Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG ATTITUDE

Winning hearts: China makes splashes in the Pacific

ALFRED SASAKO | Islands Business

IT’S NOT OFTEN THAT PACIFIC Islands Forum leaders meet the Chinese leadership on Chinese soil. But things are changing.

In November, Pacific Forum Leaders will converge on China’s eastern coastal city of Guanzhou for the first Sino-Pacific Forum Leaders’ summit. Beijing is expected to use the opportunity to showcase the power of its growing economy.

The world’s third largest economy will, among other things, announce a US$1 billion soft loan facility it is offering Pacific Islands governments during the three-day China-Forum Leaders’ summit from 9 November.

The hosting of the historic summit also heralds the advent of a new player in the game plan to, not only have a slice of the Pacific, but win the hearts of its citizens and governments struggling to make ends meet.

Papua & security on agenda at PNG-Indonesia talks

JAKARTA GLOBE

ON A THREE-DAY VISIT to Indonesia over this weekend, Papua New Guinea prime minister Peter O’Neill is discussing the key issues of trade, border security and extradition.

“We want to encourage further strengthening of trade and investment opportunities between the two countries,” Mr O’Neill said.

The prime minister added that he will talk about ways to develop economic opportunities along border areas as well as strengthening the management of border issues.

Complications emerge in PNG’s relations with China

ROWAN CALLICK | The Australian

PAPUA NEW GUINEA's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has written to Public Enterprises Minister Ben Micah asking him to review a $300 million deal with China's ZTE Corporation and China Great Wall Industry Corp for a communications satellite.

This is the latest of a series of complications in the relationship between PNG and China, which was for many years warm but remained chiefly diplomatic.

More recently, however, soft loans through the Export-Import Bank of China and other Chinese channels have facilitated much closer engagement, with Chinese companies taking a prominent role in development projects around the country - resulting in some tough lessons starting to be learned on both sides.

Are Papua New Guineans stealing Australian jobs?

COLIN FILER | Development Policy Blog

VIEWERS OF THE ABC’s 7.30 Report on 28 May might have been alarmed by a story that represented half a dozen Papua New Guinean diesel mechanics on 457 visas as a threat to the livelihoods of upstanding white citizens in the coal mining communities of northern New South Wales. 

As reporter Matt Peacock put it: ‘What makes it worse for the Gunnedah locals is that while they’ve been sacked, six Papua New Guinean workers brought in on 457 visas have kept their jobs as diesel fitters, doing maintenance on the big coal trucks.’ 

The Papua New Guineans in question were understandably reluctant to be interviewed, mindful perhaps of Julia Gillard’s complaints about the ‘rorting’ of the 457 visa scheme.

Solomons increases presence on border with PNG

RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL

THE SOLOMON ISLANDS government says it is increasing its presence on the maritime border with Papua New Guinea with the construction of housing for border control officers in Choiseul Province.

Ten houses have been funded by AusAID in partnership with the government within the premises of the Taro Police Station.

Choiseul Province lies between the Autonomous Province of Bougainville and Santa Isabel in the western Solomon Islands.

Defence: Australia should be a leader & not a fool

STEPHEN SCHMIDT

NOT MANY YEARS AGO Australia was at the forefront in putting pressure on the Papua New Guinea government to reduce the size of the PNG Defence Force.

While at the same time Australia is helping Indonesia to build up its army by training and providing equipment for the Indonesian military, TNI.

Indonesia spends billions each year on its armed forces while PNG spends only a few million to keep our DF from falling apart.

The PNGDF needs help to rebuild, re-equip and be a nation builder. Australia can play a role in this by providing the funding and training that is needed.

Defence cooperation benefits Australia not PNG

REBEL STRONG*

THE RECENT SIGNING OF THE Defence Cooperation Agreement with Australia lacks input from the Papua New Guinea Defence Force and other security agencies of the Papua New Guinea government.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill should have listened to advice from these agencies before inking the Agreement. Instead, the O’Neill government has pledged to continue its long-standing allegiance to Australian imperialism.

The Australians are aiding PNG with ideas that are out-dated and will not benefit PNG at all. The advice from the PNGDF to the prime minister was that he should not have signed the agreement before a PNGDF White Paper was prepared, which will also be PNG’s National Security Policy.

Pacific trade talks 'waste of time' says PNG minister

SAMISONI PARETI | ABC

OFFICIALS FROM PAPUA NEW GUINEA say they are considering withdrawing from free trade negotiations between Pacific Island countries and Australia and New Zealand.

PNG's Trade Minister, Richard Maru, today told a meeting of trade ministers from the Melanesian Spearhead Group that his country was considering withdrawing from Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) negotiations.

"My country is not interested in PACER Plus, our focus is the MSG Trade Agreement," Minister Maru told a press conference convened at the end of the meeting at the Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa in Nadi.

PNG’s death penalty plans a ‘major setback’: UN

UN HIGH COMMISSIONER ON HUMAN RIGHTS

THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE has expressed serious concern over Papua New Guinea’s announcement that it will resume the death penalty more than half a century since it last carried out an execution, stressing this would represent “a major setback” for the country.

“The High Commissioner has written to the prime minister stating her concerns about the planned resumption of the death penalty, and is calling on the Government to maintain its moratorium,” said Rupert Colville (pictured), spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, during a press briefing in Geneva

Colville said there is growing number of UN member states that have abolished the practice, including 11 in the Pacific.

Julia spends a pretty banal 3 days in Moresby. Why?

KEITH JACKSON

I’M ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD but, by reading the lines and between the lines, I’m going to analyse Australian prime minister Julia Gillard’s just completed three-day visit, nominally but not substantively to Papua New Guinea.

Strangely, Ms Gillard's first visit to PNG was spent entirely in Port Moresby.

I wonder who was the last national leader to visit Australia to spend all three days in Canberra.

Ms Gillard had her visit preceded by a succession of underlings - the increasingly impressive parliamentary secretary Matt Thistlethwaite and the consistently unimpressive foreign minister Bob Carr. Clearly some issues were on the table and some ‘announceables’ ready to release.

But none turned out to be truly earth-shattering.

Peter O’Neill calls for easier Australian visa access

LIAM FOX | ABC

PNG PRIME MINISTER, PETER O’NEILL is now leading the charge for improved arrangements for Papua New Guineans seeking visas to enter Australia.

"Our people find existing visa arrangements very frustrating," he said. "Some regard them as insulting."

Addressing Australian PM Julia Gillard, he said: "Prime Minister I'm aware that citizens of around 40 countries can access what is known as the ETA visa, which enables them swift access for their trips to Australia.

