PHILIP FITZPATRICK

Papua New Guinean authors are giving PNG writing its own unique style derived largely from their own lived grassroots experiences (Image created by Adobe AI)

TUMBY BAY - After reading a review of Marlene Potoura’s new book, Remembering, Father and Me, I was prompted to go back to Leonard Fong Roka’s Brokenville, his memoir of the crisis years in Bougainville.

I was not so much interested in making comparisons with Marlene’s experience but to identify commonalities in their experiences and the way in which they presented them.

KEITH JACKSON

Humanoid AI holds a printed page

NOOSA - Some readers will have noticed that I've been experimenting with Claude, an artificial intelligence assistant, to explore how it might help writers, especially those in Papua New Guinea.

While I've always been a capable and fast writer, my ME/CFS illness has worsened in recent years, impairing my ability to write and edit – and at its worst, even read.

JIM McKAY*
| Pearls & Irritations

PNG rugby league star Justin ('The Human Brick') Olam carries the ball upfield (Melbourne Storm)

BRISBANE - In his acceptance speech after Labor won the 2022 Australian national election, Anthony Albanese promised to look after disadvantaged and vulnerable citizens.

During the cost of living crisis over the past two years he told people he felt their pain and had their backs.

KEITH JACKSON
| Generated with AI assistance from Claude

NBC's Steven Mase (right) interviews Eddie Tanago (Act Now)

NOOSA - Eddie Tanago, the prominent campaign manager of the Act Now public advocacy organisation, has been charged by Papua New Guinea police under the Cybercrime Code Act.

It is alleged that Tanago published defamatory remarks on social media in an article about the managing director of the PNG Forest Authority (PNGFA).

KEITH JACKSON
| Generated with AI assistance from Claude

Marlene Potoura

NOOSA - Marlene Dee Gray Potoura has compressed multiple lifetimes into her 50-something years, experiencing profound challenges that would test the resilience of any individual.

As the daughter of Nehemiah Gray Potoura, the paramount chief of the Oria-speaking people in southern Bougainville, her early life was marked by stability and cultural pride.

KEITH JACKSON
| Generated with AI assistance from Claude*

Papua New Guinea and Australian Prime Minister’s XIIIs,  Santos National Football Stadium,  Port Moresby 2024 (NRL.com)

NOOSA - After two years of meticulous planning, a landmark moment in rugby league will unfold today when Papua New Guinea will officially receive a National Rugby League (NRL) licence, marking its ground-breaking entry into the Australian national competition.

The historic announcement will be made at a meeting between Peter V'landys, chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, and the prime ministers of Papua New Guinea and Australia—James Marape and Anthony Albanese.

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

Natasha Turia Moka

CANBERRA – Papua New Guinean PhD student, Natasha Turia Moka, attending an Australasian aid conference in Canberra, has won a contest that challenged speakers to come up with a good idea to improve Australia’s aid program.

They were then given three minutes to present their ideas to the conference, the winner being decided by an online poll of the 500 people at the conference.

KEITH JACKSON
| Generated with AI assistance from Claude*

Keith Jackson - "Basic tasks like reading, writing, editing or managing website communications can become extraordinarily demanding"

Keith Jackson, the publisher and editor of PNG Attitude, has been navigating life with severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) since 2001. Diagnosed with a condition that significantly impacts his daily life, Keith has been largely housebound since 2020. Despite the cognitive and physical challenges of his illness, he remains committed to maintaining PNG Attitude and supporting Papua New Guinean literature.

While ME/CFS does not threaten his life, it substantially limits Keith's abilities. It affects his reading, writing and occasionally his speech. As his health permits, he continues to produce the blog on a reduced scale and continues to participate in projects championing PNG authors and their literary works - Claude

OALA MOI
| Chief Legal Officer | PNG National Information and Communications Technology Authority

Oala Moi, now a senior lawyer in Papua New Guinea and a talented songwriter, is also a long-standing friend of PNG Attitude. I hope someone in our vast network can put Oala in touch with a member of the Sinclair family or their repesentatives - KJ

PORT MORESBY - I would like to rely on your network for the name and contact details of a legal or family representative of the late James Sinclair’s estate.

PNG Attitude recorded his passing in an obituary published on 10 October 2017, ‘Jim Sinclair OBE, recorder of PNG's colonial history, dies at 89’.

CHRIS BARRETT
| Brisbane Times ($) | Extract

Anthony Albanese & James Marape - billion kina footie deal 'nothing to do with China' (James Marape website)

BRISBANE - The launching of a National Rugby League team in Papua New Guinea has “nothing to do with China”, according to the Pacific nation’s foreign minister, Justin Tkatchenko.

Tkatchenko yesterday revealed new details about the NRL competition’s historic expansion to include PNG, Australia’s nearest neighbour.

MARIAN FAA
| ABC Papua New Guinea correspondent

Western Province Governor, Taboi Awi Yoto (pictured), a key figure in project negotiations, says the Commerce Department is lead agent in the project.  Environmental law firm managing director, Peter Bosip, says this is highly irregular

PORT MORESBY - An ABC investigation has linked the Australian businessmen behind PNG's largest agroforestry project to key figures in a massive Indigenous land grab scandal in the country's Western Province more than a decade ago.

PNG prime minister James Marape announced the $1.8 billion development in late October, saying it was an "historical moment" for his country.