THE ULURU DIALOGUE

Australia is our country. We accept that the majority of non-Indigenous voting Australians have rejected recognition in the Australian Constitution. We do not for one moment accept that this country is not ours. Always was. Always will be. It is the legitimacy of the non-Indigenous occupation in this country that requires recognition, not the other way around. Our sovereignty has never been ceded - Uluru Statement from the Heart, Aboriginal Convention, Central Australia, May 2017

Statement of 22 October 2023

To the Prime Minister and every Member of the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Commonwealth Parliament. This is an open letter which will be circulated to the Australian public and media.

MICHAEL KABUNI
| Academia Nomad

WAIGANI - Numerous articles and commentaries on social and mass media are focusing their attention on the issue of would the Middle East be at peace if Israel vanished.

In this short analysis, I want to discuss three related issues that I believe form the core of present conflict in the Middle East: the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran; the religious rift among Muslims; and the shared animosity of Arab countries against Israel.

PHILIP FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - Making sense of the overwhelming No vote in last Saturday’s referendum on an Indigenous Voice is difficult because the water has been so terribly muddied.

On the face of it the failure of the referendum appears to have been caused by multiple factors. Among those factors three seem to stand out.

POLITICAL DISSENT & ACTIVE PROTEST

From ‘The Emergence of Secessionism’, a chapter in ‘Papua New Guinea - A Political History’ by James Griffin, Hank Nelson & Stewart Firth. With thanks to Martin Maden’s ‘Tok Piksa’

There was a lot of political strife and active protests against the Australian colonial administration in Rabaul in the 1960s and ‘70s which saw the formation and rise of the Mataungan Association and the popular movement for independence on Bougainville (Napidakoe Navitu), where there was a similar will of the people to secede.

PNG FORESTS ARE BEING LOGGED TO DEATH

Civic action group, Act Now, has launched a timber legality risk assessment for Papua New Guinea. The report finds that almost all logging occurring in PNG’s natural forest areas is illegal. The assessment is based on a comprehensive review of all the available literature, including official government inquiries, court cases, international organisations such as the Royal Institute of International Affairs and the International Tropical Timber Association and civil society groups.

AUSTRALIA’S BLOODY LEGACY NEVER ADDRESSED

Eminent Australian journalist Rick Morton has uncovered that focus groups conducted late last year revealed ‘a shocking hurdle’ blocking the path of the Yes vote in the national referendum to be concluded next week. Almost one-third of all focus group participants believed Australia’s Indigenous people had been treated fairly since the English first occupied their lands at the end of the 18th Century

ALEX MITCHELL

Noel Pearson Josh Apanui and a crowd of Yes supporters at Tweed Heads

TWEED HEADS - Joining the Yes campaign to offer greater inclusion for Australia’s Indigenous people campaign has been a revelation for me. I’ve met people of every background, united in wanting to give giving First Nations people a voice in federal parliament.

‘A UNIQUE OPPORTUNIT TO RIGHT INJUSTICE’

The head of the Pacific Islands Forum, Henry Puna, believes Australia’s credibility will be boosted globally if the Yes vote on 14 October wins referendum, which ends tomorrow week. Puna said he respected Australia’s right to make its own democratic decision, but he wanted to see a Yes vote.

PHILIP FITZPATRICK

TUMBY BAY - Retired Labor Party politician Barry Jones writing in The Saturday Paper recently pointed out that the Australian constitution is a “profoundly racist document”. He called it “an expression of White Australia” and “of settler history”.

JAPAN’S AINU PEOPLE FIGHT FOR RECOGNITION

Japan has long portrayed itself as culturally and ethnically homogenous, something that some have even argued is a key to its success as a nation. More than 98% of Japanese people are descendants of the Yamato people. But the minority Ainu people, with their own distinct history, languages and culture have been victims of colonialism, assimilation, and discrimination, and much of that identity has been lost.

THE BURIED TREASURES OF PNG ATTITUDE

NOOSA – Search engines have improved out of sight, but still trouble penetrating through that first couple of layers of the internet into the rich lode of information that lies beneath. This includes Recent Comments, our popular feedback column, which contains among its near 52,000 items some of the most important, amusing and curious nuggets to be found on the blog.

FREE BOOK BY TOP PNG POLITICAL ANALYSTS

A formidable trio of academics have collaborated to write a new book, ‘Troubles and Puzzles: The 2022 General Elections in Papua New Guinea’, which was published online just on Sunday. The ANU’s Terence Wood and UPNG’s Maholopa Laveil and Michael Kabuni are names that regular PNG Attitude readers will recognise for their astute commentaries on PNG politics.

