If you live in or near Brisbane, why don’t you attend the Beautiful Tufi presentation at the Queensland Museum next Thursday 2 July at 3pm. It will be held in the Auditorium and followed by an opportunity for questions and socialising in an adjoining function room, finishing no later than 5pm, the Museum closing time. There is no entry fee and you'll be able to purchase Jan Hasselberg's book. Like Tufi, it is beautiful!

S H ERVIN GALLERY

IN May 1949, the renowned Australian painter William Dobell (1899–1970), in an endeavour to escape publicity after his 1948 Archibald Prize win, left Australia with his friend, writer Colin Simpson, in the company of philanthropist and trustee of Taronga Park Zoo, Sir Edward Hallstrom.

He was one of 27 guests flown by Hallstrom from Australia to Port Moresby and then on to Hallstrom’s experimental sheep station and bird of paradise sanctuary at Nondugl in the Highlands.

It was the first time Dobell had ever stepped inside an aircraft and, despite initial nerves, he was captivated by everything he saw.

KEITH JACKSON

IN Sydney today, a Lowy Institute roundtable in Sydney is bringing together 26 Papua New Guineans and Australians to brainstorm the future of the PNG-Australia relationship.

The headline of the workshop is Papua New Guinea in 2015 – At a crossroads and beyond and two themes have been established to guide discussion: Challenges for the next generation and Fostering better relations in changing times.

I asked PNG Attitude readers for their thoughts on the broad topic and although at that stage I hadn't received detailed discussion points, readers were savvy enough to pitch comments at the target. (Contributors names are listed at the end of this article.)

I’ve organised this summary piece by distilling the essence of what readers said to incorporate the most thoughtful and insightful comments that seem to loom large in the PNG-Australia relationship over the next decade or so.

HON PETER O'NEILL CMG MP | Prime Minister of PNG

THIS week there are thousands of men, women and children from Australia and New Zealand visiting Papua New Guinea as part of the Anzac Day commemorations.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of when the Australian and New Zealand soldiers went ashore on the beaches of Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I.

In Papua New Guinea we reflect upon the significance of Anzac Day, and join with our brothers and sisters to pay homage to those who served to protect our land in World War II.

AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION IN PNG

AUSTRALIANS and Papua New Guineans will gather at services and ceremonies around PNG to commemorate Anzac Day tomorrow.

The Returned and Services League of Australia (Port Moresby Sub Branch) will hold a dawn service at Bomana War Cemetery in Port Moresby starting at 4.30am and says everyone is welcome to join in the ceremony.

Services will also be held in Alotau, Madang, Kokopo, Rabaul, Isurava, Lae, Kimbe, Wewak, Popondetta, Kavieng, Tabubil, Bulolo and Manus.

PETER O’NEILL

An Easter message from the
prime minister of Papua New Guinea

I extend to all the people of Papua New Guinea my best wishes for a safe and happy Easter.

I especially send greetings to our churches, their leaders and congregations, on this most holy and sacred occasion in the life of the Christian church.

The sacrifice Our Lord made on the first Good Friday was made for our sake, and for the sake of all mankind.

PETER KRANZ

EASTER should be the most important celebration in Christian tradition.

After all, it celebrates the death and resurrection of the redeemer - the central point of the Christian religion.

In the New Testament, redemption is used to refer both to deliverance from sin and freedom from captivity.

But why does religious belief bring about so much argument, conflict and hatred?

MICHAEL KISOMBO | National Museum & Art Gallery

AN exhibition of exceptional works of art from the extensive collection of Papua New Guinea’s National Museum and Art Gallery is to be held to mark 40 years of Independence and display the foundations of the nation’s unique identity.

The Built on Culture exhibition, beginning in September, will feature more than 90 outstanding works from the museum’s collection of 80,000 objects. The exhibition will cover artwork from each of PNG’s 21 provinces and the National Capital District.

