Australia-Papua New Guinea Emerging Leaders Dialogue Dec 3rd 2014 Lowy Institute for International Policy 'Cocktail Reception Address.'

By Sean Dorney
(Former ABC Correspondent to Papua New Guinea and veteran Australian journalist) 

As these Emerging Leaders from Papua New Guinea and Australia know and as the rest of you may have heard I was made redundant by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in August. In this year’s Australian Budget, the Abbot Government cancelled the Foreign Affairs Department contract under which the ABC ran our international television service, Australia Network. About 80% of what I did as the ABC’s Pacific Correspondent went out exclusively on Australia Network and so the ABC apparently agreed that at the ripe old age of 63 I was not worth holding on to.

        However, thanks to what Reuben Mete told us yesterday about the advanced age of some people he’s seen involved, I have decided I am not going to end up on any retirement scrapheap here in Australia. No, Reuben, you’ve given me an inkling of where my future career lies. I’m going back to PNG to be a Youth Leader.

        My journalist brother here, Alexander Rheeney, the Editor of the PNG Post Courier has urged me to tell you about how I got deported from Papua New Guinea and what happened after. Well, briefly, the ABC and the PNG Government had a major disagreement over Four Corners running an interview with a Free West Papua bush commander I had helped Four Corners arrange. I was threatened with deportation if the interview went to air and when the story became a front page yarn in the Australian media about the ABC accepting censorship by a foreign Government, the ABC ran the interview and I got deported.

        I’ve also been deported from Fiji but I can tell you PNG does it a lot better. When the Prime Minister’s speech writer was doing up my deportation speech for the then Foreign Minister, RabbbieNamaliu, he rang me up to ask, “Sean, when do you want to go?”

That was in 1984. By 1987 PNG had lifted the ban on me and let me resume as the ABC Port Moresby Correspondent. Three years after, by now Prime Minister, RabbieNamaliu, awarded me an imperial honour, the MBE, for services to journalism and sport. I’ll get onto the reason for the sport later. But that’s PNG – the deport you and then six years later you get a gong from the Governor General. Fiji booted me out in 2009 and I’ve put it to Prime Minister Bainimarama that if he’s to beat PNG’s six year standing record he’ll have to let me back in and give me an award before the end of this month!

        Turning to more serious matters, I really welcome this initiative for young leaders from Papua New Guinea and Australia to get together like this. People to people links are what can resuscitate the PNG/Australia relationship. Years ago there were much stronger links. For instance, my father, who was a doctor in the Australian Army in World War Two, a Major with the Field Ambulance, won the DSO, the Distinguished Service Order, at Pabu near Finschhaffen in the Morobe Province, when his unit was cut off and surrounded by the Japanese for 11 days.

        And as a child at a Catholic primary school in Townsville many years ago we were constantly being told about the work of the Australian missionaries in PNG. Actually, in one of those bizarre degrees of separation instances, a nun who taught me at St Josephs on The Strand in Townsville, Sister Rose, later taught my wife, Pauline, at the Catholic Secondary School at Pipitilai near Lombrum on Manus.

        But a lot of those links have faded away and the ignorance about PNG in Australia these days I find appalling. One of the reasons is that the Australia/PNG relationship gets far too neglected at this end – especially by the Australian media.

        On the flight down here yesterday morning I read a copy of The Australian. Now, you don’t get too much coverage of PNG in the Australian print media these days. Australian Associated Press pulled their correspondent out of Port Moresby last year after having had a reporter based there for more than 40 years. But there was a story in yesterday’s Australian – not by AAP but by the French newsagency, AFP.

        It was headed: “Bandits ransack PNG airport”. And it was about how a gang had held people up at Nadzab and robbed them. AFP has nobody in PNG so their report was all quoting the only Australian correspondent left there, Liam Corcoran from the ABC. They did add a comment, however, of their own calling PNG “a poverty hit country”.

        I have a bit of trouble with this constant labelling of PNG as a country of “poverty”. I’ll admit it’s true in the squatter settlements of Port Moresby and Lae but out in the villages I much prefer the label that somebody come up with years ago, “subsistence affluence”. The people of PNG have fed themselves for thousands of years.

        However, I have to agree with some of the discussion we have had when on the subject of food security. There was a suggestion yesterday that perceptions are important and one of the problems is that some believe there is prestige about imported food while the healthy reality is that PNG home grown food is far better for them. My wife, Pauline, spent last Saturday re-fertilizing her aibika patch in our garden in Brisbane.

        The discussion here reminded me of my very first visit to Pauline’s village on Manus. We had been married only a matter of months and when Pauline’s mother and father had come down to Port Moresby for the wedding, I had withdrawn almost all the money I had in my bank account and paid Pauline’s father bride price in quite a large stack of 10 Kina notes. He took the money back to Manus and - to enhance my prestige - he distributed almost the lot to all those who had something to do with Pauline’s upbringing.

The people were so impressed we were invited to function after function in the village where Pauline and I would be seated at the top table and fed the prestige food – bully beef and rice. Those poor people out there in front of us, who seemed to be looking longingly at our plates, had to eat their everyday food – lobster, fresh fish and vegetables straight from their food gardens! I’ll tell you, I wanted to be down there!

        One aspect of this gathering I was pleased to see was the involvement of indigenous Australians. Some years ago, I was invited to Canberra to speak at a function at Parliament House. The theme of my talk was that we white Australians have a misconception about how we are seen in PNG and the rest of the Pacific. We think we are seen as the success story, the wealthy neighbour benignly helping out those less fortunate countries around us who are desperate to emulate us. I told that audience that many people up in PNG and out in the Pacific Islands don’t share that perception. Rather, they see us white Australians as very late comers to this part of the world. It’s almost as if we were a rascal gang from a faraway province who invaded the neighbourhood took over the biggest house, forced the long-time residents into a humpy in the back yard but who now we are attempting to lecture to everybody in the neighbourhood about proper behaviour.

