EDDIE TANAGO
Act Now!

The Papua New Guinea Prime Minister’s promise to stop issuing new forestry licences will do nothing to stop illegal logging destroying Papua New Guinea’s tropical forests.

Addressing the recent meeting of the Green Climate Fund in Port Moresby, the Prime Minister is reported to have said no new forestry licences will be issued after 16 September, the 50th anniversary of PNG’s Independence.

BERNARD CORDEN

We know that no one ever seizes power with the
 intention of relinquishing it - George Orwell

BRISBANE - Amidst a cesspit of escalating sleaze, organised spivvery and systemic incompetence the LNP coalition government under its sanctimonious mooncalf attempted to win a fourth consecutive term in office.

It announced a federal election, which was held on 21 May 2022. The hubris increased exponentially but the SS Neoliberal saw the writing was on the wall and rapidly deserted the rat.

BERNARD CORDEN

A feminist is anyone who recognises the equality
 and full humanity of women and men - Gloria Steinem

BRISBANE - Over recent decades, female representation in senior federal and state parliament roles has generated significant media attention across Australia. The incumbent federal government caucus under Anthony Albanese has over 50% female representation with almost two dozen women securing senior ministerial positions.

Less than a decade earlier, under the helm of the fecund mad monk, the coalition cabinet’s sole female representative was Posh Spice, who served as Australia’s foreign affairs minister.

ALLAN PATIENCE
| John Menadue’s Pearls & Irritations

MELBOURNE - An aging generation of mostly male leaders is presently occupying the commanding heights of the most powerful states around the world.

They share a similar narcissism, they are intellectually limited and all are morally bankrupt. The good thing is that they are a dying breed.

BERNARD CORDEN

Under conditions of tyranny, it is far easier to act than to think - Hannah Arendt

BRISBANE - During the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison carousel, a miasma of malfeasance, skulduggery, intimidation and incompetence shrouded almost every ministerial role and portfolio.

It increased exponentially following the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 and has since degenerated into a pernicious paradigm of Gangster Capitalism, reminiscent of the illegal narcotics trade with its rancorous gangland turf wars.

BERNARD CORDEN

Even if the workers die like flies, they will never
be able to pin anything on CSR - Norman Irving

BRISBANE - During the many cabinet reshuffles over the past decade, one of the most intriguing sinecures involved the appointment of a celebrity woodentop as Australia’s foreign minister.

The Menzies glamour puss represented the constituency of Curtin in Western Australia, which encompassed several of Perth’s exclusive beach side suburbs.

DOUGLAS PATIKEN BARARA

PORT MORESBY - On the eve of our 50th anniversary, the identity of our country is slowly being erased by Western dictate but none of us cares about it let alone wants to stop it.

Cheerfully we rejoice in the dilapidation of our motherland. Not only is Western influence colonising our land and resources (the very fabric of our identity), the real takeover is happening in our minds.

BERNARD CORDEN

Where there is shouting there is no true knowledge - Leonardo da Vinci

BRISBANE - Another insufferable and irascible cabinet minister was an instantly abhorrent loudmouth senator for Western Australia. The Subiaco Xanthippe must use the same hairdresser as Donald Trump and has a unique, but rather endearing, ability of making her face disappear when she opens her gob.

At most of her media conferences, the harridan senator appears to be following the bouncing ball on an autocue or karaoke machine. The ensuing stentorian racket could be used much more productively as a foghorn on the Manly ferries or for scaring ibises from the runways at Sydney’s international airport.

BERNARD CORDEN

Never seen so many men ask you if you wanted to dance - Chris de Burgh

BRISBANE - The Fly-In-Fly-Out (FIFO) regime of working at parliament house in Canberra would be better described as Fit-In-Or-Fcuk-Off and underpinned by the traditionally masculine aphorism…. What happens in Canberra, stays in Canberra.

Under Malcolm Turnbull’s administration back in 2017, the human services minister Alan Tudge and his media adviser, Rachelle Miller, were involved in a clandestine but consensual extra-marital relationship.

BERNARD CORDEN

It just didn’t happen - Christian Porter

BRISBANE - Unchristian Porter, a Frank Spencer doppelganger, was the son of Charles Michael (Chilla) Porter, former Olympian and general secretary of the Liberal Party of Australia. The favourable bloodline included his grandfather, the late Charles Robert Porter, a member for the redneck electorate of Toowong in deep north Queensland, who served as a minister under that imperious dullard, Sir Joh Bjelke Petersen.