It will include enigmatic stone sculptures from thousands of years ago as well as paintings and prints by Mathias Kauage, Jakupa Ako and Timothy Akis, who, at the time of PNG’s Independence, forged a unique style of art fusing traditional stories with new forms of expression.

From the Museum’s storerooms will come stunning headdresses, masks and ceremonial objects not seen since they were worn in performances in remote villages.

KEITH JACKSON

WRITERS from in and around Port Moresby will gather at the University of Papua New Guinea at midday today to discuss the formation of a local writers’ association.

The hour-long lunchtime meeting will be held in Room KD202 of the Kuri Dom Building (pictured), named for the distinguished father of award-winning Papua New Guinean poet Michael Dom.

“It is hoped that as a result of this meeting a core group of writers will be formed from which important activities such as formalising the group through an association can be launched,” said organiser John Kaupa Kamasua, himself a writer and a senior academic at the university.

BOMAI D WITNE

I had planned to spend a week in the village from 26 December to New Year’s Day and the children were excited to go home to see their grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins.

The thought of bathing in the Mon and Maril Rivers all day, eating aromatic roasted o’ongi (a sweet potato grown in the Yuri area) and picking juicy kola-bol (a tree fruit like apples) made the children restless.

They counted the days to when they would get on that bus from Goroka to Kundiawa and then jump on any open back vehicle heading for Omdara.

I wanted to spend the week doing some community service and working with members of our tribal organisation, Yuri Alaiku Kuikane Association (YAKA), to host a tribal youth camp.

FRANCIS NII

THE home-grown charity, Simbu Children Foundation, has just completed 10 years of its invaluable voluntary work for sick and the disadvantage children of Simbu Province.

And SCF members, benefactors, beneficiaries and partners have turned out in numbers to celebrate the anniversary in style at Kundiawa’s Mt Wilhelm Tourist Hotel.

The event raised K90,000 for the charity.

Among the guests were Chuave MP and vice-minister for mining, Wera Mori, guest speakers Jerry Gerry and Jerry Karl, and SCF patron Kennedy Wemin.

Mr Gerry is a geologist and currently country director of Mt Crater gold mine. Mr Karl is an accountant and chief internal auditor of Etihad Airways.

Entry to the ball was strictly by tickets sold at K300 each. Tables were sold for K3,000.

MATTHEW LANDU | University of Goroka

THE people of Ganige in the Kerowagi District of Simbu hosted a three-day river festival in late November that featured traditional singsings, local brass and bamboo bands, traditional Simbu flute playing (Kuakumba) and a variety of money-making activities such as face-painting and food stalls.

It was a river festival in the proper sense of the word, with the Ganige River as the main stage of activities.

Adding to the mirth were water-splashing sports including basketball and volleyball, dog racing, diving for coins and pot washing.

Two cane bridges were built with the assistance of experts from Kompiam in Enga Province.

PAUL MUNRO

YOU may not have heard that there’s a campaign being run in Sydney to prevent the heritage-declared Ten Terminal building at Middle Head being leased for the commercial development of an aged care home.

The Ten Terminal building was built in 1941, one of only two brick buildings of the army in World War II, and is immediately adjacent to the equally important old ASOPA heritage site.

As many readers would know, ASOPA (Australian School of Pacific Administration) has a very close association with Papua New Guinea.

ANTHONY KAYBING

BUIN in South Bougainville came alive on Wednesday in colourful bliss as cultural groups from various parts of Bougainville congregated to celebrate the annual Tuiruma Festival.

The Tuiruma, or Garamut, Festival brings together cultural groups from the three South Bougainville Districts of Buin, Siwai and Bana to celebrate their cultural heritage.

On hand to officially open the ceremony was President John Momis with several cabinet ministers as well as the National Minister for Bougainville Affairs Steven Kama Pirika and Bougainville Regional Member Joe Lera.

SANANG ZAZORING

BOANA is in the Navaeb electorate of Morobe Province and is in the land of Tikingic (mountain man).

A Lutheran missionary from Neuendettelsau in Germany, Gustove Bergman, first evangelised these people.

