Poor planning stunts health, education

CATHY TUKNE
| Act Now!

Act now
PORT MORESBY - The lack of proper planning at district level is a critical failure undermining the delivery of quality health and education services across Papua New Guinea.

Research by community advocacy organisation Act Now reveals that only 25% of districts have published a five-year development plan for 2023-27.

Continue reading "Poor planning stunts health, education" »


Lulu’s Story

WEDFINE DAI

“The loss of a twin is a pain that never goes away, but you still have to live
because you are living the life of and for another”

The pain that never goes away

Some people say that losing a twin is like losing a part of yourself, a part of your identity gone that can never be replaced because it is a void that can never be filled and a hole in your heart that can never be healed.

I lost someone so close to me that I hold dear to my heart, someone with whom I shared 9 months of my first days, and being a twin is like being born with a best friend for life.

Continue reading "Lulu’s Story" »


Flying, speaking & sharing the Gospel

JOSH SNADER
| Samaritan Aviation

Seventh Day Adventist Church in PNG

WEWAK - We here at Samaritan Aviation fly people to hospital on our float planes but that's just half of what we do.

Communicating the Gospel to our patients and Papua New Guinea is our ultimate priority. How do we do that?

Continue reading "Flying, speaking & sharing the Gospel" »


Grief is Courage

MARIAN DAI

The heartache lingers (Generated with AI ∙ June 25  2024 at 8.52am)
Heartache lingers (Generated by AI, June 25 2024)

I've watched old women cry
at the mention of twins.
And never understood the heartache
caused at mere mention of this.
But...
Now I do.
Heartache of losing a dear one lingers.

There are times I sit and ponder that emotion
and again the realisation creeps up on me
I too bear those same deep feelings.
My first heartbreak came when my sister died.
Grief is a constant tug of war
between trying to move forward
and not wanting to at all.
Grief is the Courage to feel loss.


Beware! Rob’s on the writing trail again

ROB BARCLAY

Mutiny on the 37th day.  “We want to go home now.”   “Really.”
Mutiny on the 37th day. “We want to go home now.” “Really?” Painting by Rob Barclay framed in New Guinea Rosewood (in the collection of Keith Jackson)


Rob Barclay writes letters that are as cheeky and entertaining as his books. And as energised and colourful as his paintings. Rob's just let me know that the publishing date of his next book, working title Cannibals, “has been shunted to next year as I’m busy renovating our house including a two-metre square painting for a new conservatory.” The painting here, "Mutiny on the 37th Day. 'I want to go home now.' 'Really'" depicts a young Rob confronting unhappy carriers as they realise the patrol is just settling into its work and home will be far away for some time. I hope you’ll enjoy Rob’s words which I share below and perhaps find yourself able to respond to some of his requests for help (which I’ve highlighted in bold) – KJ

Continue reading "Beware! Rob’s on the writing trail again" »


Australia & China both mistaken in PNG

CAROLYN BLACKLOCK*
| Pearls & Irritations | Republished from The Diplomat

Illustration by China Times
Illustration from The China Times

PORT MORESBY - While Australia and China have very different approaches in Papua New Guinea, both are working primarily with political elites - and alienating the PNG public.

Two recent financial deals that seemingly benefit PNG indicate the problems at the heart of the country’s political and economic outlook.

Continue reading "Australia & China both mistaken in PNG" »


The poverty of PNG’s 6-question census

DUNCAN GABI

Census

WEWAK - The national population census has begun in Papua New Guinea, with the entire process scheduled to be completed in two weeks by 30 June.

From what I heard from PNG’s development partners during a briefing at the World Bank office in Port Moresby, a census questionnaire usually has 70-80 questions.

Continue reading "The poverty of PNG’s 6-question census" »


A gripping memoir of a nation’s birth

KEITH JACKSON

Timeline Papua New Guinea: 1949-1975 by Bill Brown MBE, a photographic memoir of the development and birth of a nation. Available free for viewing at YouTube here

Brown family 1966  Michael  Pamela  David & Bill
The Brown family in 1966:  Michael,  Pamela,  David & the Great Man himself

NOOSA – A couple of years ago, Bill Brown emailed me a link to a project he was working on and which was nearing completion.

Timeline Papua New Guinea: 1949-1975 is a slide-based memoir that traverses PNG’s critical years from the early post-war period to 1975, the year of its independence.

Continue reading "A gripping memoir of a nation’s birth" »


Never a better time to be a writer….

PHILIP FITZPATRICK

Illustration from The Gates of the Kingdom (John Birmingham)
Illustration from The Gates of the Kingdom (John Birmingham)

TUMBY BAY – In 2013 I set up the book publisher Pukpuk Publications when I was looking for a lower cost alternative to the publisher we'd used for the first two editions of the annual Crocodile Prize anthology.

