Wayne and I went our separate ways. He went to a boarding school in Australia and I stayed at school in Bougainville for two years more.

Then to Port Moresby because of the Bougainville’s great crisis.

There was a rebel named Francis Ona who was unhappy about something. I was sent to live with my aunt and uncle in Port Moresby and attend school there.

Parents rarely take time to explain why they make huge decisions to uproot a child and send them here or there.

They forget that the little people they call the kids have friends and relationships too.

These days, I try my best to explain to my children what is happening and why and give them time to say goodbye to friends and exchange gifts.

Whenever Wayne came back for school holidays, we would catch up and spend our time picnicking in the beautiful rivers or fishing on the awesome beaches of Bougainville as if he had never left.

We were growing up and discovering life as teenagers. 

Life was carefree, full of fun. Panguna had a movie theatre. Kieta had Pokpok resort. Loloho was known for a great beach, a small movie theatre that was free and amazing Christmas parties.

Every Christmas everyone in Arawa, Panguna, Kieta and surrounding areas gathered at the field and spend the entire day enjoying train rides, clowns, amazing food and entertainment and in the evening a breathtaking fireworks show.

Kids could not be happier as they watched and gasped at the boom and bedazzlement of fireworks at Loloho on Christmas night.

I loved Aropa, the airfield nearby, and its prawn and eel infested rivers which as a spear fisherman I was obsessed with.

If I could not make it there I would go to the Bovo River, Tupukas River or Kaperia creek and dive for prawns which I sold around the neighborhood for a few bucks.

Wayne's father, Fred Grieshabor, worked at the Panguna mine and was an avid hiker.

He took us to many of the mountains and hills around Arawa and Panguna. He was a gentleman and spoke softly and was very kind to me. He taught us about nature and history.

As an adult I appreciate how important it is to a child's development to have someone who takes time to teach you things and show kindness and care.

Such things go a long way to create empathy in a child; besides love, empathy is most needed in how people treat others.

Wayne and I visited many places and logged many great times.

Now, years later, looking at this photo, I realise how fortunate I was to have known Wayne.

We are all fortunate to know good people and have great friendships. They are precious gifts.

Until we no longer have them.

Life is like that. People coming and going, bringing joy and leaving sadness.

That Bougainville crisis cost 20,000 lives. Later I came to learn that Francis Ona was no rebel. He was a freedom fighter.

I sat for a time and looked at this photo, recalling Wayne's great smile and enthusiasm for life. Just like yesterday.

A wave of immense sadness and nostalgia washed over me and I felt tears in my eyes as I remembered the kindness and love Wayne added to my life as a child.

Rest in peace brother Wayne. See you on the other side. We’ll go fishing, I promise you.

Gary Juffa is governor of Oro Province in Papua New Guinea. He first published this article in June 2017

Paramedics attend to a patient on an air ambulance flight (St John Ambulance)

REBECCA KUKU
| The Guardian | Judith Nielson Institute | Extract

PORT MORESBY - Papua New Guinea’s main ambulance service – St John Ambulance – was allocated no money in the Marape government’s budget for 2021.

St John Ambulance runs a fleet in Port Moresby and across provincial centres. For much of the country it is the only ambulance service.

On a budget already reduced by more than two-thirds, St John has been forced to cut the number of ambulances operating in and around Port Moresby and to run fewer shifts.

There are concerns the service could shut down over Christmas. Management has even considered selling some ambulances to keep going.

The St John budget was K10 million in 2019 but this was slashed in 2020 to just K3 million, of which only K1 million has been received.

When the -controversial PNG budget for 2021 was passed by parliament in November without the opposition present, zero kina was allocated to St John.

“We are beyond disappointed that [an] oversight resulted in public ambulance service funding being entirely left out from the government’s 2021 budget,” St John said in a statement.

“We are still determining how we will continue any of our lifesaving services to the public.”

The PNG treasury department said the funding cut was an oversight – the budget was hastily passed with the government fearing a court injunction from the opposition – but despite promises no funding has been restored.

The chair of the National St John Council, Jean Kekedo, has asked prime minister James Marape to immediately restore the service’s budget, saying without it more than 100 frontline ambulance staff will be laid off or lose shifts over Christmas.

“Reducing services isn’t taken lightly, the financial position of St John is a huge concern, St John cannot continue to borrow money to cover costs to provide services for and on behalf of the government,” St John said.