To be in Boana is to be in the hub of Morobe, seeing and experiencing scenery, flora and fauna you have never faced before.

Boana is nicely located in a pothole surrounded by mountains and looks in a northern direction towards the beginning of the seemingly endless Finisterre Ranges.

Boana station has both government and church district centres including the Lutheran church headquarters, police station, hospital, primary school and other facilities providing adequate infrastructure for the event which is to come.

The road linkages are in place and bus services can travel forth and back, making business activities convenient for the Boana people. Thanks to the Morobe government.

PETER COMMEFORD

AN involvement with Papua New Guinea touches people in many ways and in fact there seems to be three degrees rather than six degrees of separation which comes with this involvement.

This was a contributing factor to the relaxed social aspect as well as the formalities of the recent Symposium initiated and hosted by the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia to mark the centenary of the relationship between Australia and PNG.

The first night dinner allowed me the opportunity to meet and chat briefly to familiar faces from the media like Sean Dorney and politics, Charlie Lynn MLC, PNG High Commissioner Charles Lepani and former Australian Governor General, Major General Michael Jeffrey.

DAVID WAPAR

DIVINE Word University (DWU) staged a colourful 39thPNG Independence celebration at its Madang campus which kicked off on 13 September.

PNG Week (themed Wok bung wantaim long strongim pasin tumbuna = Working together to enhance cultural values) has become part of the university’s calendar.

It features dances, quests, a movie night, a debate, stage performances and sport, which ended on Wednesday after a flag raising ceremony.

The celebration, especially the dances and mini quests, were staged in the evenings and attracted a huge turnout from nearby communities such as Gavstoa and Nabasa. People went home satisfied.

Vice-President Student Affairs, Ted Alau, observed that many students turned up for PNG Week activities and gave their best despite the hot weather.

Happy Independence Day

Papua New Guinea

16 September 1975

KEITH JACKSON

A small foundation to support community based literacy projects in Papua New Guinea will be launched in Melbourne next week.

Sustain Education Art Melanesia, or SEAM, is supported by two great friends of PNG – former Australian High Commissioner Ian Kemish AM and author Drusilla Modjeska.

The purpose of the launch on Thursday 25 September is to explain what SEAM intends to achieve in PNG, where it is seeking to establish a pilot project, Wanskul (Schoolmate), adjacent to Tainabuna Primary School in Oro Province.

AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION

AUSTRALIA and Papua New Guinea will lead commemorations in September to remember and honour the men who fell in World War I battles and actions in New Britain 100 years ago.

Services in Kokopo and Rabaul this week will mark the Battle of Bita Paka on September 11 and the loss of the Royal Australian Navy submarine, the HMAS AE1, on September 14.

At the outbreak of World War I, Germany administered several territories in the south and central Pacific and operated a small naval fleet.

JIMMY AWAGL

RURAL schools in the rugged and remote north-west of Simbu Province have been visited by Francis Nii, Arnold Mundua, Mathias Kin and Jimmy Awagl to promote literature among early age school children.

SWA, the Simbu Writers Association, is very interested in targeting students to develop better English through speaking, reading and writing.

Since little Tom Kaupa, a grade seven student entered his short story in the Crocodile Prize and had it selected and published in the annual Anthology, the message was understood that we must drive the Simbu heritage crocodile to visit rural schools.

KEITH JACKSON

EMINENT Australian author Drusilla Modjeska is lecturing on Randolph Stow’s great Papua New Guinea novel, Visitants, at Sydney University on Monday.

Drusilla says that it remains, after all these years, the great Australian novel on PNG.

“No contest,” she asserts.

Visitants has been described as underrated. To which the retort has been that’s an understatement.

The novel, which was published in 1979, is set in the Trobriand Islands and, in Drusilla’s view, remains unsurpassed in outsider fiction of Australia’s “complex near-neighbour, PNG.

“Each time I read it, I admire it more," she says.

