Journalists in bed with Exxon – it’s a marriage in need of a divorce

By WENDY BACON

The theme of this year's Walkley Media Conference is 'What's the story?' It's about how we develop a powerful narrative and "make our stories sing and sell", a very contemporary theme at a time when social media allows us to become our own marketing machines. But it's also possible to lose the plot — which is what happened when the MEAA decided to invite Exxon Mobil to be the Golden sponsor of the Walkley Media Conference.

As Exxon Mobil public affairs told ABC PM's Jess Hill, on Wednesday: "We're always very interested in hearing about how a powerful narrative can help." Public relations help is certainly what Exxon Mobil needs. It's not easy to spin a story about being environmentally responsible when you are the world's biggest oil corporation trying to live down the nightmare of the Exxon Valdez Alaskan oil spill at a time when oil spills suddenly shoot to the top of the news agenda.

As well, you have organisations like Sourcewatch and Greenpeace tracking your notorious history of funding climate scepticism as you try to negotiate your way through the shifting sands of climate-change politics. Last year the ABC reported that Exxon Mobil had reneged on its promise to stop funding groups such as the Heritage and Atlas Economic Foundations, quoting London School of Economics policy director Bob Ward as saying: "They are trying to mislead people and frankly we have seen these sorts of tactics before, for instance in the case of the tobacco industry, who for many, many years, funded campaigns and misinformation about the adverse effects of their products." Exxon Mobil's response was that it is now funding different views within the debate.  Three weeks ago, News Ltd outlets The Times and The Australian prominently featured Exxon Mobil's continuing record of funding groups which not only deny that climate change is occurring but also allege climate scientists are wilful conspirators.

All this explains why it was such a shock for many when they learned this week that Exxon Mobil was funding the Walkley conference. The first duty of journalists is to understand that even a good story should not stand in the way of seeking the truth. The difficult task of environmental journalists is to sort out the greenwashing from what is actually happening. The professional development arm of the union, The Walkley Foundation is supposed to be about promoting excellence in journalism and an ethical bulwark in times when many working journalists find themselves under pressure to bend their ethics to meet commercial and ratings pressures.

Sponsorship is about forming a public association that can enhance the credibility of the sponsor and provide economic benefit to the organisation being sponsored. This is why it was beside the point for federal secretary of the MEAA Chris Warren to tell the ABC PM program that journalists would not be compromised by joining Exxon Mobil for a cup of tea at the conference. It's sadly ironic that as someone who has championed the public right to know, Warren, when asked to reveal the precise details of the relationship with Exxon Mobil, declined because it is "commercially in confidence".

An underling issue that may have led to this potential PR fiasco for the union may be the merging of public relations and journalism professionals into one union. However, in this case, the MEAA move is just as offensive and a conflict of interest for its members working in professional communications roles in research, government, universities, politics, big NGOs, environmental organisations and many other companies.

No one is denying the need for some sponsorship. Various universities and media outlets, including Crikey, had agreed to sponsor the conference. It is likely that many of them were not aware of the Exxon Mobil gold sponsorship. Qantas is also providing in-kind travel support.

Journalists, academics, public relations and other communications people, media students, environmentalists and many others are signing an open letter asking the MEAA to withdraw from the sponsorship.  ( If you wish to sign email acij@uts.edu.au)

Meanwhile, there is a big story happening in PNG at Lake Kutubu. It's a hard one for Australian journalists to cover because it's expensive to get there. Last year, Oilsearch, Exxon Mobil's partner in the huge LNG pipeline carving its way through the once pristine World Heritage area, flew  The Age's Jo Chandler up there where she reported on the complexities of development. Unfortunately, she missed the  "ecological disaster" caused by oil drilling in the area  that two weeks later SMH environmental reporter Ben Cubby discovered from his desk in Sydney. Since then the only major follow-ups have been by UTS student reporter Calliste Weitenberg in non-mainstream publications Reportage-enviro and NZ publication Pacific Scoop.

Maybe some Walkley media sponsors could band together to send a team of reporters  to Lake Kutubu to give the people there the chance to be part of a "powerful narrative".

*Wendy Bacon is the director of the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, which is the publisher of Reportage-enviro. UTS journalism was approached for sponsorship but could not justify the expense of a cash contribution (there is an agreement, however, for UTS students to contribute by videoing the conference and helping out with administrative tasks)

A slightly edited version of this article was published by Crikey.com on July 30, 2010. UTS journalism has now withdrawn from its arrangement to video the conference on the grounds that it cannot provide an in-kind subsidy to a conference funded by Exxon-Mobil.

