IS AUSTRALIA TRULY PAPUA NEW GUINEA’S FRIEND?

By Paul Amatio

Opinion on this is divided. I was once naive enough to think that Australia was the one and true friend that we have who can be counted on to provide good guidance, helpful advice and strong admonition if we strayed off the path they had set for us. As a good friend, they would have respected our right to explore other options and ways to ensure that we all advanced in the same direction even if we shoes differing paths to the same outcome. But then, in those days, I did not understand the differing views as to the national interests and long term outcomes and aspirations of different countries, especially an Anglophile society like Australia that has historically viewed blacks as second or third class people.

The Story of how 25% of Porgera was Merged with a Unknown Company

 WE HAD 25% OF PORGERA IN THE 90s. WE MERGED IT WITH A K2 COMPANY WHICH CREATED PNG FOCUSED AUSTRALIAN OIL AND GAS COMPANY, OIL SEARCH LTD– AND NOW WE WANT PORGERA BACK AT COST – A TALE SHROUDED IN HIGH LEVEL CORRUPTION AND CONTROVERSY MASTERMINDED BY GREEDY POLITICIANS AND THEIR COHORTS.

Sam Jay Kaupa
Admin – PNG Mining & Development Forum
20th June 2021

When our forefathers gained independence in 1975 they established the Mineral Resources Development Company Limited (MRDC) which was 100% owned by the Government of Papua New Guinea.

MRDC was incorporated on 27th May 1975 under the Companies Ordinance 1966. It was not until 1981 that it became fully functional as a company entrusted with the duty to manage mining and petroleum resource equity interests on behalf of the State and Landowners.

It was the ultimate State Nominee to acquire the State and Landowner equity interests in mining and petroleum projects and to manage the equity funds for landowner companies from the major resource development areas of PNG.

In 1996 during Sir Julius Chan’s term as PM, MRDC was subjected to a partial privatization of its major interests resulting in the creation of Orogen Minerals Limited (OML), of which MRDC held 51 percent controlling shares while other major corporate bodies and individuals collectively held the remaining 49 per cent in OML.

OML at the time was a holding company which controlled stakes in Papua New Guinea resource companies. The Company had a portfolio of high valued assets developed by subsidiaries of major international resources companies. OML had interests in oil development, producing oilfields, gold mines and gold deposits including Kutubu, Gobe, Porgera, Lihir and Moran.

𝗦𝗶𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗲: 𝗗𝗿𝘂𝗺𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀

 𝘉𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬 - 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯

Michael Somare, bearded, eager, proud and secure within his own remarkable culture, became the face of Papua New Guinea to the world from the time the first daring troublemakers there began to dream of independence in the 1960s. Even more extraordinarily, he remained to his own people the face that mirrored their national aspirations over almost 50 years.

Other prime ministers came and went — Julius Chan and Paias Wingti, twice each — but when Somare returned to the top job in 2002 after a 17-year gap, he began his longest term in power.

He was knighted, and was awarded the top honour, a member of the Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu, after PNG also introduced its own honours system under his prime ministership in 2005. But he was ubiquitously known as “The Chief”.

His political longevity was principally owed to three chiefly skills: as a public speaker, both in the national language, Tok Pisin, and in English; as a chairman of the board, maintaining his fissiparous ministers in some kind of order; and as a parliamentary coalition builder and political numbers man, keeping track of the countless trade-offs required to maintain a majority in the PNG political bearpit.

Celebrating 40 years as an MP, Somare said: “I know what PNG politics tastes like.” And to ordinary Papua New Guineans, he remained the embodiment of their bright hopes, which he articulated at independence.

SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITY TO LEVERAGE UPON (Daru Fisheries Industrial Park)

By Western Province - Governor Taboi Awi Yoto
20^th December 2020

There are has been concerns raised recently regarding the Building of Fisheries Industrial Park on Daru Island by a Chinese Fishing Giant. 

Firstly let me start off by saying, why why do we keep voting in leaders and demand us for development. Do you expect us to develop the Province with the little we get from DSIP, PSIP, and resource benefits from whatever we get from the few resource extraction from the Province like Ok Tedi alone. If every one of you were in my shoe, you would understand the amount of financial resources I have at my disposal and the wish list of expectations you demand my government to deliver to you, the roads, the classrooms, the hospitals, etc etc. Yes we are not so poor, we have some money stored away, like in PNGSDP but that’s not at my disposal and they don't even listen to us. To me, it’s a grand scam of the century in the name of WP established by BHP and their friends for themselves and not for WP.