"Unfortunately your closest neighbour, your best friend, is not one of the 40 countries on that list."

Julia Gillard can offer PNG one big thing – visas

KEITH JACKSON

OF COURSE IT’S NOT up to PNG Attitude to set challenges for the Australian prime minister, but let’s do it anyway.

If there was one friendly outcome that could be achieved by Julia Gillard’s three-day visit to Papua New Guinea that starts tomorrow it would be this.

Free up visa arrangements for Papua New Guineans who want to visit Australia.

This single issue is one that divides reality from Australia’s rhetoric that PNG is one of its most important international partners.

PNG's Pacific leadership: Is Fiji the start?

DONALD GUMBIS | The Interpreter | Lowy Institute

PRIME MINISTER PETER O'NEILL is acutely aware of the need to improve Papua New Guinea's international reputation.

Part of his plan to do this is to step up PNG's activities as a regional leader, as he explained during an interview at the Lowy Institute in November 2012.

This may explain his decision to extend K50 million in assistance to the Fiji government for its elections in 2014.

Asian century: Realigning policy with the opportunities

FRANCIS HUALUPMOMI

THE AIM OF THIS ARTICLE is to look at the significance of Asia in this 21st century and survey how PNG, as an emerging economic power in Pacific region, should realign her foreign policy.

This implies reorganising political, economic and strategic thoughts and resources to navigate through an uncertain environment with the strategic aim to gain the most optimal outcome.

The Asia-Pacific region is dynamic and becoming the geo-political, geo-economic and geo-strategic heartland of academic debate. The rise of China followed by India has structurally shaped States’ foreign policy behaviour.

Most analysts are questioning whether the current liberal order constructed by America would be replaced by rising China. If assumptions hold true, a ‘Sino-centric order’ with new rules of game, the ‘Beijing consensus’, will replace the ‘Washington consensus’.

Gillard and Bryce to visit PNG in late April, May

KEITH JACKSON

TWO PROMINENT AUSTRALIAN WOMEN, including prime minister Julia Gillard, will be visiting Papua New Guinea over the next few weeks.

In a strangely low-key announcement by the PNG Events Council, it has been revealed that Ms Gillard will be in PNG in early May, but no precise date or program has been announced.

And Governor-General Quentin Bryce is to participate in Anzac Day commemorations as part of a three-day visit from 23-25 April. Ms Bryce will visit Rabaul before attending the Anzac Day dawn service at the Bomana War Cemetery.

She will later inspect the Kokoda Track from a RAAF Black Hawk helicopter.

New Oz secretary Matt Thistlethwaite to visit PNG

AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSION

THE NEW AUSTRALIAN Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs and Multicultural Affairs, Matt Thistlethwaite, will visit Papua New Guinea from 14-18 April. It will be Senator Thistlethwaite’s first trip to Papua New Guinea.

During his visit Senator Thistlethwaite will meet with senior members of the PNG government. He will make the keynote address to the 29th Australia Papua New Guinea Business Forum and attend the 8th Commonwealth Youth Minister’s Meeting.

Senator Thistlethwaite will visit Bomana War Cemetery to pay his respect to all those service men and women who gave their lives in defence of PNG and Australia during the World War II. His program will also include a visit to the Australian-supported Pacific Adventist University School of Midwifery.

The genesis of conscripted teachers in the PIR, 1966-73

DAN WINKEL & TERRY EDWINSMITH

HENRY KEPPLE DACHS was a twin born to Jose and Elizabeth Dachs at Stanthorpe, Queensland in the 1930s.

After primary school he was sent to Brisbane Grammar School as a boarder with his twin brother Mathew (Matt). 

Both excelled academically, on the sports field andas Army Cadets. Both applied for and won scholarships to Duntroon.

Henry pulled out of attending the Royal Military College about five minutes before the train left South Brisbane Station, electing instead to do medicine at the University of Queensland.

Manus centre no place for kids says Oz refugee advisor

AAP

ASYLUM SEEKER CHILDREN and their families should be taken off Manus Island if the Australian government can't ensure adequate safeguards, a member of the government's asylum review panel says.

Australian authorities yesterday transferred the first group of asylum seekers to the processing centre in Papua New Guinea in two months.

But Paris Aristotle, part of the Australian government’s refugee review panel, says safeguards to reduce risks to mental health are not in place at the detention centre.

Time of great hope in PNG, says Ian Kemish

SEAN DORNEY | ABC

IAN KEMISH, THE SENIOR AUSTRALIAN DIPLOMAT who has just wound up a three-year posting as High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea, says Australians need to develop greater ‘regional literacy’ if they are to understand their near neighbours.

Late last month, Mr Kemish spoke in Brisbane as part of Griffith University's Asia lecture series. After his talk, I sat down with Mr Kemish to flesh out some of the issues he raised.

[Dorney]

You spent your childhood in Papua New Guinea and you've obviously been extremely interested in the place. But you mentioned that there seems to be a blind spot in Australia towards Papua New Guinea. Can you explain?

Gillard appoints secretary with no PNG experience

KEITH JACKSON

SENATOR MATT THISTLETHWAITE, 40, the new Australian parliamentary secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, has a colourful background across a range of  interests – but not one of them has anything to do with Papua New Guinea or the Pacific.

He is the first parliamentary secretary in this portfolio not to have relevant experience in the region.

Thistlethwaite was general secretary of NSW Labor from 2008-2010, having spent 14 years in the trades union movement.

His demise from the general secretary’s job was dramatic.

Blood on floor in Canberra as Gillard reigns supreme

STATEMENT BY THE HON RICHARD MARLES MP
PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR PACIFIC ISLAND AFFAIRS

TONIGHT I OFFERED my resignation as the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs and Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the Prime Minister.

This is a job I have loved and so it was a difficult decision. But in the circumstances of today's events I believed this to be the appropriate course. The Prime Minister has accepted my resignation.

Serving as Parliamentary Secretary has been the great honour of my professional life and I thank the Prime Minister for the opportunity.

Australia’s new high commissioner arrives in PNG

THE MASALAI BLOG

AUSTRALIA’S NEW HIGH COMMISSIONER to Papua New Guinea, Ms Deborah Stokes, arrived in Port Moresby on Monday. Ms Stokes replaces Ian Kemish.

“I am delighted to be in PNG at a very exciting time,” Ms Stokes said.

She said she wanted to meet people from all walks of life to gain an understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing Papua New Guinea.

Ms Stokes said that Australia and PNG have a very strong bilateral relationship, based on a shared history, strong people-to-people links, and deep trade and economic ties.

The USA is losing to China in Asia-Pacific influence

DAVID GONOL

THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION is a very strategic area in this 21st century as the world’s balance of economic and political power shifts.

