Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG ATTITUDE

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PNG Attitude’s most commented upon pieces for April

KEITH JACKSON

AND SO HERE AM I writing this April feedback report in the middle of the Arabian Sea; not quite up to my neck in it since I am sitting aboard a ship.

April turned out to be another good month for comments to the blog. In addition to the ‘top 10’ list presented here, where the minimum qualification was 12 published comments from readers, there were many other articles, stories and poems that attracted a gratifying response.

Our series of autobiographical articles from writers prominent in the columns of PNG Attitude has now, I think, come to an end. It was Phil Fitzpatrick’s elegantly simple idea and it resulted in first class prose and fascinating tales, especially from Papua New Guinean contributors. Thanks to all who provided stories.

My Story – From arse tanget to corporate sales executive

15 - CORNEY KOROKAN ALONE

IF THERE WAS A COMPETITION for the best arse tanget, I would have taken the prize year after year.

My arse tanget always had the best leaves, shined to perfection, with small pieces of cloth in front. That was the way it was until I received my first pair of shorts in grade 7. The shoes followed in grade 9.

You can be forgiven into thinking that this is a story set in the 1950s or 1960s. But it was between the years 1975 and 1989 when I became old enough to wear tanget just like my father and older brothers.

My Story: Resting in God; committed to a life of service

14 – EMMA WAKPI

Emma Wakpi is one of Papua New Guinea's most talented young writers. She won the 2012 Crocodile Prize for her essay, 'The Haunting'....

I WAS BORN ON 19 APRIL 1979 at Angau Hospital in Lae where my father was a civil engineering student at the University of Technology. My mother worked for the Evangelical Brotherhood Church in its small print shop.

Having waited with suppressed hopefulness that his first born would be a boychild, dad was keenly disappointed to hear that a healthy baby girl was to be his.

However as soon as he saw me (so he tells me now), he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS

It's the usual practice of PNG Attitude to publish contributions within a few days of receipt.  However, as the editor is soon to skive off on an extensive trip to the other side of the globe, it will not always be possible to adhere to a uniform publishing schedule.  Hence contributions deemed to be 'timeless' in content may be held over for a little longer than usual to cover gaps caused by long flights, poor internet access, scurvy and malaise.  That said, we do not want to dissuade writers from submitting articles or poetry for publication; on the contrary, the current substantial flow of quality material is driving a sustained surge in readership that we want to see continue....

My Story: The wartime child becomes a peacetime kiap

13 – BOB CLELAND

I WAS BORN IN 1931 IN PERTH, Western Australia, into the Great Depression of the 1930s. My brother Evan was born in 1935. Life was tough, I’m told, but I thought it normal – it was all I knew.

When I was old enough to know a bit more about life, Dad, Donald Cleland, went away to the Middle East in February 1940, with all those other Aussies of the Seventh Division, 2nd AIF, to help our ‘mother country’, Great Britain, fight a war against Germany.

I was just nine years old and I didn’t really understand Dad’s words to me just before he left – ‘You have to be the man of the house now. Look after your mother and your brother.’

I grew up a bit then, but it wasn’t until I was about 11 or 12 that I started being the responsible ‘man of the house’.

PNG Attitude’s most commented upon stories in March

KEITH JACKSON

IT WAS A GREAT MONTH for readers’ comments, our best ever, helped along by yet another surge in reader numbers and the delightful PNG Studies 1 students of Divine Word University.

Their lecturer, Bernard Yegiora, set them an assignment to have comments published in PNG Attitude which, of course, meant that each of them had to read and respond to articles in the blog about which the felt they had something to say.

While, as editor, I took the view that a few of these contributors were in severe need of laying hands on a dictionary, we did receive many interesting comments and some of the young writers showed considerable literary talent.

My Story: Dreams and ambitions shattered at the prime

12 - FRANCIS NII | Supported by the South Pacific Strategic Solutions Writing Fellowship

AN ISOLATED AND SHATTERED JOURNEY is probably the best way to describe my life.

As a child, I was rarely allowed to go out to public gatherings on my own or go out and play with other children.

My parents would allow other children to come to my home and play with me. Whenever I sneaked out, I had to return early.  If I didn’t, my parents would look for me. If it was my father, a slap was the pay.

Well, it is natural for parents to have concern for their children but it was a bit too much on the part of my parents, particularly my father. Even when I was old enough, he was still exercising control over my life until I went to school.

Plus ça change – Whistling on the tink with Attitude

KEITH JACKSON

THERE IS A BIT OF THE tinkerer in me – and it manifests itself when I tink with this blog. I am therefore I tink, as the great philosopher Wayne Descartes put it.

People know when I’m on the tink. I whistle cheerfully if tunelessly and am incapable of distraction, except by the nearby presence of a good chardonnay.

I can’t recall exactly how many iterations this main page of the blog has been wrangled through; perhaps as many as tinksty-plaw.

Thankfully, in 2009, the National Library of Australia selected PNG Attitude for preservation and it re-archives the site each September-October.

Hence past layouts remain available for an awestruck posterity to wonder at and, more importantly, every article and comment we’ve ever published is retained. Check the NLA archive for yourself here and bow to the weight of our legacy.

My Story: A life that progresses & dreams that clarify

11 - BERNARD YEGIORA

I WAS BORN IN KUNDIAWA general hospital on the 29 September 1983. I believe the night I was born was just an ordinary night: there was nothing significant, meaning no bright moving stars or fireworks.

At the time of my birth my father was working as a senior business development officer with the Commerce Department in the Simbu provincial government. My mother was a high school teacher who taught home economics and science.

My father was of mixed origin. His father was from Harua in the Kubalia district of East Sepik and his mother was from the Nimai tribe who lived in Koge in between the Tabare, Kere, Dinga, Dom, and Gunagi people in Sinasina, Simbu.

My grandfather joined the police force during the colonial days. He was able to see the evolution of the force from the Khaki to the Zulu era and beyond. Under the colonial administration, he was part of the team led by the Kiaps who brought civilisation to the highlands of PNG.

Ben Jackson to meet Attituders in POM next month

KEITH JACKSON

YESTERDAY AFTERNOON ON TWITTER we announced the visit of Ben Jackson to Port Moresby – and this morning it’s already clear that his first visit to Papua New Guinea will be crowded with gutpela bung, liklik dring, pusit blo niusman, toktok gris and other fashionable Melanostralian activities.

Ben’s 8-day mission in PNG is fourfold: to meet PNG Attitude’s Papua New Guinean friends face to face; to discuss the Crocodile Prize with Society of Writers’ (SWEP) committee members; to talk with potential clients about our Jackson PR Associates company; and to attend the annual general meeting of Bougainville Copper Ltd, which is a client of ours.

Oh yes, and fifthly, to sit down with journalists and talk about what journalists talk about – pay, stories, lack of good pay, lack of good stories.…

My Story: a creative life of teaching, singing & writing

10 - BARBARA SHORT

I WAS BORN ON ANZAC DAY 1939, near the start of World War II, in the Poplars Private Hospital Epping, in the northern suburbs of Sydney.

If I had been a boy my father said he would have called me Digger. My mother was glad I was a girl!

I grew up in a nice old Federation house in Epping, with a big garden full of vegetables and flowers, surrounded by loving parents and relatives.

My Dad’s sister, Aunty Emm, looked after her mother, my Neasmith grandmother, and ran a Nursing Home in a fine old house with large gardens, some bush and near a creek, not far from us in Epping. We spent most weekends there.

We all belonged to the Epping Presbyterian Church and Mum’s brother was one of the elders. 

Mum’s mother, whom I called Nana, lived with us until she died, when I was about 12 years old. I had one brother, Donald who was born three years after me and we became the best of friends.

My story: No man could, but the Viva led me to PNG

9 - ROBIN LILLICRAPP

I WAS THE FIRST-BORN of dairy farming parents and my childhood years were spent in northern Victoria in a generation recovering from the rigours of World War II.

From an early age, we children were engaged with many workaday tasks.

Our district was populated with returned soldiers and their families eking out a living from former wheat and sheep lands adjacent to the Murray River.

This source of irrigation water eventually transformed the area into a virtual food-bowl.

Books were an outlet for me in those pre-TV times. I loved reading and entered readily into the world presented by each author.

I think I was a precocious child.

My Story: From greenhorn planter to a true man of PNG

8 – DAVID WALL

“Ah, little woman, you little know the strain it puts upon a man to be an empire builder”
- W Somerset Maugham in ‘Before the Party’

THE ACCOUNT OF MY BIRTH in the accompanying image is in my mother’s handwriting. I was born at home in Melbourne, and the doctor looking after my mother was not present.

Not that it mattered much, as my father – also a doctor - stepped into the breach, as it were, and delivered me. According to Mum, he was joking with her throughout the process.

Not long after, my family moved to the Riverina region of in New South Wales – first to Narrandera and, after a number of years, to Leeton. In both towns my father practised medicine until he died in 1965.

My full name is David Andrew de Bérigny Wall. After leaving St Ignatius’ College Riverview in 1954 I worked on plantations and for the Department of Health in Papua New Guinea for 18 years.

My Story: Just a peripatetic piece of a very lot more

7 - PETER KRANZ

I WAS BORN IN BRISBANE in 1953, at the Women's Hospital. Don't worry - I was a boy.

The next year, after a brief time at Strathfield, my Dad was asked to work in England, and off we went (I was too young to remember).

So I grew up in Blighty, settling first in Greenford, then Finchley.

My first memories are of watching the milkman arrive with his horse-drawn cart and Dad rushing outside with a shovel to collect the dung for the garden.

I always remember the garden, smelling of roses and germaniums and hearing the blackbirds singing. Dad paid me one penny for each snail I could collect (we waged wars against snails).