NOTABLE CAREER AS SOLDIER & POLITICIAN

Kevin Byrne, who died in Cairns on Thursday, was born in Lae in 1949, the scion of a family that first set foot in Papua in 1906 when his grandfather was sent to Port Moresby as Chief Collector of Customs. Kevin received his primary education on Manus and then, like many expatriate children, travelled to Brisbane and Nudgee College for secondary schooling.

I received the sad news of Kevin’s passing from his mate, Mark Mathews, who remarked that Kevin, former chief executive of the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority and Cairns mayor, was “a great leader with vision and drive; I was privileged to work with him.” As for me, I only met Kevin – a keen reader of ours - in emails and blog comments. He was a straight talker, a thinker and a bloke who would get things done.

TAPINI PATROL No 9 1974-75

Village leaders line up to welcome a patrol. The headman salutes the kiap,
who is also a commissioned police officer

Robert Forster

On 4 December 1974 a routine administrative patrol left the Tapini Sub-District Office to update census records across the Pilitu area of Papua New Guinea’s mountainous Goilala region. Tapini Patrol No 9 1974-75 was to move through unusually difficult mountain country to contact 1,334 people who were extraordinarily isolated.

In pre-independence Papua New Guinea, bush patrols were fundamental to the Administration (colonial government). Thousands were conducted over the many decades before 1975 and many continued for several years after. Across PNG they were a constant expression of the presence of government.

THE WORD THAT DARE NOT SPEAK ITS NAME

There are some splendid essays and articles being generated in the debate on Australia’s impending referendum on providing our Indigenous population with the ability to make recommendations to parliament and government – a goal known as The Voice. But in all the fine words from senior politicians, business leaders, trade unionists and other members of the national elite, there’s a major omission.

These pillars of society are able to take a shot at propagandist-in-chief Peter Dutton and his ignorant supporters without much mentioning the underpinning cultural force which is going to smother even the Voice’s minimal contribution to the place of Indigenous people in Australian society.

AOTEAROA GOVERNMENT FACES LIKELY DEFEAT

The New Zealand Aotearoa national election will be held on 14 October and the Labour Party, minus its charismatic former leader Jacinda Ardern, is in big trouble. In recent polls it has fallen 10 points behind the conservative Nationals, 27%-37%.

With the Greens included, the progressive vote is only 39%. With two right wing parties added to the Nationals, the conservative vote is a daunting 53%. The Te Pāti Māori Party, with only 3% of the vote, is seen as a probable kingmaker. But with 56% of Aotearoans saying that New Zealand is “going in the wrong direction”, the future of Labour leader Chris Hipkins looks bleak.

WORRYING NEWS FOR AID ADVOCATES

Every year the Development Policy Centre commissions a survey question asking a representative sample of Australians whether they think their government gives too much aid, too little, or about the right amount. Terence Wood analysed the 2023 results and found that, after several years of growing support for aid, in 2023 support for aid fell.

Yet, as Terence also notes, “it still doesn’t mean most Australians want aid cut. In 2023, a clear majority of Australians still think their government gives too little aid or about the right amount – only just over a third thinks it gives too much.” Still, as Terence concludes, it is worrying news for aid advocates.

THE STORY OF AVIATOR ‘BATTLING’ RAY PARER

The undercarriage was ripped off Ray Parer's Airco DH9 during a forced landing at Moulmein,  Burma, in April 1920. The two pilots flew from England to Australia in this single-engine, open cockpit aircraft (Australian War Memorial,  p00281-012

Members of the iconic Parer family are seeking to induct the intrepid ‘Battling’ Ray Parer (1894-1967) and his flying partner John McIntosh (1892-1921) in the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame. When you read about their exploits in making the first England to Australia flight in a single-engined aircraft, you wonder why their names aren’t there already.

Shoulda been dead!  Keith and scar, behind which is the pacemaker device that allows two chambers of the heart to connect to each other electrically

A week ago I was pretty much packed and ready to go on a short holiday with Ingrid, who had been working too hard in her  voluntary positions as Vice-President and Secretary of the Tewantin-Noosa Country Women’s Association and in the demanding role of Secretary of the Noosa Chamber of Commerce. Ingrid had earned a break and naturally I always prefer to be with her wherever she may roam.

Last Wednesday morning, a week before flying to Barcelona, I awoke as stunned as a mullet after a final sleep segment of 4½ hours. This duration was so unusual I immediately reached for my blood pressure monitor which showed I was cruising along at 130/60 with a heart rate a comfortable 68 beats a minute. Nothing wrong there. That the ME/CFS was giving me a bit of stick was not unusual and my cognition was good. So, despite the underlying discomfort, I was feeling buoyant. Some mornings the ME leaves me literally bewildered and speechless.

However, as the day progressed, I did begin to feel quite ill. The ME was still a 3, which I designate as moderate but at a level where I need to scale back activity to avoid the dreaded ‘crash’.  In the early afternoon the sick feeling worsened. My heart was palpitating and I was rather dizzy. It was only mid-afternoon - when I began to puff hard walking up stairs that normally don’t test me - that I realised something was not just amiss but badly amiss.

A CHALLENGING THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Former Canberra Times editor Jack Waterford is getting on a bit in years (he’s 71) but remains one of the most acute commentators doing the rounds.

You can read his thoughts regularly on John Menadue’s Pearls & Irritations – the irritations being that P & I too often goes so far left it falls over the precipice of pretension. But not Jack, who is a prince of proportion. [Enough alliteration - Ed]

PNG OPPOSITION TAKES PNG-US DEAL TO COURT

Dr Bal Kama writes that the Opposition in PNG has just formally announced its intention to initiate a Supreme Court challenge to the constitutionality of the Defence Agreement signed recently between the US and PNG.

“PNG has robust precedent bilateral agreements,” Bal says, and he also raises four key issues that he had signalled earlier in an Academia Nomad article, ‘Issues around the proposed PNG-US defence agreement’.

THE FANTASTIC WORLD ACCORDING TO BIG PAT

'Big Pat' Levo - journalist, humourist, slayer of crocodiles....

If you’ve been missing your fix of entertaining Melanesian writing, let me direct you to Big Pat Levo’s ‘Adventures of Big Pat’ to be found here on Facebook. Big Pat has a keen eye for a story and a colourful turn of phrase in all of English, Tok Pisin and Pinglish. He seems to write with no regularity known to humankind, but his yarns are as timeless olsem man ilusim hanwas, so they can be enjoyed for the simple reason they continue to exist. Here’s a taste….

THE MYSTERIOUS WORKINGS OF THE PNG POSTAL SERVICE

In February 2008, PNG Attitude ran a short piece (link to it here) motivated by a book review by Greg Roberts in The Australian newspaper, ‘How PNG Gold Lost its Lustre’ . The book by Dave Henton told Andi Flower’s inside story of the Mount Kare saga. It exposed the consequences of applying Western remedies to Melanesian problems, the destructive activities of outsiders and the greed, graft and corruption engendered by these matters.

UNIMAGINABLE IS REAL WHEN HISTORY IS FORGOTTEN

Chris Overland

‘Maybe the US could even downsize its empire and undo the NATO damage. But perhaps that’s too much to hope for. Maybe NATO the vampire isn’t done drinking our blood and won’t be until the world goes up in nuclear flames’ - novelist and journalist Eve Ottenberg in ‘The World Would be Better Off Without NATO’, Counterpunch, 18 August 2023

Drs Peter and Lin Calvert in their younger years (Calvert family photo)

KIKORI'S DOCTOR BUBU MERI DIES AT 97

Dr Lin Calvert (popularly named bubu meri = grandmother) has died at her home at Kapuna in the remote swamps of Kikori District in Gulf Province. She was 97 and spent 67 years in PNG, where with her husband, the late Dr Peter Calvert who died in 1982, she established Kapuna Hospital. Dr Calvert’s work is continued by her daughter, Dr Valerie Archer.

BLAME US IF VOICE STUFFS UP, PEARSON TELLS POLLIES

Phil Fitzpatrick

Being responsible for what you do is one of the most liberating experiences in life (ask anyone who has just turned 18 and achieved adulthood). Noel Pearson made this compelling argument on Monday night while delivering the Meanjin Oration at Queensland University of Technology. He said the Voice was “claiming the right to take responsibility”.

Professor Emeritus Mary-Louise McLaws AM (Brendan Esposito, ABC)

MORE ON THE DEATH OF A GREAT WOMAN

Mary-Louise McLaws AM, 70, Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology at the University of NSW and Advisor to the World Health Organisation, tweeted on 15 January 2022: “After a severe headache Thursday, I was diagnosed with a brain tumour…. Now it is time with my family.” ML, as she was popularly known, died on Saturday last. 

PHIL TAKES 'BLACK GLOVE' RUMOUR-MONGERS TO TASK

“People love making stuff up on the internet,” Phil Fitzpatrick comments in PNG Attitude today, taking aim at galloping – and wrong – claims that Matildas star Mary Boio Fowler, 20, is an Indigenous Australian (she’s mixed race Papua New Guinean-Australian) and that “black is considered a symbol of power and protection in some Aboriginal communities. Her gloves have thus become more than a style statement; they’re a part of her cultural identity.”