Many of us have continued to ask, why do we call ourselves a resource-rich Province yet we are so poor.? Yes we are a resource-rich Province but we need to convert those resources into monetary terms and use those funds to build better hospitals, schools, roads, create employment opportunities, improve the HDI, improve GDP improve our living standards etc. Thus, we as your leaders are challenged to think outside of the box. We just concluded a vote of no confidence, basically those of us who stood with Hon. James Marape, MP, PM, wanted to see an increase in benefits from our resource by tweaking, turning, and amending laws. That's thinking out of the current colonial introduce norm. But if we want to remain the same then let's forget everything, let's stop talking about change, let’s stop talking about electing good leaders who can bring development, let’s stop demanding leaders to think outside of the box to bring about developments etc etc. But if we want change, we must also prepare for the challenges that the change we aspire will bring. 

Why I walked out of Parliament on Friday - East Sepik Governor Allan Bird

By East Sepik - Governor Allan Bird

Tuesday 17th November 2020

Whenever something I consider wrong is happening on the floor of the Parliament, I will walk out in protest.

The Parliament is designed based on a sacred Abelam construct. I am an Abelam elder and I will not stand by when members deliberately abuse their privileges on the floor disrespecting my culture.

I have walked out of Parliament 3 times in protest so far. The first time was when Hon Kramer was referred to the Privileges Committee. I felt that was wrong. The second time was when Hon Yama was arguing on his personal interest against Hon Kramer. I asked the Speaker to send him out. When he did not, I walked out.

Friday last week I walked out for the 3rd time. As soon as I realized after Hon Paita raised a point of order that the Deputy Speaker was in collusion and the Law was about to be broken, I walked out in protest.

In 2011, when the Constitution was abused by MPs, I spoke up for the Constitution and the Rule of Law.

To me the Constitution is a sacred place, not to be trifled with or treated with contempt and disdain. I am not perfect but I will maintain my respect for our sacred places. It is something central to Abelam culture.

In my hausman we are told "Ples tambu, em ples tambu, yu nonap katim diwai, kisim saksak or Kanda long em. Yu nonap lo painim abus tu long hap. Tambu tru"

It is not ours to question why the laws are there it is only ours to obey. So any time anyone breaks the rules to pursue an interest I will not be party to it. You have lost me the minute you do that.

To my mind, anyone who is willing to break the law at one point will continue to break the law if it suits him. It's a principle, once you break into a sacred place, you never stop.

A pig who learns to break a fence and raid the garden will never stop doing it.

Why I walked out of Parliament on Friday - East Sepik Governor Allan Bird

The Porgera Gold Story - Enga's heartbeat

Sam Yockopua

16th July 2020

Stars align in a thousand years. Lightning does not strike the same place twice. And miracles do happen. You will drive through the red light 9 out of 10 times, but that 10th time, you will get it, you will regret why you took risks all the time when others waited for their turns to go.

Just like how criminals & terrorists forcefully blindfold, disable, torture and ridicule their victims in their own safe premises, Porgerans have become the living testament to the loot of their blessed land for 30 years. You don't need to go further than a few meters walk out of the gold mine gate to Yokolama, Kulapi, Pandadaka, Anawe, Yarik, or Apalaka and you for yourself how these SML landowners have lived and continue to squatter in slums and ghettos.

AN IPILI STORY

Fraser Liu

April 26 at 2:53 PM

I am one of 24 brothers and sisters. We own a large piece of land, which has an abundant natural occurrence of a mineral. One day someone came and told us that the minerals under our land are valuable and that we can be rich beyond our wildest dreams. His name was Mr Developer. He sold us tales and promises of wonder, we could not resist.

He came with a familiar looking neighbor who knew my language, and another bloke who told me that he was Mr. Government and that we had a duty to listen to him because despite us owning our own land; anything below six feet belonged to him. This was all very confusing to my family and I, but they looked much wiser and smarter than us, so we listened.

They introduced us to Mr Lawyer, who wrote up a paper called a Special Mining Lease. Mr Lawyer said that this paper was the agreement between ourselves, Mr Developer, and Mr Government. We asked him what the details of the agreement were.

Death of an MP, and the shattered dreams of a remote people

Daniel Kumbon

19 June 2015

An entry in the Crocodile Prize PNG Government Award for Short Stories

IT’S a heart- wrenching tale of the brief ascent to power, downfall and death of Takai Kapi, the former Member of Parliament for Wabag.