My Story: I am Simbu. I am Mosbi mero. Read, son, read

6 - MICHAEL DOM

I AM A SIMBU. My parents were born in the foothills of Yoba Kogul, at Ninal Village, Sinesine.

Yoba Kogul is part of the massive limestone structure that dominates the entrance into the Simbu from its Eastern Highlands border all the way to Kundiawa town where it falls steeply before the mighty Wara Simbu.

The modern Okuk highway has tried for decades to wind its way around this massive geological formation, but so far has had poor success in straddling the cliffs. The earth slides and shifts beneath the machinations of man. Strangely enough, I am proud of this.

My ancestors harvested the great trees that towered above those white topped cliffs and hauled them down from the rugged slopes to serve as the massive centre posts for our hausman. Our fathers have for centuries planted karuka trees (Pandanus jejunum) in its foothills for their sons to harvest.

Once more PNG Attitude readers come to the party

KEITH JACKSON

YOU’VE GOT TO HAND IT to our readers – they have done it again.

With donations ranging from $20 to $250, in a little over 24 hours they raised $1,000 to make sure Martyn Namorong could deliver a paper on leadership to a Melbourne conference - Leadership for the next generation: 2013 Papua New Guinea Symposium.

As I’ve mentioned more than once previously, Deakin University’s Alfred Deakin Research Institute keeps inviting Papua New Guineans to its annual PNG talk fest (sponsored by AusAID and apparently an initiative of Labor politician Richard Marles) without providing travel or accommodation.

OK if you’re an academic or public servant whose institution picks up the tab, but tough for a Melanesian trying to rub two toea together.

My Story: Sketches from the empty and hopeful years

5 - KEITH JACKSON

THE EARLY MORNING sun creeps across the brown room, eventually arriving at a bed upon which slumps a skinny 10-year old boy with a weak chest and bad eyes.

He is staring glumly at a sprung mousetrap on the floor, which he himself has set off thinking in the gloom it might have been a gift unexpected.

He had hoped it was something more than the contents of the pillowcase hanging at bed’s end.

Striped handkerchiefs, grey school shorts, a book by Robert Louis Stevenson and a packet of raisins and muscatels, already consumed.

Another Australian Christmas Day had dawned in Nowra.

My Story: From Baimuru via bullying to blogging

4 -MARTYN NAMORONG

LIFE IS FULL OF STORIES that may never be told. So, as Keith asked me and some other writers to tell our own stories, I was quite lost about where to start. So here’s a superficial version of My Story.

I was born in Baimuru 27 years ago. My mum and dad met at that muddy out-station where it rains 600 days a year. My mum was a community school teacher and my dad a forest officer. My mum’s from the Western Province and my dad is from Madang.

I don’t remember much about Baimuru except for the rain and the mud. Oh, and I should mention the hospital. I was this really good kid who didn’t have a foul mouth like I do today, but the only time I was moved to say the ‘f’ word was when the nurses at Baimuru were sticking a needle in my backside.

I had a deeply religious upbringing so it’s sort of ironic that I don’t do God the way I was brought up.

THE CROCODILE PRIZE 2013
Papua New Guinea's national literary awards
Download entry form here       http://www.facebook.com/crocodileprize

Once again we ask readers to give a helping hand

KEITH JACKSON

WELL, I HAVE TO ADMIT it beats me.

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

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

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

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

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

My Story: The making of a young patrol officer

3 - PAUL OATES

WHEN I WAS YOUNG and lived in the outer suburbs of my Australian city, most of our requirements except meat were delivered by horse and cart.

It was only in the mid-1950s that the first supermarket opened. Refrigerators were either not obtainable or too expensive.

Most of my primary school days were spent at the local school my mother also attended which, during World War II, doubled as a casualty dressing station.

My mother made her way as a Voluntary Aid Detachment person when the Japanese attacked Sydney Harbour. She met my father during the war. He was a country boy, an officer in the Army.

The high school where I obtained my Leaving Certificate was the semi-modern equivalent of a 19^th century English public school. We wore a 19th century military uniform and cadet service was of course obligatory.

There I learned to use a .303 rifle which was handy later working with the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary.

My Story: Out of war, the passion & power of writing

2 - LEONARD FONG ROKA

MY FATHER WAS FROM UNEA (commonly referred to as Bali) Island in the Witu Island group of the West New Britain Province of papua New Guinea.

As an auto-mechanic apprentice in the Panguna Mining School and in his work at Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) Light Vehicles Workshop, he had many Bougainvillean friends.

Dad met my mother (a blood niece of Bougainville leaders, the brothers Martin Miriori and the late Joseph Kabui), an Arawa High School student, in the late 1970s.

They married and I was born in 1979 at Arawa General Hospital. A young man, Leonard Fong from Hoskins in West New Britain, decided I should inherit his name.

My Story: Arresting cannibals sure beat banking

1 - PHIL FITZPATRICK

First in an occasional series in which PNG Attitude's most prolific contributors profile themselves and their backgrounds....

MY FATHER CAME FROM Waterford in the southeast of Ireland.  He was a bootmaker and cobbler in the family tradition.  My mother was a country girl from Suffolk in England.  They met and married in England at the end of World War II. 

I was born in Oxford in 1948 where my father was working at the Morris Motor Factory.  We then moved to Suffolk, where my maternal grandparents were farming.

We migrated to Australia in 1956, partly because of my poor health and after a brief stint in a migrant hostel settled in Elizabeth, a new ‘satellite’ town just north of Adelaide in South Australia.  Elizabeth was full of ‘ten-pound poms’ who were encouraged to live there to provide workers for the new factories like General Motors Holden.

Attitude's most commented upon stories in February

KEITH JACKSON

AND SO WE COME TO ESOTERICA CORNER. You have 10 seconds to answer. What is PNG Attitude's editorial policy? Hmmm. As you have failed, deafeningly so, you will just have to sit there while I summarise.

Of most importance, PNG Attitude has an unwavering bias towards original writing. If there was enough of it, and if it canvassed wide the matters that interest us (see Categories column at left for details), we would offer only material that had not seen the light of day elsewhere.

But that is too much to ask of a project that pays its contributors nothing and is unlikely to be in a position to do so this side of the publisher growing another two legs and winning the Melbourne Cup.

Sunday morning in the Attitude....
ALBERT SCHRAM writes for us on ‘the true, bizarre & yet to conclude story of Unitech & me’.  JOHN FOWKE takes up the cudgels with his thoughts on PNG’s education system as the horror-child of Australian left-wing ideology. And JOE WASIA offers his views on how a better school establishment can tackle social issues in PNG.  Tomorrow it’s education. It ain’t pretty but it ain't boring….

Wot's wiv all de few changes den….
Rain’s perambulating down in Sydney today, wind blowing a funiculating gale. Very tiresome for Action Jackson. So, errr, let’s change the blog page. Errr, let’s get a pic that looks more like I really look at dis very moment. Errr, don’t worry, I’ll think of something else…. Ah, cricket starts in half an hour!

Attitude’s most commented upon articles in January

KEITH JACKSON

JANUARY WAS A STRANGE month for me personally – no soon had I become mobile from the last operation than I was plonked into hospital for the next. Which has left me temporarily without the use of one leg. Fortunately mobility, or the lack of it, is no restraint on the production of PNG Attitude.

January was a very good month for edgy articles, as you’ll see from the catalogue below. The top stories, as judged from your comments, have real substance and bite to them and they’re worth reading again – or for the first time if you haven’t caught up yet.

Good to see four Papua New Guinean names in the top five writers. (And we could probably add Peter Kranz to that as an honorary Melanesian.) Also, unusually, a poem features in your top selection of pieces this month. We often get comments on poetry, but rarely in enough quantity to make the bells ring.

And so to our most commented upon pieces for last month….

18 comments - Melanesian fruit pickers in Australia: the true grim story (Peter Kranz) After talking with a group of Papua New Guinean fruitpickers working in north-west Victoria under an official Australian assistance scheme, Peter produced this expose of the unconscionable conditions in which they were induced to work.

14 - On police brutality & police theft in Papua New Guinea (Ganjiki D Wayne). The PNG police can be a law unto themselves, and innocent citizens too often bear the brunt of their excesses. Ganjiki blows the whistle.

14 - Instead of banning betel nut, let’s try other ideas (Francis Nii). Banning buai may seem like a good idea for a range of health and environmental reasons but, as Francis points out, the decision is set to cost hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people their livelihoods.

14 - Fijians: Melanesians like PNGns but a class above (David Kitchnoge). “Fijians are Melanesians like us but they definitely are a class above. They are a nation of well groomed, calm and very organised individuals.” This comparison triggered an energetic debate amongst readers.

12 - Expats: Saving themselves more than serving us? (Ganjiki D Wayne). A tricky question – do expats serve in PNG to help others, help themselves or run away from something? “It's possible (they) are here because it gives them some sense of meaning and significance.”

8 - Citizens more scared of police than crims: what’s the answer? (Keith Jackson). A summary of the fascinating discussion provoked by Ganjiki Wayne’s article on police corruption and brutality. We also offered a solution.

8 - If you don’t know where you’ve come from…. (Phil Fitzpatrick). “Late last year I visited a village at the northern end of the Yuat Gorge. asked them how they came to be so far away from Wabag and living in East Sepik Province. None of them really knew.”

7 - Getting ready for Chinese money on the Okuk Highway (Terry Shelley). Will the application of billions of borrowed kina to improve PNG’s main trunk highway prove a bounty for looters, saboteurs and pirates?

7 - Haikai no renga - memories of Mosbi (Michael Dom). It’s rare for a poem to make the ’10 most commented’. Michael’s distant and wistful look at Moresby from a foreign land proved to be an exception – “Awoken at night / Stray winds bring dirty smells that / rain washes away”.

