KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA – My old Mosman room-mate from 1962, Ian ‘Talker’ McLean, bears the sad news of an old Manly housemate from 1963, Peter 'Ringer' Lewis, who has died after a long illness.

After receiving his ASOPA certification in 1963, Peter Edward Lewis taught in the Northern Territory for eight years in schools at Papunya, Yuendumu and Lake Nash before moving on to Kormilda College and Katherine Public School, as a project teacher for disadvantaged Indigenous and other students.

KEITH JACKSON

Image by Reporters Without Borders (RCF)

NOOSA - In 2024, Act Now, one of Papua New Guinea’s few community-based advocacy organisations, was subjected to no less than three pernicious SLAPP lawsuits instigated by a Malaysian logging company.

SLAPPs (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) are used by politicians, public officials, big companies and wealthy individuals to intimidate and harass journalists, campaigners and human rights defenders.

PHILIP FITZPATRICK

Crown Lane: A rural boomer’s tale by Robert Forster, UK Book Publishing, Whitley Bay, 2024. Available from Amazon Australia for $21.99 plus postage

TUMBY BAY - Although born in the heart of it, I’ve never been able to truly fathom the feudal but still very much extant English class system.

From the bone-headed parasites and inbreeds in the royal family to the lowliest members of the working class the existence of the archaic system and its acceptance by both its beneficiaries and victims is truly mystifying.

New Bougainville Copper CEO Johnny Auna and team. "A once in a lifetime opportunity," says Johnny.

BUKA - Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) has announced the appointment of Johnny Patterson Auna as chief executive officer.

Mr Auna, from Laguai Village, Buin, in South Bougainville, joined BCL in March last year as chief financial officer and company secretary.

OBITUARY
| Exepreneur Magazine

Sir Charles Lepani - the last of 'The Gang of Four', who significantly influenced PNG's governance before its independence

PORT MORESBY - Sir Charles Watson Lepani, KBE CBE OBE, born on 28 October 1947 in the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea, was a prominent public servant and diplomat whose career spanned several decades.

He passed away on 10 January 2025 after a battle with stage four cancer, leaving behind a legacy of dedication to the development and growth of PNG.

KEITH JACKSON

Graduating from the University of Papua New Guinea, 1 August 1975

NOOSA - Time can play strange tricks. Just past my 80th birthday, I find myself inhabiting two worlds: one where my mind remains as agile and adventurous as ever and another in which my aging body increasingly has difficulty in matching its desires.

Yet this contradiction has given me an unexpected gift - the ability to traverse time effortlessly in my thoughts, particularly back to that sweltering day in August 1975 when, just weeks before Papua New Guinea’s independence, I graduated from the University of Papua New Guinea.

KEITH JACKSON

Tess and her son, now aged 13, after her graduation from the University of PNG

NOOSA – Theresa (Tess) Gizoria, one of Papua New Guinea’s most talented women leaders, died last Saturday, two years after being diagnosed with Stage 3 Lobular Cell Carcinoma - an advanced form of breast cancer.

Her initial treatment in PNG was found to be flawed after she was referred to specialists in Australia but Tess refused to allocate blame and instead used her illness to seek better treatment for all cancer patients in the country.

JAMES KOYAPO *

Colonel (ret) Reginald Renagi (left) receives a copy of Bitcoin Dream from Peter Kinjap

PORT MORESBY - 'Bitcoin Dream: Hope Hype and Chaos' by Peter Solo Kinjap is interesting, catchy and of educational benefit not only to Papua New Guineans readers but to readers everywhere.

Its purpose is to educate people about the facts underpinning society’s attitudes towards money and recent developments in how our conception of money is changing.

BAKA BINA

PORT MORESBY - Happy New Year 2025 to all of you who are deep in literature as writers or readers.

For writers, 2024 wasn’t easy and I’m sorry to say things looks just as bleak going forward.

Elders and keepers of our national repository of traditional stories, songs and dances will die and take with them all of these lovely parts of our Melanesian culture.

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

PORT MORESBY - After 20 years of operation, Heli Solutions has shut down. The local company couldn’t survive fuel shortages and a lack of foreign currency.

But there was a deeper problem. Poor decisions by politicians—especially by the prime minister.