This pedigree of perceived privilege enabled a brisk ascent through state and federal politics and generated egotistical aspirations of becoming prime minister. During a tenure as social services minister, the power trip involved implementation of the federal government’s callous Centrelink Robodebt recovery scheme and the inhumane cashless welfare card, amidst sinister recommendations covering mandatory drug testing of welfare recipients.

BERNARD CORDEN

I have never seen a situation so dismal that a
 policeman couldn't make it worse - Brendan Behan

BRISBANE – In my estimation, one of the most repugnant rednecks in the Morrison ministry was the federal member for Dickson who eventually took the poisoned chalice and became leader of the opposition.

The socially awkward malapert was a former walloper with the Queensland Police Service and reached the dizzy heights of detective senior constable.

BERNARD CORDEN

I don’t hold a hose mate - Scott Morrison

BRISBANE - Every nation gets the government it deserves and the appointment of the so-called Liar from the Shire as Australia’s 30th prime minister must have been a belated payback from Papua New Guinea following its hastily granted independence back in 1975.

If you search the internet for kakistocracy, it would more than likely generate an irritating mugshot of a smirking sanctimonious mooncalf.

DOUGLAS PATIKEN BARARA

PORT MORESBY - On the eve of Papua New Guinea’s fiftieth anniversary, the identity of our country is slowly being erased by Western influences.

But none of us cares about it, let alone wants to stop it. Cheerfully we rejoice in the destruction of our motherland.

BERNARD CORDEN

When politicians offer you something for nothing, or something that sounds
too good to be true, it's always worth taking a careful second look - Malcolm Turnbull

After the leadership spill, Tony Abbott was replaced by Mr Harbourside Mansion and the subsequent farewell party at parliament house with his flour gang was a boisterous affair.

Damage during the cabinet anteroom shenanigans was limited to a shattered ornate Italian marble coffee table and several shards were later discovered in ministerial offices.

BERNARD CORDEN

There are no factions in the Liberal Party - Tony Abbott

BRISBANE - The cracks under Rudd rapidly turned into chasms and provided an ideal opportunity for yet another unflushable turd on the neoliberal gravy train to seize power.

Tony Abbot, the former seminarian and surrogate love child of John Howard and Margaret Thatcher was a renowned bruiser and head kicker without a skerrick of emotional intelligence.

BERNARD CORDEN

I am not a socialist. I have never been a socialist
and I never will be a socialist - Kevin Rudd

BRISBANE - Rejecting capitalism and replacing it with an authentic democratic socialist society is much more imperative today than it was since voting was first granted in Australia over a century ago.

It is somewhat paradoxical that throughout those years most of its progressive governments have done very little or absolutely nothing to achieve their fundamental aims and objectives.

BERNARD CORDEN

Soon, if we are not prudent, millions of people will be watching each other
starve to death through expensive television sets - Aneurin Bevan

BRISBANE - Aneurin (Nye) Bevan was the visionary architect behind Britain’s National Health Service, which was inspired by the Tredegar Medical Aid Society’s scheme and established immediately following World War II.

It encountered some stubborn resistance from the British Medical Association even though it was a major piece of social reform that offered a free health service for UK citizens, irrespective of their socioeconomic status.

MICHAEL DOM

“In order to find solutions for socioeconomic improvement it is very important to define precisely what is good for a society within its cultural context”

LAE – A few years ago, Papua New Guinea’s prime minister, James Marape, was incredibly foolish not to support the development of a literary culture when it came knocking at his door in the guise of writers Daniel Kumbon, Caroline Evari and Betty Wakia (see photo).

Or perhaps he wasn’t being foolish. Perhaps the snub was purposeful.

MICHAEL DOM

LAE - In my line of work as a research and development agent, I’ve often had the time to contemplate how we as a country could possibly figure a way out of the mess that our politicians always seem to drop us into, apart from those socioeconomic challenges that are a natural result of our environment.

There are definitely no quick–fix solutions, and I think the last fifty years of nationhood have taught us that much; for my generation, it seems we’re not getting out of this one alive.

EDDIE TANAGO
| Act Now!

PORT MORESBY - World Press Freedom Day was observed on Saturday, as it is every year, to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to uphold and maintain freedom of expression.

Papua New Guinea is one tough environment to be a journalist or an advocate for good governance and human rights.