7 - Women advocates confuse gender equality & feminism (Kela Kapkora Sil Bolkin). Sil let rip against ‘pedestal’ women leaders who “espouse demagogical rhetoric and make discriminatory speeches about the opposite sex… Their actions and speeches are usually and indelibly feminist and not about gender equality at all.”

7 - Death of pioneering PNG patrol officer Jack Karukuru (Allan Tarua) One of the first Papua New Guinean patrol officers, who was to become a departmental head, Jack Karukuru, died on New Year’s eve. “Jack Karukuru was a humble man who had a big heart for this nation.”

7 - Famous Kone Tigers oval is now a sex workers den (Kela Kapkora Sil Bolkin). The ground that boasted great PNG rugby league names like Clarrie Burke, John Kaputin, Sean Dorne and Dadi Mahuru Toka has become a sleazy venue for public sex and drug consumption.

Tomorrow your editor reluctantly resumes his regime of carpentry & joinery in the surgeon's den. Expect the pace here at PNG Attitude to slow, though not by much. Keep those Comments  coming, remembering to attach both your first and last names otherwise posting may be delayed as I cannot edit from my iPhone....

PNG Attitude’s most commented upon articles in 2012

KEITH JACKSON

ONE OF PNG ATTITUDE’s most popular features happens to be the summary of the articles (as well as poems, stories and essays) most commented upon by readers in the preceding month.

Today we review these 150 or so most mentioned contributions in 2012 to determine which of them our readers thought were most commentworthy over the course of the year.

In seeking some themes that seem to particularly spark a response from readers, I can only observe that the dramatic, the bizarre, the challenging and, from my point of view, personal tests of health and grief, all motivated you to address the keyboard in 2012.

So, in the terms of reader reaction, these were the big ones of 2012….

34 comments – Stan Jackson OAM dies after a long adventurous life (Keith Jackson). “My father, Stanley Jackson – teacher, author, environmentalist and marathon bike rider - died on Friday evening at the grand age of 98.” March

29 – Thoughts on Martyn’s uncertain road to Melbourne (Paul Oates). Martyn Namorong’s agenda for his Take the Truth to Australia tour was parsed by Paul, enticing a lively debate amongst readers. February

26 – As Carr stumbles, Bishop announced 2nd visit to PNG (Julie Bishop). “Australia has a deep and enduring relationship with PNG, says shadow foreign minister Julie Bishop, and, while it has challenges, it also holds enormous potential.” March

26 – East Sepik declares ‘independence’ from PNG (Keith Jackson). Tim Koeser, former self-styled leader of the World Indigenous Council of Jesus Christ, re-emerged as the no less self-styled President of the East Sepik Interim Government. April

26 - Bob Carr finds political events in PNG 'confusing' (Keith Jackson). “The events [in Papua New Guinea last week] were most certainly confusing,” foreign minister Senator Bob Carr told reporters in Canberra early in the month. Whah? Australia’s work experience FM needs to learn the difference between what you say to your wife and what you say in public. June

23 - A long week's journey through nothing very much (Keith Jackson). Ten days in hospital for spinal surgery slowed down your editor a bit and this piece heralded a recovery of sorts, although an anaesthetised brain didn’t make for easy writing.. I remain deeply grateful for the many expressions of support I received at this time. August

21 - Live blog: Mutiny leader gives MPs 7 days to resolve 'crisis' (Keith Jackson). Colonel Sasa’s attempt to create conditions in which Sir Michael Somare could make a comeback went awry but caused high excitement around the world for 24 hours. January

21 - Loujaya Toni – a life of music, politics & poetry…. (Keith Jackson). When academic, journalist, singer and poet Loujaya Toni shocked a strong field of male contenders to become Papua New Guinea’s newest female parliamentarian, it proved to be an event that resonated within and outside PNG. July

20 - O'Neill-Namah tiff demonstrates political fragility (Keith Jackson). Apparently Belden Namah thought the prime minister had shown insufficient support for him in dealing with Indonesia over Falcongate. The difference of opinion was expressed in Belden’s normal understated manner. January

20 - A salute – and a caveat - to the activists of PNG (Martyn Namorong). “Activists, we salute you for your courage. You are doing a great thing by showing the government the people have a voice – that O’Neill and the whole parliament have forgotten that they are accountable to us.” It was a big month for PNG’s best known blogger. Just before he left on his Australian tour, Namorong was part of a collective that organised a 10,000 person protest against the PNG government’s threat to defer national elections and a protracted attack on the judiciary. May

20 - Road to hell is paved with religion & westernisation (Martyn Namorong). You can count on Martyn to take the pin out of the grenade, engender some danger and trigger a degree of excitement from readers. This was he case when PNG’s best known purveyor of buai turned his attention to westernisation and development – which he saw as a cover for “the greedy white ruling class deciding to loot the rest of the world's nations of their wealth they carried with them their laws, their customs, their government, their technology, their diseases and their religion.” July

Attitude’s most commented upon articles in December

KEITH JACKSON

ONE OF THE GREAT things about PNG Attitude is the way in which its readers also become its contributors through the Recent Comments feature, which provides one of the social media’s most civilised and scintillating forums for discussion and debate on Papua New Guinea affairs.

While the statistics we gather at Attitude show Comments to be as well read as the main page, we nevertheless reproduce as lead articles some of the more thoughtful and well argued commentaries (dutifully edited) where we believe they deserve wider attention.

In December it was pleasing to see that four of the most commented pieces were written by our writing fellowship holders. Not all the fellows have produced the goods (the fellowship grant was handed over up front in trust that the writing would follow) but there’s time yet for the laggards to show us their full range of wares.

The fellowships – entirely funded by PNG Attitude readers – were offered to encourage emerging writers to produce original articles and essays for original publication in these columns.

No restraint was placed on their further publication and many have found other homes, especially in the pages of the PNG Post-Courier’s weekend literary section, edited by the formidable Patrick (‘Big Pat’) Levo.

And so to the most commented upon articles in December 2012….

Attitude’s most commented upon articles in November

KEITH JACKSON

GOOGLE ANALYTICS HAS PROVIDED some interesting readership results for PNG Attitude in November.

On an average weekday we had between 1,100 and 1,200 unique visitors, which dropped to about 800 unique visitors each Saturday and Sunday when our readers, quite rightly, are power walking uphill and tramping with 35-lb packs through rugged bush.

The analysis didn’t tell me anything about those readers who make comments so, feeling a bit geeky, I decided to take a manual count – and found just over 100 different commenters for November.

On another subject close to home, our PNG Attitude writing fellows have now produced more than 30 original articles in the first two months of the project– a great outcome.

Thanks once again to fellowship providers the Abel Family, Rob &and Parer, South Pacific Strategic Solutions, Bea Amaya, Bob Cleland, Jeff Febi, Chalapi Pomat, Lance Hill and Phil Fitzpatrick.

Each is making a fine contribution to the continuing development of good contemporary writing in Papua New Guinea - and to the columns of PNG Attitude.

And so to the most commented upon articles in November…..

19 comments - Was PNG a training-ground for priestly child molesters? (Peter Kranz). Anticipating what was to become a dominant new story in Australia on the ‘migrating’ of abusive Catholic priests to different locations, including overseas, Peter took a look at how this church policy might have affected Papua New Guinea.

16 - Is PNG’s growing population a threat to the region? (Davendra Sharma | Islands Business). PNG’s population has grown by an unprecedented of 1.8 million people over the last decade and this is beginning to alarm environment analysts and social planners because of the imminent danger of over-exploitation of resources.

12 - PNG LNG construction costs dangerously overheating (Stephen Bartholomeusz | Business Spectator). “The $3.3 billion blow-out in the capital costs of constructing the Exxon-led PNG LNG project is another disconcerting sign that construction costs in the region are eroding the economics and competitiveness of resource projects.”

11 - PNG development: We need a coup in the chicken coop (Martyn Namorong | Chalapi Pomat Writing Fellow). “One dark evening I was plotting revolution with comrade Nou Vada when he brought up this interesting scenario of the chickens in the coop. No chickens were harmed in the creation of this metaphor but comrade Nou described a profound condition of the Papua New Guinean psyche.” When it comes to development, Papua New Guineans too often behave like chickens, Martyn argued.

10 - Patrolling in the fifties: boots, guns, cannibalism & kuru (Bill Brown MBE). A beautifully-described glimpse of some early patrols through restricted areas around Okapa in the early 1950s. “The policy of the Government is that all Restricted Areas in the Territory are to be brought under complete control by 31st May, 1955,” said the instruction.

10 - PNG writers beware: the murky world of self-publishing (Phil Fitzpatrick). “You always knew you had a book in you and now you’ve written it. You’ve polished it until it shines and you’ve given it to all your friends to read. ‘Tell me the truth,’ you tell them. ‘If it’s no good, please tell me!’ ‘It’s wonderful,’ they all say, ‘you should get it published.’ A year or so later you look at all the publisher’s polite rejection letters in your desk drawer and wonder whether your friends were having you on.” Phil offers good advice to budding authors in Australia and PNG.

9 - Mostly magnificent men in their flying machines (Keith Jackson). Aviation yarns about PNG are legion and have been the central theme of many books. In this article, I recounted a few of the best I’d heard. “When Territory Air Lines’ pilot Garry Honour banked the Cessna 180 prior to landing at Kundiawa on a reasonably fine afternoon in 1964, he could hardly have anticipated the serious problem he was about to confront…”

9 - Wahgi Hellcats: a rock band ‘born before its time’ (Kela Kapkora Sil Bolkin | Phil Fitzpatrick Writing Fellow). “The Wahgi Hellcats was a famous rock band in the Papua New Guinea music industry well before the Australian flag was lowered in 1975,” wrote Sil. “The band was humbly born in the Minj area of the Jiwaka Province in December 1973. The founder was a self-taught musician who started with a ukulele in 1963.” The story of one of PNG’s early pop groups.

