PNG's welfare does not rest on elites
09 September 2024
CAROLYN BLACKLOCK
| East Asia Forum
BRISBANE - Political and economic pressures are rising in Papua New Guinea, with escalating social tensions suggesting a need for focused regional support.
Critics argue that given ongoing civil unrest, political instability with Rainbo Paita’s challenge to prime minister James Marape and substantial economic challenges such as a stagnating minimum wage and increasing poverty, financial aid and strategies should be directed towards supporting the PNG populace rather than bolstering the political elite.
In April 2024, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and Papua New Guinea prime minister James Marape made a high profile visit to the historic Kokoda Track, north of Port Moresby.
At one point, the helicopter carrying the two leaders was delayed while an aid delivery was made on the tarmac they were to land on.
The aid package was from China, whose foreign minister Wang Yi had just left PNG after a formal visit.
In the nuanced dialogue of Indo-Pacific geopolitics, the Chinese aid delivery was an unmissable and deftly manufactured moment.
While these kinds of high-level manoeuvres dominate PNG’s role in the current tensions between Australia and China, more ground-level concerns may well hold the key to deeper geopolitical outcomes.
There are indications that PNG is politically and economically vulnerable and that public anger is brewing.
This poses serious implications for regional powers. Unlocking solutions to these domestic tensions will be useful and sustainable.
Looming over the current political landscape is the threat to the current Marape government posed by the emergence of an alternative government.
Rainbo Paita, formerly a close ally of Marape and a rising figure in the ruling Pangu Pati, has driven efforts to put forward a vote of no-confidence in Marape, claiming he should be moved aside and a new parliament ushered in.
Attempts to propose the motion have been repeatedly rejected by the Speaker of Parliament due to insubstantial technicalities.
While opposition sponsors of the vote have indeed been error-prone in drafting the motion, the Speaker adjudicating the motion is a member of the ruling party.
The parliamentary committee that vetted the no-confidence motions is also made up of Pangu Pati members.
In early August, a Supreme Court decision effectively nullified the most recent vote of no-confidence on technical grounds.
A new opposition application to conduct a parliamentary confidence vote is likely to occur this month.
Widespread riots in early 2024 indicate that public frustration with such politicking is building. The decision to delay the vote of no-confidence has only added to rising pressure.
Untied loans and frequent visits from Australian and Chinese officials have done little to ease tensions.
These untied loans only heighten the dismay felt by the estimated 15 million Papua New Guineans who are struggling to put food on the table as cost of living pressures drive high levels of poverty, especially in urban centres.
The minimum wage has stagnated at just K3.50 an hour since 2016 and purchasing power has plummeted. A minimum wage employee must work 20 hours to afford a family-sized bag of rice.
Floods in Western Province and the landslide in Enga Province have exposed the life and death impacts of the country’s shortcomings.
These two provinces are home to the mammoth gold mines, Ok Tedi and Porgera, but local communities have seen little benefit from these projects and must live with major gaps in economic infrastructure.
Fuel shortages are another issue biting hard on Papua New Guineans.
The country’s largest fuel provider, the foreign-owned Puma Energy, closed its operations in February after it was unable to purchase all the foreign currency it needed to pay its international suppliers of fuel.
PNG’s banks did not have sufficient funds for foreign currency transactions.
Puma’s closure is related to an ongoing foreign exchange crisis. Even relatively minor external currency purchases with PNG kina have been capped.
While this is an economic issue, the government needs to pull political levers to ensure it has the foreign funds to service its spiralling debts to international financiers, such as Australia.
Critics claim the majority government-owned Ok Tedi mine has built up an AU$311 million debt to pay the government’s bills.
This landscape augurs badly for those looking for stability in PNG – an important cog in the Indo-Pacific.
For China, the United States and allies like Australia, PNG’s regional profile, its vast resources potential and its geographical proximity to Australia guarantee it will remain in the crosshairs as tensions evolve.
Beijing’s influence on political affairs is increasing via direct funding but also covertly.
A recent leaked photo of Chinese embassy officials enjoying informal festivities with Marape at a luxury Port Moresby resort circulated widely and caused many to speculate that the two governments are tighter than initially thought.
Australia, the United States and their partners are reacting to China’s strong presence in PNG, but have a lot of lost time to make up.
Australia insists on continued injections into the PNG budget which are unrelated to pre-established spending targets.
These injections may have buttressed the Marape government from immediate political collapse by plugging gaps in the faltering economy.