It was in that search for cheaper books that I came across Amazon’s CreateSpace online publishing tool as an economical method of producing the anthologies, my own work and, from 2013, books by Papua New Guinean authors.

Continue reading "Never a better time to be a writer…." »


PNG King's Birthday Honours List

COMPILED BY MARTIN HADLOW

Obe_image

Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE)

Sir John Bangkok BEM. For services to Business and to the Community.

Knight Bachelor 

Sir Arthur Llewellyn Jones OBE. For services to Business and to the Community.

Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)

Andrew Charles Abel. For services to Surfing Industries.

Ahmad Bin Ismail. For services to Business and to the Community.

Commodore Phillip Poleware MBE

Ian Alan Tarutia OBE. For services to Business and to the Public and Private Sectors.

Continue reading "PNG King's Birthday Honours List" »


PNG’s Chinese emerge as influencers

PHILIP FITZPATRICK

The Chinese in PNG Cover

The Chinese in Papua New Guinea: Past, Present and Future, Edited by Anna Hayes, Rosita Henry and Michael Wood. Published 2024 by ANU Press, Australian National University, Canberra.  Free PDF can be downloaded here. Paperback version also available for $60 plus postage

TUMBY BAY - My first extended encounter with the Chinese in Papua New Guinea was in Mount Hagen in 1967.

There were several Chinese stores in the town, and a great restaurant. I think the Chinese community also had something to do with the picture theatre that was built around 1968-69.

Continue reading "PNG’s Chinese emerge as influencers" »


The impending, testy vote on B'ville

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

PORT MORESBY – On Monday, not for the first time, the contentious matter of Bougainville’s future was debated on the floor of Papua New Guinea’s parliament.

The most controversial issue of all is that the result of the 2019 referendum, in which 97.7% of Bougainvilleans voted for independence, was intended to be non-binding.

Continue reading "The impending, testy vote on B'ville" »


Put Enga first, Speaker Pomat tells MPs

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

UNDPEngans desperately try to dig for victims of the landslide (UNDP)

PORT MORESBY - I’ve never been a fan of Job Pomat (and for good reason), but what he said today in parliament is that what every national leader should say and do in times of disaster.

After the prime minister and opposition leader had belatedly spoken about the Enga landslide and offered condolences, Pomat, speaking in Pidgin, said something along the lines of the following:

Continue reading "Put Enga first, Speaker Pomat tells MPs" »


B'villeans sue miners over land damage

NEWS DESK
| Bougainville News

 

(Radio New Zealand)          Bougainvilleans want compensation for environmental damage caused by the Panguna mine (Radio New Zealand)

BUKA - A class action involving thousands of people is being brought against Rio Tinto and Bougainville Copper Ltd over the environmental and social destruction wrought by the Panguna mine in the autonomous region of Bougainville.

The action is headed by Martin Miriori, the brother of Bougainville’s first president, Joseph Kabui, and former secretary of the separatist Bougainville Interim Government during the civil war.

Continue reading "B'villeans sue miners over land damage" »


Shock Pangu Pati split. What happens now?

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

Allan Bird and James Marape (Radio New Zealand)
Likely challenger Allan Bird and troubled prime minister James Marape. Bird is the highly respected Governor of East Sepik Province (Radio New Zealand)

PORT MORESBY - Pangu Pati, the leading coalition partner in the current Papua New Guinea government, has split.

My test for a successful change in government in PNG is when there is a significant split within the biggest coalition party.

Continue reading "Shock Pangu Pati split. What happens now?" »


Cautious notes for social media activists

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

Law
Publicly criticising the judiciary is usually a bad idea.
(Bing image inspiration created by by AI)

PORT MORESBY – The recent arrest and refusal of bail for social activist and political commentator Samson Komati arrest is reminiscent of Bryan Kramer’s arrest before he became an MP. Bryan was an activist and a prolific social media commentator on politics and related matters.

Under two prime ministers, Papua New Guinea has become a place where social media activists are arrested and jailed.

Continue reading "Cautious notes for social media activists" »


Why the best MPs will never lead PNG

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

Rainbow
Rainbow Paita MP  -  one of the backroom operatives always in with a chance of running the country (Facebook)

PORT MORESBY - Rainbow Paita is the MP for Finschhafen Open and a senior minister in the Marape coalition government.

Paita’s name often floats around when attempts of a vote of no confidence occur aimed at securing the prime minister’s position.  Either he’s a candidate or a behind the scenes operative.