BERNARD CORDEN

Illustration by Create Bing AI

BRISBANE - The United States of Amnesia was founded by some rather bright people although we haven’t seen them since.

Its current education crisis is somewhat foreboding and reminiscent of the curriculum in Nazi Germany throughout the 1930s.

A dystopian propaganda machine has degenerated into a pedagogy of repression that is relentlessly endorsed as patriotic education.

MATHIAS KIN & KEITH JACKSON

Peter Tsiamalili Jr is a smart guy, but the police minister needs to avoid sweeping government decisions that throw out the babies with the bathwater.  

MATHIAS REPORTS....

Mathias Kin and Ingrid Jackson on the road to Gembogl many moons ago

KUNDIAWA – I know that people in Australia have been watching closely the recent political developments in Papua New Guinea. In recent years, there have been numerous threats by the government to ban Facebook and other social media sites.

Then yesterday, when our Facebook accounts appeared on our phones and tablets, they gave this message, "Please check your internet connection and try again.”  Since then, Facebook accounts across the country have not been working.

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.

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

Sir Peter Ipatas (PNG Business News)

PORT MORESBY - A seventh attempt to mount a challenge against prime minister James Marape got underway yesterday in Papua New Guinea’s parliament.

Acting Speaker Koni Iguan informed parliament that he had received a motion for another vote of no confidence against Marape when parliament met for its November 2024 sitting.

BERNARD CORDEN

Traffic lights, road signs & billboards clutter drivers' vision at this  busy Brisbane road junction

 This is the full text of a letter from Bernard Corden which has just made its way to the desk of the Honourable Bart Mellish MP, Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads, and Minister for Digital Services.  I feel sure the Minister will never before have received a letter composed with Bernard’s awe-inspiring literary flourish and precise application of the English language - KJ

BRISBANE - The Queensland Government is currently promoting its Road Safety Week, which it officially launches on Monday 26 August 2024.

The state-wide campaign includes numerous warnings displayed on electronic signs installed over Brisbane’s busy inner-city bypass and implore motorists to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel.

PAUL OATES

CLEVELAND - It appears in the minds of a few detractors that the recognition of those who died in the service of Australia and Papua New Guinea has yet again been conflated with accusations of desire for personal aggrandisement.

The issues of recognition and aggrandisement or glory could not be clearer in my mind and they have always been separate.

At an event at the National Archives some years ago, we paid tribute to those many dedicated people who went before us and who continued to work to help Papua New Guinea progress into the modern world.

CAROLYN BLACKLOCK
| East Asia Forum

Carolyn Blacklock (Ipsum Pacific)

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.

KEITH JACKSON

The Kiaps' Award  -  Police Overseas Service Medal

NOOSA – I am told that the sometimes bitter division between a small group of former kiaps and the great majority of their ageing comrades continues.

I had thought it all over until recently, when it was brought to my notice that some of this seriously ageing and rapidly extinguishing band of brothers want further public memorialisation for themselves in the form of a public monument paid for and constructed by the government.

ROB BARCLAY

ADELAIDE – Former policeman, long-term MP Peter Dutton has finally awoken from his torpor and started to make some welcome statements.

Unfortunately, he has a tendency to cherry-pick only those subjects he is interested in.

ALEX MITCHELL
| Come the Revolution

Alex Mitchell

TWEED HEADS - Former Labor Party prime minister Paul Keating is Australia’s foremost public intellectual.

Love him or loathe him, when he speaks on the ABC, the national broadcaster, people stop eating or talking, and listen.

Keating commands such public attention: he doesn’t ask for it, we give it to him with the same respect we gave prime minister John Curtin when he declared war on Nazi Germany.

KEITH JACKSON

Keith in the big person's chair at the exclusive Park Hyatt Dubai.  Right arm bandaged to restrict bleeding from capillary breaches.  Walking stick in hand to restrict falling over.  Sitting in chair also restricts falling over.  "Chairs are of key importance in not falling over," Keith said in a rare public statement. (Photo taken by Ingrid Jackson with Keith's full knowledge )

DUBAI - I'm now in the United Arab Emirates which, the way things are going, could one day own Australia.  Life is very comfortable here. Who needs democracy when you've got plenty of parking, plenty of retail, plenty of billionaires, plenty of air links to everywhere and don't care about the end of the world?