St John has provided an ambulance service in PNG for more than 60 years. It runs 25 ambulances in Port Moresby, Kokopo, Central, Morobe, Simbu and Madang provinces.

It also worked with Tropicai and Manolos aviation to provide air ambulance services.

Lake Murray dawn PNG (Ian-Lloyd-Neubauer)

JIMMY AWAGL

Heavenly lights subside in the sky
As the glow of the flame arrives
Kissing the soft dew settled on leaves
As the beauty of a new day appears

Observe this time passing your eyes
This time that dictates your life
Either to rise or fall; succeed or fail
It’s the time flame that dominates earth

Beneath it a portrait of true majesty
That nature created for our content
Created us too, for ill or for good
There are two sides to every coin

Life’s rewards also depend on device
For sheer beauty cannot buy life
Nor can money, but they’re complements,
Beauty, currency and device

Tropical dawn wallpaper (Vuenick)

And the beauty of the sun is ours to keep
Bestowed to bring light to our lives
Its rays conferred without a price
To keep our hearts at peace

So our journey rotates around this sun
And our lives align with its rhythm
From young at heart to old and spent
We’re OK when the flame kisses the earth

PHILIP FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY – Early in the year, as the coronavirus was beginning to spread, I thought it might be interesting to make a collection of poetry published on PNG Attitude over the ensuing months.

My expectation was that the virus would have a large impact on Papua New Guinea and that would be reflected in the poetry.

As it turned out the impact of the virus has apparently and thankfully not been as bad as many people expected.

That may be because of the lack of reporting. It may be that the worst is yet to come.

That speculation aside, the collection so far has been interesting and worth publishing, especially with the comments from readers I have included in the text.

All things being equal I’ll publish a paperback and an eBook sometime in January next year.

This is the list of poems collected so far:

Contemplating - Maria-Rose Sau
The Money Man - Raymond Sigimet
Go Bek Gen - Raymond Sigimet
The River Died - Raymond Sigimet
Her Pain is Private - Wardley Barry
Wanpela Dei Tasol Insait Long Covid-19 - Michael Dom
Keep Your Heaven - Wardley Barry
A Million Ideas & Millions Gone – Simon Davidson
Coronavirus Pandemic – Stephanie Alois
In Their Cocoon – Dominica Are
Covid-19 2020 – Joseph Tambure
A Pandemic Far Worse Than Covid-19 – Wardley Barry
The Man in the Mirror – Michael Dom
Morning – Raymond Sigimet
Sunset Artwork the Mighty Artist – Stephanie Alois
Relentless – Stephanie Alois
Till Death Do Us Part - Hezron Wangi Jr
A Million Miles in a Million Lies - Eric Molong
Loves Left Unsaid – Stephanie Alois
The Chase - Gideon Kindiwa
Eh, Mi Seksek – Michael Dom
Och, Ah’m Crazy – Michael Dom
On the Mend at Last – Keith Jackson
He Has Had Enough – Wardley Barry
Superheroes They Live Among Us – Caroline Evari
Our Words Must Speak For Peace Not Strife – Michael Dom
The Melanesian – Wardley Barry
Coviet Straggler in Paradise – Gregory Bablis
Reckless Healing – Stephanie Alois
Ohh Sine-Gai Tine – Edwin Lako
On Masks and Meanings – Gregory Bablis
How – Stephanie Alois
Let Words Not Be Silent or Sleep Alone – Raymond Sigimet
A Menace Called Fear – Raymond Sigimet
All True Stewards of Nature – Iso Yawi
Arise All You! – Joseph Tambure
From an Old Poet – Wardley Barry
Destined for Me – Hilda David-Aipi
The Corona Virus – Joy Milamala
Tonight the Moon Carries Her Umbrella – Michael Dom
Kiluwe, Oh Kiluwe – Samuel Lucas Kafuguli
Simbu Courtship – Jimmy Awagl

If you have a good poem that you think might be worth including in the collection, you’ve still got a couple of weeks to get it to Keith for publication in PNG Attitude and possible inclusion.

Maybe next year we can do a collection of short stories.

President Ishmael Toroama receives a report on the new economic zone project from Robert Hamal Sawa. Minister for Lands and Physical Planning

ANTHONY KAYBING
| Office of the President

BUKA – Bougainville’s president Ishmael Toroama has vowed to continue to protect landowner rights as the region embarks on an energetic program of economic development.