Many nations in the region are taking the lead as the world seeks economic recovery after 2008’s financial crisis. Most notable is China. Its unprecedented economic growth has spurred its military growth and its influence in the region.

Because no other nation in the region or elsewhere has given China much of a challenge over the last two decades, its economic and military growth have been spectacular.

Only the US could have challenged China’s growth and influence in the region but, for the last two decades, the US was so preoccupied with the former USSR and then the crisis in the Middle East that it seemed to forget China and, apart from Afghanistan, the region.

So China grew to become a world power without opposition. Many now come to agree that China has attained superpower status peacefully.

'Woman of integrity’ mooted as Solomon Islands envoy

THE PAPUA NEW GUINEA government is seeking to appoint a woman of exceptional integrity as PNG’s High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands, foreign minister Rimbink Pato has said.

The post has been offered to Justice Catherine Davani of the PNG National and Supreme Courts.

Pato said that the High Commission in Honiara had been plagued with controversy for several years, which had brought disrepute and tarnished the image of PNG.

Justice Davani has had 28 years of legal experience in PNG and was appointed as a judge in 2001 after practicing law at both the public and private bar for 18 years, mostly in the civil litigation area.

During her career, she has shown a keen interest in the development of the law and how it can or should change to suit PNG’s needs.

She was a member of the Council of the PNG Law Society for 10 years and is also is president of the PNG Judicial Women’s Association.

She has sat on major trials both in the National and Supreme Court and deliberated on major decisions affecting the political and social lifestyle. She presently also serves on the Court of Arbitration for Sport which has its seat in Lausanne, Switzerland.

New Australian High Commissioner to PNG announced

MS DEBORAH STOKES will be Australia's next High Commissioner in Papua New Guinea. She will take up her appointment next month, replacing Ian Kemish AM who has served with distinction during his four years in PNG.

Ms Stokes is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and was most recently head of the international organisations and legal division.

She has previously served as Australia's Ambassador to Austria and as deputy head at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo.

Ms Stokes has also held senior positions in AusAID.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Adelaide and a Master of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge.

In her most recent post, Ms Stokes advises on Australia’s involvement in the United Nations, Commonwealth and other international organisations, with a focus on peacekeeping, human rights and international environment issues.

China and PNG militaries push forward with cooperation

ZHANG XIN | People’s Daily

LIANG GUANGLIE, minister of national defence of the People's Republic of China, has held talks in Beijing with Papua New Guinea defence minister Dr Fabian Pok (pictured).

An official report said that the two sides had an extensive and in-depth exchange of views on issues of common concern.

Liang Guanglie said China and PNG have constantly deepened political mutual trust, unceasingly expanded economic and trade cooperation, and had achieved fruitful results from the extensive cooperation in such fields as energy and resources, infrastructure construction, health and education.

He said Chinese is willing to make joint efforts with PNG to actively push forward exchange and cooperation between the two militaries and make joint contributions to regional peace and stability.

Pok said PNG regards China as an important partner in the Asia-Pacific region.

In recent years, the two countries have achieved fruitful results from bilateral cooperation in politics, economy and trade as well as culture.

PNG is grateful to China for its long-term support and assistance.

PNG is willing to work with China to further promote cooperation in various fields between the two countries.

PM on drug suspects’ mystery assignation in Moresby

Radio New Zealand International

PAPUA NEW GUINEA’s prime minister Peter O’Neill says the private jet which transited through Port Moresby carrying two controversial Vanuatu diplomatic passport holders was checked thoroughly by officials.

The passengers were Charles Henry Saken and Pascal Anh Saken, the owner of the super yacht Phocea (pictured) which has been detained in Vanuatu since July when it was seized on suspicion of passport fraud and drug trading.

After arriving last Thursday, the jet’s passengers reportedly met with Vanuatu’s foreign minister Alfred Carlot who, according to Vanuatu’s government, was in Port Moresby on a private mission.

PNG officials briefly detained the passports of the passengers and Mr Carlot.

O’Neill said PNG had reason to believe some of the passengers on the plane had questionable backgrounds, requiring a background check.

He says the jet departed on Sunday night after an investigation by officials.

“They concluded that they have not breached any particular laws of our country other than not getting proper clearance for the plane to land,” O’Neill said.

“The host country [Vanuatu] that has given the diplomatic passports to these persons requested they be allowed to transfer through our country and of course we have no choice but to comply with that.”

Shortland islanders concerned over border activity

Radio New Zealand International

THERE HAS BEEN A CALL by Solomon Islanders living along the sea border with Papua New Guinea to review security.

Leaders in the Shortland Islands want consultations with the Regional Assistance Mission (RAMSI), the Solomon Islands police and international police after reported transgressions.

Reports say a group, which is believed to have crossed from Bougainville, entered a logging camp in one of the islands and left with logging equipment.

The Shortland people were badly affected during the Bougainville crisis of the 1990s when members of the rebel Bougainville Revolutionary Army and soldiers of the PNG Defence Force fought battles on their islands.

An elder told the Radio New Zealand correspondent that the Shortland people still recollect the frightening experiences of those days.

Dreyfus QC says Namah’s threat 'smacks of politics'

JUDITH IRELAND | Sydney Morning Herald | With AAP

A LEGAL CHALLENGE to Australia's asylum seeker processing centre on Manus by the Papua New Guinea opposition leader ''smacks of politics,'' according to Labor MP Mark Dreyfus.

PNG Opposition Leader Belden Namah (pictured) launched the challenge with the National Court last Friday, saying he believed the centre was unconstitutional and detainees were being held illegally.

''The ministers of the O'Neill-Dion government have now received a summons to appear and defend their conduct in the National Court,'' he said. ''We will take this matter as far as necessary to ensure that the values of our nation's constitution are upheld.''

Mr Dreyfus, who is a cabinet secretary as well as a QC, said the Labor government had reached an agreement on regional processing with the PNG government.

''I think when you've got the opposition leader in PNG bringing a proceeding in the Supreme Court, it does smack of politics,'' he told Sky News today.

The memorandum of understanding [MOU] between Australia and PNG states that transfers of people to Manus and the running of the centre will be in accordance with both countries' laws.

''The government of Australia will conduct all activities in respect of this MOU in accordance with its constitution and all relevant domestic laws [and] the government of PNG will conduct all activities in respect of this MOU in accordance with its constitution and all relevant domestic laws,'' it states.

It is this aspect of the constitution that the PNG opposition is challenging in court.

Mr Namah said the challenge asked the courts to declare that the MOU is unlawful because it allows Australia to force asylum seekers to enter PNG territory, and allows the PNG government to deprive those asylum seekers of their liberty as soon as they enter Papua New Guinea.

