ABC
Australian economist, Ross Garnaut, says the ban
imposed on him by the Papua New Guinea Government, is a low point in Australian
diplomacy and PNG democracy.
Prof Garnaut resigned as chairman of Ok Tedi Mining
Ltd (OTML) after he was banned from entering the country.
PNG Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill, imposed the ban
on Prof Garnaut last November after he weighed into a spat between O'Neill and
mining giant BHP Billiton over control of the PNG Sustainable Development
Program - a US$1.4 billion charitable trust that is the biggest shareholder in
Ok Tedi Mining.
Prof Garnaut resigned last Friday, saying was not
possible for him to fulfil his responsibilities to this large and complex
company while the PNG government maintained its ban on him.
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| In happier days…Garnaut signs an agreement for OTML to work together with Western province with Governor Ati Wobiro in Tabubil last September.-Picture by MALUM NALU |
He is concerned the PNG government action may have
set a precedent.
Prof Garnaut is calling on the Australian government
to negotiate an agreement with PNG to prevent this sort of incident occurring
again.
"The important thing now is that things like
this never happen again, that a government never again seeks to exercise
leverage over legitimate international corporate interests through the misuse
of immigration powers.
"If it became an accepted precedent it would
introduce a major new element of sovereign risk, a barrier to PNG development
and a recurring volcano in bi-lateral relations." he said.
Long-time PNG observer Stephen Howes from the
Australian National University says the Australian government should have
criticised the ban.
"Australia should be supporting free speech in
PNG and Australia should certainly be supporting the rights of its citizens to
engage in lawful business activities in other countries." he said.
He says the Australian government may have stayed
silent because it needs PNG's support for the asylum seeker processing centre
on Manus Island.
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