DAVID WAPAR

IT is timely to share a bit on Melanesian culture here after the recent 5th Melanesian Festival of Arts and Culture in Port Moresby which was hailed a success.

From the highlands to the islands, from the southern to the northern tip of Papua New Guinea, they proudly walk on to the podium, almost unrecognisable in the beautiful grass skirts, sea shell ornaments and painted faces and bodies.

Some, flamboyant bodies glistening under the orange stage lights, are showing off special plant extracts and traditional dyes and who knows what. Perhaps a touch of manufactured baby oil or even body lotion, an alien trend becoming a norm in some places today.

But amidst all the chanting and singing, one particular group stands out - their chanting heard clearly accompanied by light feet stamping and the sharp notes of small bamboo garamuts setting the tempo.

KEITH JACKSON

THE Reading Association of Papua New Guinea (RASPNG) has called for papers for its 2014 literacy conference to be held in November at the University of Papua New Guinea at Waigani.

The conference, to be held on 13-14 November with the theme Literacy for Empowerment, is organised by RASPNG, the National Literacy and Awareness Secretariat, and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at UPNG.

Organisers define literacy as “the ability to use printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one’s goals and to develop one’s knowledge and potential”.

The conference will ask how Papua New Guineans can be equipped with the abilities that are the hallmarks of 21st century literate people.

ISHMAEL PALIPAL

THE ninth Blaqueville Nite held at Divine Word University last Saturday was commended by many students as one of the best Blaqueville Nites yet.

And, after five weeks of preparation for the performances, Bougainville students are now feeling a strong sense of relief after the auditorium reached full capacity for the successful production.

Blaqueville Nite is staged by Bougainville students and was started in 2005 to raise funds for the Bougainville Youth Foundation which provides information to Bougainville communities on the current political, economical and social situation.

KEITH JACKSON

THE Papua New Guinea Association of Australia (PNGAA) has announced that Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop MP, will be the keynote speaker at the dinner to commemorate the centenary of Australia’s relationship with Papua New Guinea.

The dinner will be held in the Strangers Dining Room, NSW Parliament House, Sydney, on Wednesday 17 September.

It will precede a symposium the following day to mark the 100^th anniversary of Australia's first battle of World War I, near Rabaul in September 1914.

FRANCIS S NII

THE Simbu Writers Association along with Ku High School is gearing up to celebrate National Literacy Day on Monday 8 September when the two entities will host a number of activities involving the province’s 18 upper and lower secondary schools.

The celebrations include a literary competition for Grades 9 - 12 and will run for two weeks leading to the main events at Ku High School.

There will be three categories in the competition: essay, short story and poetry. Each school will submit its five best entries in each category and prizes will be awarded for the top two entries in each category.

KEITH JACKSON

The Papua New Guinea Association of Australia
sponsors The Crocodile Prize Publishing Program

WE have previously reported that, in September, the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia (PNGAA) is presenting a ground-breaking symposium reviewing the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea over the past 100 years.

Entitled From Pacific WW1 battlefield to Pacific powers: A Century of Australia - PNG Relations, the event will be held on 17 and 18 September at NSW Parliament House in Sydney.

This year is the centenary of Australia’s first military engagement of World War I. It took place at Bitapaka on the Gazelle Peninsula when, on 11 September 1914, Australian troops ousted a German garrison defending the most powerful wireless station in the Pacific (pictured).

DAVID WAPAR | DWU Community Information Centre

THE PNG-Australia Alumni Association (PNGAAA) held a successful research analysis and report writing workshop for members of its Madang Chapter last Saturday.

The PNGAAA engaged experienced Australian academic and researcher, Dr Jeanette Baird from the PNG Office of Higher Education, to run the workshop for 30 participants at the Divine Word University (DWU) campus.

Dr Baird gave the participants useful insights into the art of research, how to analyse research data and write reports from it.