This form of aid is more like assistance to the Marape government than aid aimed at strategic assistance or community development.
A video of Australian Senator Pauline Hanson criticising Australia’s decision to tip AU$2.5 billion into PNG’s budget and AU$600 million to bankroll a PNG national rugby league bid has gone viral in PNG – angering many who argue Papua New Guineans need better healthcare and education, not a rugby league team.
Despite the series of state visits and funding programs, the people of PNG are clamouring for a better deal and are mobilising.
Foreign donors may well be laying the foundations for civil unrest and instability by ignoring standard government procedures and civilian-orientated programs.
PNG’s future likely resides with its people, not with its fickle elites.
The Papua New Guinean people know they are getting a raw deal.
Regional powers should listen closely to what they have to say and drive funding strategies that have a palpable impact on the ground.
What caught my attention was the reporter's account of Mr Pala asking Australia to "allocate resources that directly benefit the community, rather than focusing primarily on sectors that incur high administrative and consultation costs."
To me that was the hint of light briefly shining from under a door that has never been opened.
Unfortunately it appeared to go right over Mr Conroy's head.
And Mr Pala then backtracked, as PNG politicians often do, and seemed to fall in line with Conroy by referring to the Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae, laudable as that project was.
Hopefully Mr Pala will begin to think some more about the plight of rural people in PNG.
Posted by: Philip Fitzpatrick | 21 September 2024 at 09:17 PM
Hello Phil,
I think the article is worth reproducing in full followed by an invitation for comments.
A Papua New Guinean minister has delivered scathing criticism of Australia's aid program, warning of funds being "wasted" as the Australian government outlines its plan for development assistance in PNG over the next five years.
PNG's Minister for National Planning Ano Pala raised the issue of "boomerang aid" and development inefficiencies at an event in Port Moresby on Thursday night.
The comments came after Australia's Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy launched the government's new Australia-Papua New Guinea Development Partnership Plan.
"While expressing gratitude for Australian dedication and timely assistance, the government of PNG recognises the need for cohesive and impactful interventions," Mr Pala said.
"The ongoing discussions surrounding boomerang aid and concerns about funds being switched, withheld in Canberra and absorbed by Australian management contractors and consultants, emphasises the importance of ensuring tangible outcomes for the PNG citizens."
Mr Pala asked Australia to "allocate resources that directly benefit the community, rather than focusing primarily on sectors that incur high administrative and consultation costs".
The rare public criticism surprised many who attended the launch.
Earlier, Mr Conroy gave a speech saying the plan was guided by PNG's needs and aspirations.
"As we approach 50 years of PNG's independence, PNG's development needs have changed, and so too must Australia's development program," Mr Conroy said.
Australia’s Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy said the new plan outlined cooperation to improve roads, electricity access, education, women’s rights and security in PNG. (ABC News: Briana Shepherd)
Australia is PNG's biggest development partner, spending an estimated $637.4 million in official development assistance this financial year. More than $2.5 billion in budget support loans have also been provided to PNG since 2019 according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Mr Conroy said the new plan outlined cooperation to improve roads, electricity access, education, women's rights and security in PNG.
"As we have for all of the 49 years so far since independence, Australia is backing in PNG's economic development and ambition for its people," he said.
While Mr Pala thanked Australia for its assistance, he urged the nation to maximise money spent on the ground in PNG.
He also called for an urgent review of the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific's function in PNG and the establishment of an in-country office by 2025.
"Let me make it very clear that having multiple projects in all sectors may seem impressive, but it results in duplication of efforts and the resources being spread thinly across these sectors, leading to wastage and lack of impact," Mr Pala said.
"It is therefore the desire of the Marape-Rosso government to work closely with the Australian counterparts to ensure that Australian aid program is delivered in a more targeted and coordinated way, so that the impacts are visible and felt and greatly appreciated by the people of this country."
He pointed to successful projects, such the redevelopment of the Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae, which received $250 million in Australian government funding.
Mr Conroy's office has not responded to the ABC's request for comment following the remarks.
On Friday he will travel to Bougainville, making him the first Australian minister to visit the autonomous region since it voted overwhelmingly for independence from PNG in 2019.
While there, Mr Conroy will meet with ABG President Ishmael Toroama, who is leading the region's push to become the Pacific's newest nation.
Obviously, I have not seen the full text of Minister Conroy’s speech or Minister Pala’s comments but what was reported is not encouraging. To wit.
