Papua New Guinea defence force at the crossroads

By REGINALD RENAGI

As we progress further into this millennium, the role of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force in developing and maintaining PNG’s defence capability will no doubt go through a significant change. 

I begin with a simple thesis: unless our present defence force structure is altered in some fundamental way, PNG’s military will become increasingly inadequate for the burdens placed on it by our country’s foreign and defence policies. 

It is almost 35 years since PNG was given her own military, and during this time, the government saw no real need to review its capabilities. 

Although successive governments did recognise the need for maintaining an efficient military, much lip-service has been paid to the important issue of defence and national security over the years. 

As a result, the defence force has seen little change since Independence in 1975.

For more than three decades, changes in PNG’s strategic environment and the need for greater self-reliance in defence have been understood for many years. 

However, for a variety of reasons, the defence organisation has not yet translated these fundamental changes into a coherent national security strategy, and new defence force structures have not occurred.

In view of the difficulties involved in predicting either likely threats to the country, or a range of possible contingencies which PNG could face in the future; thus, most of our strategic assessments during the post independence period has so far been of a ‘no threat’ environment. 

For valid reasons it would be highly irresponsible to plan forward on this basis – as PNG can not always plan for a ‘no threat’ future.

This no-threat ‘syndrome’ has clouded successive government’s thinking and has made it complacent for well over three decades. 

This complacency has directly contributed to a great extent the present grave security situation PNG finds itself today. 

As an independent sovereign nation, we really have no credible excuse for not recognising the basic elements of PNG’s national security situation with which we have to deal with now.  

Prime Minister Somare has been in office for a long time. 

In that time, his two-term government has consistently failed even to this day to not critically reappraise what his predecessor, Sir Mekere did in 2001. 

Now is the time to put the Ministry of Defence on notice now before the 2012 elections by coming to the rescue of the PNGDF.

Today, Defence is at a ‘crossroads’ in PNG.

It is time for the government to fix the PNGDF and bring it back to its former glory. 

The country’s national security situation now demands for the Ministry and Defence department to face up to some real issues, make long-term decisions and get on with those decisions.

Defending PNG in future calls for a complete re-appraisal of our outlook on the capabilities of the PNGDF now; not in another three decades time.