        The other subject I was pleased to see raised on a few occasions was sport. Papua New Guineans love their sport and they are good at it. I think that if the Wallabies had played Will Genia at halfback in every game of their recent tour to Europe we might have won more than one out of the four tests we played against Wales, Ireland, France and England!

        Jessica Siriosi spoke about how delighted she was about how the Bougainvilleans had performed at the recent PNG Games. After that session I went up to Jessica and told her that when I first played for theKumuls in the year of independence, 1975, our captain was a Bougainvillean, Joe Buboi.

        I was hugely honoured when in the following year, 1976, I was elected by my teammates to be captain of the Kumuls. Our only game that year was against a country New South Wales side and my opposing half-back was a teenage Peter Sterling. We won the game and I scored a try. But it was memorable for two other reasons as well. This was all when Pauline’s parents were down from Manus for our wedding and Pauline’s father carried his tomahawk with him everywhere in his billum – even into the grandstands at the Lloyd Robson Oval. At one point when I was tacked rather ferociously by these NSW Country forwards, my brother-in-law, Pana, had to restrain Pauline’s dad from coming down onto the field with the tomahawk to attack them!

        Also in that game I learnt what harsh critics Papua New Guineans can be. I attempted a cut-out pass but, unfortunately, it cut out all of our players and was intercepted by the Country NSW winger who went and scored under the posts. A voice from the crowd called out, “He’s just trying to help his wantoks!”               

        Finally, I must also congratulate Papua New Guinea on something I had not realised before this gathering here at the Lowy Institute over the past two days – PNG’s brave attempt to try to abolish prostitution. You may be surprised to hear that because I was too! And I am not sure it is working all too well because of the lack of effective policing but it is the first time I have heard about that regulation that no woman in PNG is allowed to be undertake employment between 6pm and 6am!

I would like to thank the Lowy Institute for inviting me down here for this Emerging Leaders Dialogue. Rebuilding people to people relationships is the key to improving the whole Australia/Papua New Guinea relationship. It is a great initiative. I hope you people all keep in contact from here on because that will be the real strength of this venture. Deepening and widening the links between us. Perhaps even getting to the stage where we can become wantoks in both friendship and mutual respect.

2014 Participants of the Australia Papua New Guinea Young Emerging Leaders Dialogue. 

Watut River Communities welcomes NRI Review into Mine Benefits in Bulolo.

The Union of Watut River Communities Association Incorporated, a Community Based Organization that deals with Mining Impact, Environment and Community Development since 2009 based in Bulolo District of Morobe Province has welcome the report conducted by the National Research Institute to review and assess benefit-sharing arrangements of large-scale Mining Activities in Wau-Bulolo.

UoWRCA Inc President, Mr. Reuben Mete thanks Bulolo District Bulolo Joint District Planning and Budget Priorities Committee (JDP&BPC) under the chairmanship of the Member for Bulolo, Hon. Sam Basil for commissioning of such vital studies into the district  with the view to assess the benefits flow from the Hidden Valley Mine and its impact on the development within the mine impact communities and the broader Bulolo District specific in that the 2005 Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) which is undergoing review.

Mete said the study has put to light some assumptions the communities has in question the sustainable development model used by mining companies such as that of the Hidden Valley - a joint-venture company owned equally by Harmony Gold Mining Company of South Africa and Newcrest Mining Limited of Australia. Despite having benefits, especially mining royalties, from the Hidden Valley gold mining project flow to the National Government, Provincial Government, Local-Level governments and host land owners, communities living out of mine and out of sight who were not party to the MOA has seen minimum benefits compare to international standards and guidelines and has nothing to show for but only negative impacts of socio – economy and environment.

“We are now calling on the Member for Bulolo, Morobe Provincial Government and the Respective Government agencies such as the Department of Mining and Mineral Resources Authority to seriously look into the five (5) findings and recommendations put forward by the NRI report and find amicable ways to address it,” Mete said.

Mete also calls for an inclusion of the communities along Labu, Wampar, Lower Watut and Middle Watut to be included in the benefit sharing agreements in the current reviewed MOA. He said the Organization has made commitments to disseminate the copies of the studies to the communities living along Watut and Markham River so that they can have access, be informed and made informed decisions for the sake of our future generation. Mete said an Awareness Exercise and Community Empowerment Plan has already been put forward and will commence mid this month to end of next month. 

Isolated and Remote Watut village to build own Elementary School.

President of the Union of Watut River Communities Association Incorporated (UoWRCA Inc) Mr Reuben Mete says early child care and development is very important as it provides a foundation for a prosperous and sustainable society. Children aging from age zero to six must be given 

support and opportunity for child’s growth and development which include nutrition, hygiene, cognitive, social, physical and emotional development. 

Mete made the comment when officiating the ground breaking ceremony of Givekes Elementary School in Middle Watut, Morobe Province. The success of a child future depends largely on quality education and mentors. The Elementary School will now be build on volunteers and good will of the community which comes as a result of the Givekes village initiatives without government assistant. 

Elementary school o early child care is very important because it is a period when the brain is developing very fast, and is flexible. The child’s experiences in seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling all contributes to the early learning and setting of the belief system. Mr. Mete challenges the rural communities to start looking at their child with a different perspective. “We must realize that the child at the very early age is already a thinker and a decision maker and not just a passive observer”, Mete said. 