President Toroama was announcing the Bana Special Economic Zone at Mamarego Primary School in the Bana District of South Bougainville.

The Bana people have taken the first step to establishing the economic zone along Augusta Bay.

The project is intended to create development by tapping into the agriculture, fisheries and tourism industries and creating economic opportunities for Bougainville by attracting greater investment.

To mark the launch President Toroama planted a coconut tree and received a report from lands minister, Robert Hamal Sawa.

“I’ve fought for our land, I’ve fought for our resources and I’ve fought for the identity of our people to become an independent nation,” President Toroama said.

President Toroama readies to plant a coconut seedling, symbolic of the new economic zone project

“I have confidence that our people will work together with our government to ensure that this project is successfully implemented for the benefit of Bougainville.

“I stand here today at Mamarego as tribute to our revolutionary founding fathers to pledge to the people of Bana District and Bougainville of the government’s support to this project,” he said.

He urged the people to continue to support the project as it progresses towards its development phase.

The project is the third high impact project initiated by the Toroama government.

The president has already launched the Manetai limestone project in Central Bougainville and the Tonolei integrated agriculture project in South Bougainville.

Alfred Max Parkinson Uechtritz shows his delight at receiving the first English translation of Dreissig Jahre in Der Südsee (Thirty Years in the South Seas) in 1999

MAX UECHTRITZ

SYDNEY - "Without Richard and Phebe Parkinson, we would be strangers in our own land."

These words were spoken by the wonderful Papua New Guinean historian Gideon Kakabin in our first conversation and formed the basis for our enduring friendship and shared passion for history.

My Danish great grandfather Richard Parkinson published his famed tome Thirty Years in the South Seas in 1907.

It was in German (Dreissig Jahre in Der Südsee) because that was the language of then German New Guinea which encompassed a great swathe of the Pacific.

In 1999 ‘Thirty’ was finally published in English after decades of difficult translation effort - and the book was launched in Sydney by Papua New Guinea's Lady Aivu Tauvasa.

For my father - Alfred Max Parkinson Uechtritz - it was a memorable event he'd yearned for all his life.

He was a proud special guest as he put the record straight about how critical to the book were the efforts of his grandmother Phebe.

The book is described as "a magisterial guide to the region", "a massive and authoritative ethnography", "unparalleled in the literature of the Bismarck Archipelago" and "an incomparable picture a time and place now long lost".

This video is a record of that day, a testament to the Parkinsons and my father who left this world on this day in 2008.

For my father - Alfred Max Parkinson Uechtritz - it was a memorable event he'd yearned for all his life.

He was a proud special guest as he put the record straight about how critical to the book were the efforts of his grandmother Phebe.

This video is a record of that day, a testament to the Parkinsons and to honour my father who left this world on this day in 2008.

You can see Max’s video of this event on his Facebook page here

James Marape, Ian Ling-Stuckey, Bryan Kramer & other key supporters - "Let us not attack fundamental institutions of our democracy"

KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA – Papua New Guinea prime minister James Marape has pleaded on Facebook for people not believe toxic rumours circulating in the community as the fight for the leadership of PNG continues.

“Facebook or public conversation forums are no place for allegations of crime or wrong doings,” Marape said, referring to unsubstantiated text messages purporting to be communications between some lawyers and politicians.

He said that he had asked police to investigate the matter and urged citizens who have evidence of wrongdoing to first take it to the police.

“In today’s age of speed and craftiness, misinformation or misuse of information will cause harm to our nation’s image,” he said. “Think about your country’s future and not just today.”

Clearly referring to the heightened tension as PNG’s political drama continues, Marape asked his “staff and supporters and my side of political debates to be kind, courteous, considerate and act with restraint.

“Lawyers are there to do their job, newspapers and reporters are there to do their job,” he said.

‘Our judiciary is there to do its job and we must not question its rulings in the media or elsewhere except the courtroom,” Marape advised.

“For one thing I would like to protect in my life is freedom of responsible press and independence of our nation’s judiciary.

“Let us not attack and demean the judiciary, they are our hope in this nation of many divides.

“You and I can play politics but please let us not attack fundamental institutions of our democracy.”