RESPONSE: Since this story was published, MEAA Federal Secretary Christopher Warren has provided the following response. Wendy Bacon's further response is provided below.

Your comments about the support the Walkley Foundation is receiving from ExxonMobil for our Media Conference in Sydney next month deserve an appropriate response.

 The Walkley Foundation is a politically neutral organisation pledged to further excellence in Australian journalism and we do not make political judgements about organisations as it would not be appropriate for us to do so.

 We rely on the support of our partners to do this vital work in support of transparency and press freedom and insist that, in all their engagement with us, they accept our fundamental beliefs. Journalists are not strangers to commercial arrangements. They've been fundamental to journalism for centuries. Our principles mean that all are arms length and are not permitted to in any way to influence the content of what we do or say.

 I have absolute confidence in the ability and integrity of journalists to both understand these principles and to work to the highest ethical principles.

 As you would know, Exxon is among our corporate supporters, the most prominent of which is the Copyright Agency Limited, which helps journalists secure royalty payment for use of their work.

Our other sponsors include Qantas, the ABC, Al-Jazeera, APN, Fairfax Media, News Ltd, APN News and Media, SBS and Leader Community Newspapers.

 Our academic partners include The University of Sydney and the University of Queensland. Your own university, UTS, is also lending its support by pledging five students to report on proceedings with the help of video cameras provided by us by Flip.

 You should note that among the organisations that ExxonMobil supports in this country are Opera Australia, the charity United Way, the Australian Drug Foundation, Royal Children's Hospital Safety Centre in Melbourne and the National Youth Science Forum.

 Globally the list of organisations is too exhaustive to go into, but includes Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University all of which are investigating alternative fuel technologies.

 The various co-signatories to your open letter who work at Monash University would know that the university also receives support from ExxonMobil.

 It is inevitable in all of this that the company will have funded organisations that you or I may not agree with. However, this is true of almost every corporation in Australia, particularly global corporations.

You refer to the Media Alliance Code of Ethics in your letter. The Code requires that journalists: "Do not allow personal interest or any belief, commitment, gift or benefit to undermine your accuracy, fairness or independence."  Further Clause 5 requires that journalists disclose any possible conflicts of interest. Clause 6 exhorts journalists not to allow advertising or any commercial considerations to undermine accuracy, fairness or independence.

 In all its dealing with hundreds of sponsors over the years, the Walkley Foundation has consistently upheld this principle and will continue to do so.

With best wishes

Christopher Warren
Federal Secretary, Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance

Response to Chris Warren, Federal Secretary of the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance. ( MEAA) by Wendy Bacon, Director of the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism.

In several respects, Warren's response sidesteps the issues I raised.

 I stated clearly that those opposing this Exxon Mobil /Walkley agreement are not doing so because sponsorship itself is an issue. I mentioned a number of the other sponsors, none of whom are inappropriate. I also acknowledged that UTS students were going to video the event. We have now withdrawn from that agreement.

 I am not sure what Warren means by stating that the Walkley Foundation is politically neutral. I assume he is not using this phrase in a narrow politically party sense. In a broad sense, journalism does take a broad political position in relation to its role in a democracy and in holding power accountable. The Walkley Foundation is the professional development arm of the MEAA which often criticises government over lack of strong shield laws, weak freedom of information laws and so on. It adopts these positions as a consequence of its underlying political stance in relation to core principles of the public right to know and the independence of journalism. In a world in which mega corporations such as Exxon Mobil wield as much influence as many governments, surely the MEAA can take a stance in relation to companies.

Warren makes the obvious point that many journalism is often practised in the context of commercial relationships. It does not follow however that as Warren suggests, one cannot distinguish between commercial relationships or that all sponsorships are therefore equal. By taking this approach, he conveniently rules out any discussion about ethical boundaries.

 No one has suggested that individual journalists will be compromised by this sponsorship. The issue is what Exxon Mobil is potentially gaining from the relationship. This move is part of a multifaceted PR strategy which will allow Exxon Mobil to publicly associate its name with some leading names and institutions in Australian and international media.