Several senior academics and experienced researchers from DWU were also on hand to assist in Dr Baird’s presentation. They included the President of the Madang Chapter of PNGAAA and Vice President (Research) of DWU, Associate Professor Maretta Kula-Semos, DWU Vice President (Academic) Professor Pamela Norman and DWU Associate Professor of Education Research, Dr Patricia Paraide.

PETER COMERFORD

LAST weekend I attended a series of talks at the Art Gallery of NSW followed by a visit to an incredible collection of New Guinea Highland artifacts collected by Stanley Moriarty.

From his early teenage years, Moriarty had a fascination for art from the South Pacific. He collected from second hand shops and galleries but didn’t travel to Papua New Guinea until 1961 when he was 55.

This exhibition of Highlands artwork ranging from an ancient stone mortar and pestle to more modern masks and statues has been kept together as a collection.  The exhibition is a credit to curator Natalie Wilson with the pieces tastefully displayed in a spacious gallery.

The main speakers - Dr Andrew Moutu, Dr Michael Mel, Chris Boylan, and fibre and bilum artist, Florence Jaukae Kamel - gave presentations with a PNG perspective that were informative and interesting.

The softly spoken Dr Moutu’s descriptions and background on the destruction of the traditionally carved lintels at Parliament House in Port Moresby certainly highlighted the damaged that can be caused by extremists, whether from the charismatic sector or some other religious group.

JENNY HAYWARD-JONES | Lowy Institute

THE Lowy Institute's Melanesia Program convened its second PNG New Voices conference in Port Moresby on Thursday. We assembled a group of interesting and passionate young people with strong views about the future of their country.

They spoke on a range of topics across three key themes: Papua New Guinea's relations with its neighbours, responsible sustainable development and new political engagement.

PNG's relations with its Melanesian neighbours are complex. PNG appears to be somewhat ambivalent about its membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group. Contributors suggested the government does not involve the people in its management of relations with Melanesian neighbours, leaving some to wonder what the benefits of trade agreements and intra-Melanesia labour mobility agreements are for Papua New Guinea.

ISHMAEL PALIPAL

BOUGAINVILLEAN author Leonard Fong Roka will tomorrow address the Lowy Institute’s PNG New Voices Conference about the future prospects of Bougainville.

The Australian think-tank is holding the conference at the National Research Institute in Port Moresby.

The Director of the Melanesia Program at the Lowy Institute, Jenny Hayward-Jones, says the conference aims to provide a platform for young leaders and professionals to offer fresh insights and perspectives on important international policy issues.

“We are seeking to give a platform to young Papua New Guineans to talk about the big issues facing PNG and its future trajectory and place in the world,” Ms Hayward-Jones told me.

The Lowy Institute aims to nurture a collaborative and inter-disciplinary approach to some of the key challenges facing Australia and its interactions with the world.

KEITH JACKSON

The Papua New Guinea Association of Australia
sponsors The Crocodile Prize Publishing Program

IN September the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia (PNGAA) is presenting a ground-breaking symposium reviewing the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea over the past one hundred years.

The event, entitled From Pacific WW1 battlefield to Pacific powers: A Century of Australia - PNG Relations, will be held on 17 and 18 September at the NSW Parliament House in Sydney.

The symposium dinner on Wednesday 17 September will be held in the grand surrounds of the Strangers Dining Room at Parliament House and the symposium itself will be held on Thursday 18 September in the theatrette of Parliament House.

This year marks the centenary of Australia’s first military engagement of World War I. It took place at Bitapaka on the Gazelle Peninsula when, on 11 September 1914, Australian troops ousted a German garrison defending a strategically important wireless station (pictured above). It was a bloody fight.

PAUL PETRUS | Catholic Archdiocese of Mt Hagen

ACTIONS speak louder than words in Papua New Guinea culture. It is customary that when a person does something good, words do not fully express the appreciation. One has to reciprocate with action.

A common practice is the idea of saying thank you with action rather than words. Accordingly, the Catholic Archdiocese of Mt Hagen organised a pilgrimage to say thank you for the 80 years of the Gospel in the Highlands.