JIMMY AWAGL

The calm breeze from the sea waves
Moves peacefully to the shore
Unsettles the tender palm leaves
Offers a sense of calmness, like
the grass-skirts of Papuan girls

The aroma of this gentle breeze
Moves sweetly across the lonely beach
As the soft sand squishes beneath my feet
Creating gentle puffs of crystal dust
Gathered by the breeze and taken where

High-post houses with thatched roofs
Kids play beneath them soundlessly
Play too around the sandy beach
Among drifted logs on the shore
And ragged nets long cast aside

Canoes and dinghies tangle together
Among those logs upon the shore
Bounce slightly on the gentle waves
Wink at me in the sun’s last flame
And kiss the waves to form a rainbow

Frizzy-haired mothers walk across the sand
Looking, as if to sight canoes, or land
The children pause, as if in capture
A day’s moment is awaited now
The fishing fathers return with catch

The sea inspires our tranquility
While offering its bounty, free
to the villagers who respect the gift
and know that life along the sea
is something special, something complete

PHILIP FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - Back in 1993 the pop group Aerosmith sang in the opening lines of Livin’ on the Edge, “There's something wrong with the world today. I don’t know what it is.”  

The idea that there is something wrong with the world, including the people in it and the way they behave, is a feeling that has probably been around ever since our forebears crawled out of the swamps and grew legs.

Thankfully, no matter the era, there have always been dissenters who have agitated for different and better ways of doing things. Indeed, dissent and radicalism have been the driving forces of change.

However, while the path of human progress is assisted by many dissenters advocating and sometimes achieving positive outcomes, there are always strong vested interests pushing against them.

At the moment we seem to be in an era in which vested interests are in the ascendancy and tenuously holding the line against change.

This is concerning because we now seem to have reached a critical point in human history where what we do over the next few years will have a lasting impact on future generations and possibly the planet itself.

Without doubt there have been many dark days in the history of the world, but the current crises of climate change, overpopulation, rapidly depleting natural resources, environmental damage and savage economic exploitation seem to have collectively topped anything that has gone before.

Many elderly people will tell you that in their lifetimes no period has felt as dire as this one now.

For those of us in our twilight years it seems a sad legacy to leave for our children and grandchildren.

By and large, and particularly in the West, our generation has enjoyed what have been the most progressive, enlightened, peaceful and comfortable lives experienced in human history.

Unfortunately all that has come at a cost.

The debt collector is now standing at the door and it seems our immediate descendants might have to pay for all we have enjoyed unless something is done very quickly to remediate the problems facing the world.

It is particularly galling to know that the solutions to these problems are well-known and, given the willpower, eminently achievable.

We know how to slow down climate change. We know how to control population growth. We know how to sustainably manage natural resources. We know what needs to be done to ensure economic equity.

We also know what the major impediments are to doing these things – greed, power, fanaticism, ignorance, stupidity and inertia.

We can accuse other people of the first three but, as for the rest, we must admit their pointed relevance to us.

Claiming that we don’t understand what is happening to the world and whimpering that as individuals we lack the power to change anything are classic excuses used time and again throughout history.

As an excuse, for most of us, claims of ignorance and disempowerment are feeble and untrue. History tells us that, given the will, great change can be accomplished by ordinary people.

Despite what they think, the purveyors of greed, power and fanaticism are far from invincible. In most cases they wield their power because we have allowed them to do so.

People like Trump/Biden, Morrison/Albanese and Marape/Namah are there because, one way or another, ordinary people put them there.

Getting rid of them and not replacing them with different versions of the same thing requires us to step away from the herd, discard our complacency and think before we vote.

If enough of us do that we will elect leaders of true quality who can lead the way to a better world.

Will we do that? Probably not. The state of the world has a short way to go before it becomes truly insufferable.

Unfortunately, by then it will be too late.

Bari Palma MP - late yesterday court discharged him from bankruptcy. Now he gets to vote for Pruaitch

KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA – The question of who will govern Papua New Guinea until the next election in 2022 lies in the balance this morning as the numbers in both political grouping show a paper thin margin.

When parliament met yesterday there were 109 of the 111 members present and it seemed they were split 55-54 in favour of the opposition.

The shortfall of two members comprised government MP Sir Mekere Morauta, in Australia on medical leave, and a vacant seat (Bougainville Regional) yet to be filled.

But there was a critical question around the legitimacy of the opposition’s Bari Palma, an undischarged bankrupt who as such would be ineligible to sit in parliament.

Late yesterday the court let him off the hook after his debts were paid in full.

Palma, the MP for Kerowagi Open, was declared bankrupt by the national court in 2017 over K171,696 in legal costs that had been awarded against him after a failed 2012 election petition.