Mr Conroy gave a speech saying the plan was guided by PNG's needs and aspirations. "As we approach 50 years of PNG's independence, PNG's development needs have changed, and so too must Australia's development program," Mr Conroy said.
I thought great, at long last some reflection and maybe a more informed way forward. Then – no further comment. I’ll give the benefit of the doubt and assume the reporter cut what came next.
Then this little gem,
Mr Conroy said the new plan outlined cooperation to improve roads, electricity access, education, women's rights and security in PNG. "As we have for all of the 49 years so far since independence, Australia is backing in PNG's economic development and ambition for its people," he said.
“….for its people” - Oh no Minister. On your last point we beg to differ. Please show the evidence.
What Australia demonstrably did NOT do was support economic development at the rural level of its former colony as part of a whole of society nation building process for its people.
A focus to support a subsistence population develop a tangible stake in a nation building process that was presumably meant to be about them and their children’s future.
I see siloed ideas, electricity, women’s rights, roads, education. (Health Minister?) And please note that rural economic empowerment as a specific objective coupled to improved service delivery fails to get a mention again.
We do not hear how those standalone objectives are to be integrated into a whole of society plan that over time empowers eighty-five percent of the population largely on their own terms. Where is the joint economic and social vision in a country of multiple mini states to achieve that?
As a person who tried to help facilitate that process, I believe I had a front row seat to that failure over the past four decades. This oversight mattered. Today it is at the root of PNG’s social challenges.
Now can we reflect on what Minister Pala had to say.
PNG's Minister for National Planning Ano Pala raised the issue of "boomerang aid" and development inefficiencies.
And
…the need for cohesive and impactful interventions,"
And
…the importance of ensuring tangible outcomes for the PNG citizens."
And
"It is therefore the desire of the Marape-Rosso government to work closely with the Australian counterparts to ensure that Australian aid program is delivered in a more targeted and coordinated way, so that the impacts are visible and felt and greatly appreciated by the people of this country."
I believe we would all support those sentiments.
Then he highlighted what he believed represented that outcome.
He pointed to successful projects, such the redevelopment of the Angau Memorial Hospital in Lae, which received $250 million in Australian government funding.
Again, no mention of human capital development, grassroots economic empowerment, service delivery mechanisms that give life to the goal of universal coverage, a societal responsibility that improves and saves multiple lives, or a decent education for all.
Phil the truth is they are all off target. Waffling on about high-end infrastructure, women’s rights and security in the absence of a cohesive social empowerment plan to improve people’s lives is pathetic.
Sorry, but I always think of the people I have had the privilege to meet who live in a very different reality. Those who try to teach the little ones without any resources, the community health workers who report another mother died in childbirth because they had no resources and no possibility of earlier referral. The youth who increasing turn to crime because there is no economic opportunity. And I wonder what all the empty jawing in Moresby or Canberra about hospitals and women’s rights is actually about.
Posted by: Stephen Charteris | 21 September 2024 at 11:57 AM
Stephen, some sense coming from a PNG politician:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-20/png-minister-warns-australian-aid-may-be-wasted/104373828
Will Australia listen?
Posted by: Philip Fitzpatrick | 20 September 2024 at 09:56 AM
The 'system' from the British Isles came from 'safety-seeking', from having an encamped multitude about each 'castle'' for 'protection', evolving to encompass allegiances supposing leadership by castle occupants, and in hope that leadership possessed altruistic intent for folk living near ramparts, if sufficiently submissive, er, supportive.
Posted by: Lindsay F Bond | 11 September 2024 at 12:59 PM
Communities of practice is precisely what Alexis de Tocqueville described in 'The Spirit of the Township in New England' during his nine-month journey through eastern America in 1831 (Democracy in America)
Posted by: Bernard Corden | 10 September 2024 at 09:16 PM
No, the welfare of the people does not lie with elites and in Papua New Guinea it never will.
That’s because for all intents and purposes every community is an independent nation with its own land, borders, language, culture and governance structures. And woe betide an outsider who tries to tell any group what it should do on its own land.
So, who do parliamentarians really represent and who do civil servants act for?
Unless I am related to one of them, they act entirely for themselves. And in that environment why wouldn't they?
The irony is that parliamentary representatives and public servants acted far more within the culture and spirit of a Westminster system for a time after independence. Now almost no vestige remains.
So, Carolyn is right. Get down and work directly with communities or lose the country altogether.
Unless, of course, in your universe water flows uphill and pigs do fly.
Posted by: Stephen Charteris | 10 September 2024 at 02:26 PM