Rome, Spain, Barcelona, Casablanca, Malaga, Gibraltar, Valencia.  Three weeks on a small ocean liner traversing hither and thither on the Mediterranean. Plenty of time for the tropical breezes I recall from my youth to magically spring up and work wonders on my back and my soul.  Being with a splendid wife assists.

PAUL KEATING
| Pearls & Irritations

Below Keith Jackson's preamble; overleaf Paul Keating's analysis ....

PREAMBLE - In Anthony (Albo) Albanese, Australia has one of its most timid, dare I say frightened, prime ministers ever to hold the office. It has been clear since the beginning of his term two years ago that his main objective was to not cause any ripples while he secured a further term. Not the Albo I knew 30 or more years ago. A loud-mouthed agent provocateur against the conservative enemy. Provided, of course, he had the protection of more stout-hearted politicians like former prisoner of war Tom Uren (whose protégé he was from a young age) and prime ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating (neither of whom ever thought of him as anything other than a lightweight). Eventually, Albo discovered he’d been around long enough to be considered for greater rewards: leader of the house, then leader of the opposition and now prime minister. A lesson in surviving long enough to become whatever you wish. In this piece, Paul Keating shines light on how the meek Albo and his hapless deputy Marles has turned Australia’s back on Asia and thrown in our lot more comprehensively than ever with the USA and, hard to believe this, with the UK, once of the British Empire - KJ

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

PORT MORESBY - Reports of criminals being paid K300,000 for the release of hostages is troubling, but not a surprise. In Papua New Guinea, we pay for everything.

Our politicians bribe electoral officials to win elections. Prime ministerial candidates pay other politicians to join various camps to form government. When prime ministers underperform, they pay other politicians to keep them in power.

ROB BARCLAY

| A Patrol Officer’s view of modern Australian society

MELBOURNE - In the 1960s and 70s, I found that we Australians were warmly welcomed even in such far-away places as Sri Lanka, Thailand and Mexico. This was because everybody has heard about our Colombo Plan that educated huge numbers of South East Asian people in Australia at our expense.

“We love you white men, you have invented such wonderful things as the airplane, the radio, TV, the refrigerator, the car – even put men on the moon,” people would say. “You have improved our lives with new cash crops and better agriculture, and given us hope. We want to be just like you.”

ALLAN BIRD
| Academia Nomad | Edited

We must spend our money wisely (Generated with AI ∙ 8 May 2024)

WEWAK - Papua New Guinea prime minister James Marape’s response to concerns raised by ordinary people about the rising cost of living leaves much to be desired.

The biggest contributor to inflation and the depreciation of the kina over the last five years is the spending behaviour of the national government.

MEDIA STATEMENT
| Thanks to Academia Nomad

Belden Namah chastises James Marape for being too weak on Biden cannibal comments (One Papua New Guinea)

 PORT MORESBY - The chairman of Papua New Guinea’s parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, Belden Namah MP, has condemned utterances by United States president Joe Biden describing a situation in World War II when his uncle was ‘shot down and eaten by cannibals in New Guinea’.

“There is no such country called New Guinea in the Pacific,” Namah said. “But if President Biden was referring to Papua New Guinea, his utterances were unfounded, unacceptable and utterly disrespectful.

CHRIS OVERLAND

Map based on Penguin Atlas of Ancient History, Atlas of Past Times, DK Atlas of World History and also a Roman Empire expansion map at the University of Texas (Wikipedia)

ADELAIDE - While trying hard to be an objective historian, I find it hard to disagree that we are at some sort of hinge point in human history.

These seem to come along from time to time, always driven by the cumulative impact of many past decisions.

ALLAN BIRD
| Governor, East Sepik Province

The gold refinery of our dreams (Generated with AI, 22 March 2024, 7.49 am)

WEWAK - The Marape government’s proposed legislation to establish a gold refinery in Papua New Guinea seems to be another cargo cult endeavour that will bring little or no value for money for our country.

The proponents have zero experience in refineries or gold bullion and they don't understand the refinery business or business in general.

KEITH JACKSON

Projection is a psychological phenomenon where feelings directed towards the self are displaced outwards towards others

NOOSA - As the Campaign for Noosa takes on the uneasy rhythm of all early political campaigns, my thoughts drift back to my first inklings that this seemingly laid-back seaside resort had Politics. So I dug out a five year old piece I wrote on Noosa Politics and blew off the dust before adding some contemporaneous notes.  Reader alert, at 2,000 words it’s quite a long read….

_________

This morning at a ridiculously early hour (OK, it was seven o’clock), I was interviewed by Tess Connery for the 2SER-FM Sydney breakfast show, a meal that now passes me by.  Tess had called upon me to reminisce about the first day of 2SER, which had begun broadcasting on 1 October 1979.

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

Parliament: where no confidence votes take place
(Fantasy illustration generated by Bing AI, 27 January 2024)

PORT MORESBY – Papua New Guinea's long-serving senior minister Kerenga Kua yesterday announced his resignation from the Marape Coalition.

Since then people have been asking me whether this means there will be a vote of no confidence in prime minister James Marape.

ANDREW ANTON MAKO
| DevPolicy Blog

Economist Andrew Anton Mako delivering the 11th Henry Kila Memorial Address in Port Moresby last year (Roan Paul Business Council of PNG)

PORT MORESBY- This year started terribly for Papua New Guinea as civil riots rocked the nation.

What started as a protest by law enforcement officers (police, defence force and corrections staff) on 10 January over high deductions from their first pay of the year quickly escalated to looting and destruction of shops in Port Moresby as people took advantage of the security vacuum in the city.

RONALD MAY
| John Menadue’s Pearls & Irritations

A photo of a younger Ron May (amidst his filing system!) Ron, an Australian academic with an over 50-year association and an unparallelled knowledge of  Papua New Guinea (Australian National University)

PORT MORESBY - On 10 January, Port Moresby was rocked by riots, looting and arson on an unprecedented scale.

Rioting also occurred in Lae and several other towns. More than 20 people died and there has been extensive damage to property.

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

Family Ponders an Unclear Future (Generated with AI by Bing,  22 January 2024)

PORT MORESBY - The only shop in Gerehu to have survived the 10 January looting and burning was burned down yesterday (Sunday). The suspects were apprehended: four children and one adult.

If you've been concerned about unemployment and its impact on Papua New Guinea, or the rise in criminal activities, lawlessness and inflation, you now have something more serious to worry about.

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

The tax bill [Bing AI]

PORT MORESBY - A few years ago, the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States faced some difficult challenges. 

They were more problematic than the situation in Port Moresby on Wednesday 10 January.

PAEOPE OVASURU

Sad Wednesday [Bing Image Inspiration Feed]

PORT MORESBY - Last Wednesday the tenth of January started off like any other day in Port Moresby.

As the sun rose, workers made their way from home and street vendors put their goods on display.

At Gordons market, the mothers from Brown River accompanied truckloads of fresh garden produce. Outside, the usual crowd of loiterers went about their business, whatever that was.

Phil Fitzpatrick ... the PNG tinder box has stepped up another notch

PHILIP FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - This latest violence in Port Moresby and Lae illustrates the incredible fragility of law and order in Papua New Guinea.

That a police strike could induce widespread and opportunistic looting in the country’s two lar gest cities is truly frightening, not just for people in PNG but for the whole region.

MELFORD IPATA
| via Linked In & Academia Nomad

PORT MORESBY - So, imagine you're using a fancy computer system, like the Alesco Payroll System the Papua New Guinea government uses.

Some people might think there's this magic thing called a ‘glitch in the system’ that can automatically undo changes made by people. Well, as a computer programmer, let me clear that up.

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

The people will gain much power in Papua New Guinea when they vote for politicians because of merit not how much money they give away (Generated with Bing AI, 30 December 2023) AI, 30 December 2023

PORT MORESBY – We can’t blame the Papua New Guinea government for everything. Here are some other culprits.

If you look at the reforms, good or bad, in PNG, you can generally pin them on multilateral institutions, either the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank.

CHRIS OVERLAND & KEITH JACKSON

NOOSA – We live at a time when It is difficult to find any outstanding political leadership in most of the world’s democracies. The professionalisation of politics, and associated political inbreeding, has reached its apogee. Winning and retaining power is now the main point of politics. Reform is a subsidiary issue. The will and capability to change and address difficult issues like global warming have been compromised.

CHINESE NAVY IN PNG TO PLAY GAMES

PNG Facts reports on the four-day visit by the Chinese naval vessel ship Qi Jiguang to Papua New Guinea. The stay, which ends today, seems aimed at reinforcing relationships with the politicians and military of PNG. “The officers and soldiers of both countries will participate in visits, exchange programs and games,” said China’s ambassador to PNG, Zeng Fanhua.