I will use this article as the vehicle concerning Manus has found its way into this forum.

The suggestion by both Robin and Phil regards the asylum seekers fishing for their supper has merit. If a suitable island with the Manusians permission of course was to become their "home' during processing why do they even need to be fenced in.

Give them some seeds and gardening tools that they grow their own vegetables and til the soil... a wokabaut sawmill or two... and fishing nets lines etc.

Limit outboard motors or they will travel too far offshore... allow them to inter mingle with their woman folk and children and allow them to become human beings again...

Supervision, yes, but not thugs in uniforms... maybe the Salvos are the way.

But they have the choice... assist in fending for yourself or return home to your place of origin... apply for Australian residency through the correct channels...

I know, the rantings of a silly old man... but I talk to a lot of very concerned people and the consensus in Lae is the current set up is "wrong".

I'm not sure that a very small flotilla of warships sailing peaceably through international waters around Indonesia, as is their 'right', represents an assertion of China's naval powers.

Nor do I understand the connection between this event and the PNG government's decision to award a pharmaceuticals supply contract to BPP.

The only common factor is that both events involve Chinese. Unless, of course, the Poh family had such influence with the powers in Beijing that they arranged for a (small) show of force to bolster their chances of being awarded the tender.

It should also be borne in mind that ISO9001 certification does not guarantee the efficacy of a product produced or a service provided by an enterprise.

It simply certifies that the enterprise has an effective quality management system. It is theoretically possible, for example, to secure ISO9001 certification for a product that is of no use whatsoever.

On the last day of the first parliament session, just outside the chambers, I asked PUKA TEMU who is a Doctor and a politician and the current Minister for Public Service why the Health Ministry saw fit to remove the ISO 9001 requirement for companies bidding for the contract and why it was highly inflated. I asked because the previous week when I stood up to present my grievance on this issue, the SCAM that endangers our peoples lives, Puka promptly stood up after me to water down my concerns and downplay the SCAM by claiming it was all above board. PUKA told me distinctly that "ISO 9001 does not matter, it is only for companies manufacturing drugs, not those procuring them. Besides the Australian company that did it before also procured bad drugs and distributed it in PNG. Also we have bought machines to test imported drugs so we can verify our imported drugs" or words to that effect. He was supported by several Ministers standing or sitting around him all nodding enthusiastically in support of him. I said why the inflated price and he gave some unconvincing answer. I gave up and walked off in disgust as it was no point trying to point out that the ISO 9001 is a system of accrediting genuineness and effectiveness of a product or service for ANY organization. I learnt two things: there is substantial ignorance amongst our people and there is substantial arrogance amongst our leaders!

Robin,

that's not such a bad idea. It would give something tangible for these people to do and maybe give them some pride in what they might achieve for other people rather than just thinking about themselves and their self imposed predicament. Nothing like some vigorous work to help you sleep at night.

Of course it would be purely voluntary as any compulsion would be against UN arrangements but perhaps it could be a 'paid as you go' scheme. Can they be offered paid employment to cook and clean their camp? Also, where could these people escape to?

No fishing however as that might offend the local people unless of course they were paid for what was caught.

Also, maybe some of the illegals might actually get to like the PNG life once they meet local people on the other side of the wire. It might actually promote better relations with the people of Manus.

Husat isavi?

Phil, I take your point about responsibility and accountability. You are absolutely right however the principle seems to be ameliorating even as we speak.

I suggest that Minister Morrison's religious beliefs are however irrelevant to the principle of Parliamentary responsibility and accountability.

I suggest you are being slightly mischievous in trying to tie up one with the other. Anyone who may try to do so stands the risk of being thought of as perhaps a tad biased.

The real issue here is to ensure mistakes in government once discovered, do not happen again. Sacking either Morrison or Minister Malabag will not fix the problem but only show what will happen if their possible replacement doesn't act to ensure the reason for the problem is excised.

In the case of Minister Malabag, clearly the responsibility for what seems to be a disaster waiting to happen doesn't apparently worry anybody in the PNG government.

All the senior players have come out and supported the BPP decision as if they were singing from the same songsheet. Well, maybe they are and that songsheet was printed in another country to the north.

In the case of Morrison, he at least has accepted something is not right and is personally attempting to find out what went wrong and presumably try to fix it.

The regrettable situation is that there are so many people who could tell Minister Morrison what went went wrong and many have already done so without knowing the full facts or without taking the responsibility for this whole imbroglio that he didn't start and had to pick up and run with. Remember it was PM Rudd who left the arrangements which the Australian government is now committed to.

What is very clear is that Minister Malabag et al won't accept is that there has been anything go awry over the BPP decision or how it was made.

When you put a volatile group of people from different ethnic origins with serious multiple grievances in an enclosed space without effective and suitable supervision and support 'Blind Freddy' must be able to see there will be problems.

Why Phil, even you and me down in Oz can see that. Why therefore can't the people who are being paid to run the show, and a lot of money it is too, foresee the problems as well?

Maybe they need to employ an exkiap or two, eh mate?

Good point Phil. It is a wonder that BPP hasn't tried to buy an ISO Certificate on the black market.

I feel that the concept of "responsibility" that an Australian pharmacist has when he sells medicines is missing from the PNG Dept. of Health personel. They do not have any respect for or understanding of the fact that in their hands lies life or death. If they end up procuring tablets from BPP and distributing them all over PNG and hundreds die from a poison in the tablets who will take the blame?

Will the Minister for Health just lose his job? Will the Secretary of Health and his Technical Advisors (the Secretary has to have them because he is evidently not medically trained and is a lawyer) be held responsible? Or will they just blame it on BPP? Who pays the compensation for all the people who died? Who goes to prison for murdering hundreds of people?

We can suspect that someone has been given gifts and free trips so that BPP can have the contract. Shouldn't these people be held responsible? Shouldn't they be made to pay for their crime? They have accepted gifts of money or trips for awarding government contracts worth millions of Kina which will allow the owners of BPP to grow very rich, especially if they buy these fake drugs sold all over the developing world at the moment.

Being a bit of a cynic I believe that most things are corruptible; it's just a matter of knowing the right people and agreeing on a price.

In this sense it's hard to know why BPP hasn't bought itself an ISO rating. The only conclusion I can draw is that they hold the PNG government in such disdain that they don't think the expenditure is worth the effort. They obviously think that the Health Minister is extremely stupid.

In my experience Papua New Guineans are very good at being corrupted and taking bribes but they are not very good at offering bribes to other people. I can't think of anyone I know who has been bribed by a Papua New Guinean politician or public servant. At best they can only slip a wantok a few kina or fix them up with a job. Of course, they buy off voters during elections but this is not really the devious corruption as practised by the Asians.

Barbara - "the Australian navy has also been frequently navigating this area during the past few months turning back people smugglers."

It's also been alleged to have infringed Indonesian territorial waters on many occasions, loaded boat people onto Australian -purchased hi-tech lifeboats, and smuggled them back to Indonesia, and possibly caused harm to them in the process. All in contravention of numerous conventions, international treaties, Australian law and loudly-asserted policy.

But the defence minister is outraged that anyone could make such claims (even though ADF personnel have been found guilty of sexual and physical abuse quite recently.)

While I am sure that the vast majority of Australian defence force staff (and Customs/Border Protection - the number of agencies involved is confusing) are innocent or 'just following orders'; the line of culpability goes to the highest levels. The Ministers in charge and who are dictating the policy.

And remember - Morrison is a born again evangelical. I'm sure if there were any traditional carvings outside Parliament House in Canberra he would be attacking them with a chain saw right now.