Continue reading "Why the best MPs will never lead PNG" »


PNG’s Chinese changing of the guard

JAMES CHIN
| An extract from Chapter 4 of The Chinese in Papua New Guinea: Past, Present and Future, edited by Anna Hayes, Rosita Henry & Michael Wood, Australian National University, 2024

Link here to the entirety of Chapter 4: The rise and rise of China: Contemporary Chinese community in PNG (2010–2020) by James Chin

Port Moresby cafe scene (Generated by Copilot AI  18 May 2024)
Port Moresby cafe scene (Generated by Copilot AI 18 May 2024)

 

Introduction

CANBERRA - In a period of one decade (2010–2020), the power balance among the Chinese community in Papua New Guinea has shifted significantly from the PNG born Chinese and the Southeast Asian Chinese to mainland Chinese.

The speed of this transition has been remarkable. However, the trend in PNG is consistent with global trends where the rapid rise of China has totally changed the environment that is familiar to the West.

Continue reading "PNG’s Chinese changing of the guard " »


No Mr Bird, PNG is not ‘printing money’

IAN LING-STUCKEY *
| Academia Nomad

PORT MORESBY - Once again, the opposition is trying to mislead the people of Papua New Guinea in recent statements that PNG is printing money to fund the budget deficit.

This is just wrong. The International Monetary Fund verifies this is wrong. It is a condition of the IMF program that PNG does not print money to finance the deficit.

Continue reading "No Mr Bird, PNG is not ‘printing money’" »


IMF & World Bank get it wrong for PNG

ALLAN BIRD*
| Academia Nomad

WEWAK - I disagree with the position of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in relation to the devaluation of the kina now underway.

The IMF believes that depreciating the kina will encourage exports and assist PNG production. In fact the opposite is true.

In the last 49 years, the PNG economy has not diversified much and therefore a significant depreciation is not going to automatically result in increased production and exports.

We had a significant depreciation 24 years ago which did not result in any significant benefits. It just led to more hardship for ordinary people.

This is because PNG has not invested in the productive capacity of the economy.  It is not possible to quickly increase production.

Only the extractive sector is able to do that, but almost all of these companies are operating at peak or declining capacity.

I just saw a 10kg bag of rice increase from K50 to K56, the second price increase this year.

Depreciation is already hurting ordinary people. While some low income earners are getting a tax break, the vast majority of people in the informal sector cannot access similar assistance.

The Marape government in chasing cheap loans and having resorted to printing money may have unknowingly placed a rope around the necks of ordinary citizens.

I believe a reasonable kina trading band of around 30 US cents and 40 Australian cents is what we should be aiming for.

We must restrain government borrowings and improve fiscal discipline. We must live within our means.

We must also redirect spending not just on economic enablers but also on the productive capacity of the various sectors.

We must also look at tax incentives to encourage private sector investment to help diversify our economy.

We must decentralise our government structure as a means of encouraging spread of private sector investments. The engine room for growth is in the provinces, not in Waigani.

We must have a smaller central government that oversees provinces and doesn't compete with them.

We need to expand private sector investment and support private sector to grow both the economy and jobs. It is not government that grows the economy, private sector does that.

Too much government control, coupled with corruption is killing our economy.

The Marape government has borrowed K32 billion over the last five years but has only proven that it is incapable of growing the economy. Economic growth has lagged behind this government borrowing.

I hope all current and future leaders learn something from this grave mistake and not repeat it in the future.

We have a situation in our country where the government thinks it should be running businesses - and it fails miserably. We should focus on governing and leave business to the private sector.

It's time for a reset. Marape has taken PNG backwards by 20 years. It's time to take PNG forward.

* Allan Bird is Governor of East Sepik Province in Papua New Guinea and is seen as a likely candidate for prime minister after the next national election


Needed: ASOPA people from back then

KEITH JACKSON

ASOPA students circa 1960
ASOPA students circa 1960 (National Archives of Australia)

SYDNEY - Alexandra Frost is a higher degree research student at the University of Sydney, investigating the student experience, education and training at the Australian School of Pacific Administration (ASOPA).

As part of her research, Alexandra is conducting a survey of people who attended, taught or worked at ASOPA during its 27-year lifetime from 1946 to 1973.

Continue reading "Needed: ASOPA people from back then" »


PNG must start living within its means

ALLAN BIRD
| Academia Nomad | Edited

Generated with AI ∙ 8 May 2024 at 3.58 PM
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.

Continue reading "PNG must start living within its means" »


Govt must act on forest clearing abuse

EDDIE TANAGO
| Campaign Manager, Act Now!