 Warren does not address our central concern which is that Exxon Mobile has not only lent its support to organisations which have supported the view that climate change is a willful conspiracy by scientists but it has misled the public about this funding. Shareholder, media and environmental pressure led it to promise that it would cease its support for organisations promoting climate skepticism but in fact, it continued the funding during 2009. This has been widely reported by The Times ,The Australian and many other outlets. I am not arguing that climate skeptic organisations should not be allowed to express their views. The issue is whether our union should link itself with an organisation which funds them to do it.

 Despite a drop in its 2009 profits to $19 billion, Exxon Mobil has huge resources to support a wide range of organisations. It spent $27 million alone last year on lobbying the US Congress about energy policy. It will continue to do so. This is irrelevant to the consideration of whether Exxon Mobil is an appropriate sponsor for a media conference.

 Warren asserts that that the code does not allow journalists to be affected by commercial considerations in their work. While this does not seem to be relevant to the sponsorship deal, it does open up another issue. Journalists do strive to remain independent of commercial considerations but as we demonstrated in our Crikeys's Spinning the Media (http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/03/15/over-half-your-news-is-spin)  series often do not succeed. During our research for that series, we were contacted by a number of young journalists who felt afraid to speak publicly about the pressures on them. The MEAA needs to go further than a mere restatement of the ethical position and address this issue in practical ways. Leading journalists and others speaking at the conference may not experience these pressures. Young journalists, however, might appreciate sessions on how to deal with spin,including government PR which makes it increasingly difficult to get the story.

 Hopefully, this discussion will get people involved in thinking about what approach they take in relation to this issue. Many journalists, academics, environmentalists and others are signing an open letter which is now on the ACIJ website. Those who want to sign can email acij@uts.edu.au. At Australian universities this week, students, who are the future journalists and members of the union, will discuss the issues and make up their minds.

 Those signing the letter urge the MEAA will withdraw from this deal before next week.

Australian political update

From JOHN PASQUARELLI

 

Julia Gillard continues to amaze me as her lack of political savvy is exposed as this election campaign progresses.

Thrust dramatically into the spotlight by the messy disposal of Rudd, Gillard displayed an appalling lack of basic understanding of the mechanics of politics in her dealings with East Timor over her version of a boatpeople policy that blew up in her face. 

There is now a third person involved in this election and that is Laurie Oakes who has now struck twice with leaks that has Labor apparatchiks looking nervously at each other. 

Will Oakes make further strikes?

Some journos have praised Gillard for her handling of the serious leaks involving her questioning of parental care and increased pensions change but these geniuses failed to even think about Gillard’s past involvement with a conga line of massive economic blunders. 

Where were Gillard’s forensic skills when the killer pink batts scheme was being dreamed up along with all the other disasters including her own BER?

 Have the punters forgotten all about Gillard’s doomed Medicare Gold plan in 2004? 

Julia Gillard’s political psyche was created by her very active role in the Socialist Forum – in reality a rebadged Communist Party. 

Come polling day will voters be conned?

50 peals of the bell

Sir Brian…a friend and humanitarian

Sir Brian Bell was a passionate supporter of sports such as cricket, and was, until the time of his death, patron of Cricket PNG

Sir Brian Bell…leaves behind a legacy in the Brian Bell and Company Ltd

Sir Brian receiving his award from the Salvation Army for his services during the Army’s 50^th anniversary in PNG in 2006. He is flanked by Andrew Kalai on his right and General Shaw Clifton, international leader of Salvation Army

Sir Brian was a great supporter of charitable causes such as Port Moresby General Hospital until the time of his death

By ROBERT KEITH-REID in Paradise Magazine, June 2004

April, 2004. It’s the month in which Brian Bell rings up 50 years of life and business in Papua New Guinea.

Back in April 1954, the then 26-yearold pharmacist arrived at Port Moresby.

He wanted to escape a small town life in Chinchilla, Queensland, with a population of 1500. His sense of adventure had been fired up by a newspaper report of the killing of two Australian patrol officers in the

Star Mountains of Papua New Guinea.

“That’s the place for me,” he thought, and was told by a friend that “when you get there, get in touch with my brother at the government store. He might have a job for you.”

In 1954, Papua New Guinea was an Australian colonial backwater.

Burns Philp and W R Carpenters with Steamships were the great mercantile trading names in the land.