Mr Namah said the legal challenge attempted to ''remedy the many abuses of PNG law and of ministerial powers which have given rise to the situation on Manus''.

He said the opposition challenged the right of the government to force people seeking refugee status in Australia to enter PNG, where they were being held ''illegally and indefinitely under inhumane conditions''.

The injunction seeks to have the current detainees released and to prevent the government from receiving or detaining any more asylum seekers from Australia.

A spokesman for Australia’s Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said: ''We have a binding MOU with the PNG government and that is working well. We are not going to comment on politics or court matters in another country.''

He said it was unclear whether Australia would be required to have a role in the court case.

British Aerospace trains PNGDF pilots in Australia

United Press International | UPI.com

BAE SYSTEMS HAS SIGNED a contract to provide advanced flight training to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force.

The contract builds on a 2011 agreement to provide Papua New Guinean student pilots with basic flying training at BAE's Australian facility at Tamworth City Airport in New South Wales.

Students soon will start an advanced 18-month training course to progress to the next stage of their flying careers.

“We are looking forward to extending and developing the relationship with PNG by providing its defence force with the highest standard of flying instruction," said BAE General Manager Aviation Solutions, John Quaife.

The air operations element of the PNGDF has a small number of light and rotary wing aircraft that support the army with logistics, resupply and medical evacuation as well helping with civilian disaster relief.

The air element also supports army patrols along the country's 700km border with the restive Indonesian province of Papua.

BAE's flight training facility at Tamworth is based around a six-year, $86 million deal signed in 2011 with the Royal Australian Air Force.

The PNG pilots’ courses began in January last year and the first students graduated in mid-2012.

Taiwan-leaning Solomons welcomes mainland Chinese

Island Sun (Honiara)

THE BUSINESSMEN FROM MAINLAND CHINA had not expected to be officially welcomed so warmly on their recent visit to Honiara given that the Solomon Islands and the People’s Republic of China do not have diplomatic relations.

Indeed, the Solomon Islands has diplomatic relations with China’s arch rival Taiwan.

But to its surprise the three-man delegation was given VIP treatment when it arrived in Honiara last August, during an encounter that has just been revealed.

Doing the honours was none other than deputy prime minister Manasseh Maelanga along with other ministers and senior officials.

Mr Maelanga also hosted a dinner at which delegation leader Joe Wong was officially appointed Solomon Islands’ Commerce and Investment Commissioner for China, Hong Kong, Macau and Asia.

A huge red banner featuring the China’s national colours announced the appointment in both English and Chinese.

Mr Maelanga gave a speech in which he encouraged closer cooperation between Solomon Islands and China.

Island Sun believes it is important that the people of Solomon Islands know what is happening behind the scenes, particularly the decision by the government to openly host a delegation from China.

Namah says Manus detention camp unconstitutional

Radio New Zealand International

PAPUA NEW GUINEA’s opposition leader, Belden Namah, says Australia’s Manus detention centre and asylum seekers scheme is unconstitutional.

Mr Namah told a news conference he is seeking a Supreme Court interpretation.

He said he wants clarification on the detainees’ visa, saying foreigners can only get visas for tourism, employment or business.

He also asked the government to explain how foreigners can be detained when they have not illegally entered PNG or committed any crime in PNG.

Namah questioned why an illegal processing centre was set up in PNG when Australia has a big land mass.

Prime minister Peter O’Neill dismissed the concerns, saying activities associated with the Manus asylum detention centre are within the laws of PNG.

Charges dropped in PNG-Taiwan diplomacy scandal

China Times

THE TAIPEI DISTRICT PROSECUTORS OFFICE has decided not to press charges against two former senior officials for their roles in the high-profile Papua New Guinea diplomacy scandal.

The prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to press charges against former National Security Council secretary-general Chiou I-jen (pictured) and former foreign minister James Huang in the scandal.

They said that Ching Chi-ju, former vice chairman of the Taipei-based BES Engineering and his associate, Wu Shih-tsai, allegedly told Chiou and Huang that they could help broker the establishment of diplomatic relations with PNG, if the government remitted $US29.8 million to a joint bank account set up by them.

The ministry, in a bid to promote diplomatic relations with PNG, remitted the money to the joint bank account. But it turned out to be a fraud, and the two made off with all the money in the account.

Chiou and Huang allegedly were also involved in dividing up the money.

But prosecutors said their investigation showed that Huang had taken a cautious attitude in reviewing the establishment of diplomatic relations with PNG, and if he had wanted to line his pocket, he didn't have to remit money to Singapore.

Prosecutors have not found any evidence that the money in the account in Singapore was channelled into the banking accounts of Chiou and Huang or their family members.

PNG – no gun required in mission to thwart China

GARY TORRES | San   Juan Record

I WAS MORE THAN A LITTLE SURPRISED when I picked up the phone one morning and it was the United States State Department.

Just like in the 1994 movie True Lies with Swhwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis, my mission, if
accepted, was to go to a foreign country and wreak havoc, which I am usually pretty good at.

“Howdy folks. I am here to help, you can trust me, and I am from the government.”

Specifically, I was headed to Papua New Guinea to help them develop their natural resources using the American ideas of “productive harmony” and “multiple use and sustained yield”.

This might help America secure a positive presence before China comes in and buys everything up and “helps” them out of all their natural resources and leaves nothing but a big hole in the ground.

I asked if got to carry a gun; they didn’t think it was a good idea.

There are interesting things going on in PNG. From a natural resources point of view, they are sitting on a mountain of gold floating on an ocean of oil encased by a beautiful landscape that varies from sandy beaches to snow-capped mountains.

They are diverse people, speaking more than 800 languages. Eighty percent live in remote areas in isolated villages and work the land for their basic subsistence.

Their land produces palm oil, coffee, and liquefied natural gas but doesn’t have the infrastructure in place, such as roads and pipelines. You can’t drive from one coast to the other as there are no roads.

So after a 25-hour flight, I am in PNG as part of the International Technology Assistance Program.

The first thing we do upon arriving is go through customs. The US Embassy provides us with driver, who doubles as our guard.  

We are picked up at the airport and transported to our hotel, which is also surrounded by an eight foot high security fence with guards at every entrance. They slide the gate open and allow us in.

The country is rich in natural resources, but the poverty is extreme and although PNG is not on the “do not visit” list from the State Department, our security briefing chief assures us that we can go nowhere without our guard.

He emphasizes that most people that do get assaulted are not robbed at gun point, but rather by a machete-yielding native.

