MEDIA RELEASE
| Bougainville Copper Ltd
New Bougainville Copper CEO Johnny Auna and team. "A once in a lifetime opportunity," says Johnny.
BUKA - Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) has announced the appointment of Johnny Patterson Auna as chief executive officer.
Mr Auna, from Laguai Village, Buin, in South Bougainville, joined BCL in March last year as chief financial officer and company secretary.
Continue reading "Buin's Johnny Auna is new boss at BCL" »
OBITUARY
| Exepreneur Magazine
Sir Charles Lepani - the last of 'The Gang of Four', who significantly influenced PNG's governance before its independence
PORT MORESBY - Sir Charles Watson Lepani, KBE CBE OBE, born on 28 October 1947 in the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea, was a prominent public servant and diplomat whose career spanned several decades.
He passed away on 10 January 2025 after a battle with stage four cancer, leaving behind a legacy of dedication to the development and growth of PNG.
Continue reading "‘Diplomatic doyen’ Charles Lepani dies at 77" »
KEITH JACKSON
Graduating from the University of Papua New Guinea, 1 August 1975
NOOSA - Time can play strange tricks. Just past my 80th birthday, I find myself inhabiting two worlds: one where my mind remains as agile and adventurous as ever and another in which my aging body increasingly has difficulty in matching its desires.
Yet this contradiction has given me an unexpected gift - the ability to traverse time effortlessly in my thoughts, particularly back to that sweltering day in August 1975 when, just weeks before Papua New Guinea’s independence, I graduated from the University of Papua New Guinea.
Continue reading "At 80, reflections on a life in journalism" »
KEITH JACKSON
Tess and her son, now aged 13, after her graduation from the University of PNG
NOOSA – Theresa (Tess) Gizoria, one of Papua New Guinea’s most talented women leaders, died last Saturday, two years after being diagnosed with Stage 3 Lobular Cell Carcinoma - an advanced form of breast cancer.
Her initial treatment in PNG was found to be flawed after she was referred to specialists in Australia but Tess refused to allocate blame and instead used her illness to seek better treatment for all cancer patients in the country.
Continue reading "Champion for women Tess dies at 35" »
JAMES KOYAPO *
Colonel (ret) Reginald Renagi (left) receives a copy of Bitcoin Dream from Peter Kinjap
PORT MORESBY - 'Bitcoin Dream: Hope Hype and Chaos' by Peter Solo Kinjap is interesting, catchy and of educational benefit not only to Papua New Guineans readers but to readers everywhere.
Its purpose is to educate people about the facts underpinning society’s attitudes towards money and recent developments in how our conception of money is changing.
Continue reading "New book cuts through Bitcoin hype" »
BAKA BINA