Givekes village is in Middle Watut of Bulolo District Morobe Province however, there has been no Education, Health and other basic government infrastructures and services found in the area. It is also a mine impacted communities given the multi million kina Hidden Valley project operated by Australia’s Newcrest Mining Limited and South African Harmony Gold Limited however the benefits receive from such has been zero to this date.

Watut Communities launched Roof Over Head Plan.

Mr. Titi presented with the roofing iron in
Kapin village, Middle Watut.

The simple subsistence farmers who live in thatched roof of kunai grass houses in Middle Watut may now put some smile on their faces after Union of Watut River Communities Association Incorporated (UoWRCA Inc) launched its Roof over Head Plan (RoHP) this year. The President of UoWRCA Inc and Community Development advocator Mr. Reuben Mete when presenting the iron roof, ridge cap and nails to Lazarus Titi of Sambus village in Middle Watut says for too long our rural people have been deprived of their rights of accessing basic government services and thus making life more complicated and difficult. 

Lazarus Titi was the first recipient of the RoHP which saw him receiving 16 eight foot roofing iron, 3 ridge cap, 2 packet roofing nail, 4 packet three inch nail, 3 packet four inch nail and 2 packet six inch nail. Mr. Titi when thanking Mr. Mete and UoWRCA Inc for the initiatives highlighted that traditional kunai roof which was a burden for his wife when it comes to roof maintenance every two years would be now a thing of the past. The other building materials such as timbers will be sourced from the forest as there are many trees and logs that are available for the local usage. 

Mr. Mete says UoWRCA Inc plans to put iron roof over 1,500 heads this year 2015 but need additional support of saw mills and chain saw from other relevant organization including government bodies. Mete said the initiatives to help assist families was to strengthen communities social structure as well as spiritual and ethical growth and transformation which should start from inside the house first and then to the communities and societies. The UoWRCA Inc has been initiated in 2009 and has since plays important key roles in driving change into Middle Watut of Morobe Province in Papua New Guinea. 

Importance of Sustainable Development – Australia & Papua New Guinea Relationship.

Sustainable Development can be best defined as “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” according to the World Commission on Environment and Development’s (Oxford University Press, 1987).

Sustainable Development is only used when human beings put dollars and cents before common sense. This is a developing countries phenomenon. (Mete, R, 2014.) Despite often being labeled as a “mountain of gold floating in a sea of oil” Papua New Guinea or Papua New Guineans, have yet to experience the benefits promised by mining and other extractive industries (MPI, 2012). With poor education standards, increasing infant mortality and declining services all contributing to a static Human Development Indicator, Papua New Guinea have a right to question the assumption that ‘ extractive industries brings development’.

Australian miners have staked Papua New Guinea, where the incredible prospectivity is enough to outweigh its challenging operating environment, as a brave new mineral frontier. But the ever challenging balancing act of operations versus landowner concerns threatens to turn the Pacific elephant country allure into an elephant graveyard for careless miners.  

Melbourne-based Newcrest Mining Ltd is the most prominent face of a new generation of Australian miners trying to tap opportunities in the Pacific. Pascoe A, in Australia’s Paydirt article published in September 2012 says while Australians have long dominated PNG’s mining sector, the nation has been revived as a hot frontier for Australian miner delving into elephant country as traditional minerals domains dry up.

Australian miners are no strangers to making mines work in highly challenging environment – notably in Sub-Saharan Africa in the past decade; where they have been credited with bringing along their high domestic standards in occupational health and safety to other countries. The Federal Government sponsored mining for Development initiatives to build on that reputation in the realm of community development. However, the evidence suggests the quality control exported by Australians in the Pacific is more problematic.

Perhaps this reflects the ignominious legacy of Australian miners in PNG – namely the Ok Tedi, Panguna and Watut River by Hidden Valley catastrophes, the former arguable among the worst mining environmental disaster ever, the other partly responsible for a war (Bougainville) which killed 16,000 people including women and children.

The historical implications isn’t a good start given companies are working with a state and bureaucracy rife corruption, which appear to have intensify with the development of the US15.7 billion PNG LNG project in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Operated by ExxonMobil-subsidiary Esso Highlands Ltd, the LNG  projects has ignited renewed interest in the nation’s resources sector and the two governments fighting for leadership rights prior to the recent election have both sought to capitalize on that.

In Papua New Guinea, this means, for example, amending the Environmental Act to allow Ramu Nico to deposit tailings into the ocean. And while miners may see the lax regulatory environment as a necessary trade-off given the steeper risk gradient they undertake by trying to build projects in Papua New Guinea, the down side may outweigh the benefits.

The concerns of landowners have tended to be the bigger casualties of the recent new push for investment as a weak regulatory environment makes the corporate social responsibility requirement set by the government more opaque. However, as Rio Tinto Ltd found out in Bougainville – and as the new generation of miners are beginning to discover; Papua New Guinea is not a country where miners and developers can afford to pay lip services to landowner’s discontent regardless of the level of engagement required by government. 

It is time now that the young people in both Papua New Guinea and Australia look for opportunities that are being available such as Dialogues and Conferences to empower youth’s participation and sharing information through the Information Communication Technologies platform that are available and use them to get their voices to be heard. In addition, young people should rediscover themselves as young men and women – future leaders for tomorrow, reclaim that the source of action and responsibilities lies within our self. The next step is to think globally and to think humanity as a single moral community linked by mutual responsibility. The youth population of today should be encouraged to participate more actively on this journey. The young generation should act responsibly now, because older we are, the deeper our roots are in the past and less able we are to see ways in which the future is developing.