“There were phones and they were free, no taxation, no public transport and we had to get a quota for our imports. When that was used up, you’d either try to get it extended or you went to the person down the road and paid them to use their quota. There was no tax, but then again there was no money either. There was no money going into the community. The houses were built of sisal. The expatriates would come up to work and save their money to go south and didn’t spend it here at all, so as a result there wasn’t much money here.

“The Australians drove all the tankers and trucks. Papua New Guineans didn’t do driving of any kind. Now, it’s the other way round. They weren’t allowed to drink until 1956. Things have changed, but in those days we had what was called the Native Women’s Protection Ordinance.

“All the whites were not allowed to go into the villages between six at night and six in the morning because they were having too many little babies.

“When I came in ‘54, we had the Australian Petroleum Company (APC) and they’d been drilling for oil in PNG since 1935. When they folded up and closed down, we thought the game’s over and that was the end of it. But it wasn’t, although APC used to keep Papua alive. We didn’t get much money from Papua because the Australian government didn’t put much into it because the United Nations gave us New Guinea to administer, so Australia put all their window dressing there to keep the UN happy. We still feel Papua has been a bit neglected.”

That, says Sir Brian Bell, as he is now titled, was a little bit of Papua New Guinea as it was 50 years ago. In ringing up his golden anniversary, Sir Brian can deservedly ring his bell loudly and clear. He’s chairman and managing director of Brian Bell & Company Ltd, one of Papua New Guinea’s great business success stories. You’ll find Brian Bell outlets in 10 retail stores and represented by 25 distribution agencies throughout

Papua New Guinea. 

W R Carpenters, as it was, and Burns Philp, as it was, are no more, although Steamships remains a competitor with such newcomers as Courts.

Brian Bell & Company flourished to absorb bits of the fading Carpenters and Burns Philp empires. One bit of that was a disaster. The company bought the Burns Philp branch at Rabaul 18 months before a volcano blew its top to destroy much of the historic old town. The insurance company denied cover. “It cost us millions and millions,” says Sir Brian. Today, the Brian Bell organisation employs 1100 people and sells and services practically everything except food and clothing.

It’s in refrigeration, electrical appliances, chemical cleaners, furniture, toys, agricultural machinery, seeds, tools and fertilisers.

When business conditions got tough and banks cut credit off to small borrowers, Brian Bell established its own credit divisions, enabling customers on small budgets to pay instalments from their fortnightly pay.

The Brian Bell business just grew and grew, its founder agrees. One opportunity led to another. How does the company rate, measured by volume of business? “About half of Steamies, I reckon.”

After first landing at Port Moresby, young Brian landed a temporary job - thanks to his friend’s brother. A few months later he moved on to the government pharmacy.

“I got out of the pharmacy and started a small business at Boroko in agency lines. We used to bring in a lot of guns in the old days; a lot of guns from every part of the world.

The patrol officers used to take firearms out, shotguns and handguns and that continued for four or five years.

“We used to make the old Australian point-303 rifle, taking the barrel out and put in a conversion to a point-22. We used to re-barrel and rebuild guns. We used to do a lot of shooting at home in Chinchilla, pigs and ducks. That gave us a fair sort of income.

“I have nothing to do with them now, we don’t sell or repair them.

You don’t want to tell people you’ve got guns in the place because people might come and say ‘where’s that gun you’ve got here?’

“In ‘54, you see, there was no licensing. Some of these characters used to pick up sub-machine guns. I mean all these young patrol officers; they were a bit like footy players

from Australia. They used to shoot the trees, etcetera. That all ceased when licensing came in.

“The first store was over at Boroko. It ran for about a year or two. Then we went into town at the igloo, as it was called, down at the beach where the multi-storey building right on the beach is now, then we came back to about somewhere where we were in 1969. The Brian Bell lines of business grew out of each other, more or less. One thing led to another.

“In 1955, the South Pacific Brewery had been built and was producing beer like onion water. Every Saturday morning they used to have this special on this beer of theirs. You could go down and buy it at a very cheap price because no one liked it. They liked Richmond, Tiger and Becks, all imported foreign been. At one stage a fire burnt down the shed on the wharf, so there was no imported beer. Everyone had to drink SP. The beer changed for the better when ownership changed. Times have changed because now they make world class beers. The owners used to sell refrigerators and when they moved to Lae they used me as their agent in Port Moresby. Then they wanted to get out of refrigerators, so I raised the money and took the agencies over.

“That was how Brian Bell’s electrical appliance and refrigeration business began.