PORT MORESBY - Happy New Year 2025 to all of you who are deep in literature as writers or readers.
For writers, 2024 wasn’t easy and I’m sorry to say things looks just as bleak going forward.
Elders and keepers of our national repository of traditional stories, songs and dances will die and take with them all of these lovely parts of our Melanesian culture.
Continue reading "If you want to enter a book prize" »
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.
Continue reading "Government of the non-taxpayers" »
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.
Continue reading "PNG writing adopts its own expression" »
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.
Continue reading "A conversation with AI assistant Claude" »
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.
Continue reading "Albanese drops ball on PNG's real needs" »
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).
Continue reading "Cybercrime? Advocacy leader is charged" »
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.
Continue reading "Marlene’s journey: A testament to human resilience & the power of storytelling" »
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.
Continue reading "K2 billion rugby league deal inked today" »
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.
Continue reading "Natasha’s PNG aid idea comes up a winner" »
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
Continue reading "In pursuit of adaptation & resilience" »
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’.
Continue reading "Calling James Sinclair's descendants" »
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.
Continue reading "K1.5b NRL deal ‘nothing to do with China’" »
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.
Continue reading "Clouds loom over 600km road project" »
EDITED BY KEITH JACKSON
“We are not happy to be in the region. We are still trying to find our security from Asia rather than in Asia” — former Australian prime minister Paul Keating, National Press Club, Canberra, 27 November 2021. Artwork by Thanh Trúc, founder of the political news site, pristine.press, and writer on her personal political website at lethanhtruc.com (Pearls & Irritations)
We’ll pay countries to take in 80,000 unwanted
From The Monthly and Yahoo News
Laws giving the Australian government sweeping powers to deport non-citizens - and to pay countries to accept them - was one of more than 30 bills passed in a frantic last day of federal parliament yesterday. The Labor government and Coalition opposition joined forces to ensure passage of the bill.
Continue reading "Recent Notes 39: Greedy to expel needy" »
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.
Continue reading "Ipatas challenges Marape as prime minister" »
Daulo Pass c mid-1964. Jackson proudly models the official uniform of the time
NOTES TO PICTURE I
| November 2024
From Patrick (Big Pat) Levo, biknem raita, PNG Post-Courier
Dearest King Kit Esquire,
Venerable mountaineer, lost in paradise, pig squealer and pork chopper.
We are looking for this fair young man, who once ranched at our rubber farm,
(Our last bag of elastic for the condom factory is missing.)
Continue reading "Exchanges not of ire: What old men do" »
NEWS DESK
| Bougainville News
President Toroama (left) leads officials and landowners after signing the Panguna land access agreement (Bougainville News)
BUKA – More than 300 traditional landowners from Panguna have signed a Land Access and Compensation Agreement (LACA) with Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), marking a significant milestone in the exploration phase of the resurrected copper and gold mine .
The signing followed the Autonomous Bougainville Government’s (ABG) decision in January to grant BCL with an exploration licence.
Continue reading "Agreement signed with Panguna landowners" »
EMMA BUBOLA
| New York Times | Extracts
Link here to read the complete article
The PNG government has tried for many years - so far unsuccessfully - to rid the country of sorcery-related violence, which mainly targets women (Ann Braun)
PORT MORESBY & VANIMO - In Papua New Guinea, when a sudden death, illness or other tragic event hits a community, alleged culprits are sometimes identified by a person nicknamed the glass man.
He does so by burning a bamboo stick and interpreting the direction of the smoke. Multiple people can be accused and rounded up simultaneously.
Continue reading "Tortured & killed. Their crime? ‘Sorcery’" »
KEITH JACKSON
Dr John Waiko (Pang Media via YouTube)
The distinguished academic, writer and politician, John Dademo Waiko, died yesterday at the age of 79.
Waiko was born in the village of Tabara in Oro Province on the lands of the Binandare people.
He once said his parents had been reluctant to send him to school because they feared he would not be able to look after them in their old age.
Continue reading "Eminent scholar John Waiko dies at 79" »
NEWS DESK
| Academia Nomad

PORT MORESBY - The remains of the late Corporal Sefanaia Sukanaivalu, who received the Victoria Cross after fighting against the Japanese in Bougainville in 1944, will be repatriated from East New Britain to Fiji next year.
The Victoria Cross is the highest British and Commonwealth military honour.
Continue reading "The heroism of Corporal Sukanaivalu" »
ALLAN BIRD MP
| Academia Nomad
Papua New Guinea's annual real (orange) GDP and nominal (blue) GDP, 2017-2023
WEWAK - This graph, recently released by National Statistics Office, shows clearly that Papua New Guinea’s real gross domestic product (the orange line) has remained fairly stagnant over the past five years.
Real GDP is the money value, adjusted for inflation, of all goods and services produced within PNG, typically over a year.
Continue reading "Inflation knocks stuffing out of the kina" »
EDDIE TANAGO PAINE
| Act Now

PORT MORESBY - A concerning analysis by community advocacy group Act Now has revealed that almost all District Development Authorities (DDAs) in Papua New Guinea are failing to make crucial information available thereby hindering governance, accountability and service delivery.
Despite each District receiving K20 million annually for service and infrastructure improvements, as of July 2024 the analysis reveals that, of 96 DDA’s across the country:
Continue reading "District funding: K1.9 bn unaccounted for" »
PAUL KEATING *