Flaws in environment and mining laws with duplicate responsibilities of government regulators, absent of impact assessments and baseline data can be identified as the barrier to Sustainable Development. According to Australia’s Paydirt (2012) article, Newcrest PNG Manager Peter Aitsi argues that landowner discontent reflects a lack of manpower in the government departments charged with overseeing regulation of the resources sector. “The kind of support the agencies responsible for the sector are given is very poor,” Aitsi told Paydirt in Port Moresby. “So as a result, some of the frustrations we’re seeing from our communities are intensifying because of the lack of confidence within the process, and that can only be restored if we have functioning, better resourced government representation.” But Dr Gavin Mudd, a Melbourne-based environmental engineer specializing in mining who regularly visits Papua New Guinea said while the track record of Australian miners in PNG was partly an indictment on government, that didn’t make it a get-out-of-jail-free card. “Miners can’t just complain that government isn’t pulling its weight,” Dr. Mudd said. “At the end of the day they’re in control.” (MPI, 2012).

Another bi cause of landowner agitation is the lack of transparency and communication by developers with affected communities. Many land owners in Papua New Guinea are being “starved of information” and  the developers are not paying enough attention to the risk that presented. Most developers easily underestimated the concerns and impacts of landowners. This is a basic risk management, and you cannot break that sort of perception by being secretive – you’ve got to be open.

Papua New Guinea should by now develop own policies and regulations to guide Sustainable Development. This is the call every Papua New Guinea landowners should raised with their political leaders to hold them responsible enough to promote Sustainable Development.

Given the reality that Papua New Guinea have a total of eight mines, by which three of these are purely gold mines, three gold and silver mines, one copper and gold and one nickel and copper. These make the country one of the world’s resource rich nations, and pumps about three quarters of revenue into the country’s economy. However, the management of mine tailings disposal is said to have been overlooked over the years by government, developers and stakeholders causing a national threat on the health of future generations, particularly on our mass rural population.

According to the Constitutional and Law Reform Commission of Papua New Guinea, It is strongly recommended that the government should seriously look at the environment, health and social impacts of all extractive industries rather than concentrating more on the revenue generation.

There should also be call to Australian Government to impose stricter standards on miner’s overseas practice and the government silence implied consent for repugnant behavior. The Australian government does not seem to mind if the actions of Australian miners lead to the destruction of lives and livelihoods of Papua New Guinean. Papua New Guinea and the Pacific are ripe with opportunities for miners and in so, Papua New Guinea Government needs to ensure it’s ready for it. This means that people who come in and do the right thing by the communities they operate in, and do the right thing by the Government that gives them the license to do so.

Papua New Guinea is a very prospective country. But it’s not just a matter of how many tonnes of metal you’ve got in the ground; it’s actually how you spread the value from that, making sure you generate more benefits than you do impacts. 

Access to pornography via internet a major concern.

The availability and accessibility of illicit material ranging from pornography to demonology and Satanism over the internet is become a major concern, authorities were told in a regional meeting.

The National reported that a regional meet was hosted by the Censorship Office and Constitutional Law Reform Commission (CLRC) on the review of the 1989 Censorship Act in Lae and a major issue raised was the access of pornography via the internet.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church National Youth Director, Reuben Mete, questioned the regulation of uploading and sharing of pornographic and illicit videos on social media networks which he described as dangerous.

NICTA legal services manager, Ivan Milleng, responded that a cyber-crime policy would address these issues. He said sites that share pornography and illicit material would be blocked when the government endorses the policy.


The meeting which attended by the Minister for Community Development, Chief Censor, CLRC Secretary, officials from NICTA and PNG Customs, was a review of the Censorship Act to include electronic media.

PNG's youth speak out.

Source: http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/profile.aspx?id=Jenny%20Hayward-Jones

The Lowy Institute's Melanesia Program convened its second PNG New Voices conference in Port Moresby yesterday. 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.

A PNG New Voices panel session on sustainable development (Andrew Gavin/Kate Uvia) 

Papua New Guinea'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.

The question of support for West Papua was a controversial one. Many Papua New Guineans have sympathies with the independence movement in West Papua but contributors argued the government puts its relationship with Indonesia ahead of popular interest in supporting fellow Melanesians and ahead of lining up with fellow Melanesian Spearhead Group members.

We collaborated with Tanim Graun, a PNG version of the ABC's Q&A program, which looked at the future of the informal economy. Participants quickly renamed the informal economy as the 'people's economy' given that the vast majority of Papua New Guineans are engaged in informal economic activity rather than employed in the formal sector.

Despite the continuing resources boom and forecast economic growth of 21% in 2015, participants acknowledged there would never be enough jobs in PNG's formal economy to support the population. The first shipment of LNG from PNG in the past week has made international headlines but after the construction phase, LNG projects will not deliver the number of jobs required to meet the high expectations of Papua New Guineans.

Increasingly, salaries in the formal sector are insufficient to support the rising cost of living in urban areas in Papua New Guinea, particularly in Port Moresby. Participation in the informal economy, including in activities like selling betel nut (which is now officially banned in Port Moresby) is needed to subsidise the formal economy for many families. Speakers remarked that the systems around transporting and selling betel nut worked better than those for most other goods in PNG. 

The private sector voice was articulate and impassioned at the conference. From more than one contributor we heard that the private sector is bearing the brunt of the apparent decline in educational standards in recent years. Significant investment is required in developing personnel, including those who have graduated from tertiary institutions, in order for them to be fully productive. Some businesses are compelled to buy-in talent or skills from overseas, which has the knock-on effect of putting up their prices. This has impacts in the wider business community.

Suggested solutions included short-term work placements in Australia that could be funded by the Australian aid program in the case of small and medium enterprises (SME); degrees undertaken in Australia could include a year-long work placement to expose PNG students to Australian standards and practices; and private sector peak bodies such as the PNG Chamber of Commerce to be consulted as part of the process of awarding scholarships to identify skills most needed in the labour market.