This year is a special year for the Catholic Archdiocese of Mt Hagen, which includes both Jiwaka and Western Highlands provinces. The Archdiocese is celebrating 80 years of the Catholic faith in the two provinces and the rest of the Highlands.

SPARK* PNG

SPARK* PNG IS LOOKING FOR the country’s most exciting emerging change-makers to participate in its 2014 program.

Spark* believes that local problems are best solved with solutions developed by local people. Spark* PNG achieves this by finding, training, supporting and funding Papua New Guineans with the exceptional ability to create and influence social change.

Spark* PNG is affiliated to Spark* International, a global not-for-profit organisation that finds, trains, supports and funds change-makers and social entrepreneurs in three countries around the world.

KEITH JACKSON

ATTITUDE UPDATE: Port Moresby Police commander Andy Bawa said this afternoon that, "in the interests of public safety, peace and good order", protest marches and strikes will not be allowed on Monday. Commander Bawa said that members of the public found congregating in public places will be arrested and charged with unlawful assembly. 

A GROUP CALLING ITSELF the ‘Social Media Activism Committee Executive’ that operates through the PNG News Group on Facebook is calling for people to stop work throughout Papua New Guinea on Monday to protest against corruption.

The group had originally planned to hold a mass public rally in Port Moresby on Wednesday but called it off when Police objected.

A notice is now circulating in social media asking “all workers in Port Moresby and around the nation to stop work on Monday and challenge the O’Neill government to send the Police to come and arrest each and every one of us for protesting”.

Included in the 12 people associated with the Social Media Activism Committee Executive are Sonja Barry Ramoi, David Ephraim, Lucas Kiap, Noel Anjo Kolao, Charlie Gilichibi and Reginald Renagi.

“You can help to stop corruption by protesting it so that as a collective voice we can be heard,” the group says. “We ask all PMV and taxi operators in Port Moresby to pull your vehicles off the road on Monday 18 November. We also ask all parents not to send your children to school.

KEITH JACKSON

THE PNG ANTI-CORRUPTION Movement for Change will have to toughen up if it’s going to make a difference. A peaceful civil protest planned for today turned out to be a damp squib when organisers called it off after police said they didn’t like the idea.

The protest had been arranged after a growing social  media outcry among Port Moresby’s internet savvy community.

Organisers claim there is growing frustration among the general public over the lack of action by the government in addressing corruption.

They had asked prime minister Peter O’Neill to come to the protest event at Jack Pidik Park to explain the ‘Paraka allegations’ that have triggered political and media controversy in recent weeks.

DOREEN BAULONI

ALOTAU TOWN WAS ABUZZ yesterday and today as the annual Canoe And Kundu Festival is celebrated.

The celebration lasts for three days and is showcasing traditional dances and canoe races by different cultural groups in the Milne Bay Province.

The dancers from Rossel Island in the Louisiade District accompanied the governor of Milne Bay, dressed in his traditional regalia, to the stage for the opening of the festival.

DON WISEMAN | Radio New Zealand International

THREE KEY FORMER Bougainville Revolutionary Army commanders in Papua New Guinea yesterday set aside their differences at a meeting at Panguna.

It is the latest step as the autonomous Bougainville province moves closer to a decision on whether the controversial mine at Panguna can be re-opened.

The three men - Ishmael Toroama of the BRA, Moses Pipiro from the Me’ekamui Unity Government and Chris Uma from the original Me’ekamui faction - agreed to reconcile after 17 years of enmity.

SHORTLY AFTER INDONESIA’s President Suharto was forced out of office by a popular uprising in May 1998, the people of West Papua began channeling their democratic energy in a new direction. 

Hundreds of peaceful West Papuans took to the streets in July 1998, demanding that the Indonesian government give them the opportunity to vote on the issue of independence.

On the island of Biak, demonstrators occupied the harbour area, refusing to leave until the government met their demands.