He had appealed the decision, but it was dismissed.

After this matter was uncovered last week, Palma paid the amount in full and last Friday filed an urgent application to have the insolvency declaration discharged.

An issue may remain about whether Palma, having been declared bankrupt, was disqualified from being an MP at all and whether he should have been participating in and voting on parliamentary proceedings since 2017

Yesterday leading figures from both sides failed to agree on the matter and, when parliament finally convened, the Speaker ruled an adjournment until tomorrow in the hope that Palma’s eligibility to sit in parliament would be determined by the supreme court.

If Palma was debarred and Sir Mekere returned, it would have left the numbers at 55-54 but now in favour of the government.

The government would then elect a speaker who would exercise a casting vote.

A narrow win to be sure, but all James Marape would need to do at that point would be to await the rush of opposition members to the government’s side of the aisle

Yesterday afternoon the opposition selected Patrick Pruaitch as its candidate for prime minister and announced it would submit a notice for a motion of no confidence before the day’s end.

With the vote now looking like it may be 55-55, it could be back to the court.

Sources: Bryan Kramer MP, Martyn Namorong, Natalie Whiting (ABC)

Asukena (mole cricket)

AS TOLD BY PAPA SII TO BAKA BINA

Baka Bina’s ninth book, Tales From Faif, is due for release before the end of December. It includes for extracts from the popular Cry Me a River series, two from the Pineapple series, four legends and three contemporary stories - KJ

A LEGEND - Alonaa was bored. He did not like the idea of babysitting the terror cousins –the three girls, Teniso, Sukare, Panikame, and two boys, Nana-Muni and Metty-Mahn, who were smaller than him.

The girls were terrors - more like terriers - who were too troublesome to look after.

Away from the village, at the garden or the big river, Alonaa would rule with a big stick and the small ones responded.

In the village, the big people screamed at you if you ear-boxed the smaller ones.

Yesterday he took the small ones to the Venevetaka Eddies to go swimming. The day before that they went to Iye Numuko to stone fish at the small creek there.

The previous day before that, he took them with him to Sogopex when he went with an axe chopping up opena, ghohuno and mesinopa trees looking for tree grubs.

The terrors were all noise and crying if they could find a reason to do so. If one of the girls was not crying, the two boys were crying.

They always had something to be angry about with each other and Alonaa found it a chore to rule over them.

However, as the eldest of the cousins he was required to babysit and he wished the school holidays would be over quickly so he could get back with other boys his age.

Today his luck ran out once more. It was babysitting duties again. Mummy had gone to town and told all the children, all six to remain at the hauslain.

Alonaa got them to play hop scotch. The three girls did well, the two small boys ran havoc. So they stopped.

Next they tried kicking balls. But the small ones wanted to catch and run with the ball. So that stopped.

Then they tried hockey, a make believe hockey game where a piece of thong was cut up as a puck and, using a stick, they tried to bat this pluck to each other.

The girls could barely hit the puck and the two boys always ran into it or did whatever they could to disturb the girls.

It needed big children to play this - and away from the village, not in this small yard.

As the sun climbed past the tall trees and the shadows shortened, Alonaa thought what they could do next.

He looked into the big pot of kaukau that Ma had cooked for them. Even though it was half empty, there was still plenty left. So they would not be hungry before Ma came in.

He was out of ideas. He thought maybe they could of make bows and arrows and to go lizard hunting.

But that was what boys were interested in. The girls showed no interest in either bows and arrows or hunting.

What about small mumus? Mum did not go to the garden and the raw kaukau in the house were the ones she had bought at the market.

She would certainly not agree to them wasting them in small mumus.

Alonaa was thinking that perhaps Papa Sii would have some kaukau in his house. The problem was that the house was locked. Papa Sii would have taken the keys with him.

Alonaa was not sure if there was any kaukau to be harvested from the garden on the other side of the creek.

He knew there would be plenty in the main garden at the hauspik. He could take this riotous group there. But they’d been there twice in the last three days and there was no more fruit to pick.

He perked up when a “Whao!’’ shouted from the fence fronting the village. Alonaa looked eagerly towards the familiar voice.

Papa Aishi had shouted from his market stall beside the fence to acknowledge his presence and to say that he was back.

He had gone early to the main market to buy things he could resell in the village square. He was setting out these on a small table.