Over the course of three days, I appear to be like any other mild mannered bureaucrat and will give six lectures; but at night I am out there fighting for “truth, justice, and the American way.”

Somehow in my short stay, I was able to get my name in the national newspaper and was interviewed for the evening news.

And my too kind and loving wife thinks that I am just another slow moving federal paper pusher.

There will probably be a movie out soon, True Lies II. Brad Pitt or Antonio Banderas should play me, they seem like the closest resemblance; right?

Australia’s closest neighbour: a nation in transition

IAN KEMISH

PAPUA NEW GUINEA is a country experiencing rapid transition, and the changes underway there have significant implications for both PNG and Australia.

PNG was the seventh fastest growing country in the world in 2011 – a year that sealed a decade of uninterrupted expansion. It is estimated to have grown by a further 9% this year. Further substantial growth is expected in 2013.

Industry has made the largest contribution to growth, boosted by the construction of the $16 billion liquefied natural gas project.

Demographics tell another important part of the story. The population is probably growing by as much as 3% each year, and has now reached something like 7 million – that makes PNG second only to Australia in the Pacific region, with double the population of New Zealand.

Currently 40% of Papua New Guineans are younger than 15. By 2030 the population will have grown to 10 million. It is projected to be approaching the current population of Australia by 2050.

This combination of economic and population growth is not without implications for regional dynamics.

PNG is set to take on more of a leadership role in the Pacific – we have already seen the government begin to exert a firm leadership role in encouraging Fiji back onto the democratic path, and PNG has for some years now been a strong troop contributor to RAMSI - the Regional Assistance Mission in Solomon Islands.

There are now PNG military observers with the UN in South Sudan and Darfur. PNG’s declared attitude to the asylum seeker processing centre on Manus Island is that PNG should be making a contribution, as a serious regional player, to what is a serious regional problem.

The profound changes underway in PNG come with some serious challenges, putting strain on health and education services, and making the country more challenging to govern.

Administrative capacity has been struggling for years to keep up with rapid demographic change, which is seen most acutely in the growth in informal settlements on the edge of key centres such as Port Moresby and Lae – a major contributor to the law and order challenge in these centres.

The security situation, while generally misunderstood and often distorted, remains a significant impediment to the country’s development.

The health sector is still in very bad shape overall. At 733 deaths per 100,000 births, maternal mortality is the highest in the region. Preventable diseases remain widespread.

Bob Carr envisages a broad regional role for PNG

EOIN BLACKWELL | AAP

PAPUA NEW GUINEA IS ENTITLED to play a bigger role in regional affairs, Australia's Foreign Minister Bob Carr has told the 21st PNG-Australia ministerial forum in Port Moresby.

The meeting, chaired by PNG foreign minister Rimbink Pato (pictured here with Bob Carr), aims to strengthen ties between Australia and its closest neighbour.

The many ministers attending from both countries will discuss issues such as Australia's controversial Manus Island detention facility as well as a trade treaty between PNG and Australia and the setting up of a PNG sovereign wealth fund.

Corruption is also expected to be discussed.

"You are entitled to look for a broader regional role. So we see our relationship changing as PNG itself changes," Senator Carr said on Thursday.

"We are committed to delivering as a friend, we have got to deliver for the people of PNG."

Mr Pato said he expected Australia and PNG's relationship to be strengthened and renewed by the meeting.

Before the forum began, Senator Carr announced Australia would commit $A20 million to curing "at least" 85% of tuberculosis cases diagnosed yearly in Western Province.

PNG has the highest rate of TB in the Pacific and is also facing the threat of growing infection and drug-resistant strains.

The $20 million comes on top of an $11 million AusAID commitment in Western Province and will include new TB facilities at hospitals and health clinics.

In total, AusAID is committed to spending $104 million on PNG's beleaguered health system over 2012-13.

No thanks, not yet: PNG’s ASEAN bid still stalled

SEAN JACOBS | East Asia Forum

PAPUA NEW GUINEA’s dynamic economic growth over the past decade has created an appetite for big-picture trade and diplomatic ties, symbolised by its ongoing attempts to join ASEAN.

But PNG’s requests, which have persisted since it was granted observer status in 1976, have so far been met with a firm but polite ‘no’.

While not explicit, the reasons behind ASEAN’s position are not hard to discern.

Even the most cursory glance at PNG’s political history since 1975 reveals a steady catalogue of political crises. For example, it was not until 2007 that a PNG government first navigated the vote-of-no-confidence chicane to complete a full five-year term in office.

Crime, too, is cited by some commentators as a further reason for non-accession, implying concerns over civil unrest as opposed to high incidences of burglary and public violence — sullen accolades for which PNG is unfortunately becoming well known internationally.

With a small police force to counter its internal disruptions, and an even smaller military, PNG’s raw strategic benefit to ASEAN also appears slim. If recent antagonisms in the Scarborough Shoal serve as any blueprint for membership criteria, ASEAN clearly requires nations that bring strategic muscle, not baggage.

Additionally, the expanded ASEAN member list, despite being good for business, has recently undermined collective decisions. When ASEAN formed in 1967 it had five member states. Numbers have now doubled to 10, naturally creating consensus difficulties, particularly on recent issues such as the Scarborough Shoal.

While ASEAN may not currently be in the business of recruiting new members, this has not stopped PNG from knocking on its door.

As far back as the 1980s, former PNG prime minister Sir Michael Somare was pressing for ASEAN membership — a bid he had clearly not abandoned when, in 2009, he approached then Philippines president Gloria Arroyo with a request for accession. PNG leaders of all stripes, in fact, have spent decades on the diplomatic treadmill sounding out support for entry into the exclusive body.

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr arrives in PNG

Australian High Commission

SENATOR BOB CARR has arrived in Papua New Guinea for a four day visit. While in PNG, Senator Carr will meet acting prime minister Leo Dion, his counterpart foreign minister Rimbink Pato and other senior figures.

“I am looking forward to my visit to our closest neighbour for discussions that will strengthen our close relationship further,” Senator Carr said.

Senator Carr is now in Port Moresby, where he will attend commemoration ceremonies for Australian World War II personnel buried in the Bomana War Cemetery.

He will also travel to the Highlands to see Australian-funded health and education programs. This leg will include a visit to Mt Hagen, and to Minister Pato’s electorate of Wapenamanda in Enga Province.

Senator Carr will be joined in Port Moresby later in the week by Trade and Competitiveness Minister Craig Emerson, Immigration and Citizenship Minister Chris Bowen, Home Affairs and Defence Material Minister Jason Clare and Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs Richard Marles for the 21st Australia-PNG Ministerial Forum on Thursday.