Indonesian security forces surrounded these unarmed protesters at dawn and began firing into the crowd. Scores of people were killed.

ISHMAEL PALIPAL

BOUGAINVILLE DAY IS AN ANNUAL celebration to commemorate the day on which Bougainville was granted autonomous self-government.

Since its inauguration at Hahela on 15 June 2005, it has been marked in all parts of world where Bougainvilleans live.

Back home in Bougainville, celebrations have been happening all through the weekend in every part of the region from north to south. The Facebook social network was flooded with news of happenings and messages of good will.

KEITH JACKSON

WELL, I HAVE TO ADMIT it beats me.

Deakin University keeps inviting Papua New Guineans to its annual PNG talk fest (sponsored by AusAID) without providing travel support for those folk who can’t afford to make the trip to Melbourne.

The next event (on 4-5 April; program not yet ready) is entitled Leadership for the Next Generation and again Martyn Namorong (just commended by Telikom PNG as playing “a significant role in shaping the national discourse”) has been invited to speak.

The $250 registration fee has been waived but travel and accommodation costs are prohibitive. Unless Martyn gets support, he won’t be able to make the conference.

He has managed to save half the $1,500 required for the trip, but is in urgent need of the $750 balance. So once more I appeal to readers for assistance.

You can remit whatever donation you can afford (no, PNG Attitude is not tax exempt) to Keith Jackson, NAB 082-302, Account 50650-1355. And please send me an email here to let me know. I'll make sure the funds get to Martyn.

JEFFREY MANE FEBI

Heard the ticking of dawn
As with eyes without a lens I looked
Wrinkles of love lazily they pass by
Then Earth delivered and I was hooked
Hisses of storms old hastily rush by

Many a vivid plot pregnant with
Chances unaccounted for marched.
‘Aaha heart’, said I … ‘look at you’,
‘Look at me … who between us’
‘Is in greater pain … you knew!?’

Even a tomorrow got its own
Chances to be unaccounted for to moan
‘Oh’ said the heart. ‘My joy isn’t yours’
‘And your pain is certainly yours’.

Jan Hasselberg is launching his book Beautiful Tufi in Moresby this Wednesday. Please let Jan know at [email protected] if you would like to attend the Moresby presentation.

Office of Benny Wenda

WEST PAPUAN INDEPENDENCE leader Benny Wenda will embark on his first official overseas tour this month having successfully fought to have an Interpol Red Notice against him removed.

Wenda is now free to travel and is visiting political leaders, lawyers, activists and supporters in in six countries to build support and awareness of the campaign for self-determination for the people of West Papua.

Ahead of the tour, Wenda spoke of his hope that “it will further raise the voice of the West Papuan people whose cries for freedom and justice have been largely ignored by the international community for the last 50 years”.

After first visiting the US, Wenda will travel to New Zealand from 8 February, launching the International Parliamentarians for West Papua at Parliament House in Wellington on 12 February.

In Australia (13-25 February), he will host an event at Parliament House, Canberra, attended by politicians and members of the legal fraternity. He will also visit Melbourne, Sydney and Perth as well as meeting Aboriginal elders.

Wenda’s tour of Melanesia from 25 February to 10 March will conclude in Papua New Guinea, where he will speak to parliamentarians and meet community leaders.

Benny Wenda is travelling with his lawyer Jennifer Robinson and independent filmmaker Dominic Brown.

Tour updates: Web:   www.bennywenda.org   Twitter: @BennyWenda

JULIUS VIOLARIS

THE CHRISTINA ALEXANDROU VIOLARIS Learning Centre has been opened in Alotau, the capital of Papua New Guinea’s Milne Bay Province,.

The building is named after Christina Violaris and is dedicated to her memory.

It incorporates a Buk Bilong Pikinini library on the ground floor and comes complete with built-in sick bay, office, a bathroom for very small people, kitchenette and various storerooms.

Upstairs is a small lending library for adults, a computer room with internet access, an office and a large area with tables and chairs for older students to study undisturbed at night.