“Papa Sii – ii,” the children all shouted in reply to his ‘whao!’

Alonaa was glad an adult had come who would look after the terrors. Now he could wander off to find his peers.

“Alonaa!” Papa Sii called. “Come and get your scones and ice blocks.”

Good old Papa Aishi always bought scones and drinks from his market money.

“Ah-ha,” Alonaa thought aloud. “Story time, children.

“Okay kids, let us go to Papa Sii and he will tell us stories.”

“We’re coming,” they chorused in unison.

“Hurry, get the mats and pillows. We will go sit with Papa Sii and he will tell us one of his stories.”

Piku-Piku

Nana-Muni and Metty-Mahn always liked the story about Piku-Piku and Asukena and they shouted in repeated singsong, “Piku-Piku! Asukena! Piku-Piku! Asukena!”

They scrambled into the house and pulled at the roll-up mats Ma had stacked up in the corner.

Panikame challenged them for another story and called out “Giririripo’ne”, adding an extra ‘ri’ which sounded like fun, and they all burst out laughing at the mistake.

“Giriripo’ne,” Sukare corrected her.

“‘No, it’s Ghilipo’ne, not giriripo’ne,” Alonaa pronounced the name correctly. “Our language does not have the letter ‘r’ and the letter ‘g’ sounds like ‘gh’.”

The correction was lost on the girls. It did not matter to them.

The two small terrors had raced to the stall and were demanding Piku-Piku and Asukena.

Papa Sii looked at them.

“Ah, you two are here. Come and look at this!”

He held a squirming insect that was trying to escape from his hands.

The two terrors took a close look. He told them to wait for Alonaa.

Nana-Muni was impatient and tried to pry Papa Sii’s hand open. Alonaa arrived and warp-boxed his ears.

“Okay, roll out your mats,” he ordered the two boys.

The girls arrived with the mats and Alonaa unscrambled the old mosquito net they normally used as sunshade.

He dug stakes in the ground and strung up the shades while the girls ran back to get bean bags they used as cushions. These were going to be pillows they could rest their heads on.

As the sun drifted across the top of the sky, Aishi pulled out a clear glass bottle. He showed it to Metty-Mahn and asked him what was inside.

Metty-Mahn grinned from ear to ear and looked back at the girls. It was his favourite insect, shiny and black. He shouted, “Piku-Piku!’” and forced the bottle from Papa Sii’s hand.

Papa Sii took out another bottle, a green one. It was a bit difficult to see inside it. But they could see something scrambling around.

Nana-Muni took the bottle from Papa Sii’s outstretched hand. He took some time unscrewing the top of the bottle. A huge grin crossed his face.

Asukena!

Part 2 tomorrow

Small freighter docked at Port Moresby

BENWARD ROWA

WAIGANI - The World Trade Organisation (WTO) was established to enforce rules governing trade activities amongst member countries.

Essentially trade liberalisation is the idea that there should be less government intervention in international trade, allowing for the free flow of commodities and services across national boundaries.

The WTO promotes the reduction of tariff and other trade barriers, and also allows for a range of safeguards and exemptions to protect the domestic social policies of member states.

Papua New Guinea is a member of WTO, joining in 1996. As a member, PNG is obliged to abide by the WTO’s trade rules.

These rules allow member states a level of certainty in the conduct of their global trade relations.

International trade specialists argue that opening up domestic markets can unlock growth and economic development. The expectation is that PNG will meet its commitments to open its domestic market and abide by other trade liberalisation rules.

Implementation of the national trade policy (2017-2032) can facilitate PNG’s competiveness and safeguard its domestic market against unfair practices.

It is critical that a whole-of-government approach is undertaken to implement the policy, enabling PNG to maximise its membership of WTO.

Despite the benefits PNG can obtain as a WTO member, the country is still lagging in trade liberalisation.

Trade barriers are often used to protect domestic industries from foreign competition while reducing protectionist policies like tariffs and quotas can leave domestic industries vulnerable to large-scale disruption and unemployment.

Striking a balance between liberalisation and protection is key for small states like PNG.

The trade policy acknowledges the importance of strong regulation and enforcement, noting that “weak enforcement of national standards and technical regulations, weak enforcement of intellectual property rights, unfair trade practices such as dumped products and subsidisation of inefficient industries prevent the growth and diversification of PNG’s industries”.

WTO also observes that PNG’s membership has “exposed the country’s private sector to increased competition [and] damage to domestic manufacturing”.