The Australia-PNG Ministerial Forum is an integral part of the bilateral relationship providing a platform for Australian and PNG Ministers to advance bilateral work and to discuss mutual regional and international issues interests and priorities.

“The Forum’s substantial agenda will include consideration of progress on negotiations for an Economic Cooperation Treaty, the establishment of a PNG Sovereign Wealth Fund, and cooperation on police, defence, immigration and development issues”, Senator Carr said.

Prior to announcements during his visit on substantial assistance in the health and education sectors, Senator Carr has announced funding of $370,000 for four Family and Sexual Violence (FSV) units in Papua New Guinea, offering support for women escaping domestic violence or looking to make complaints of sexual assault.

Photo: PNG High Commissioner to Australia, Charleds Lepani, is seen with Senator Carr and Australian High Commissioner to PNG, Ian Kemish

Forum move to keep out Fiji prime minister fails

MAIKA BOLATIKI | Fiji Sun

A MOVE TO STOP FIJI’s prime minister Commodore Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama from attending the opening session of the Pacific ACP (Africa/Caribbean/Pacific) leaders meeting in Port Moresby this week failed to get off the ground.

Fijian foreign affairs minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola said he had been informed that the Pacific Forum Secretariat had wanted Commodore Bainimarama to stay out of the opening and be invited in later.

Ratu Inoke said he reminded the group that Fiji’s prime minister was invited to the meeting by PNG prime minister Peter O’Neill.

“Why should the prime minister from Fiji be stopped to attend the opening when he was invited by the host country?” Ratu Inoke asked.

He said it unacceptable to Fiji for Commodore Bainimarama to be asked to stay out and be invited in later.

According to Ratu Inoke, his PNG counterpart resolved the matter before the opening.

At the opening Mr O’Neill especially welcomed Commodore Bainimarama.

“I wish to make a special welcome to Fiji’s prime minister. I sincerely hope that his participation will be good for the Pacific community,” Mr O’Neill said.

The chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Cook Islands prime minister, Henry Puna also welcomed Commodore Bainimarama.

He said the meeting was specifically held to discuss Fiji’s participation at Pacific ACP meetings at all levels.

New electronic visa for PNG will eliminate queues

RAY CLANCY | Australia Forum

AUSTRALIA WILL INTRODUCE a special electronic visa for Papua New Guineans which will improve the ease of travel between the two countries, particularly for frequent travellers.

“I believe there is an important opportunity to consider practical and meaningful ways to further enhance the visa and travel arrangements for visitors from PNG,” said Australia’s immigration minister, Chris Bowen.

PNG foreign affairs minister Rimbink Pato welcomed the move saying “the announcement is timely and addresses our long-standing request for more facilitative travel arrangements, including visa on arrival,” he said.

A joint ‘traveller facilitation taskforce’ is expected to identify legal and administrative requirements that will lead to the introduction of an electronic visa arrangement in the first half of 2013.

“With about 80% of all visa applications from PNG falling into the tourism and business activity categories, it is sensible to focus our attention on these travellers,” Mr Bowen said.

“This degree of priority reflects the significance of the unique and special relationship which Australia and PNG share,” he added.

Mr Pato said PNG travellers will welcome this announcement because they will have the privilege of applying for visas using the internet from their work places, homes or through selected travel agents, instead of the long queues experienced in the past.

PNG travellers requiring to travel at short notice will also benefit from shorter processing times that are offered by the electronic visa arrangement.

China, Papua New Guinea pledge to boost cooperation

 Xinhua English News Service

CHINA AND PAPUA NEW GUINEA have agreed to step up bilateral cooperation in various fields.

The pledge was made during a meeting between senior Chinese legislator Zhou Tienong and Papua New Guinea's prime minister Peter O'Neill.

Zhou, deputy chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said the two countries have broad prospects for reciprocal cooperation, given the fact that they share similar positions on political affairs, have a highly complementary economy and could learn from each other culturally.

He said the NPC is ready to work with its counterpart to let the parliamentary exchanges play an important role in boosting bilateral ties.

O'Neill said his country highly values its relations with China and regard Beijing as an important cooperation partner.

"We are pleased to see that the bilateral ties have developed smoothly and economic and trade cooperation has been advanced steadily," said the prime minister, who visited China this September.

Papua New Guinea, he said, is willing to strengthen bilateral exchanges and cooperation with China in all fields.

Zhou is visiting Australia and Papua New Guinea at the invitation of the two countries' parliaments.

Thorny dilemmas: The diplomacy of decolonisation

NIC MACLELLAN | NewMatilda.com

THE SUCCESSFUL BID for a rotating seat on the UN Security Council places Australia in an interesting place.

Over the next few years, we’ll be in the spotlight as the United Nations addresses hot-button international issues: maritime disputes between China and its Asia-Pacific neighbours; the prospects for Palestinian statehood; negotiations for a global climate treaty and a new compact to replace the Millennium Development Goals after 2015.

But closer engagement with the United Nations will also create a few thorny dilemmas on issues that receive less international attention.

One often ignored issue is the future of the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation and the lack of international action to complete the UN agenda on self-determination and political independence.

Decolonisation was a major achievement for the UN in the twentieth century, but international attention on the issue faded after the independence of most African colonies on the UN list of non-self-governing territories (with the remaining exception of Western Sahara)….

For Australia, however, the issue is not going away. Just as East Timor’s political transition has engaged Canberra for decades, so the issue of self-determination in neighbouring island territories remains on the regional agenda.

This is made more complex by the varying status of self-determination struggles in our region under international law.

Firstly, there are cases of nineteenth century "blue-water" colonialism by Western powers, such as France (New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna), the United States (Guam and American Samoa), Britain (Pitcairn) and New Zealand (Tokelau).

There are also independence struggles inside post-colonial nations which fall outside the existing UN mandate, such as the long-running campaign by West Papuan nationalists in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua, or Bougainville’s movement for independence from Papua New Guinea.

The issue of nationalism and statehood across Melanesia will soon be bumped up the regional agenda by a coincidence of events.

New Caledonia is scheduled to hold a referendum on its political status between 2014-18 and Bougainville is coming to the end of its 10-year autonomy transition in 2015. New Caledonia, Fiji and Indonesia are all scheduled to hold elections in 2014.

Indonesian human rights abuses will keep the pot boiling in Jayapura, and there are plenty of flashpoints that could cause heartburn for relations between Canberra, Jakarta and Port Moresby.

For example, what would happen if a boatload of West Papuan asylum seekers arrived in Australian waters in the midst of the 2014 Indonesian election campaign? Will they be towed back to Indonesia or end up in Nauru or Manus?