A strong sense of national identity is often hard to find in Papua New Guinea, where clan, cultural and linguistic identities typically are more important than association with the nation. One speaker, ardent about building national identity, reflected on the factors that made Papua New Guinea unique. PNG is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse nations on earth, with approximately 850 spoken languages. 'Wantoks' (people from the same area or speaking the same language) and large extended family and clan connections are central to society and also provide a social security system where no formal one existed. While these connections were special for PNG, building a national identity would not be possible without higher education standards which allow for better discussions about identity and development.

Reflections on the looming referendum on the future of Bougainville and some unresolved issues from the conflict prompted discussion about the need to prepare for Bougainville's independence, as well as the national identity questions for PNG that would follow what is now an unthinkable prospect for PNG authorities.

Much is expected of PNG's young people. Yesterday's discussion proved that the country's future leaders are already thinking about how to change the country.

Image courtesy of Andrew Gavin.

Social/Community Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

PNG NEW VOICES CONFERENCE

Port Moresby, 29^th May 2014

National Research Institute Conference Room

Plenary Session:  Responsible sustainable development.

Speaking Topic: Social/Community Entrepreneurship and Innovation 

A Talk by Reuben Mete

PNG Consulate-General HE Sumasy Singing;

Retired General Jerry Singirok;

Organizers of the event – Lowy Institute and National Research Institute;

Dignitaries;

Moderator Mr. Paul Barker, Executive Director of Institute of National Affairs in Papua New Guinea; and

My fellow Leaders of Papua New Guinea.

I am thankful for the opportunity to speak at this conference today. This morning I do not wish to be dramatic, but would like to gently draw our attention to an issue that I believe really matters most to our heart–innovation in sustainable communities on a more rural perspective.

Responsible sustainable development is a developing country’s phenomenon and can take us a whole year discussing it. I do not wish to raise my voice in the issue of sustainable developments now and again, all I want is to create PNG, a nation where ‘responsible’ and ‘sustainability’ doesn’t need people to talk about.  The whole reason why we have to discuss this now is I believe human beings are now putting dollars and cents before common sense. Mining industry have been working on sustainable development policies but still have a lot to improve on. The onus, however should not be on investors but on Papua New Guinea to develop own policies and regulations to guide sustainable development.

It is not my intention to justify the level of expectations our rural communities have on sustainable development as many have lag behind basic developments.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the village where I came from we usually walk eight hours even to date to access basic services such as health, education and manufactured goods.

Background

We recently saw the launching of the first shipment of liquefied natural gas of the PNG LNG project.   The Elk/Antelope Gulf LNG and Stanley Gas projects are also coming up. We got Solwara 1 deep sea mining project being the latest to join the mining industry. All of these new projects as well as the existing ones are anticipated to propel our economy.

PNG has a population estimated to be a little over 7 million. Despite significant resource wealth from minerals, oil and gas, forestry and fishing, the vast majority of our population still lives a precarious subsistence farming existence with little or no access to the provisions of a modern state such as education, healthcare, sanitation or infrastructure such as roads.

The feeling is that if they are giving the miner the gold from their land, they are expected gold in return – gold in the form of hospitals, schools, compensation for their customary land.

In his speech to the 30th Australia Papua New Guinea Business Forum and Trade Expo,  Cairns Australia, Sam Koim, Chairman of the Task Force Sweep says and I quote - “I have however noted that globalization has not only marked a new phase in the development of capitalism in our country, it has accelerated the pace of social change. It has infested the desire of individuals and groups to amass wealth. What globalization has not done, among the developing nations such as ours, is the attitude - the desire for capacity building, entrepreneurship, enterprise, productivity, critical knowledge-leadership qualities, hard work, competitiveness, introspection with regard to developing indigenous knowledge and technology. It has robbed the developing nations the traditional culture of independence in productivity, communal efforts at development, crafts and guild production, disorganized the traditional agricultural and production systems that hitherto ensured food on the table of every Papua New Guinean and has rather diverted attention of the people to importation of finished goods, service industry and established the culture of consumerism, dependence and luxury.”

Social Enterprise

Watut River Development Limited (WRD) is a not for profit 100% locally owned social enterprise aiming to add value to the lives of every Papua New Guinean by providing high quality water supply and sanitation at an affordable cost. Given the reality that 4.2 million people in Papua New Guinea do not have access to clean water supply system; WRD has identified the only 30% of the entire 7 million population has access to clean water system and sanitation.

Building infrastructure is a major issue for the Papua New Guinea Government as it takes responsibility for the cost of building and maintaining infrastructure in difficult terrain which is high.  The government and the Papua New Guineans believe that if entire infrastructure plans were implemented it would be unaffordable.  Although foreign investments and donor funding was highly sort after, there was some capacity within Papua New Guinea to provide affordable Water Supply and Sanitation and this is where WRD comes in to play.

We believe that rural and remote communities needed to see more of the benefits of national economic growth, and resource sector-driven growth and we believe we can achieve this by providing quality Water Supply and Sanitation to every Papua New Guinean in a little way we can. Big problem have big solutions too. If I don’t give back to my communities, I wonder who will be able to give back to his or her communities. We need you, you can join us and that is why I come here for.

We are now working on to upscale our programs to service the entire Papua New Guinea population through our Lutheran Youth Network. Which has well over 500,000 youth membership untapped and that is the big advantages we now have to enhance our program going rural. We do not believe in getting donor funding assistance but we believe in providing opportunities and powering local Changemaker to bring change back to their communities. Local problems have local solutions and thus needs people within to drive that change that they themselves wanted to see.

Information Communication Technology (ICT)

My participation in this information pool through ICT has had a lot of benefits to me as a person and also to others through the organization. I believe with ICT, we cannot find remoteness/ rural and isolation as Technology help us build a better World.