9 – New Voices: What Australia can learn from PNG (Danielle Cave – Lowy Interpreter). Danielle’s review (“it was the best conference I have ever attended full stop”) of the PNG New Voices Conference (run by her own organisation) triggered a debate amongst readers about how effective it really was.

8 Garnaut’s words on PNGSDP boomerang with a thud (Keith Jackson). “For such an eminent and respected figure, Ross Garnaut can be mighty sensitive about his reputation, so he’d probably be feeling pretty bruised by the latest controversy in which he’s become involved.” The high profile academic was told he wasn’t welcome in PNG after making some comments that offended the government.

8 - Brain drain! Australia benefits from PNG's workers (Radio Australia). “Australia's resources boom is employing record numbers of highly-trained Papua New Guineans fuelling a growing PNG expatriate community earning high-wages. And Papua New Guineans have such a good reputation they are getting promoted faster than their Australian counterparts.”

David Leeming gives Jackson PR a Solomons base

KEITH JACKSON

JACKSON PR ASSOCIATES, which finances the publication of PNG Attitude, has announced the appointment of David Leeming, 49, as its Associate in the Solomon Islands.

Dr Leeming is the fifteenth member of the company’s group of Associates, a team that spans from Singapore to the Pacific with particular emphasis on Papua New Guinea and Australia.

He has 16 years of international experience - including in six Pacific island states and Thailand - focusing on rural networking, community access, media and educational technology.

A native of the United Kingdom, David is married to a Solomon Islander and manages Solomon Islands Rural Link, his own consulting and technical business in the Solomons, where he has lived since 1996.

Originally educated as a research scientist, most of David’s recent work experience has focused on rural communities where he has used participatory and inclusive approaches to social development.

In Bougainville, for example, he worked with Radio New Dawn FM, in which fellow Associate Martin Hadlow and I had founding roles, looking at using mobile phones to support community learning.

Since 2008, David has also consulted to the PNG Sustainable Development Program in its One Laptop Per Child project covering 11 schools in Jiwaka, Sandaun and Western provinces.

He’s a hang gliding enthusiast of 25 years experience and is also interested in mountaineering, literature and peace, a strong interest he shares with another of our Associates, Andrew Greig, author of Taming War – Culture and Technology for Peace.

David is currently developing an e-learning resource to train Pacific investigative journalists for the Pasifika Media Association.

You can read more about Jackson PR Associates here.

Attitude’s most commented upon stories in October

KEITH JACKSON

IT’S TIME AGAIN TO TAKE a look at readers’ responses to writing published in PNG Attitude during the month just past.

And you'll have to wait for the footnote to read more about this x-ray of my right foot.

This monthly effusion on the most commented upon articles allows the publisher to reflect more broadly on what the blog is doing – and on whether it’s doing its job.

Which is to create a kind of electronic bridge between Australia and Papua New Guinea across which a range of ideas, words, opinions and other information can travel.

The measure of the blog's success in doing this, in my eyes anyway, is accounted for in terms of whether there is interaction and dialogue occurring, as differentiated from one-way traffic.

Accordingly, each day I examine the comments that are published (most of which I have also edited) to see how the numbers are going.

In the last week, for example, quite a sparse week for comments, there were 49 from PNG and 27 from elsewhere (mostly Australia). As time goes on, the proportion of Papua New Guinean commenters has increased to a ratio of about 65:35 in PNG's favour. Not so long ago the ratio was 50:50.

Similarly, PNG Attitude is publishing many more articles by PNG writers these days; the writers fellowships are already making a difference.

A significant variation I notice in the focus of comments is that, while Papua New Guineans are generally reluctant to opine on Australian issues, Australians show no similar hesitation about PNG.

And so to the most commented pieces in October (a 50:50 split between PNG and Australian authors, by the way):

19 comments - The PNG army in Bougainville - dirty damned rascals (Leonard Fong Roka). In 1989, when the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary was getting nowhere in solving the Bougainville crisis, the PNG Defence Force was called in. The mission eventually failed, but only after great brutality from both sides of the conflict.

19 - PNG humour: Kon–Templeit; yu yet skelim na tingim (Steven Ilave Sr). It will sem obscure to most but this play on the Tokpisin word kon was enthusiastically enjoined by PNG Attitude readers.

16 - Papua New Guinea – where there is no word for slavery (Peter Kranz). Peter thought his article might be controversial – and he was right. Not everyone agreed that there were no known examples of slavery in PNG before the advent of colonialism.

14 - Beyond 'bisnis blo mi': Redefining the public service (Bernard Yegiora). “There is a growing culture that I really dislike in the Papua New Guinea public service,” wrote Bernard. “Most public servants treat the public organisation as their private business.”

14 - The hypocrisy of mateship, fair go & human rights in Oz (Erasmus Baraniak). Erasmus continued his close study of Australian culture and consciousness: “What has become increasingly clear about these egalitarian notions of ‘mateship’ and ‘fair go’ is the underlying admission that everybody is not having a fair go in Australian post-convict society”. Some readers were offended.

10 - ‘Buai-spet’ as a metaphor in today’s Papua New Guinea (John Fowke). “So, may I ask you, Erasmus, is all your fuming and fulminating over the weaknesses and the calumnies, the falsely-based self-assurance and the arrogance of the Australians, a sort of elite or educated Papua New Guinean buai spet as reaction in shame and frustration to the calamitous state of your nation’s public institutions and the discordant and often meaningless spate of policy-promises and assurances that issue week by week?” Well, there was one for a start.

10 - Take funds out of health & education says minister (Keith Jackson). “Just what is PNG trade minister Richard Maru on about? He’s just given some gratuitous advice to the New Zealand government that less of its aid should be directed to education and health in PNG and more to economic development.”

9 - Democracy may be detrimental to Melanesian society (Don Tapio). According to this analysis, trying to figure out PNG politics by using existing comparative models is simply misleading. Other perspectives are needed, and they may weigh against the efficacy of the democratic model.

8 - Bye-bye Belden & Jeffrey, welcome to brave new PNG (Phil Fitzpatrick). “Sometimes in life you get a distinct impression that the tide has changed and things will never be the same again.” Phil – a frequent visitor to PNG as he pursues his social mapping career – has recently observed some positive signs of change which he shares with readers.

8 - Throw away your guns & gain your freedom! Oh yeah? (Leonard Fong Roka). “If we want to fast-track the peaceful settlement of the Bougainville issue once and for all, then we ought to do it in a manner that ordinary people see as right; not from the perspective of the big men of Bougainville, nor of international law,” Leonard writes. But his solution is controversial: let the people keep their guns.

Footnote: The publisher reported during the month that he was “in hospital for minor carpentry & joinery” (thanks to the nine readers who made fairly poor jokes about this). The headline x-ray image shows exactly how that right foot of mine was well and truly screwed

Writers fellowships also provide the magic of connection

KEITH JACKSON

OUR WRITERS’ FELLOWSHIP PROJECT is off to a great start (we hope to announce another two tomorrow) and one of the spin-offs is the connection that is created between sponsor and recipient writer.

I thought this exchange between Joe Wasia and Bob Cleland more than adequately expresses the connectedness that PNG Attitude, in its own small way, is seeking to create and they have kindly allowed me to share it with you…

Email from Joe Wasia to Bob Cleland

Waooo! Thanks Bob. I really appreciate you. Great man great sponsor!

I hope Bob knows very well the highland culture and PNG as a whole and what he has decided to do is to promote more PNGeans to be great writers, readers and thinkers.

The great thinkers, writer and readers will do marvelous in the development of PNG one way or the other. Great job Bob.

I could say Bob and your colonial administration in the highlands and PNG have done marvelously in the development of PNG. Most of the infrastructure services that we see today are your footprints.

After your team left PNG in 1970s and 80s our own government has never done much. Failed in many areas. The services that you established have been deteriorating to the state where it would no longer use.

One very good example is a primary school in my village which was established in the 1970s. Classrooms are now no longer classrooms. I feel very sad to see this situation.

Thanks again Bob for the sponsorship and hope to know you more.

Joe Wasia

Email from Bob Cleland to Joe Wasia

G'day Joe,

Great to hear from you and congratulations on getting the sponsorship. Keith Jackson has sent me some details of you. It looks as though he has also sent some details of me to you. I hope we get to know each other better from now on.

You probably know I've written a book about being a kiap during 1953 to 1956. The first thing I want to do is send you a copy so please send me your most reliable postal address.

I was a kiap for 23 years and finally left in 1956. In that time, the people and country of PNG got firmly wedged in my heart (as with many Australians). I served in Eastern Highlands, Western, Lae, Kokopo, Chuave, then back to Eastern Highlands. When I revisit Goroka, I have a strong feeling of that being 'my ground'.

I've always been optimistic about PNG's future because I know that you, the people, can work things out in the end. As things began to deteriorate since 1975, and as corruption took hold, I stayed optimistic. Australian media reported most of the bad things happening, seldom the good. But I knew that there were plenty of good things happening, unseen.

In April this year, I joined a small cruise ship at Alotau and resolved to search out those good things. We cruised the islands off the tip of PNG, then the south coast of New Britain, to Rabaul. I didn't need to search for good things - they were all around me wherever we went. It did my heart good. Everywhere, people said they were sick of the government and were looking forward to the elections.

Well, the elections have come and gone and I have to say that I think things look pretty good. There's an enormous amount of hard work to be done and I think that's begun already.

Through all this time I've been following 'PNG Attitude' regularly and it became clear to me that posts from so many PNG writers were in fact the voices of the movers and shakers of now and the future. So I sponsored a category of 'Heritage Writing' in the Crocodile Prize. When 600 entries over all categories came in, I knew I wanted to participate in this excitement.

So that, in a nutshell, is how I got involved in Keith's sponsorship idea and how you and I are now writing to each other.

I've seen some of the posts and comments you've offered from time to time. I know now that I can look forward to more.

Yes, I know a bit about the highlands culture - enough to know that highlanders generally are an intelligent, perceptive, hard working lot and that's a pretty good base from which to start. Just look at all the highlanders in good, often influential jobs all around PNG - like you.

Hey, I ramble on a bit don't I? There's more which will come out from time to time, as I hope it will from you. May I say em tasol wantok.

Lukim yu.

Bob

First 8 PNG Attitude writers’ fellowships are announced

KEITH JACKSON

THE PNG ATTITUDE WRITERS FELLOWSHIPS ARE UP AND RUNNING – STRONGLY.

The first eight of 11 writing fellowships provided by sponsors under the auspices of PNG Attitude have been awarded to selected writers, including some familiar names.

They include Captain Manuai Matawai (pictured), about whom more below.

Other awards will be announced in the near future as the designated writers are signed up.

The $A500 fellowships, which will be tenable for 12 months, were established to encourage freelance writing in Papua New Guinea and to reward writers for their work.

Fellowship recipients are expected to contribute regular articles and other work to PNG Attitude, which will guarantee them publication.

The writers are not prevented from using the material in other ways or having it reproduced elsewhere.

The eight awards made so far are to:

Martyn Namorong | Supported by the Chalapi Pomat Writing Fellowship

Nou Vada | Supported by the Lance Hill Writing Fellowship

Leonard Roka | Supported by the Jeff Febi Writing Fellowship

Joe Wasia | Supported by the Bob Cleland Writing Fellowship

Sil Bolkin | Supported by the Phil Fitzpatrick Writing Fellowship

Charlotte Vada | Supported by the Abel Family Writing Fellowship

Ganjiki D Wayne | Supported by the Bea Amaya Writing Fellowship

Manuai Matawai | Supported by the Chalapi Pomat Writing Fellowship

Writers and their sponsors are being encouraged to correspond with each other, and this process has already begun.

PNG Attitude will introduce you to the writers and their sponsors over the coming days. But let me start with someone you may not know a lot about – but you should – Manuai Matawai.

Manuai is 42 and was born in Pere village in the Manus Province. He is the community conservation coordinator with The Nature Conservancy, which he joined in 2006. In this role, he works with communities which have an interest in managing their marine and terrestrial resources so they can be more resilient to climate change.

Manuai is currently skippering the 48-ft open canoe Climate Challenger on an epic 70-day, 3,200 km voyage around PNG and the Solomons and the Pacific atolls of Micronesia.

On board are 10 Manus navigators, dancers and musicians who are sharing their culture and bringing an awareness of climate change and a clean environment to the many islands they are visiting.

Currently they’re nearing Honiara and later they will make their way to Nauru, Kiribati (Tarawa), Marshall Islands (Majuro and atolls), Kosraie, Ponape, Truk, Puluwat, Soral, Yap, Palau, Wuvulu, Aua (Manus), Ninigo Group, Hermit and finally back to Lorengau, where the voyage began.

You can keep in touch with this great endeavour at http://climatechallengervoyage.net – and read Manuai’s thoughts in PNG Attitude as the demands of the voyage allow.

For now, here’s his latest dispatch as Climate Challenger approaches Honiara:

We reached the Arnavon Islands yesterday (Sunday 14th Oct) and had a meal of taro, fish and rice before accompanying the rangers on their turtle monitoring followed by our awareness raising performance afterwards.

Today (Monday 15th Oct) will set sail for Kia where we will meet the The Nature Conservancy team including Willie Atu (Solomon Islands Country Director for The Nature Conservancy) and his son who will join the canoe on the trip to Honiara.

The sea has been very calm and very good sailing conditions.

PNG Attitude wishes our writers fellowship recipient Captain Manuai Matawai, and his bold crew, manageable seas, receptive audiences and, of course, good writing.

If you wish to become a sponsor of the PNG Attitude Writers Fellowships, contact Keith Jackson here

Our most commented upon articles in September

KEITH JACKSON

SEPTEMBER WAS THE MONTH when the Crocodile Prize winners were announced (five women emerging as winners in the seven main categories) and when a number of articles by both Leonard Roka and Phil Fitzpatrick commanded great attention from commenters.

Leonard, who today writes the hitherto untold story of his father’s violent death during the Bougainville civil war, was especially prolific over the course of last month.

And what he wrote articulated, in a general sense, what I see as one of the real benefits of PNG Attitude – its role as an outlet for writing of quality that really leads the reader to a better understanding of the nature and antecedents of present-day Papua New Guinea.

During the month, a couple of readers expressed similar views. “Attitude is the blog for intelligent, thinking Papua New Guineans,” emailed one. “I read it each day,” wrote another, “I wish those I worked for would also read it.”  Hear, hear to that, say I.

Anyway, to the task at hand – those articles published in PNG Attitude in September that received the most feedback….

18 comments - Christianity a problem for us: it drives people off the plot (Leonard Fong Roka). “In this day and age, Christianity is an impediment to any form of human development in Bougainville, apart from the spiritual. From the simple exaggerated Bible-based teachings, Christianity creates a senseless fear in the minds of our population on our economically-struggling island.” Well, that was bound to start a robust discussion.

17 - Best of the best: The Crocodile Prize winners for 2012 (Phil Fitzpatrick). It was Crocodile Prize awards time with the 600 entries having to be winnowed down to just two handfuls. Phil gave an account of the winners, their entries and a sprinkling of judges’ comments.

15 - On going back home to the Western Province (Martyn Namorong). Even by his own standards of gritty engagement and willful confrontation, Martyn Namorong has had a topsy-turvy 2012 and in this article he explained why he wanted to return to his home Western Province for the first time since he was 15.

14 - O’Neill: Scooping a K6 billion loan for a K500 million deficit (Samuel Roth). In Samuel’s first Foreign Affairs Commentary he looked at the ins and outs of PNG borrowing a huge amount of money from China. Readers really felt this was an issue they could get their teeth into.

12 - The Manus factor: Lombrum base & the China connection (Samuel Roth). Samuel scored again with an analysis of the newly contestable SW Pacific region, a matter that seems set to occupy Asia-Pacific diplomats for most of this century.

11 - Listen, learn, respect – all so simple yet too hard for some (Phil Fitzpatrick). “A little while ago two interesting events in the Southern Highlands were reported on a number of blogs…. The first involved blasting by contractors to enable the PNG LNG pipeline to be laid between Hides and Iagifu Ridge in Fasu country. The second involved the capture, killing and consumption of an unusually large python.”

10 - The Flight of Galkope – stories from the men’s house (Phil Fitzpatrick). “The tribes and clans of the Galkope have occupied the steep mountain slopes and valleys of the southern part of the Simbu Province in Papua New Guinea for countless generations…. A son of the Galkope, Kela Kapkora Sil Bolkin, spent several years trekking through his traditional homeland talking to people about their origins” – and then he wrote a book. The Flight of Galkope by Kela Kapkora Sil Bolkin is finally being published. Google www.crawfordhouse.com.au

10 - The curse of the tiger (pussycat) economy (Jeffrey Mane Febi). The PNG economy has been growing at an average 8% per year for a decade and, Jeff wrote, “of late some commentators have found it fitting to brand the PNG economy a ‘tiger economy’; once a brand that the PNG nation could only wish for.” But all is not as it may appear.

9 - BRA was the root of bloody civil conflict in Bougainville (Leonard Fong Roka). “In October 1992 I was a kid roaming around parts of the Kieta and the Bana districts in South Bougainville with Bougainville Revolutionary Army ‘A’ Company bodyguard unit. The unit was attached to my relative, the late Autonomous Bougainville Government president Joseph Kabui, who at the time was vice president of the Bougainville Interim Government.”

9 - Pre-independence PNG stamps are still a delight (Peter Kranz). “I used to collect stamps when I was a kid and recently re-discovered my old album at my old Dad's house. I found to my delight that I had a few Papua and New Guinea stamps dating from the 1960's.”

PNG Attitude's writing fellowships are off and running

KEITH JACKSON

WITH OUR FREELANCE WRITING project in its early days, ten far-sighted and committed readers have already indicated they will sponsor PNG Attitude’s Writing Fellowships for 2012-13.

And we hope there will be more readers who feel they can support this initiative in freelance journalism (contact PNG Attitude here).

The project is intended to complement the annual Crocodile Prize, now administered by the new Papua New Guinea Society of Writers, Editors and Publishers (SWEP), in strengthening PNG’s national literature and journalism.

The fellowships – valued at $500 (K1,000) each - will provide year-round incentive, encouragement and recognition to those writers selected as recipients.

The number of recipients is entirely dependent upon funding subscribed by PNG Attitude readers, organisations and informal groups.

PNG Attitude will rank worthy recipients in order of need, and the fellowships will be offered according to that ranking.

The expectation is that recipients will provide an average of two pieces of creative writing each month to be published in PNG Attitude and elsewhere if they wish.

When PNG Attitude was first established, it was hard work to encourage Papua New Guinean writers to contribute, and even harder to have them contribute under their own names.

This has changed markedly in the last few years to the great benefit of readers' knowledge and understanding of present day PNG.

It has also led to many writers coming to public attention, many of them being held in great esteem for their skill, creativity, perspectives and courage.

Further, PNG Attitude has been a powerful motivating influence in encouraging writing in all its forms, and especially in describing and analysing the issues and affairs of present day PNG.

PNG Attitude’s Writing Fellowships will recognise and reward these writers – and writers who are yet to emerge from the shadows. And, through these fellowships, PNG Attitude will guarantee writers at least one paid publishing outlet.

If you would like to sponsor an emergent Papua New Guinean writer, contact PNG Attitude here for further details.

Announcing the PNG Attitude writers’ fellowships

KEITH JACKSON

IT’S A THOUGHT THAT’S BEEN BUZZING around my mind for some time now. And I believe that, in this case, it’s a good thought.

The idea is: how do we (in the PNG Attitude sense of collective ‘we’) adequately recognise and reward those Papua New Guinean writers who – over the last 3-5 years – have made this blog the ‘go-to’ place that it is.

Writers who have, I might add, contributed hugely to our readers’ knowledge and understanding of present day PNG.

The thought reached resolution at Neutral Bay's Oaks hotel yesterday as I was having lunch with Ingrid and our son Ben, who's been an occasional contributor to these columns. (The picture is of the three of us in Hanoi two years ago.)

So here’s the proposal. (And, yes, it involves money.)

PNG Attitude wants to be able to pay Papua New Guinean writers who are regular contributors to this website.

To give you some names: Martyn Namorong; Emma Wakpi; Leonard Roka; Francis Nii; Charlotte Vada; Reg Renagi; Erasmus Baraniak; Joe Wasia; Lapieh Landu; and Sil Bolkin.

As well as Jimmy Drekore; Nou Vada; Bernard Yegiora; Michael Dom; Jeff Febi; Samuel Roth; Ganjiki D Wayne; Poyap Rooney; Paulus Ripa; Don Tapio; Manuai Matawai; Sioni Ruma; John Wali….

And the rest.

There are about 20 names there and I could easily double that. And, when we start paying, I'm sure we’ll quadruple the number of eligible writers.

The point is this. We want to encourage (and reward) original, quality, Papua New Guinean writing and perspectives on this blog.

For so long as we’re not taking ads (another unresolved argument I’ve had with myself), we need to rely on readers to provide the support.

Here are the brief and easy guidelines for our new fellowships:

You will sponsor a writer (who we will select on your behalf) for $500 a year

The writer’s task will be to provide at least two articles/poems/stories to PNG Attitude each month

The sponsor (you) will be credited (if that’s OK) alongside each published piece

We will pay each writer the $500 (no admin charges at the Attitude)

The outcome of this project, we believe, will be the initial development of a system of paid-for freelance writing in PNG.

The returns for the writers, something like K80-100 ($40-50) an article at best, will not be a King’s ransom. But the compensation will at least be something, which I am reliably informed is mostly better than nothing.

And when that bank transfer for $500 arrives in the account, it will be a bit of a blast for the writer. Reward and recognition; what we all want.

So drop me an email here telling me you’re in for $500 and I’ll let you know how to proceed.

And, of course, I’m good for the first $500. I hope we may be able to secure 10-12 fellowships for 2012-13. That'd be a good start.

Dig deep (or ask your organisation, club or work colleagues to dig deep). Thank you.

PNG Attitude’s most commented upon stories in August

KEITH JACKSON

CRIKEY, IT’S BEEN A HECTIC SIX MONTHS. I was called back from semi-retirement to try to revive an ailing business, then to shut it down, then to create another with Phoenix aspirations, and ended up in hospital for a spinal operation to get me properly mobile and pain-free again.

Throughout all this, though, PNG Attitude continued its remorseless effort to ensure that a good and lively dialogue is maintained between people from Papua New Guinea and Australia who are interested in issues, politics, society and the things that make us a bit better.

Nowhere is this dialogue exemplified more than in the Comments section of this blog, where the debate is often robust but the mood polite.

(I ignore and send to that great virtual shredder in the sky the occasional death threats and sexual abuse I receive; unfortunately that’s all part of a day’s work on the internet. There are some poor, shrivelled souls out there. You can only feel sorry for them.)

But, for the rest of us, onwards and upwards.

So now to the most commented upon stories we ran in August….

23 comments - A long week's journey through nothing very much (Keith Jackson). Ten days in hospital for spinal surgery slowed down your editor a bit and this piece heralded a recovery of sorts, although an anaesthetised brain didn’t make for easy writing.. I remain deeply grateful for the many expressions of support I received at this time.

19 - Affirmative action for our women MPs – I say stuff it! (Ganjiki D Wayne). It was suggested in PNG that a ‘global target’ of at least 30% be set for the number of women MPs. A testy Ganjiki begged to differ – “I say stuff the global target!”

16 – PNG minister bars foreign media from Manus Island (RNZI). PNG banned foreign journalists from visiting Manus to cover arrangements for processing asylum seekers. Readers were divided on whether this was a good idea or not.

15 - Julie Soso, women’s advocate, elected to parliament (Keith Jackson). There was great delight when a third woman was elected to the PNG parliament in one of the biggest boilovers of the 2012 national election. Julie Soso (Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party) is a community leader in the Eastern Highlands.

15 - Democracy, custom & the elasticity of the Melanesian Way (Susan Merrell). Susan asked “is there a democratic Papua New Guinean nation - or is it merely an arbitrary state built on a shaky, crumbling foundation of disparate traditional customs and the Melanesian Way?” A boisterous debate ensued on whether there is a ‘Melanesian Way’.

11 - Seabed mining: a lot of reasons we don’t need it (Martyn Namorong). Martyn took issue with the former Somare government's decision to allow Nautilus Minerals to mine the Bismarck Sea and current Mining Minister Byron Chan's decision to maintain the status quo.

11 - Don’t just sit there – do something, and do it now! (Phil Fitzpatrick). “Three years ago I wrote an article for the Post Courier’s Independence Day supplement bemoaning the decline of literature in Papua New Guinea. Since then we’ve had two years of the Crocodile Prize literary competition, which conclusively proved I was awry in my assessment.”

10 - ‘Markham Tom’, big-hearted PNG pioneer, dies at 83 (Max Uechtritz). Comments on the death of the remarkable Tom Leahy, Papua New Guinea pioneer, planter and politician.

9 - Origin, black v white, & racism: God has the answers (Ganjiki D Wayne). “Many years ago the Western world, that is, Caucasian man, determined that the black man was not man at all. They believed that the darker race was not a race. The black man was a stage of evolution somewhere between the apes and Caucasian man.” Well that was bound to start an argument.

9 - Melanesian capitalism or capitalist Melanesia? (Phil Fitzpatrick). “I am a great fan of the colour grey, as opposed to black and white, which some people maintain are not colours at all. This is another way of saying there are nuances to everything. Good people and bad people are not necessarily good or bad all the time; good people can do bad things and vice versa. So it is with social and political systems.”

A long week's journey through nothing very much

KEITH JACKSON

I CAN SENSE IT'S going to be a struggle writing this. I've  already made 18 errors and I've just clambered to the end of the first paragraph. Hurray!

I've been in hospital - a very good hospital, St Vincent's in Sydney, for major surgery on my back. There were some complications and I'm only just learning to walk again.

This is the first time since the blog started seven years ago that we've been off the air for more than a couple of days, no matter where in the world I happened to be. But the world of illness is another place.

I think of my good friend Francis Nii up there in Kundiawa, who will need a miracle to ever walk again. All I required was an excellent surgeon.I won't name him. He's a gruff man and wouldn't appreciate the compliment.

So, after a week, I am now on the mend and, shaky though I may be on the keyboard, this will come good too.

Let me apologise to you two thousand or so readers, who might have missed your daily dose of analysis, controversy and issues. Let me assure you it's on the way back.

And let me especially apologise for the couple of photo mix-ups in the "new MP" series I wrote just before entering hospital - they will corrected soon.

And now allow me to go. These few words have quite exhausted a brain that's not quite itself - and it's time to practice that creeping gait that passes for attempts at walking right now.

See you tomorrow.

PNG Attitude’s most commented upon articles in July

KEITH JACKSON

AT THE END OF EACH MONTH we survey the stories in PNG Attitude that attracted the most comments from readers. The summary provides an accurate view of the themes and issues that resonate with readers motivate them to take up their quills and rattle off a some volleys of approbation, indignation or enhancement.

July was a month of voting, counting of votes and the associated political analysis in Papua New Guinea. It was also a month in which Australians were in one of their rare moments of focusing on PNG; with much journalistic breast-beating about what they’d done wrong.

It’s all a little bizarre, really. But nothing can take away from the fact that – each five years – Papua New Guineans turn out to vote in a democratic process that, no matter that it be flawed, sometimes horribly so, exists, is committed to and results in a largely peaceful handover of the reins of government. I find it quite inspirational.

Anyway, let’s look at the stories that got our readers fired up and writing during July. We've provided links to each of them; just click through….

21 comments - Loujaya Toni – a life of music, politics & poetry…. (Keith Jackson). When academic, journalist, singer and poet Loujaya Toni shocked a strong field of male contenders to become Papua New Guinea’s newest female parliamentarian, it proved to be an event that resonated within and outside PNG.

20 comments - Road to hell is paved with religion & westernisation (Martyn Namorong). You can count on Martyn to take the pin out of the grenade, engender some danger and trigger a degree of excitement from readers. This was he case when PNG’s best known purveyor of buai turned his attention to westernisation and development – which he saw as a cover for “the greedy white ruling class decid[ing] to loot the rest of the world's nations of their wealth they carried with them their laws, their customs, their government, their technology, their diseases and their religion.”

18 comments - Time for action with dysfunctional, violent PNG (Geoffrey Barker). The Australian Financial Review journalist set the cat amongst the pigeons when he argued that “it has been downhill all the way since Australia, under international anti-colonial pressure, granted independence to Papua New Guinea in September 1975.”

15 comments - In defence of Belden Namah & his leadership (Simon Simbiken). Belden comes in for a fair bit of stick and most people would probably agree that he deserves it, but Simon offered another perspective of a man who he said “has unique leadership qualities generally lacking in Papua New Guinea's political arena”.

14 comments - What should Australia do? What can Australia do? (Paul Oates with a comment from David Kitchnoge). Continuing the election-driven introspection, Oates observed that “Australian commentators and journalists have recently identified a large island immediately to our north”. Then he posed the question, ‘Why would a similar system of government practised in both Australia and PNG work in one country and not another?’ The answer he proposed – tribalism – set hounds and hares running.

11 comments - Dame Carol pushes to decriminalise homosexuality in PNG (Elise Kinsella). This is always a topic guaranteed to stimulate controversy. Fortunately we were spared the worst excesses of homophobic abuse in a debate where commentators exercised commendable restraint in expressing often strongly-held views.

10 comments - At long last, Kiaps to be honoured by their country (Ian McPhedran). “Hundreds of former kiaps who served with the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary between 1949 and 1973 have become eligible to receive the Police Overseas Medal.” A well-deserved honour, most people might think, but not everyone agreed.

9 comments - Keepin' the fire alive: Loujaya Toni has just won Lae (Keith Jackson). “In one of the real shock results of the current Papua New Guinea elections, activist, poet and singer Loujaya Toni has just won the seat of Lae.”

8 comments - Politics without principle; wealth without work.... (Trev Shelley). Don’t blame Australia for PNG’s failings, Trev argued, look at our own countrymen who try to sneak out of their shortcomings by deflecting blame on the former colonial master.

8 comments - ‘Markham Tom’, big-hearted PNG pioneer, dies at 83 (Max Uechtritz). “The remarkable Tom Leahy – Papua New Guinea pioneer, planter and politician – passed away in Toowoomba aged 83.” When great men die, the rest of us pause, reflect and are thankful for their life’s work.

7 comments - Wolves, sheeple & the illusion of two choices (Martyn Namorong). “Are Peter O'Neill and Belden Namah the best Papua New Guinea can produce to be prime minister? What about the rest?” asked our resident controversialist, remarking that reducing the leadership option to two men was a false choice.

7 comments - Oops, there goes the dynasty… Arthur loses seat (Keith Jackson). “Arthur Somare, former minister and son of Papua New Guinea's Grand Chief, this afternoon lost his seat of Angoram in the East Sepik Province.” The heir apparent, and a man whose actions were often regarded with suspicion, has had his political career at least temporarily put on hold. I feel relieved, he said; not entirely convincingly.

With the editor hospitalised for a short time, PNG Attitude is operating under some constraints. Please bear with us

Milestones flash by as our readership grows

KEITH JACKSON

AT SOME POINT IN THE NEXT five days, PNG Attitude’s readership meter will tick over and register that we have had a million page views over the six year life of this blog.

We journalists love milestones and it can be too easy to overstate their importance. After all, they are mere numbers that mark just another step in a journey.

But they can trigger reflection about what makes a project like this successful and what it might take to ensure its sustainability.

The first part of the thought bubble is the easiest to address. In my view there are three main components of these swelling readership numbers: provocative writing; the Crocodile Prize association; and the often pungent commentary by readers.

Last August I wrote with some satisfaction that PNG Attitude’s average daily readership had passed the 1,000 mark; over the last three months it has averaged 1,700, a remarkable increase.

Our readers, of course, are also our commentators and it’s nearly two years ago that we began to publish rankings of the most commented upon articles each month.

I took a bit of time out to search for what have been the most commented on of all. Here they are:

PNG Attitude's most commented upon articles in June

KEITH JACKSON

DON’T ASK ME HOW it happens. I’ve long since stopped worrying how PNG Attitude finds sufficient resources to keep itself going day after day, month after month. But it does.

A combination of mainstream media reporting, gleanings from PNG-related stories that otherwise struggle to see the light of day, and – of critical importance – contributions from our own 100 or so more-or-less regular writers. Bless you.

And it should come as no surprise that usually the most commented upon articles each month are those written specifically for PNG Attitude. This month, they represent seven of the top 10.

So why is this? What drives readers to respond as they do?

My guess is that PNG Attitude contributors tend to rise above the bland and go for the intellectual jugular: pointed commentary, shameless controversialism, incisive analysis (calling a spade a wooden-handled, metal-bladed digging implement, er...) and the candid take-no-prisoners criticism.

Which is just as we like it, and long may it continue. 

And when what we do is old hat, and everyone's doing it, we’ll go away. But that doesn’t look like it’ll be anytime soon.

And so to this month’s most remarked upon articles….

1st (26 comments) Bob Carr finds political events in PNG 'confusing' [Keith Jackson]. “The events [in Papua New Guinea last week] were most certainly confusing,” foreign minister Senator Bob Carr told reporters in Canberra early in the month. Whah? Australia’s work experience FM needs to learn the difference between what you say to your wife and what you say in public.

2nd (19) China (and its workers) will rebuild highlands highway [Firmin Nanol]. China is about to provide PNG with a so-called ‘soft’ loan of $3 billion to rehabilitate road infrastructure. Part of the 30 year deal is that Chinese workers will be used, which seems like an invitation to a strife party.

3rd= (16) Reports of major election failures in Hela Province [Reginald Renagi]. Elections in the Hela Province got the PNG poll off to a rocky start with ballot boxes and voting papers hijacked or destroyed. There were also serious problems with the electoral roll, bribery, thuggery and general sneakery. A few PNG blogger Pollyannas thought this was OK. The only OK thing in reality was the avoidance of widespread violence. But as this was written the count was just beginning.

3rd= (16) Good stuff & bad stuff about the Crocodile Prize [Keith Jackson]. There’s a lot that’s gone right with the 2012 Crocodile Prize. And a bit that’s gone wrong. The right was real good – record entrants, record entries, record sponsors, better organisation. The wrong was Australia (at the level of DFAT in Canberra) not coming to the part on an initiative that’s generally agreed to be of great importance.

5th= (15) Many MPs in PNG have wasted the people's money [Joe Wasia]. In Papua New Guinea political candidates, especially in national elections, come up with constructive and attractive policies to be elected to parliament. However, Joe argued, they are “goats in sheep’s coating”. About 75% of all Papua New Guineans still live in rural areas where there is no basic infrastructure, health, education or roads.

5th= (15) How to make PNG a regional middle power by 2050 [Francis Hualupmomi]. Francis offered a strategic calculus for the Papua New Guinea government to navigate PNG through the uncertain environment of the early 21st century. He argued that PNG should translate its resources into becoming a regional power.

7th (13) Could PNG create a truly Melanesian parliament? [Paul Oates]. What is the most appropriate form of government for PNG? It was bequeathed Westminster, which has held the country together (a monumental achievement) but not worked according to Hoyle in terms of the integrity of constitution, parliament or judiciary. Perhaps time for a rethink, proposed Paul Oates.

8th (12) Belden Namah proves his critics wrong, by Belden [Belden Namah]. “It is a shame that the prime minister Peter O’Neil [sic] is crying foul when all along he was collaborating with the PNG Electoral Commissioner, Mr Andrew Trawen, and the so-called Australian expert advisors advising through Australian High Commissioner, Mr Ian Kemish, for opposing the deferral of the 2012 elections.” You can click through to Belden’s eccentric take on the mid-election political scene.

9th= (10) West Papua conflict is infiltration & rape of Melanesia [Leonard Fong Roka]. Leonard’s thesis is that the conflict in West Papua is a signal to the rest of Melanesia to be aware. “The grip on [our] ancient cultural and political tranquillity is being lost by our brothers in West Papua.”

9th= (10) Your muruk might be my emu – PNG motives & perspectives [Phil Fitzpatrick]. This elegant piece persuasively proposed that mutual cultural awareness is critical in consolidating an effective relationship between PNG and Australia – and that this obvious prerequisite is not observed by the generality of Australian government or private intervention in PNG.

Our readers succeed in getting Francis Nii to Moresby
GOAL ACHIEVED!
The disabled Simbu writer Francis Nii, who lives in a ward at Kundiawa Hospital, will travel to Port Moresby in September to participate in the Crocodile Prize and to conduct a seminar on the issues and challenges of being a writer in a regional area of Papua New Guinea.
Donors (with more to come): Corney K & Tanya Alone; Michelle Moss; Jim Drekore; Trevor Freestone; Anonymous; Keith Jackson; Robin Lillicrap; Anne Griffin; TM; Ed Brumby; Geoffrey Jones; Peter Kranz; David Wall.  Familiar names in there and heartfelt thanks to you all.

PNG Attitude’s most commented upon articles in May

KEITH JACKSON

MAY WAS ANOTHER BIG MONTH for PNG Attitude’s army of commentators, who keep our contributors honest and our readers enthralled.

Political events in Papua New Guinea confused Bob Carr (not our commentators) but not even Belden Namah could stop the national elections, now just a couple of weeks away.

And Martyn Namorong embarked on his Take the Truth to Australia Tour, electrifying the hundreds of people who met him and the many more who heard him on radio and television and who read his revelatory Melbourne Age article on the Australia-PNG relationship. The tour was made possible by the generosity and foresight of PNG Attitude readers.

The Crocodile Prize national literary contest, which wound up at the end of May, continues to provide some first rate writing and unearthed a bunch of new literary talent in PNG. The prize is another PNG Attitude initiative that continues to bear fruit, and we also thank the PNG Post-Courier and the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby for their seminal roles in this great project.

And so to the stories that, in May, drew the most active interest from readers:

1st (20 comments) A salute – and a caveat - to the activists of PNG (Martyn Namorong). “Activists, we salute you for your courage. You are doing a great thing by showing the government the people have a voice – that O’Neill and the whole parliament have forgotten that they are accountable to us.” It was a big month for PNG’s best known blogger. Just before he left on his Australian tour, Namorong was part of a collective that organised a 10,000 person protest against the PNG government’s threat to defer national elections and a protracted attack on the judiciary.

2nd= (15) Australia not a good friend: Namorong in 'The Age' (Martyn Namorong). “I'm on my first visit to Australia right now - and what an introduction to your country. A two-week run of four major cities where I'm meeting politicians, journalists and ordinary Australians.” And serving it up to a dilatory Australia where he thought the criticism was deserved.