“I went down to Sydney to see the manufacturer of Crosby refrigerators and Bendix washing machines and persuaded them to give me some refrigerators without payment untilI could pay them. I got the brewery manager to put them on his floor for 1% a month until they were sold or he would take them over on hire 21purchase.

“In those days the Commonwealth Government had a rule that if you live in a place where you needed assistance, you had a staff house, and if water and services were available you could have an automatic washing machine.

“So we sold hundreds and hundreds of washing machines and refrigerators. Then the PWD said, ‘okay it costs us thousands to build staff quarters, so how about we buy washing machines and put them on a back verandah’. That was the Hoovermatic. We sold thousands and used to bring them in containerloads from England. So I’ve a lot of good things happen and a lot of good luck.

“The opportunities came and it grew like Topsy. When I first came here, we had Burns Philp here, and they used to come down and count the number of people that came in and came out of our doors. Competition was very keen.

“Now Burns Philp has gone and we bought quite a few of their stores. A lot of old timers have gone; W R Carpenters, we bought quite a few of their assets. Steamies used to sell electrical appliances, and Carpenters and Burns Philp.

“We specialise more in service, I suppose. Courts came in as a new competitors for us.”

“When independence came in 1975, we decided that we wouldn’t drop our business down to that of a general trade store. We realised that Papua New Guineans and expatriates and foreigners would want a reasonable standard of facilities, so we kept the standard up of giftware and chinaware and appliances, etcetera. It’s still the best store in town.

“Last year, we opened a new place in Lae. Bart Philemon says it’s the best store in Papua New Guinea.”

Sir Brian’s family retains two-third of the business, with the remaining third held by the public service officers service fund.

At the age of 76, Sir Brian still retains a great head of steam for keeping competitors like Steamies at bay. It takes a few calls to catch him on the telephone because he’s liable to be on the phone talking to someone else.

“People ring me because I sort of get involved with everything. I’m secretary of half a dozen organisations.I’m chairman of the hospital board; chairman of the Salvation Army committee. I get involved with the community; the Port Moresby city mission. They are the charitable organisations where you can help the community be a little bit better than it would otherwise have been. That’s what life is all about, isn’t it?”

Being a pharmacist, he’s got a soft spot for the hospital. 

“It’s the biggest hospital in Papua New Guinea. There’s 900 beds and there’s quite a lot to do there. Unfortunately, I spend more time in business than anything else. You go home and go to bed and think of the things you should have done today and you have to do tomorrow. Relaxing? A bit of swimming and TV.”

Ringing that golden anniversary bell is time for reflection. So much has happened during the passage of 50 years. 

“Oh, there’s always a problem,” he says. “My people lived in Chinchilla and you get a letter once a month that the drought has hit us, the sheep are dying, the cattle are dying, that there’s no food.Three months later, you get a letter saying the cattle are dying, the sheep are dying because they’re all getting caught in the floods. In other words, you are up and down all the time.”

“Things go up and things go down. Generally, where Papua New Guinea is concerned, there’s always a problem.The economy’s not very good at the moment, but it’s improving.

“Nothing ever goes the way you want it all the time. But we’re on a fairly level playing field now. The exchange rate of course shoots us in the bloody foot.”

By that he means that the exchange rate trends make it more costly to buy from Australia, although it becomes cheaper to import from the United States.

Despite the ups and downs of business, the Brian Bell group is strong and intends to grow.

“We’re looking for new fields all the time,” Sir Brian says. “We’re looking around the Pacific. We’re looking at the Solomons and Vanuatu. You see the place is growing all the time, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands.”

“There’s very few old-timers left. There’s a couple over at Rabaul.

“Where’s the line drawn between old timers and not? Well, they used to talk about the Befores, the Before the Bloody War, but there’s a lot of 30-35-year-old people here”.

Looking back, looking at now, and looking ahead, the grand old man of Brian Bell becomes philosophical about Papua New Guinea.

His wife, from Glebe, near Sydney, died in 1992. His stepson is with him in PNG and his stepdaughter lives in Brisbane.

“I’ve got a good group of people in all the branches,” he says. Sitting in the company’s small boardroom, decorated with commissions that proclaim him to be honorary consul for Sweden and Norway, the ambience is one of an amiable family outfit. He is the big boss but his staff evidently don’t regard him as an ogre. On the wall also is a photograph of young Brian, as portrayed in the company logo, with Sir Albert Maori Kiki.