The media landscape is now changing rapidly with the arrival of social media. It also presented an opportunity for everyone to get their message to public sphere. I have to thank Digicel for its monopoly service in this rural communities include mine where we usually walk to hours uphill to access its crystal clear coverage’s and have access to ICT.

Conclusion

As I come to a close of my talk, I hope you’d appreciate some contributions our new generations have been doing. In so doing, I have drawn only the social or community entrepreneurship and innovations from my past experiences to share some lights to your thought that Papua New Guineans have potentials to help reaching the unreached and touching the untouched. We should now give the people access to learn for living, than they can make change in their communities themselves. I am glad to say here that the process to do so has already begun.

Thank you for listening.

God Bless you all.

  

Biography

Reuben Mete is the Director of the Youth Desk of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea. He is also the President and CEO of the Union of Watut River Communities Association Inc and Managing Director of Watut River Development Limited, a social enterprise that works in partnership with Morobe Mining Joint Venture to provide clean water and sanitation supplies to rural communities.

Reuben was previously a Spark* Changemaker and President of the PNG University of Technology Morobe Students and Staff Association. Reuben strongly believes that Papua New Guinea needs to invest developing sustainable rural communities where every individual has access to basic health and education services and a reasonable income.

All views expressed on this paper are the opinions of the individual   author and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion or position of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea. 

A Young Person’s Perspective.

Changes and Challenges that are happening in Papua New Guinea.

  

Growing Economy.

Papua New Guinea face challenges in managing the decline of a long resources boom and asserting our place in an increasingly global economy. Raw mineral resources and agriculture dominate in the export profiles of Papua New Guinea which makes it relies heavily on imports of manufactured goods and pharmaceuticals. Papua New Guinea faces greater test in balancing the economies. Channeling revenue from mining into other national priorities is proving difficult.

Regulatory inconsistency and social reluctance were identified as key barriers. China’s economic influence in Papua New Guinea was growing. The PNG government was pursuing deeper economic ties with China. The PGK6 billion loan facility that the government negotiated with China was meant to provide a funding source for major infrastructure projects. But it is not clear whether PNG would be able to access the full extent of this loan.

Public attitudes in Papua New Guinea toward China and Chinese business were changing. There was still evidence of some local hostility towards Chinese business. But the behavior of Chinese companies in Papua New Guinea was improving. They were learning how to work with local communities and doing it better than in the past. For Papua New Guineans, dealing with Chinese companies was not so different from dealing with Western, European or other foreign companies. A number of SMEs were now choosing to source supplies from China rather than anywhere else in the world. Western and European goods were less competitive and there were signs of a wider shift in sourcing. Chinese companies had established good links with rural trade store owners. There was a risk, however, that all local retail and service deliverers would eventually be owned by Asian companies, crowding out Papua New Guinean small business owners.

While there have been suspicions and concern about Asian investment in PNG, particularly in logging, this is likely to dissipate over time. Asian companies have begun to outperform Western and European companies on issues like environmental compliance and social responsibility. They are also quick to respond to community concerns, admitting wrong-doing and compensating before problem grow, whereas Western and European companies were perceived to be slower in responding to problems or taking responsibility for environmental damage.

In Australia, the Lowy Institute’s annual public opinion polling showed persistently negative perceptions of China. Australians were nervous about levels of China investment and perceived China as a military threat.

Resource industry and rural development

Most rural development initiatives in Papua New Guinea were based around mining projects, palm oil and logging. Most of these projects were foreign owned. This meant that Papua New Guineans were largely not participating in the development of the nation.

Papua New Guinea had for the most part developed good relationships with mining companies. But regulation of the resource sector as not strong. Many mining companies including Australian companies did not apply the standard of their home countries to their operations in Papua New Guinea.

A major difficult for rural people in Papua New Guinea was the lack of policy safeguards for vulnerable communities against natural and human-inspired disasters. Compensation and handouts from foreign companies were making people lazy. Where there was no ownership, there was no sustainability.

Encouraging greater participation from the young people in growing the economy and attracting investment will be critical. In that regard, increasing access to lending services was seen as important. Papua New Guinea banking system could not meet the lending needs of the population. Much informal lending and borrowing takes place outside the banking system. Making better use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) service to improve lending services will be important if more rural are engage with the economy.

Approximately, 85 per cent of Papua New Guinea’s population lives in rural areas but government service delivery to rural communities was poor.

Agriculture

Agriculture was a sleeping giant for Papua New Guinea. Developing the agriculture sector should be a national priority.

Papua New Guinea customary land ownership system provides a significant safety net against external shocks through guaranteeing access to food sources. But it also proved to be an obstacle for landowners seeking loans to establish business, as customary-owned land in Papua New Guinea could not be used as an assert in the formal financial system. Papua New Guinea farmers could currently earn a reliable living wages from agriculture. If Papua New Guineans could be confident of earning a living wage in agriculture, they could reduce their reliance on the customary land ownership safety net. 

 Sustainable development

Papua New Guinea represented nations within a nation, a land of over thousand cultures and languages. Papua New Guinea did not have viable sustainable development policy. The government’s Vision 2050 plan could be described as a ‘happy document’ which did not contain a sustainable development policy or provide any clear road-map for Papua New Guinea policy planners.

The mining industry was working on sustainable development policies but had a long way to go. The onus, however, should not be on investors but on Papua New Guinea to develop its own policies and regulations to guide sustainable development.

Investment

Negative and often incorrect international perceptions about Papua New Guinea put constraints on encouraging foreign investment. Such perception were skewed by statistics and unfortunate news stories and are unlikely to shift until pioneering companies invested and changed them. ExxonMobil’s decision to invest in LNG, for example, changed international perceptions about Papua New Guinea and encouraged other companies to invest.