Charles Lepani and a vision for a new mutual relationship

KEITH JACKSON

CHARLES LEPANI HAS BEEN AND REMAINS a very distinguished representative of Papua New Guinea in Australia.

This morning I took the opportunity of visiting the High Commissioner at the Haus Tamberan in Canberra; a courtesy call on an old friend and contemporary for a chat about one of the most important international relationships for both our countries.

Charles is a keen reader of PNG Attitude and was full of praise for the Crocodile Prize and its associated activities.

But beyond the domestic concerns of this blog, he is a practical visionary who is working to substantially strengthen and advance the PNG-Australia relationship.

I’ll get on to what this means shortly, but first I should mention that the High Commissioner – previously very critical of AusAID’s performance in relation to PNG – now believes the organisation has turned a corner and is functioning effectively in the interests of both countries.

Certainly I had observed that the once strident criticism of AusAID in PNG Attitude has been absent for most of this year. Silence has been golden.

Another issue on which Charles Lepani is working energetically is in trying to free up the onerous visa requirements that apply to Papua New Guinean visitors coming to Australia; conditions that do not apply to Australians entering PNG – for whom visa formalities are minimal.

The limitations on Papua New Guineans can have devastating consequences. Like the recent example of young student in Canberra, diagnosed with an advanced brain tumour, whose parents were unable to see her before she died – because visas could not be organised quickly enough through the tortuous processes required.

This is not an isolated incident and, in my view, reflects great shame on Australia.

But I feel confident that, with Charles and PNG’s new foreign minister Rimbink Pato on the job, we’ll soon see some changes.

And here’s the visionary bit I referred to. Equality in visa conditions is really part of Australia recognising the sovereignty of PNG as a nation equivalent to itself in every respect.

Like the way the ‘boomerang aid’ component of Australia’s development assistance program was rooted out under Kevin Rudd’s leadership a couple of years ago.

Charles Lepani, on behalf of his government, has a vision for the PNG-Australia relationship.

He wants to see it established on a new, equivalent and more mature footing – and he is working in practical ways to achieve this goal.

It is imperative for both our countries that his important idea of a cooperating and friendly ‘archipelagic arc’ in the south-west Pacific is realised and that Australia stops looking to Asia through PNG as if our one-time colony was of little consequence.

Once Australia begins to fully accept PNG’s critical role as a strategic partner of ours, and as PNG's aid dependence diminishes, which it will, the basis of the relationship will be equivalent, sound and sustainable.

Australia and PNG are fortunate to have Charles Lepani – a charming man of vision and practicality – helping guide this process through.

Peter O’Neill wants easier visa access to Australia

JEMIMA GARRETT | Radio Australia

PETER O'NEILL HAS ASKED AUSTRALIA to offer easier access to Australian visas for Papua New Guineans.

Mr O'Neill says Australia's policy of requiring a visa prior to departure is reducing the number of Papua New Guineans able to visit Australia.

He's told Radio Australia that Papua New Guineans deserve the option of visas on arrival, to match the arrangements his country offers Australians.

"I think PNG deserves the opportunity to have a similar arrangement to that Australia has with New Zealand," he said.

"New Zealand has never been a colony of Australia, whereas Papua New Guinea has.

"I think Australia ought to learn from such experiences."

Mr O'Neill says the travel restrictions, combined with the international perception of law and order in his country, are impairing links between the countries.

But he says, as more businesses look to PNG for investment opportunities, that is like to change.

"More and more people are starting to come back into the country," he said.

"Papua New Guinea is a very friendly country and I believe that when Australians start to appreciate the uniqueness of Papua New Guinea numbers will increase."

PNG minister bars foreign media from Manus Island

RNZI

FOREIGN JOURNALISTS HAVE BEEN BANNED from visiting Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island ‘‘until further notice’’.

On 13 August, prime minister Julia Gillard announced Australia would start sending asylum seekers for processing on Christmas Island by the end of September, and Manus Island at a later date.

Two days later, a Fairfax Media journalist and photographer submitted visa applications to visit PNG and Manus Island. Their applications were approved by the PNG prime minister’s office the next day.

But it appears the applications stalled after being sent to the PNG Immigration and Citizenship Service.

A spokeswoman wrote to Fairfax on Friday to advise that ‘‘we are unable to process your applications due to a ban being imposed by the Foreign Minister on issuance of visas to foreign media personnel until further notice’’.

Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato defended the decision to Radio New Zealand International, saying the ban was temporary and would protect the country from misreporting, which could be ‘‘misinterpreted’’ by Papua New Guineans.

“There’s no need for the access,’’ Mr Pato said.

‘‘PNG’s a culture where we discuss, negotiate and compromise. So we don’t want any misreporting, as a consequence of which issues could be misinterpreted by our own people as well as by the outside world.

“And to work out those issues, we’ll do it ourselves first and then — when the time is right — everyone will be invited to come and see what we’ve achieved.”

Fairfax Media has appealed for the matter to be urgently reconsidered.

A spokesman for Foreign Minister Bob Carr’s office said: ‘‘We’re seeking further information — it’s a concern and our high commissioner is looking for more detail.’’

Pacific Islands Forum needs to reaffirm its relevance

MICHAEL O'KEEFE | The Australian

THE PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM Leaders' Summit in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands that opens today will be a watershed. It will either forge a new path for the region's pre-eminent institution or give ground to the alternative architecture that has grown since Fiji's suspension from participation.

That the stakes are high is evidenced by the unprecedented attendance of the US Secretary of State. Hillary Clinton will be joined by a large Chinese delegation, underscoring the point that the region is geopolitically important.

The summit provides an opportunity for Australia to influence how the region deals with outside powers and on what terms. In recent months Foreign Minister Bob Carr has injected a note of pragmatism into Australia's relations with Fiji and it remains to be seen what impact this will have.

The challenge for the PIF is twofold. First, its place at the centre of regional architecture needs to be cemented in light of the drift towards alternative forms of regional and subregional cooperation. Second, it needs an organisational renovation to face the challenges of globalisation and development.

Australia and other donors have long identified the PIF as the key institution for implementing development policies in the Pacific. This is the orthodox function of the PIF and one Australia and New Zealand have largely bankrolled for more than 40 years. More recently, the PIF has taken on a diplomatic role. This political role was compounded by the response to the 2006 coup in Fiji as the PIF became the central vehicle for legitimising the Australian-led sanctions regime.

Six years of sanctions have not achieved their stated aims, in so far as Fiji has not returned to democracy. That said, Australia has reaffirmed its leadership to the other members of the PIF and to external powers and organisations such as the US, China, UN and EU.

However, come 2014 when elections are held in Fiji the the rationale for sanctions will end. Fiji will presumably be welcomed back into the PIF and as such Australia and its supporters will be faced with much more challenging diplomacy.

The rise of alternative forms of regionalism is a direct result of Fiji's suspension and poses the largest challenge to Australia. The Melanesian Spearhead Group, Engaging with the Pacific meetings and the Pacific Small Island Developing States grouping at the UN have much in common, not the least that Australia is excluded from membership. They are largely driven by Fiji's "Look north plus" policy.

Fiji has made new friends and opened up new avenues of co-operation and as Australia chooses to re-engage it will be operating in a vastly different Pacific seascape. In this climate the continuing relevance of the PIF will need to be demonstrated rather than simply asserted. Fiji is not likely to accept the status quo and may need to be encouraged to resume its engagement with PIF.

PNG allows Australia to use Manus; Oz will still lecture

KEITH JACKSON

Sources: Daniel Flitton, Jo Chandler, The Age | Eoin Blackwell, AAP | ABC News

AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER Julia Gillard has said Australia will continue to raise concerns about political events in Papua New Guinea even if PNG agrees to re-open an asylum seeker centre in Manus.

Ms Gillard had been asked whether agreement to the centre would curb Australia's ability to pressure PNG.

She said these were ''different days'' in PNG since Mr O'Neill had managed to win recent elections.

Prime minister Peter O’Neill foreign affairs minister Rimbink Pato will will negotiate with Australia to reopen the detention centre.

Mr O'Neill had said last year he was willing to reopen the centre, but it was not Australian government policy until yesterday.

The last refugee left Manus in 2004, after 10 months as the only detainee at a cost to Australia of $250,000 a month.

Mr O'Neill also said the Manus provincial government will be consulted so the views and concerns of the people can be taken into account.

Manus MP Ronny Knight said yesterday that when the centre was last operating on Manus, the people had got little out of it “except a few low level jobs”

Meanwhile National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop, a member of the O'Neill coalition, said a detention centre contradicts PNG's law and culture.

"You cannot detain people here in PNG - even if they are aliens from outer space - we cannot detain them indefinitely," Mr Parkop said.

"That's the law in PNG. It isn't in our culture to lock people up without a charge.

New emissary affirms strength of Fiji-PNG bond

NANISE LOANAKADAVU | The Fiji Times

FIJI IS LOOKING FORWARD to enhance its already close relationship with Papua New Guinea.

Presenting his credentials to governor general Sir Michael Ogio, Fiji's High Commissioner to PNG, Romanu Tikotikoca [pictured], said Fiji and PNG had enjoyed close and friendly relations ever since the arrival of the first missionaries from Fiji in 1875.

Tikotikoca, who was previously Fiji’s police commissioner, said Fiji was grateful to the PNG government and people for their understanding during the recent difficult times his country had encountered.

Speaking of progress towards democracy in Fiji, Mr Tikotikoca said the commencement of constitutional consultations and launch of the voter registration process confirmed Fiji's commitment towards fundamental reforms of democratic and government institutions.

He said the government was serious about its intentions to rebuild Fiji into a stable, peaceful and truly democratic nation.

Sir Michael Ogio said that following the establishment of formal diplomatic relations in September 1975, the association between the two countries have been cordial.

"Relations expanded through the area of trade, technical co-operation and high levels of political visit by both countries, which re-enforced the commitment to each other in our relationship over the last thirty six years," he said.

He said despite the political climate of Fiji, investments from both countries continued to show evidence of increasing and flourishing business activities.

Belden Namah wants Australia to recall Ian Kemish

KEITH JACKSON

YOU MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT Belden Namah had enough on his plate trying to cobble together a viable representation in parliament, but now he’s decided to prosecute a war of words against Ian Kemish, Australia’s high commissioner in Papua New Guinea.

Today he stated that the popular diplomat should be recalled. The trigger? Yesterday the high commissioner attended a ceremony where the governor-general invited Peter O'Neill to form the next government.

According to Namah, Kemish violated PNG's sovereignty by attending the event.

"Kemish's presence is a breach of protocol," Namah said. "I call on the Australian foreign minister to apologise and to discipline the high commissioner.

"He should be recalled immediately, because he interfered with PNG's sovereignty by deliberately trying to influence the election and the process of parliament electing the prime minister."

The Australian High Commission said the attendance of Kemish and his deputy, Margaret Adamson, followed assurances from government house and the PNG electoral commission.

Mr Namah's supporters launched legal action today to stop parliament sitting tomorrow morning, when it is expected Mr O'Neill will be elected prime minister by about 75 of the 106 MPs whose seats have been decided so far.

The other five MPs won't be able to participate because the count is not concluded in their electorates.

Lawyers for Namah's party deputy, Sam Basil, say that's reason enough to stop the session.

A judgment is expected at 8.30 in the morning.

Alleged smugglers driven by lure of gold & cocaine

MELANIE PETRINEC | The Cairns Post

A GROUP OF MEN on the hunt for a massive cocaine stash and gold in Papua New Guinea had planned to smuggle their bounty through the Torres Strait and into Cairns but came up empty handed, a court has heard.

John Khuu was allegedly going to broker the sales of the cocaine and gold once they arrived in the country for a significant profit.

Mr Khuu has pleaded not guilty to supplying drugs and faced day one of a trial in Cairns Supreme Court yesterday.

Commonwealth prosecutor Glen Rice, SC, told the jury Mr Khuu and eight other men from Cairns and the Torres Strait were implicated in the conspiracy to import the drug after an Australian Crime Commission investigation which involved tapping the phones of the main players in early 2003.

Mr Rice said Mr Khuu had been recorded talking to the group’s alleged leader, John Lake, about how he could on-sell what was believed to be a 5kg stash of cocaine located somewhere in PNG.

Mr Lake had four men on the ground in the Torres Strait hunting for the cocaine in PNG, Mr Rice said.

"The overall plan, led by Lake, was to finance and coordinate the efforts of these island helpers to locate the cocaine in Papua New Guinea," he told the court. "From (the Torres Strait), it would be brought to Cairns with a view to sell for big profits."

Mr Rice said Mr Khuu was "going to assist to find buyers for it (the cocaine), acting as a kind of broker".

The court heard one of the Islander men had also claimed he could find more than 20 pieces of gold "thought to be the size of a fist" in PNG, which could be bought cheaply from locals and sold for a profit in Australia.

Mr Rice said Mr Khuu had offered to find buyers for the gold as well, but it was later discovered to be "fool’s gold" and Mr Lake was more interested in the cocaine.

The court heard Mr Khuu came to Cairns from Toowoomba in March, 2003, to see how the operation was going, but ultimately the drugs were never obtained.