FOOTBALL WORLD CUP: THE PNG CONNECTION

Avid reader and creative commenter Lindsay Bond emails me a clip from the Sydney Morning Herald. It’s about ‘o jogo bonito’ (‘the beautiful game’, a slogan coined by the late Brazilian footballer, Pelé). Lindsay has uncovered a belated but bountiful pride in the sport. “Maybe I'm the last to learn,” he writes. “I'm sending [this email] to my mob. Keep onside! Mary is from Mosbi (Kira Kira) PNG and Cairns (yeah, NQ).” Such luminescence from Lindsay is a real collector’s item.

OZ CRINGING TO USA POSES PROBLEMS FOR PNG

The Australian government blusters in denying it, but the recent cosying (or is it toadying) up to a pugnacious USA is making our relationship with major trading partner China much more difficult. That seems to be a price we’re willing to pay (that’ll be tested when the payment is exacted). Furthermore, our decision to take sides and yield some of our sovereignty to Uncle Sam will also necessarily escalate pressure to conform on PNG and the Pacific Islands.

NOT AT ALL WHAT WE’RE CRACKED UP TO BE

“White Australians like to think of themselves as an egalitarian and frank people, despising pretentiousness, while basking in a reputation for larrikinism and mateship. But this is all a front, papering over a culture that is deeply racist, excessively masculinist, and incorrigibly populist. Indeed, from its very beginnings, white Australia has been a morally backward society. And there are no signs that this is abating. Its moral backwardness is disgustingly on show in the No campaign against the forthcoming referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.” Link here to Dr Allan Patience’s challenging analysis of the Real Australian.

NOT SO HAPPY PACIFIC FAMILIES

Joanne Wallis nails it when she writes in The Conversation that “the contradiction between Australia describing the region as its ‘Pacific family’ (sic), yet making it difficult for Pacific peoples to visit, has generated frustration in the region.” Although the word ‘frustration’ seems a bit mild to me. ‘Generated bloody fury’ would be my take. Especially as most Pacific countries offer Australians tourist visas on arrival.

POETRY FOR THOSE WITH HEARTS FOR PNG

Joseph Tambure is an aviation engineer with MAF in Mt Hagen, and a poet whose work in PNG Attitude has won continuing praise. He has just joined Raymond Sigimet and Chips Mackellar in writing poems about the scaling down of the blog as it was. “Through you, many of us are realising our potential talents to be writers,” Joseph wrote. “May our written words and yours live on for generations, as is meant to be.”

TROUSERLESS IN OBO: ON BEING ‘BIG PAT’ LEVO

When working for Ok Tedi, before he became a senior journalist in Port Moresby, Big Pat and a workmate were deployed to Obo station on the Fly River to report on a new fish filleting factory. It was to be a short visit in a small single-engine aircraft but, after they reached Obo, the big rains came. “During the week we were there,” the great man writes in his occasional blog, Adventures of Big Pat, “the water level rose and half of Obo International was under water.” There was no way the plane could take off.

FROM DEPUTY SHERIFF TO BRANCH OFFICE CLERK

Writing in the blog Pearls and Irritations, Mike Scrafton, former senior Australian defence official, says the Albanese government’s most recent move to cuddle closer to the USA by allowing Australia’s intelligence function to be colonised by US ‘analysts’ (spies), further abandons its sovereignty. “Generally nations jealously guard sovereign control over the intelligence product,” Scrafton writes. But this control is being diluted in Australia.

BENDING THE RULES BECOMES A NATIONAL SPORT

The PNG police commissioner says the Pandemic Act gives him power to intervene in a range of issues affecting the country - including the current fuel shortage – and, in Academia Nomad, Michael Kabuni writes that this is extending the commissioner’s power way too far.

ENGA LOCKS DOWN THE NIGHT FOR 3 MONTHS

The Australian government’s Smart Traveller website reports that on Wednesday the Enga provincial government declared a three-month curfew for the entire province. The curfew will be enforced each night from 9pm to 6am. Domestic flights are also being cancelled due to fuel rationing.

A SHORT NOTE ON THE PURPOSE OF RECENT NOTES

Soon after I ceased publishing daily articles on the already economy-size PNG Attitude,  I realised (1) I should not bail on people commenting on the 17,000 plus pieces on the website, and (2) I could offer occasional items that readers, and I, found relevant to PNG/Australia in my reading. Recent Comments is not particularly labour-intensive and can serve a useful purpose.