Night study will be supervised by retired teachers so they can help students requiring assistance with homework and assignments.

The Centre will also be used for running all sorts of courses for Nawae Construction employees, community programs and, eventually, adult literacy courses.

The new building was opened by Alexandros S Violaris, the husband of the late Christina Violaris, and the Buk Bilong Pikinini library was opened by Titus Philemon MP, Governor of Milne Bay province.

The local communities of Rabe, Waema and Mutuya presented Alex Violaris and me with a big pig and many vegetables and baskets and buai to show their appreciation of having the library in their community.

KEITH JACKSON

THIS MORNING I WRITE FROM Canberra where, tonight, I’ll be attending the Walkley Awards which recognise the best journalism in Australia over the past year.

It’s not just the mercury that’s been soaring in the nation’s capital this week; the politics also have been absolutely red hot. But this blog’s PNG Attitude not Political Attitude, so I’m not going there.

That made clear, this year’s Walkleys are being held in the grand precincts of Parliament House but with any luck it’ll be the wine not the whine that's doing the talking.

Ingrid and I are attending as guests of Queensland University, of which I have the honour, along with eminent Pacific journalist Sean Dorney, of being an adjunct professor in the School of Journalism and Communication.

And Queensland University is at the Walkleys because it sponsors the Award for International Journalism.

I’ll be sitting with the head of school-designate, Prof Libby Lester, leaving the University of Tasmania for warmer climes, and the acting head of school, Dr Rhonda Breit.

And I’ll certainly be wanting to talk about how Sean and I might be able to work with the university to build a stronger connection with Papua New Guinea.

That is a great opportunity and one well worth pursuing, especially given the school’s pioneering Centre for Communication and Social Change, which specialises in the study, research and practical application of communication in sustainable development.

Back to the Awards. Each year, more than 1,300 entries are submitted and my old mate Laurie Oakes, who has a strong PNG connection and who is chairman of the Walkleys, says it’s never been more important to promote excellence in journalism.

"Given the challenges now facing the media in this country, it has never been more necessary to recognise, reward and showcase excellence in our industry,” Laurie says.

And what is his PNG association? Well, he’s the late Tom Cole’s son-in-law.

Tom, who was to become an eminent author (The Last Paradise, Spears and Smoke Signals, Hell West and Crooked) spent 30 years in PNG as the first professional crocodile shooter, later establishing a coffee plantation in the Highlands.

Small world, isn’t it?

The 57th annual Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism will be broadcast on SBS 1 from 9.30pm (AEDT) tonight

A POWERFUL PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION, that has already moved millions of people around the world through its touching images of AIDS-affected communities, opened at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney yesterday.

Access to Life features the work of some of the world's best photographers from the global agency Magnum Photos, world-renowned for interpreting and chronicling people and personalities, global issues and events in a compassionate and meaningful way.

For the first time, a series of new photos from Papua New Guinea will be included in the exhibition, taken by acclaimed British photographer Chris Steele-Perkins.

They join photographic case studies from India, Vietnam, Russia, Swaziland, Haiti, Mali, South Africa, Peru and Rwanda.

More than 250 photographs by nine international Magnum photographers feature people with HIV and AIDS, their families and communities, and the health care workers from 10 countries.

The photos capture the emotional stories of people before and four months after receiving the antiretroviral treatment.

Access to Life is in Sydney for World AIDS Day 2012 and coincides with the 30 year anniversary of the first case of HIV being diagnosed in Australia.

Created by Magnum Photos in partnership with The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Access to Life was launched in Washington DC in 2008.

It has since toured major cities around the world including Rome, Madrid, Olso, Oakland, New York, Tokyo and Seoul.

Let’s hope ti can get to Port Moresby and other PNG cities soon.

Photo: UK Magnum photographer, Chris Steele-Perkins, has produced a prolific body of work and recently shot photographs of AIDS-affected regions in Papua New Guinea. This portrait shows Camillo and his now HIV-free son Henry