2nd= (15) What my fathers taught me: a tribute (Emma Wakpi). The scourge of male violence against women is one of the big issues facing PNG society. Here Emma reflects upon the male influences in her life and is able to offer a heartwarming story of love and dedication to family.

3rd (13) Diplomatic ruckus: envoy tells off Aussie journo (Douglas Marau). PNG’s high commissioner to Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, Brian Yombon-Copio, refutes claims by Australian freelance journalist Susan Merrell that his explanaton of events in PNG was anything other than correct and proper.

4th= (11) Catholic church attitude on condoms promotes misery (Peter Kranz). With PNG having one of the most serious HIV/AIDS epidemics in the Asia-Pacific, the Catholic church is urged to address issues of common humanity and get off its high horse.

4th= (11) - Namah: Feathers fly as the point man weighs in (Hamish McDonald). “PNG has seen plenty of political wild men – but has there been anything like Belden Namah, the present deputy prime minister?”

4th= (11) Namah says he'll nominate O’Neill to be PM (Eoin Blackwell). After the deputy speaker unexpectedly threw open prime minister’s position, Belden Naamah said he’d back incumbent Peter O’Neill. But will ti be the same story after the elections?

7th= (10) - PNG’s ‘phantom poets’ – is this Ern Malley revisited? (Russell Soaba). One of its top literary figures exposes the blight of pseudonyms that inflicts PNG writing, often used to cover up scurrilous attacks, especially on social media and in The National newspaper.

7th= (10) Plesman's postscript to the political impasse (Nou Vada). “We will go to elections. Not even Somare can stop the elections... and if he does, I will gladly take to the streets again to remind them that it is my right to vote.” One of the organisers of the 10,000-people protest reminds the politicians that the people can be boss if they organise.

Martyn sees the darkness of those neon lights

BY MURRAY BLADWELL & KEITH JACKSON

LATE LAST NIGHT, Martyn Namorong saw the grimmer side of Brisbane as he continued his tour of Australia with a three-hour hour encounter with street people in the capital of the Sunshine State.

Martyn accompanied the Drug Arm team of four volunteers on their evening run through the city and Fortitude Valley areas. By the end of the evening he was totally coffeed-out, dead tired – and thinking deeply about his experience.

As he moved through the more depressed parts of the city, Martyn used Twitter to express his feelings:

-- i feel like the guys am meeting on the street are my wan lain

-- the coffee provided by Drug Arm is better than Kurrajong Hotel

-- on the road in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane with Drug Arm team

-- disturbed my neuro-chemical balance with too much coffee

--meeting interesting people tonight … lovely people

-- some things about myself make sense tonight … trying to cope with life

-- i understand myself more tonight meeting my street friends

-- seeing the darkness of neon lights in Brisbane

Thursday had begun with a visit to Lone Pine Koala sanctuary. The joke of the day was a photo of Martyn in front of a large mob of kangaroos, when he quipped, as he gestured towards them, "My first successful address to a totally Australian audience".

The three presentations were highly successful. Over 30 participants were attracted to the University of Queensland session: peace scholars (one later commented, “I really appreciated what he had to say. What an honour!“), many post-graduate students (including six from PNG) and a large number of researchers and academic staff.

Martyn struck a chord with many of them and elicited a number of sympathetic questions and statements of support for the clarity of his perspective on PNG issues.

Martyn's afternoon get-together with about 15 PNG post-graduate students at the Queensland University of Technology campus was like a homecoming.

He provided a catalyst to their musings about the PNG condition, leading to passionate statements of agreement as to the course of action all should follow on their return to PNG and how they might assist their local communities.

There was later a rapid exchange of email, twitter and facebook contacts with the undertaking that the group collectively discuss and posit practical ways to address issues critical to PNG 's future. Much coffee drinking concluded the session.

Early in the evening 35 members of the Toowong Rotary Club were enthralled by Martyn's power-point presentation which challenged the stereotypical views many people hold about PNG.

He created many ‘light-bulb moments’ for members of the audience.

The club had modified its regular program to ensure Martyn had the maximum time available for his presentation. The question and answer session which followed was highly productive, indicating that he had spurred his audience to think about PNG in a new light.

Many members commented that Martyn was one of the most stimulating guest speakers they had heard in a long time. It takes a lot to elicit such praise from Rotarians!

Martyn was also able to advise the Rotary District Governor's PNG advisor on possible ways in which the Lae-Bulolo Rotary Club might be able assist Sepik settlers who had their houses destroyed in inter-communal rioting last year.

Later today, Martyn will be interviewed by ABC Radio Brisbane and then front a long-awaited meeting with some 25 friends of PNG, Attitude contributors and resident wantoks at the Sherwood Services Club.

Namorong offers candid views on Aussie politicians

BY KEITH JACKSON

AS MARTYN NAMORONG FLIES OUT OF CANBERRA for Brisbane’s warmer climes this morning, he can sit back in his seat and contemplate a highly successful visit to Australia’s national capital.

And he will be reflecting on the calibre of some of the leading Australian political figures he met; being particularly unimpressed by parliamentary secretary for Pacific island affairs, Richard Marles MP.

Take the Truth to Australia was planned as an opportunity for a young Papua New Guinean intellectual to provide Australians with a somewhat different perspective of PNG than they may have been accustomed to previously.

A first-hand view of how the situation looks from the streets and from the villages.

Generally, Martyn’s messages fell on fertile ground.

The messages that Australia must do better for PNG in the area of more precisely targeting aid, reviewing how Australian resources companies operate, trying to understand Melanesian culture and identity, and ensuring that the people-to-people relationship works more productively.

Martyn was impressed by the interest shown in PNG amongst the politicians they met, as well as being somewhat surprised of the ignorance of PNG issues shown by a number of them, even by some members of the prestigious foreign affairs sub-committee.

This speaks of the failure of people like parliamentary secretary Marles to communicate more effectively, even to members of Parliament, about the strategic importance of the Australia-PNG relationship.

And the fact that foreign minister Bob Carr has yet to make his first foray to our nearest neighbour amplifies the “benign neglect” that Martyn Namorong wrote of in last week’s eloquent and stirring article in the Melbourne Age.

Early this morning Martyn 'tweeted' short grabs of his impressions of some of the political meetings he had yesterday. A couple of his comments are scathing:

I hope Bob Carr's advisor [Ed Vrkic] got the message I conveyed. No excuses for future stuff-ups.

Got great gifts [of support] from Senators Bob Brown and Anne McEwen.

Will never forget Alan Griffin MP; got real practical advice. Thanks dude.

Julie Bishop has certainly done a good job understanding PNG but she still has gaps.

If you thought John Howard was bad for Melanesia, try talking to Richard Marles.

Wherever he has gone on this tour, Martyn has spoken with elegance and intelligence about the real PNG. And because he is not a diplomat or politician and did not have to adopt weasel words, he could 'tell the truth' about the real situation on the ground.

This has been both a refreshing advocacy and a required realism.

In every one of his 10 or so radio and television interviews, he has given his audience clear insights into PNG as it really is.

Martyn is in Brisbane until he returns home on Sunday – more meetings, more speeches and more media.

He's been rather too busy to undertake any serious writing in the last little while – and, like you I expect, I eagerly wait to read in more detail his views of Australia and the people he met here.

But I think we can get a taste of what is to come from these brief notes on Facebook:

I have never felt so much responsibility my entire life. I have had to present to our colonial power the story of a people whose 50,000 year history has predominantly been one of an independent sovereign people....

Australians think PNG is a problematic place because they want to understand PNG from a western perspective.

Once you try to make them understand PNG from a Melanesian perspective they become defensive of their western world view and switch to 'patronising mode'.

An appropriate response for a Melanesian is to remind Australians that their western model of development has largely been a failure throughout Melanesia.

If you want to meet Martyn in Brisbane there will be an opportunity to do so informally on Friday from 3pm at the Sherwood Services Club, Corinda, near the railway station. Call Murray Bladwell on 0413 057 673

Martyn Namorong facing a day of political encounters

BY KEITH JACKSON

“PAPUA NEW GUINEA NEEDS FRIENDS in Canberra,” Martyn Namorong observed to me on the phone yesterday after his meeting with foreign affairs sub-committee chairman, Nick Champion MP, and today the writer and blogger will put in hard yards to achieve just that.

His day begins early with a meeting with Ed Vrkic, foreign minister Bob Carr’s adviser on PNG and the Pacific.

The message here will be identical to that which Martyn proposed to parliamentary secretary Richard Marles last night: that more be done to facilitate relationships between young Australian and PNG professionals by the respective governments jointly initiating an exchange program aimed at building better relationships for the future.

Following this meeting, Martyn will talk first with Alan Griffin MP and then with Laurie Ferguson MP, both members of the foreign affairs sub-committee, before meeting with shadow foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop MP.

There will be an informal public get-together at the Hotel Kurrajong from 4-5.30pm (call Ben Jackson on 0417 407 565) before Martyn and Ben have dinner with Senator Anne McEwen, chief government Senate whip and secretary of the Australia-Papua New Guinea parliamentary friendship group.

This pleasant encounter will end a busy two days in Canberra for Martyn, who will have held eight meetings with politicians, hosted two forums and participated in an extensive radio interview on the ABC as well as visiting the Rabaul and Montevideo Maru memorial, to be inaugurated on 1 July.

He will arrive in Brisbane early tomorrow afternoon, where he will be taken on a tour of the city before addressing Toowong Rotary Club in the evening.

If you want to meet Martyn in Brisbane there will be an opportunity to do so informally on Friday from 3pm at the Sherwood Services Club, Corinda, near the railway station. Call Murray Bladwell on 0413 057 673