Business could make better efforts to publicize their success in Papua New Guinea. The sovereign wealth fund was as important as ExxonMobil’s LNG project in informing investor views of Papua New Guinea.

Politics

There was increased apathy amongst youths towards politicians but not political issues. The disengagement of youths is essentially an indication that young people feel political parties are not listening to them. Politics tends to be dominated by rich white men who claim Melanesian ‘big man’ status and this create a degree of disengagement.

The quality of democracy has been declining in Papua New Guinea. The parliament opposition was small – numbering only five members of parliament; and unable to hold the government to account. It could not lead to kind of debate on legislation that was required and this risked abuse of process as the government did not face much scrutiny. Government members of parliament tend to become project managers of district funding programs rather than legislators because this offers more direct engagement with their communities and opportunities to prove they can deliver. Citizens have forgotten about the supporting pillars of democracy which now operate on the periphery and instead focus on politicians’ activities. For example, during the August 2011-2012 political dispute between Prime Minister O’Neill and former Prime Minister Somare, the public debate focused on the personalities of the two leaders rather than the legal and constitutional questions that were at the heart of the dispute.

Politicians sought to disparage the role of the media and anti-corruption bodies in Papua New Guinea, which undermined their role in supporting a vibrant democracy. This was a particularly problem because the role of media and civil society in holding the government to account was even more critical now while the parliament Opposition was weak. Targeting individuals was unlikely to succeed in fostering a better quality of democracy but reforming the ‘macro-democratic’ environment held more promise.

In Papua New Guinea, voters were more concern about the direct benefits on offer from individual politicians. This makes politicians focused more on what they could deliver directly to communities rather than explaining policies to voters.

While people in urban areas in Papua New Guinea had contact with government, it was important to remember that most people in rural areas had no exposure to government. Their experience of government tended only to coincide with general elections, held every five years. Politicians were elected from the sphere of the village, which was consistent with most Papua New Guineans’ experience of living only within a village, rather than a national context. But voters found it difficult to hold their representatives to account when they went to Port Moresby because the national sphere was so big and complex. Individual Members of Parliament simply took power away from the village.

While increased connectivity, mobile phones and social media could go some way to improving knowledge about the activities of Members of Parliament, it was no replacement for their spending more time in districts they represented.

Media

The media landscape in Papua New Guinea was changing rapidly with the arrival of social media. The ability of Papua New Guineas to access Facebook on their mobile phones had transformed national conversations. Mobile phone network provider Digicel had recognized this and was launching its own news website. But as internet penetration is still low, traditional media continued to be important.

The fast-changing political landscape offered an opportunity for social media and for traditional media in Papua New Guinea. Media was no longer a resource-intensive industry. The fact that big institutions no longer controlled the public message was a big change. The proliferation of mobile phones and growth of 3G allowed more people to interact with each other. People living in rural or remote areas now had an opportunity to guide what the media does. Social media presented an opportunity for everyone to get their message into the public sphere.

Outsiders’ perception of Papua New Guinea.

Outsiders or foreigners perception of Papua New Guinea were very narrowly based. Media reporting on Papua New Guinea focused on mining, corruption and a limited number of other issues like crime and sorcery. It was very difficult for journalist to sell a Melanesia story. Even serious investigative programs like the ABC’s Four Corners struggled to promote Papua New Guinea stories.

Promoting Papua New Guinea literature, arts and sports was one way to capture attention. Using creative media like film and television to portray Papua New Guinea characters could also assist.

Infrastructure Challenges

Building essential infrastructure was a major issue for Papua New Guinea. The lack of national infrastructure affected investment, government services and community development. Roads, bridge, wharves, jetties, government building and utilities infrastructure were all essential to ensure services were delivered. Responsibility for infrastructure was divided in Papua New Guinea.  The national government managed high-cost national roads like the highlands highway. Provincial roads were mostly funded and maintained by the provincial governments.

The cost of building and maintaining infrastructure in Papua New Guinea’s difficult terrain was high. Responsibility for transport sector was split across a number of agencies, which did not coordinate to deliver infrastructure services. A number of provinces were only accessible only by air and rural airstrips required heavy maintenance. There were no clear government guidelines for infrastructure spending, which unfortunately enhanced the opportunities for politicians to engage in pork-barreling. The procurement process was complicated. The government requirement to obtain three quotes for contracted work was unrealistic in remote areas. While foreign aid played an invaluable role in supporting infrastructure building, the nature of aid program requirements meant that technical staffs were often pulled away from important work to write reports for donors.

If all the infrastructure plans on the government’s agenda were implemented it would be unaffordable. There was a need for more advanced thinking on developing infrastructure in Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is an island nation that relies on sea lanes for trade in goods. Inefficiencies and higher cost in shipping meant shipping companies pass on cost to consumers.

Agreements between mining companies, government and communities in Papua New Guinea usually refer to infrastructure and developments. Memorandum of Agreements could be structured to ensure mining companies take direct responsibility for maintaining local infrastructure rather than channeling funding through the government. This would help to ensure better maintenance of infrastructure as mining companies have vested interests in this; governments do not.

Although foreign investment in infrastructure was highly sought after, there was some capacity within Papua New Guinea to fund national infrastructure. Papua New Guinea two major superannuation funds, NASFUND and Nambawan Super were large, highly concentrated pools of wealth. There was a strong drive in financial circles in Papua New Guinea to make infrastructural and socially responsible investments in Papua New Guinea, which represented a paradigm shift for investors, who had previously focused on safer investments abroad. A big issue for funds going forward was liquidity.