And it was all predicted in a dream – not by a fortune teller a village magician but by a respected chartered accountant, Larsen Levi.

Levi is a graduate of the PNG University of Technology. He had a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting.  He encouraged the late Kapi to stand for election in 1997 because he saw him win in a vivid dream which turned out to be true.

Kapi had graduated from the University of PNG with a BA in Political Science in 1996. At age 25, he was too young and lacked experience. He hadn’t yet grown the tough hide required to withstand challenges and complexities of modern day politics.

PNG IN 2017 | AN ANALYSIS OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA'S POLITICAL CONDITION AND TRENDS THROUGH TO 2025

by Bal Kama

6 December 2017

INTRODUCTION

Papua New Guinea entered its 2017 National Election after a tumultuous period in the country's politics and economy, and there remains much uncertainty about the election process, with significant implications for the country's future. [1] In the last ten years key political, bureaucratic, and regulatory institutions have struggled and in some cases, failed. These struggles have been more profound under the O'Neill government despite some tangible advances in the country's ambitious Vision 2050 roadmap. [2]

Papua New Guinea National Parliament Photo: Drew Douglas (flickr)

There is a widespread desire across the country for robust and independent institutions to ensure economic gains are transparently and sustainably managed. The ultimate question for many voters in the 2017 general elections was not who would form the next government, but who would be the most credible leader. [3] With elections now over, and the O'Neill government returning for a second term, what does Papua New Guinea expect of the new government and those in power?

This analysis attempts to address how key trends in PNG's politics will impact upon both the bureaucracy and regulatory environment. It will identify some of the key actors and how they are likely to change. It will discuss current political trends, their impact on the regulatory and legislative environments and how likely they are to continue in the future. Finally, it assesses the prospects of continuing dysfunction in PNG politics, the further marginalisation and deterioration of the bureaucracy, and how this destructive course might be avoided.

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

Papua New Guinea recently celebrated its 41^st Independence. On Monday 19^th September 2016, the Post Courier ran a story of Muslims in Jiwaka Province, celebrating Independence with the rest of the country. It saddens me after reading stories from a book “Why We Left Islam” - Former Muslims Speak Out. Stories compiled and edited by Susan Crimp. It took 50 years for conservative and radical Muslims to take over Iran, once a peaceful and democratic country through strategic planning and coordination. Islam is a cancer that eats into the very fabric of freedom and democracy. Below is a finishing chapter from the book. Hope you read this and the book itself. Wake Up!! Papua New Guinea must wake up and burn out this cancer before it takes root and destroys it.

WHERE TO FROM HERE?
By GREGORY M. DAVIS

THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN ISLAM from the inside know better than anyone its true colors. It is their testimonies—more than the politically correct sophistry of contemporary Western commentators—that we must heed if we are to survive the resurgence of Islam on the world stage. The mounting news accounts of apparently unrelated acts of violence, “unrest,” and terrorism from around the world alarm many, but few possess the patience or clarity of thought to bring such apparently disparate events into focus. In fact, the overwhelming preponderance of organized violence on the world stage today—from Nigeria to Thailand, from Bosnia to Bali, from Chechnya to the Philippines, from Sudan to Indonesia, from Israel to Kashmir, to Paris, London, Madrid, Moscow, Washington, and New York—has its roots in the simple faith of Mohammad.

Across the globe, now as in Islam’s heyday (from roughly the Muslim invasions of the Holy Land and Spain in the seventh and eighth centuries A.D. to the Turks’ near-capture of Vienna at the end of the seventeenth), Islamic jihad is making itself felt. While there is no “central command” that orchestrates the global jihad, there is a common playbook: the Qur’an and the life and example of Mohammad, the Sunnah. If the West continues to misunderstand this basic fact, there can be little hope that it will take the necessary measures of self-defense. We are not threatened merely by the occasional terrorist but by a cohesive ideology, which for a thousand years threatened to overwhelm the West and managed to overcome other civilizations manifestly more advanced than itself. Ask the Persians or the Byzantines.

Restoration of People’s Rights and Equity

BY JOHN FOWKE

The blithely-approved-and-imposed Westminster party system has been the nursery within which the political, administrative and social dysfunction which defines Papua New Guinea in 2010 has developed.

Far from an enfranchisement leading to the empowerment of the people, the party-system set up by – or perhaps it is better said countenanced by Australia, has led to the marginalisation of the proletariat in this once most-egalitarian of societies.