In PNG, manufacturing industries are unable to compete profitably against imported products, mainly from Asia where manufacturing costs are lower due to efficient and reliable technology.

Increased competition from international firms has led to the collapse of non-profitable domestic firms.

Moreover, in PNG free trade has placed infant industries in a vulnerable position against foreign competitors.

As noted by an international trade specialist, “An already established foreign industry has the advantage of longstanding experience, market power, resource position, and external economies”.

In this context, competition with infant domestic companies is unequal and may result in their quick demise.

According to WTO, domestic industries in PNG are concerned over unfair trade practices such as dumping by foreign companies. Weak enforcement has also failed to protect domestic industries from an influx of cheap imports.

Another constraint to PNG’s integration into the global trade system under WTO rules is that it lacks comparative advantage in its exports.

In PNG, merchandise trade is concentrated in the extractive sector and it heavily favours imports.

In 2019, exports were valued at more than K7 billion, major exports being minerals (gold, silver, copper and crude oil), timber, coffee, palm oil, cocoa and copra.

These exports are very dependent on movements in international commodity prices. For instance, in 2019 most prices of agricultural commodities fell, affecting foreign exchange inflows.

PNG also faces difficulties in manufacturing. Cheap imports pose an increasing threat to local producers.

Due to reduced duties, foreign companies are dumping cheap imported goods into the country shutting out local producers.

The challenge for PNG is to focus on economic diversification.

A World Bank report said a more diverse production and trade structure is a key element of economic development.

On the other hand, a lack of diversification is often associated with increased vulnerability to external shocks that can undermine prospects for longer term economic growth.

Thus the PNG government must put into place policies that protect our local industries.

Cheap imports do not provide the same employment opportunities as domestic industries.

Local industries create wealth which is circulated within PNG and provides jobs.

Benward Rowa is majoring in political science at the University of Papua New Guinea

References
Department of Trade, Commerce and Industry 2017. Papua New Guinea National Trade Policy 2017 – 2032, Port Moresby
WTO 2019. Trade Policy Review, Papua New Guinea Trade Policy Review, Port Moresby

PHILIP FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - When did politicians start putting themselves first instead of us?

When did politicians start acting like rock stars and movie stars instead of acting like representatives of the people?

When did political spin take over from political reality?

When did power for its own sake become the endgame of politics?

It’s hard to put a finger on when the transition took place but, for those of us old enough, there are still memories of humble individuals walking the corridors of power in our national capital working assiduously for our benefit instead of the profit of themselves and their business mates.

Was it during the late 1970s when a re-invigorated style of neo-liberalism under leaders like Maggie Thatcher and Ronald Reagan crept quietly through the door extolling the virtues of individualism and competitiveness as opposed to the common good?

These thoughts come to mind as we watch another power play taking place in the Papua New Guinean parliament where raw politics at its most base is happening again.

An unfamiliar observer might be prompted to wonder what great philosophical and ideological differences have prompted this battle for power.

They would be sorely disappointed in the answer.

While the barbs that fly from both camps are daubed with accusations of corruption and incompetence it is apparent to just about everyone that it is just inconsequential and gaudy bilas and gris tok [decoration and spin].

The real game is about who can get a place at the public trough.

If there is a correlation between the rise of neo-liberalism and the behaviour of politicians, Papua New Guineans are at a severe disadvantage.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot

They have no historical reference point for a time when politics was an honourable profession.

PNG politics was born at the same time that neo-liberalism was upending the way the economic game was played.

We in Australia can compare our current crop of self-serving politicians to those icons of the past like John Curtin, Ben Chifley, Robert Menzies and Gough Whitlam.

Fact is, they hardly stand up well at all.

Who in the past can Papua New Guineans look to for examples of politicians of stature?

Politicians who put their country first and viewed serving their people as the important part of their job.

There were certainly leaders of stature prior to independence but few of them translated into good, long term, post-independence politicians.

Even Michael Somare, once a lowly government radio newsman on a provincial radio station, turned his tenure as prime minister into a cash cow and retired with a net worth estimated at K1.8 billion.

What sort of example was that for his successors?

It is probably his legacy that is again playing out in the PNG parliament right now.

What must be particularly galling for the people is the impoverished context in which these selfish games are conducted.

That old saying about re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic comes to mind.

Or maybe it’s re-arranging the snouts in the trough at the abattoirs.