Act Now

PORT MORESBY – The community advocacy group, Act Now, has urged the Papua New Guinea government to stop the ongoing abuse of agricultural clearing permits being used as a cover for large-scale logging.

Forest Clearing Authorities are routinely misused to facilitate large-scale illegal and unsustainable logging.

Continue reading "Govt must act on forest clearing abuse" »


Will B'ville be a China-US battleground?

MICHAEL E MILLER
| Washington Post | Extract

Bougainville Fighters
Bougainvillean guerilla fighters of the 1990s civil war. Thirty years later the Toroama government faces challenges of equal enormity

ARAWA— On a warm morning in November, a barrel-chested and battle-scarred man arrived to Capitol Hill in Washington USA for a meeting he hoped would help save his struggling homeland.

Ishmael Toroama was introduced to two members of the US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party as the president of Bougainville. But his previous occupation was evident in the arm that hung limply at his left side as he shook the lawmakers’ hands.

Continue reading "Will B'ville be a China-US battleground?" »


Why Biden’s ‘cannibal’ story was misinformed

PATRICK KAIKU

Papua New Guinean boatmen transport Allied supplies in World War II (US Library of Congress)
Papua New Guinean boatmen transport Allied supplies in World War II (US Library of Congress)

WAIGANI - After a visit to the Veteran’s War Memorial in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on 17 April, president Joe Biden gave a speech to a crowd of supporters.

Attempting to personalise his family’s life story within the larger narrative of his country’s wartime sacrifices, he made passing reference to Ambrose Finnegan, his uncle who served in the Pacific theatre of World War II.

Continue reading "Why Biden’s ‘cannibal’ story was misinformed" »


Why Biden’s ‘cannibal’ story was misinformed

PATRICK KAIKU

Papua New Guinean boatmen transport Allied supplies in World War II (US Library of Congress)

WAIGANI - After a visit to the Veteran’s War Memorial in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on 17 April, president Joe Biden gave a speech to a crowd of supporters.

Attempting to personalise his family’s life story within the larger narrative of his country’s wartime sacrifices, he made passing reference to Ambrose Finnegan, his uncle who served in the Pacific theatre of World War II.

Continue reading "Why Biden’s ‘cannibal’ story was misinformed" »


PNG literature looks for a guiding star

VARIOUS AUTHORS

Writer 2

Image Creator-generated AI image using DALL·E 3

“The new national literature of PNG emerged from the [University of PNG’s] literature department beginning in the mid-1960s shortly after the institution was established. Leading up to formal independence from Australia in 1975, the curriculum of the literature department was deliberately developed with a decolonising agenda. The first cohort of creative writing students self-consciously penned what would be considered the first texts of the new nation. Yet, this pioneering endeavor was subject to outside impositions of ideas of cultural authenticity” - Marlo Starr in Ondobondo’s visual publics: Small print culture in PNG

Continue reading "PNG literature looks for a guiding star" »


Where Papuans stood as brothers

KENNETH MIAMBA
| Ples Singsing

Papuan infantry on parade  World War II (Australian War Memorial)
Papuan infantry on parade,  World War II (Australian War Memorial)


In New Guinea's wild, where jungles breathe,
A tale of courage, weaved beneath the trees.
Papuan sons, with hearts so bold,
Stood as brothers, in tales untold.

Through dense green canopy, they tread,
Their spirits forged, their fears misled.
With every step, they held the line,
Bound by valour, their destinies entwined.

Continue reading "Where Papuans stood as brothers" »


Malaysian logger fails to silence Act Now

MEDIA RELEASE
| Act Now

AML Risk Alert - Global Elite

PORT MORESBY - The Malaysian owned Giant Kingdom group of companies, which is logging Papua New Guinea’s besieged tropical forests, has failed in an unprecedented bid to silence public comment on the money laundering risks associated with its chequered activities.

At a time when international standard-setting bodies are calling on civil society to help combat the money laundering risks associated with illegal logging, the Giant Kingdom group has engaged in lawfare to stop civic voices in PNG from documenting these risks.

Continue reading "Malaysian logger fails to silence Act Now" »


Belden Namah calls for apology from Biden

MEDIA STATEMENT
| Thanks to Academia Nomad

Namah Marape (One Papua New Guinea)
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.

Continue reading "Belden Namah calls for apology from Biden" »


The edgy play that marks Anzac Day

KEITH JACKSON

Anzac_beach (naa)
Photograph from the National Archives of Australia

NOOSA - In 1958, Adelaide based writer Alan Seymour put the finishing touches on a major project, his play The One Day of the Year was at last finished.

The play was drawn from Seymour’s observations of the poor behaviour of Australia’s ex-servicemen on Anzac Day, which had been instituted in 2016 to mark the invasion of Turkey by Australian and New Zealand troops on 25 April 1915.