SYDNEY - A Resolve Political Monitor poll published in yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald makes clear that the Australian community at large possesses a contrary view to the foreign policy priorities of the Albanese government and its predecessor under Scott Morrison.
On the significant question of whether Australia should avoid taking sides in any conflict between the US and China, fifty-seven (57%) of those polled agreed that Australia should avoid taking sides in any such conflict with but sixteen per cent (16%) in favour.
Continue reading "Australians oppose taking sides in US-China conflict. But weak Oz politicians are offside." »
BAKA BINA
Baka Bina with fellow authors Daniel Kumbon and Jimmy Drekore
PORT MORESBY – “I want to write but I don’t have the time to write,” is a sentiment I hear over and over again.
There are several ways of stating these words over and over – a procrastinating trait we all have.
Continue reading "Some notes on my recent anthology" »
PHILIP FITZPATRICK
Baka Bina (Artwork by Laben Sakale John)
Resis long KSSP (Komonwelt Sot Stori Prais) by Baka Bina, Independently Published, November 2024, ASIN B0DMFK4K83, 388 pages. Paperback available from Amazon Australia for AU$41.88 (plus postage)
This is a collection of short stories written in English and translated into Papua New Guinea’s creole language, Tok Pisin. The stories were either entered into the Commonwealth Short Story Prize competition ('Resis long KSSP') or written for the competition between the years 2020 and 2027. There are two iterations of each story, one in English and one in Tok Pisin.
Continue reading "The beauty of the work in translation" »
CAMERON HILL
Representatives gather after the Land Access & Compensation Agreement is signed
BRISBANE - Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) has credited a spirit of mutual respect and collaboration for the signing of a Land Access and Compensation Agreement with Panguna’s customary landowners.
The agreement was signed by traditional landowners during a ceremony at Panguna Catholic Church on Wednesday.
Continue reading "Respect underpins land access agreement" »
PHILIP FITZPATRICK
The cover of Windward Leeward features artwork by the late Dick Roughsey of Mornington Island
Windward Leeward: The people of Gununa (Mornington Island) by Douglas Belcher, Independently Published, 2024, ISBN 979-8329693263, 338 pages. Paperback available from Amazon Australia for AU$18.11 plus postage
TUMBY BAY, SA - When I decided to retire Pukpuk Publications I was aware that it wouldn’t be easy. There would still be writers out there looking for a publisher and it would be hard to turn them down.
I had to be pragmatic however and think about myself and my wife Sue’s health as we drifted into old age and the problems that brings. Suffice to say, a couple of books slipped past the net.
Continue reading "Notable memoir is Phil’s 81st & last book" »
PAUL OATES
PNG defence force personnel can be sworn in as Special Constable to “exercise all the powers and authorities” of civilian police officers during emergencies. Here Police Commissioner David Manning and Acting Defence Force Commander Commodore Philip Polewara face questions at a media conference in Port Moresby early this year
CLEVELAND - A nation’s defence force can, and logically should, provide assistance to the nation’s civil power – its government.
When natural disasters and other emergencies occur, it is important to have a trained, disciplined and readily available force to provide a quick response.
Continue reading "The PNGDF, the RPNGC & elected government" »
JOHN BRAITHWAITE *
| Pearls & Irritations
As anger boils among younger generations for allowing themselves to be conned by Australia on independence, a diplomacy of promise-keeping is needed to prevent the fragmentation of Bougainville, followed by the fragmentation of Papua New Guinea, writes John Braithwaite.
Buka Passage (Lowy Institute)
CANBERRA - In 2019, Bougainville finally had an independence referendum which was provided for in the peace agreement that ended the 1988-98 civil war.
That war started with environmental and other grievances over a Conzinc Rio Tinto Australia mine.
Continue reading "Keeping promises to the B'ville people" »
PAUL OATES

CLEVELAND, QLD - One of the most insidious threats that we kiaps in Papua New Guinea had to deal with was the continuous and seemingly spontaneous eruption of, firstly, cargo cults, and then, increasingly, of money cults.
The lack of comprehension about where wealth originated, and why some people had it and many others didn’t, led - and still leads - to the ruin of many lives.
Continue reading "Traim laki, lusim moni, kamap nating" »
HUBERT NAMANI
| President, PNG Law Society

PORT MORESBY - The escalating lawlessness and violence in Enga Province, as well as other hotspots across the country, has reached an unprecedented and dangerous level.
It is now critical that the government exercises its constitutional authority under Section 204 of the Constitution to issue a call-out of the PNG Defence Force in aid of the civil power.
Continue reading "PNG ‘on brink of anarchy’: Law Society" »
PHILIP FITZPATRICK
Patrol Officers Bob Fayle and Algie Besasparis at Kokopo, East New Britain, 1957 (Bob Fayle)
TUMBY BAY - In 1970 the Department of the Administrator in Papua New Guinea published a booklet outlining its role and the role of its frontline field staff, widely known as kiaps.
While carrying out some research for a book recently, I dug out my battered copy of a booklet, titled Division of District Administration: Its role in the development of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea.
Continue reading "Booklet offers a glimpse into kiap life" »
MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad
The kaikai mahn are integral to political corruption in PNG (Image by Transparency International)
PORT MORESBY – A while ago I asked followers of Academia Nomad on Facebook what they call ‘kaikai mahn’ in their language.
I received a long list of local names attributed to kaikai mahn. Just shows how popular the kaikai mahn community is.
Continue reading "Kaikai mahn: PNG’s predator attorneys" »
JUDITH WHITE
| Culture Heist