“In the olden days village elders had more control,” he says.” They used to have a consensus attitude. They used to make sure that the younger generation behave themselves. I guess it’s the same in a lot of societies. ‘You’re old-fashioned dad

and mum, that’s gone by the board. This is the way we do it now,’modern kids say.”

“In PNG, we’re a bit like the Spanish and Mexicans. You know, at a football match they get excited and wreck the place. Papua New Guineans are having to make great adjustments in having moved so recently from centuries old traditional life to cope with the 21^st century pressures, he says.

“You can’t expect them to be all a complete success in making that transition.”

“The community’s so small here that everybody knows each other and I don’t have any trouble, although there are some places to stay away from at night. There are places in Sydney and Brisbane and England where I wouldn’t go.

“The thing is you’ve always got a commitment to your staff. I’ve got a thousand people. They’ve got women and kids; with the wantoks you’ve got a commitment to five or six thousand people. You might employ only a thousand but their income is spread over the community. That’s one side.

“Why get out of business? What would I do? It’s like going south. Up here you’ve got someone to look after you all the time. I’ve got staff to look after me. I’ve got a housekeeper at home working since 1974.

“I like to keep things going. I don’t like to see things going backwards. I don’t want to knock the community. The community looked after me well and it’s up to me to look after them.”

The Fuzzy Wuzzies

From JOHN FOWKE

 

Forget about them helping to save Australia- these men saved Papua New Guinea- and young Papua New Guineans should be told about this.

It is salutary that Australia’s High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea has given recognition of service to the tiny handful of remaining wartime carrier-conscripts who became known as the Fuzzy-Wuzzies.

But it is sad that PNG itself has nothing to say or to give in honour of these old men.

For they and the forces they served with saved PNG for its ultimate emergence as an independent democracy.

If Japan had been allowed to overrun and entrench itself in PNG and Australia, we would not be reading this English-language newspaper today.

Nor would Papua New Guineans be free citizens in our own free, democratic nation.

The invasion by the Japanese in what is now PNG was one prong of the overall policy of subjugation to the will of the Japanese under the Emperor and his proposed Greater Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

We know just how prosperous and well-treated the other invaded countries - Burma, Malaya, Indonesia, Timor and so on - became under the new military regime. So it is unfortunate that the myth that PNG was "forced into a war not of its own making" is widespread today.

PNG was in effect, even if not widely aware of it, defending itself as much as Australia from a fate very different from that which awaited it under the League of Nations Mandate- ( later United nations)- administered by Australia.

The labour force we call the Angels - courtesy of a famous poem in The Australian Women’s Weekly at the time - were conscripts taken from villages all over coastal and inland Papua; not simply from the villages along the famed Kokoda Track and surrounding district.

Men aged between 18 and 40 were  taken from their villages and placed with the Army in areas of need from the Gulf through Central, on the Track itself, later at Kokoda, and in Milne Bay.

One old Fuzzy conscript, who lives near Malalaua in Gulf Province, being the father of a friend of mine, carried and laboured for four years on the Bulldog Track to Wau, supplying the Allied forward push from Wau towards the Markham Valley and Japanese-occupied Lae.

Every now and again, whenever yet another story about medals and rewards for Fuzzies was featured in the news of the day the old man would collect enough for the return bus-fare to Moresby and go to the big city.

All his trips, needless to say, were fruitless.

Until last week, when with five others, the last of the last, he finally received recognition from Australia, if not from his own nation.

In 1942, the Australian Army Command in Port Moresby instructed its agents, the civilian Resident Magistrates in charge of each of the administrative Districts to send Patrol Officers to forcefully recruit, under threat of sentence of imprisonment, all able-bodied males of ages judged by the recruiting officer as between 18 and 40 years.

These recruits were medically checked and all those who passed were then signed for service and sent to Port Moresby.

Men from west of Daru right around through Goaribari and Purari, Orokolo, Kerema, Moresby, Abau, on through Mailu, Milne Bay, East Cape, Gosiago,the islands and Northern District were conscripted at the will of the Army.

These men were conscripts, like the young Australian militiamen they initially carried for and supported. And, unknowingly, and importantly for today’s generation of Papua New Guineans, they were serving the interest of their own land and people in this arduous and dangerous work.

Now that Australia has recognised and honoured the contribution of all the Fuzzy-Wuzzies by making a presentation to the last, frail representatives of a generation who knew the reality of  warfare between modern, industrialized nations, is it not time that the people of PNG also paid honour to the contribution of these men?

The truth of the emergence into independent statehood by PNG is that the founders and pioneers of this nation are not the politicians who in the mid-sixties obtained independence from a willing colonial government; not the men who founded the two original political parties.

No. The true pioneers of modern PNG are the Fuzzies together with the hard-fighting soldiers of the Pacific Islands Battalion, and equally-brave and willing men of the Royal Papua Constabulary and the New Guinea Police, all of whom served, shoulder to shoulder with the Allied forces, in opposition to the aggressive Japanese invasion of this land.

The Nation owes it to itself- to the younger generation particularly- to recognise these facts by bestowing a suitable honour upon these few old survivors before it is too late.

Tolukuma Gold Mine supports health and education in Goilala district

Students using the oven

High school teachers' computer laboratory

Male boarding students of Sacred Heart

Students using the computer laboratory

The Tolukuma Gold Mine, a subsidiary of Papua New Guinea’s national oil, gas and mineral company, Petromin, has increased its community support budget to improve the lives of the isolated communities in the Goilala district.

The company is concentrating its assistance on water and sanitation projects as well as education of the next generation of Goilala leaders.

The company’s programme is consistent with the Petromin Group’s policy of investing part of their minerals revenue into socially-responsible investments.

TGM general manager John Moore said the mine had been constructing public toilets in the villages close to the mine site and water reticulation systems at Mondo to improve the health and hygiene of the population near the mine.

“Health conditions are difficult due to a lack of infrastructure and TGM is working to improve health and hygiene around Tolukuma where many of TGM’s workers from the mine area live,” he said.

TGM also supports the Yulai sub-clinic.

Additional mobile medical clinics travel out on the newly-created Tolukuma to Mondo Road and many emergency medical evacuations have occurred using the TGM-contracted helicopters to enable critically-ill Goilalans to reach hospital care in Port Moresby. 

On education, the mine provides K10, 000 per month to the Sacred Heart High School in Tapini for food and other materials to support the education of the students who attend this important high school.

In 2004, The Sacred Heart High School  was on the verge of closing down due to shortage of rations which were flown in from Port Moresby when the High School Board Chairman, Catholic Fr Brian Cahill msc made a call to Tolukuma management for assistance.

Tolukuma Gold Mines responded positively and began donating to Sacred Heart High School.

An annual acquittal report received from Fr Brian shows that the money is put in good use.

At the same time, TGM has supported the high school’s programmes which include the maintenance to school buildings, staff and student accommodations, an installation of the computer lab, music department, cooking oven and mixer as well as clinic and ward.

The Blessed Peter ToRot Primary School at Tapini has also benefited from TGM’s assistance, with part of the monthly donation to the high school spent on improving the primary school including the purchase of a computer pack, new classroom buildings and maintenance done to school building and staff accommodation. 

Finally and from community relations perspectives, the staff and students of both the Sacred Heart High School and Blessed PeterToRot Primary School are much delighted with the support that Tolukuma Mine is putting into the sustainability of these schools.

UNRE Vudal campus cleanup

From UNRE

 

Students of the University of Natural Resources & Environment’s Vudal campus have formed a group to promote the sustainable use and conservation of Papua New Guinea’s natural environment.

The environmentalist group will conduct its first awareness this Friday with a major clean-up of the campus. 

As part of this initiative they will also be putting up signs to discourage people from littering and spitting betelnut; and will be installing new garbage bins.

Group chairman, third-year agricultural student, Robert Martin, said the bins would be marked for different types of garbage - organic, plastics, tins and paper.

He said this would help slow down the rate which the university garbage landfill is filling up.

“Recycling rubbish is one way of protecting the environment and we want campus residents and visitors to be mindful of how they dispose their garbage,” he added.

After the clean-up, the group will travel to Rabaul to look for plants to beautify the campus.

Mr Martin said a public awareness on the El-Nino induced drought that had been predicted to hit Papua New Guinea in 2012, would be carried out by the group next month in conjunction with officers of the National Agricultural Research Institute’s wet lowlands’ programme in Kerevat.

“Being students of an environmental university, we are concerned about the future of our natural environment because we know that much of its destruction is due to the influence of humans.

“Forming this group and collaborating with likeminded individuals, organisations and stakeholders to promote its sustainable use is our contribution towards educating the people of Papua New Guinea on the value of our natural environment and why it is important to take care of it,” he said.

University vice chancellor Prof Philip Siaguru, who is a strong advocate of protecting the environment, commended the students for their initiative.

“I commend the students for looking beyond today, as the environment they are helping to protect today will support them when they are employed, have families and live in tomorrow with their children. I am firm in my commitment to the environment and it is pleasing that students see the need to give such attention to the environment,” he said.

Prof Siaguru said the environment we live in today had changed dramatically.

“We hear stories from our parents who speak of the gud taim long bipo when their catch was big and plentiful, whether they went fishing or hunting. Sadly, this has now changed with population increase and disturbances to the natural environment. Land and sea life food sources are either chased away or have simply declined due to human consumption needs,” he said.

“Such student groups will not only educate students in secondary and primary schools but our students themselves because there is still a lot to learn about the environment. I commend them for their initiative.”

This is the second student group that has been formed at the university this year.

The first group, Katalyst, consists of students who promote the concept of being employers, not employees, after they graduate.

Nape's undemocratic parliament equals Somare's absolute power.

From SAM BASIL

BULOLO MP

 

The National Parliament Speaker Hon. Jeffery Nape has eroded the spirit of democracy for three consecutive years as the Speaker of this eighth parliament and continues to do.

Since becoming a member of this eighth parliament I was given a copy of the constitution, the edited version July, 2007 and started browsing through the speaker’s role and responsibilities when I first started to realise the unprofessional and undemocratic conducts that he possesses.

The constitution stated clearly in Section 108 (1) that, The Speaker is responsible, subject to and in accordance with the Constitutional Laws, the Acts of Parliament and the Standing Orders of the Parliament, for upholding the dignity of the Parliament, maintaining order in it, regulating its proceedings and administering its affairs, and for controlling the precincts of the Parliament as defined by or under an Act of the Parliament.

The Speaker Hon. Jeffery Nape’s decisions and actions so far on the floor of Parliament have clearly shown that he is irresponsible and his conducts were not subjected to as in accordance with the Constitutional Laws, the Act of Parliament and the Standing Orders of the Parliament.

Simply there is no more democratic process in the proceedings of parliament.

In the last sitting of Parliament the Speaker:

 

A) Failed to entertain the motion of no confidence notice which was officially handed to the speaker’s office at 0930hrs on the 21.07.10. 

 

B) Failed to entertain the Noes call by the opposition followed by division call which was seconded against the leader of government business who proposed that the parliament at its rising be adjourned till November 16, 2010.

 

C) Failed yet again to entertain the Noes call by the opposition followed by division call which was seconded against the leader of government business who proposed again that the parliament is now adjourned until November 16, 2010.

 

Surprisingly the parliament clerk Mr Don Pandan has excluded the division calls from the copies of Hansard distributed a week after the session.

The National Parliament clerk has also failed his constitutional duties to properly advice the speaker to act in accordance with the constitutional laws, the Acts of Parliament and the Standing Orders of the Parliament and he must also be referred to the Ombudsman Commission.

We have heard that during the intense lobbying two very influential government MPs spent three hours with the Speaker. 

The Speaker’s undemocratic rulings on the floor that week also raise many questions regarding the integrity of the chair.

Is the Speaker above the law?

Why haven’t the relevant authorities stepped in to address all the corruption claims against the Speaker including his undemocratic conduct on the chair beginning from the 7th and into this 8th Parliament?

 If the Speaker is clearly above the law then he can be termed as the most powerful MP on the floor which means that if he decides to market his rulings to the highest bidder then he can break all the laws under the sun to do so.

Last week’s denial of the opposition’s rights to call for the division has seen the Speaker’s office denying the rights of almost three million people that those 45 members of parliament represent in the opposition.

If the Speaker of the National Parliament is marketing his rulings on the floor then he must come clear to the 6.5m people of this nation.

Maybe it is time now for the ordinary people to directly vote a Speaker of Parliament into office who can be independent from political influences.

 The candidates must go through a series of stringent screening processes and criteria with educational qualifications and most importantly ex convict and criminals should be excluded from day one.

I will also take to the ordinary grassroots people to explain the Speaker’s conducts on the floor while he will be called to open forums to explain his undemocratic conducts.

There is no hope anymore for us the elected MPs to exercise our rights and freedom on the floor on behalf of our people.