Continue reading "The edgy play that marks Anzac Day" »


Cannibals: US embassy won't apologise

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

Cannibals
Image from YouTube


PORT MORESBY - Following President Joe Biden’s claims that his uncle Bosie was eaten by cannibals in Papua New Guinea, the US embassy in the national capital issued a statement without an apology.

Thousands of people in PNG had taken to social media calling for an apology but it looks like there won’t be one - and here’s why.

Continue reading "Cannibals: US embassy won't apologise" »


Fr Casimir Niezgoda SVD dies aged 90

KEITH JACKSON

Fr Dariusz Kaluza and Bishop
Bishop Dariusz Kaluza MSF and Fr Casimir Niezgoda SVD

 

BUKA - Bishop Dariusz Kaluza MSF  (the Catholic Missionaries of the Holy Family), who is based in Bougainville, conveyed the sad news of the death of Fr Casimir Niezgoda SVD in Kundiawa Hospital on Sunday afternoon.

“On Good Shepherd Sunday, God called his good shepherd from Papua New Guinea to eternal rest,” Bishop Kaluza said.

Continue reading "Fr Casimir Niezgoda SVD dies aged 90" »


'Magical thinking' threatens humanity

CHRIS OVERLAND

Roman Empire 117 AD
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.

Continue reading "'Magical thinking' threatens humanity" »


Joe Biden's cannibal tale puzzles PNGns

REBECCA RATCLIFFE & BETHANIE HARRIMAN
| The Guardian | Extract

Aircraft

SYDNEY – President Joe Biden’s suggestion that his uncle may have been eaten by cannibals in Papua New Guinea during World War II has been met with a mixture of bemusement and criticism in the country.

Biden spoke about his uncle, Second Lieutenant Ambrose J Finnegan Jr, while campaigning in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, describing how ‘Uncle Bosie’ had flown single engine planes on reconnaissance flights during the war.

Continue reading "Joe Biden's cannibal tale puzzles PNGns" »


Joe Biden's cannibal tale puzzles PNGns

REBECCA RATCLIFFE & BETHANIE HARRIMAN
| The Guardian | Extract

Aircraft

SYDNEY – President Joe Biden’s suggestion that his uncle may have been eaten by cannibals in Papua New Guinea during World War II has been met with a mixture of bemusement and criticism in the country.

Biden spoke about his uncle, Second Lieutenant Ambrose J Finnegan Jr, while campaigning in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, describing how ‘Uncle Bosie’ had flown single engine planes on reconnaissance flights during the war.

Continue reading "Joe Biden's cannibal tale puzzles PNGns" »


Three aircraft give Samaritan a big leg up

NEWS DESK
| Samaritan Aviation Newsletter

Samaritan - Float planes at berth
Two of Samaritan Aviations' three float planes at their home berth on the Sepik River


WEWAK - Samaritan Aviation has grown from having just one pilot in Papua New Guinea back in 2010 to now having three pilots flying every day.

After we started flying we conducted 48 life flights that first year. With three working planes and three pilots we are breaking records by logging 342 flights.

Continue reading "Three aircraft give Samaritan a big leg up" »


Renewal of PNG Dictionary of Biography

THERESA MEKI *
| Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs

Revital

CANBERRA - A call for submissions to participate in the PNG Dictionary of Biography Project is now open.

The project is about documenting and celebrating the lives of Papua New Guinea’s nation builders and we are looking to identify a group of writers to collaborate and conduct historical research about significant and representative Papua New Guineans.

Continue reading "Renewal of PNG Dictionary of Biography" »


The racism that stalks Australian culture

ALLAN PATIENCE *
| Pearls & Irritations

Henry Parkes
Dr Allan Patience writes that Australia's racist tradition was originally articulated by white supremacist Henry Parkes (Sir Henry Parkes Archives)

MELBOURNE - In 1890 Henry Parkes [who was premier of the colony of New South Wales] spoke of “the crimson thread of kinship running through us all.”

He believed this ‘crimson thread’ – evocative of blood – united all white people in the Australian colonies and bound them to Britain.

Continue reading "The racism that stalks Australian culture" »


We need writers to keep our pollies honest

JOSEPH KETAN
| Academia Nomad

Joe Ketan (Linked In)Joe Ketan (Linked In)

PORT MORESBY - It is hard to keep track of politicians. We cannot hold them accountable for their actions if we do not know what they are doing – or not doing – with respect to their duties.

We have got to keep our politicians honest by keeping an eye on them at all times!

Continue reading "We need writers to keep our pollies honest" »