TWEED HEADS - Here is a new book that has to be one of the finest of the year. It takes us to the heart of Gaza and to incontestable truths about the suffering and resistance of the Palestinian people.
Cactus Pear for my Beloved (Penguin Australia) is by playwright and poet Samah Sabawi. It reads like a novel but is in fact the story of her family.
Continue reading "Breaking the silence of Gaza" »
PAUL OATES

A Papua New Guinean artisanal miner (Human Rights Watch)
CLEVELAND - The old expression is ‘follow the money trail’, but trying to find out where criminals are operating has just become harder.
I look at the escalating price of gold and wonder where the lucrative markets are.
Continue reading "There’s gold in them thar’ hills *" »
ROB PARER
The Piper Comanche lifts off from a small airfield near Omaha in the USA (Paul Hamer)
BRISBANE – Pilot and aeronautical engineer Barry Payne, who had flown all types of aircraft including helicopters, and his wife Sandra came to Aitape in PNG’s West Sepik Province in the 1980s.
Barry took up his job as chief pilot for Franair, owned by the Catholic Diocese of Aitape which flew Cessna 206s.
Continue reading "Round world fliers’ epic flight nears PNG" »
NEWS DESK
| Samaritan Aviation

WEWAK – We recently medevaced a pregnant lady, Imelda, who lives 190 kilometers from Wewak. It had also taken her a day to get to the aid post where we picked her up.
Imelda was and late in the pregnancy, unfortunately the baby died.
Continue reading "Feisty Imelda’s journey to safety" »
BRADLEY GEWA
| Academia Nomad

MADANG – In the village, there’s usually a particular uncle or bubu whose grip is like a clamp.
Visiting townspeople who know this will go to great lengths to avoid shaking his hand and having their fingers crushed.
Continue reading "Shaking hands & meeting with the Chief" »
KEITH JACKSON
Front page Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, 26 September 2024
NOOSA – It’s one of those things I’ve come to expect as editor of PNG Attitude. A bit of the ‘does anyone know the whereabouts of good old so-and-so’ as a search for a pal missing since the 1960s is initiated.
A subsidiary category of Missing Persons are the two or three requests each year from readers who – during their time in Papua New Guinea – collected artefacts, paintings and other objects, including some of real value.
Continue reading "National museum is a national disgrace" »
GOVERNOR ALLAN BIRD
| Academia Nomad
Boram General Hospital
WEWAK - First of all, let me acknowledge that the National Capital District, Gulf and Central Provinces need level 5 hospitals and they should get them.
This will take pressure off Port Moresby General, which is full of patients mostly from Central and Gulf provinces.
Continue reading "Just how much should a hospital cost?" »
KEVIN SWEENEY
| Refugees Off PNG Working Group

FOOTSCRAY, VIC - The Australian Government needs to immediately reinstate basic support for refugees and asylum seekers that it sent to Papua New Guinea.
If it is not able to do this, it should bring them to Australia as a matter of urgency so they receive basic support and adequate medical care while awaiting resettlement.
Continue reading "Cruel detention of refugees in PNG" »
JOSEPH TAMBURE

Hello Keith - Longpla taim mi no rait. Bikpla Papa
God iken lukautim yu. God Bless - Joseph Tambure
Money has roots
It spreads out under cover
Money has a trunk
It's strong and sturdy
Continue reading "Is it only in PNG?" »
EDDIE TANAGO
| Act Now!
PORT MORESBY - Prime Minister James Marape spoke of the importance of preserving Papua New Guinea’s tropical rainforest in his address to the United Nations General Assembly last Friday
Yet his government is doing nothing to stop widespread illegal logging, in particular the abuse of agricultural clearing licences.
Marape has described PNG’s rainforests as vital to PNG and to the global community.
Continue reading "Marape must stop illegal logging" »
PAUL OATES
Maslow's hierarchy of needs (CNN)
CLEVELAND - A few years ago, I read a report of some well-meaning people who tried to motivate youthful Papua New Guinean criminals, locally referred to as ‘raskols’, to change their ways and become more law-abiding.
The audience’s general response was, perhaps predictably, ‘So what’s in it for us?’
Continue reading "Unmet bottom line leads to PNG crime" »
EDDIE TANAGO
| Act Now!

PORT MORESBY - While the Papua New Guinea government has been dramatically increasing the amount of funding pumped directly into each District, there is an appalling lack of transparency about how those public funds are being used.
An analysis by community advocacy group Act Now reveals that just 24 of 96 Districts have lodged financial acquittals for 2022 or 2023 and none of those acquittals are publicly available.
Continue reading "Hundreds of millions of kina go missing " »