Climate and infrastructure

Decisions on building infrastructure have traditionally been based on the assumption that future climate will be the same as past climate. Much of the Department of Work’s infrastructure was spent on emergency repair, rather than maintenance or adaptation work that took account of the climate.

Papua New Guinea lagged behind other national best practice in managing climate risk to infrastructure. The United Kingdom and New Zealand, for example, were further ahead in managing climate risk to infrastructure and populations, and Papua New Guinea could learn from them. Papua New Guinea has acknowledged the need to adapt to climate change but has not resourced government agencies appropriately.

Data Collection and infrastructure

Problems with data collection presented particular problems in Papua New Guinea. It was impossible to design appropriate and resilient infrastructure without relevant data. In the health sector, there are variances with data collection by national and provincial governments, hampering effective planning. Foreign investors have withdrawn from potential major infrastructure investment in Papua New Guinea because of the lack of reliable data.

Health and education innovations

Poor data on Papua New Guinea’s demographics was a major constraint on developing effective education and health policies. There were very serious gaps in delivery of health and education services in rural Papua New Guinea. Capacity building for local people to provide services in rural areas was important. A large number of rural education and health services have been closed because teachers and health workers not from the local area were quick to live when infrastructure failure or law and order problems arose. Ownership at a local level also brought more effective oversight.

Education

Papua New Guinea government’s has made a decision to provide free primary education. Although the decision was good in theory, it had created further problems for a sector already under enormous strain. Many schools in rural areas lacked the resources they needed and the government was failing to supply them. Demand for education rose when the government abolished fees and class sizes grew. Students to teacher ratios were far too high. There were not enough teachers and retaining teachers in remote areas was problematic. The teaching of English was inadequate, resulting in students being poorly equipped for further education or employment. The number of spaces at universities and colleges was also low for a country of Papua New Guinea’s size.

The provision of free education made it more difficult to develop community engagement and ownership, which was an important element of oversight. An opportunity cost of more children going to school in rural areas was a decline in household agricultural income as children were no longer at home to help their parents with agricultural work.  This was a difficult trade-off.

While the Papua New Guinea government lacked capacity at a national level to deliver services, it supported the functions of provincial and local governments. Improvements in service delivery had been achieved through reforms to inter-government financing. Churches were very effective deliverers of education and health services and were supported financially by the government to continue their work. Mining companies assumed responsibility for delivering education and health services in districts where they operated and they coordinated with government in this task. The mining industry also provided scholarships.

Improving internet services would be a boon to the education sector in Papua New Guinea as access to international sources would enable teachers to keep up with international education standards.

Greater accountability was required to ensure government monies were being spent in the way the government claimed. An online mechanism called ‘rate my school’ being used in the Philippines, where parents and students volunteered to carry out audits of schools to published online, was raised as potentially useful for adaptation in Papua New Guinea.

Beyond formal schooling, the use of creative media was an important tool in promoting understanding and educating people. In Australia there are regulations about levels of Australian content in broadcasting, which encouraged producers to reflect Australian identity. Making local content could create heroes and inspirational targets and assist with national-building.

Health

There were also insufficient health workers in Papua New Guinea. There is one medical school in Papua New Guinea, which takes only 40 students a year. More nursing colleges were required.

Non-government organizations and community based organizations also played an important role in supporting health services. Many of the Non-Government Organizations receives funding from respective government departments and donors. But despite their success and widespread demand for their services, their capacity is also strained. Many rural individuals who have volunteered to help their community wanted formal employment and the organization has limited funds, a situation to many community-based organizations.

The application of health models that work in developing countries to the Papua New Guinea context was not straight forward and sometimes inappropriate. There are emerging technologies that could be applied and lessons learned internationally that could be readily adapted in Papua New Guinea, without the need for foreign professionals that to share their knowledge in person. For example, Papua New Guinea’s health professionals could benefit from accessing Free Open Access Medication education, a continually expanding database of medical resources online.

Gender-based violence

Gender based violence was a major constraint on development in Papua New Guinea. Community education that focused on prevention of such violence was rare. Social marketing that sought to change behavior had to be partnered with community-based long-term education programs.

Expanding people-to-people relationships

Papua New Guinea who studied in foreign countries t any level has developed friendships with that particular nation that has endured. This is particularly true of Papua New Guineans who went to high school in Australia. Enabling connections between children at a young age is as important as university scholarships in developing better mutual understanding. For example, using children’s literature to promote reading stories about Papua New Guinea can start at a young age.

The electronic media sector offered some opportunities for bilateral collaboration. Digital partnerships also assist newsgathering and social connections.

Bringing together various initiatives, dialogues and conferences could help reducing duplication of effort to empower our youth in youth participation, employment and eco-justice.

  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Reuben Mete is the Director of the National Youth Desk of The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea (ELCPNG). Prior to joining the ELCPNG, Reuben was an officer to the Ministry of National Planning and monitoring serving the Ministry for two years. He was also the CEO of the Community Based Organization called the Union of Watut River Communities Association Incorporated for five years which gave him opportunity to represent Papua New Guinea at the 2011 South Pacific Mining and Mining Policy Conference in Noumea, New Caledonia. In March 2013, Reuben represents Youths of Papua New Guinea in the Pacific Conference of Churches 10^th General Assembly which he participated as an official delegate in Honiara, Solomon Island. He also represent South Pacific in a month long International Youth Leaders Consultation in Germany in mid 2013 and was part of the inaugural Australia-Papua New Guinea Young Emerging Dialogue team which engaged in bilateral dialogue in Sydney and Canberra in Australia  in November 2013. Reuben holds an International Awards from Spark* International in 2012 as a local Changemaker and a social entrepreneur and identifies himself as a grassroots leader.

The views expressed in this paper are entirely the author’s own and not those of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea.