Jonathan Baure breaks silence on border crossing to Australia

By MALUM NALU

Papuan border crossers’ leader Jonathan Baure today revealed all about his members crossing into Australia, their treatment at the hands of Australian authorities, and of his apprehension in Daru at the weekend when he had never physically crossed over into Australia.



The Papuan border crossers who actually made it to Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost tip of Australia, raise the Papuan flag last Wednesday.-Pictures courtesy of JONATHAN BAURE

 In an exclusive interview from Boroko police station cell, where he is being held until his first court appearance, he expressed disappointment at the way the matter had been reported in both Australian and PNG media.
Baure said of the 16 dinghies carrying 122 people, which were confiscated by Australian authorities last Wednesday, one actually made it onto Cape York Peninsula on northernmost tip of the mainland, where seven passengers disembarked and raised their Papuan flag before being arrested.

A giant step for the Papuan movement…the first seven border crossers arrive at Cape York Peninsula on the Australian mainland last Wednesday

“Two dinghies were stopped just outside of Horn Island, which is in the special quarantine zone,” he said.
“Nine were held at Tudo, on the border of the treaty zone and the special quarantine zone.
“The last four dinghies were in the quarantine zone but they were sent back (to Daru).
“The total number of people who crossed was 122, and the total number of people who actually landed on the mainland itself was just seven.
“Under Australian immigration and customs laws, any person found inside the special quarantine zone will be arrested and detained, and taken to the Cairns court.
“There were 122 of our members detained at Horn Island, which is still inside the quarantine zone.
“While in Australia, their requests for legal aid and to have their case heard in court fell on deaf ears.
“They were refused opportunity to a lawyer.
“They were not even allowed to speak to the media.
“The first lot of 30 people was flown back the same afternoon to Daru, and their dinghies and outboard motors confiscated.
“I’m very disappointed that Australian authorities didn’t give our members the opportunity to present our case through the courts, as is the case when drug runners and gun smugglers cross into the special quarantine zone.”
Baure said they decided to take this action because Australian High Commission staff in Port Moresby had not been paying attention to their claims that they were Australian citizens, despite acknowledgement by former prime minister Kevin Rudd.
“We are not refugees crossing, simply people who want our Australian birth citizenship recognised, as we were born as Australian citizens,” he said.
“Australians are saying that we are not citizens, but we never revoked our birthright.
“At independence in 1975, they reckon we lost our Australian citizenship, but they must realise that we never revoked it.
“This is not a political issue; it is a civil rights issue.
“It is simply about Papuans who were born as Australian citizens before PNG independence.”

A Papuan border crosser at Cape York Peninsula

Baure denied media reports in Australia and PNG that he crossed the Torres Strait to Australia and was arrested, when in fact, he was in Daru all this time.
“I never crossed over,” he said.
“I was all the time in Daru catering for people who crossed over, doing awareness on the issue and talking to media and Australian authorities.
“I was apprehended on Sunday in Daru and flown to Port Moresby on an Australian-chartered plane, where I was formally arrested and charged.
“I’ve been charged with two counts of: false assumption of authority; and personating public officer.
“I’ve been charged by the police trans-national crime unit, together with PNG Customs and PNG Immigration.
“However, they keep on changing the charges, so I don’t know when I’ll appear in court.”
Asked if he had falsified Australian citizenship papers, Baure replied: “We did not carry illegal Australian papers; these were our own group identification papers.”
Meanwhile, another well-placed source said yesterday that members of the Papuan group were now stranded en masse in Daru, because all their money amounting to thousands of kina had been confiscated by the trans-national crime unit.

Miners hope to restart Bougainville gold and copper mine

By ROWAN CALLICK of The Australian

Panguna mine on Bougainville Island is one of the worlds richest copper mines Source: The Australian

TALKS are under way on reopening one of the world's biggest copper and gold mines, on Australia's doorstep -- the Bougainville mine that last produced ore 22 years ago and was widely believed to have closed forever.
The seemingly unstoppable China-driven commodities boom has pushed up prices, so the reserves in the Bougainville pit are now worth about $50 billion.
Its port, its access road up 30km of rugged terrain and its 200 million tonnes of pre-stripped ore are ready and waiting.
Crucially, leaders on Bougainville -- including former combatants and elected politicians -- are all calling for the mine to reopen, although they have yet to agree on the conditions they require.
"The key to the door," Bougainville Copper chairman and managing director Peter Taylor said, "is the landowners."
Nothing could happen "until they say to BCL, as a united group, 'We want the mine and we want you to run it' ".
"Then I'll focus on the process that would follow."
Veteran politician and former Catholic priest John Momis, the recently elected President of Bougainville -- an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea -- said: "We are keen to reopen the mine and we are holding talks with the landowners."
BCL's share price has doubled since August and trebled since May, as canny investors have watched vital and promising talks begin.
Bougainville Copper, which is 53.58 per cent-owned by Rio, 19.06 per cent by the Papua New Guinea government and 27.36 per cent by other shareholders, estimates it will cost about $3bn to reopen the mine, whose production was suspended on May 15, 1989.
The trucks and the electricity pylons may have been blown up, rusted or cannibalised, but the resources in the mine have not been damaged or diminished over the past 21 years. It contains 3.5 million tonnes of copper, today worth about $32.4bn, and 12.7 million ounces of gold, worth today about $17.8bn.
There are more reserves beyond the pit but still in the mine lease area.
The mine as presently configured is capable of producing up to 170,000 tonnes of copper and 500,000 ounces of gold annually.
The copper price has quadrupled since the mine closed, the gold price seven times.
The values of the two metals have usually run counter-cyclically, but this year they have peaked together.
But the cost of capital is also high, and is likely to come at a premium given the tumultuous history of the mine.
Former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke, who has close Chinese commercial connections, in late November visited Port Moresby, where he talked with Prime Minister Michael Somare and Mr Momis.
The discussions included plans to reopen the Bougainville mine.
After leading a Bougainville delegation of 34 on a visit to China, where he was once the PNG ambassador, Mr Momis said: "The Chinese have expressed an interest in the mine, but we are keeping all our options open."
The overwhelming focus of 40 years ago on the mine as a national economy maker or breaker is no longer present.
It would remain the crucial income earner for Bougainville itself, but for PNG the spotlight has shifted to the $16.5bn ExxonMobil-led venture piping gas from the Southern Highlands to Port Moresby, where it will be liquefied for export to Asia. This is by far the biggest project ever conceived in the Pacific islands.
In this context, Port Moresby might more readily contemplate transferring its 19 per cent ownership of Bougainville Copper to the island itself -- where preliminary discussions have contemplated the autonomous government retaining 60 per cent, and the landowners taking 40 per cent.
On a pro rata basis, the owners of PNG's 19 per cent share would have to raise $570 million towards the mine's reopening.
It is possible Chinese entities, eager to obtain reliable sources of resources, may be prepared to help fund it, either in return for equity, or for future copper output.

Mother’s joy on Christmas

Rita Patrick from Bereina in Central is a proud mum at about 7.30am on Christmas Day, giving birth to a 3.3kg baby girl at the Port Moresby General Hospital, The National reports.
Thankful for her daughter, Rita said Christmas was truly a time when miracles happen.
Sr Annette Semo said nurses and staff at the labour ward worked hard to ensure the safe delivery of 24 healthy babies on Christmas Day, the first of which was a baby girl weighing 4kg. Lae’s Angau Memorial Hospital reported 19 Christmas babies while St Mary’s Vunapope Hospital in East New Britain recorded four babies. – Nationalpic by ALISON ANIS

Vision City gets Bank South Pacific ATMs

By  BOSORINA ROBY

 

RUNNING out of cash while shopping at Vision City Megamall is now a thing of the past with the installation of two Bank South Pacific automatic teller machines at the shopping centre’s premises, The National reports.

This was in line with the bank’s roll-out programme to strengthen its position as a bank that “provides convenient, accessible and cost-effective banking solutions”.

RH Trading general manager Ang Cheng Chooi said the partnership between their companies would offer greater convenience to customers as they show their commitment to meeting the needs of today’s busy consumers.

BSP head of retail network Kili Tambua said the expansion of BSP’s ATM network allowed its customers to choose how they bank with BSP – at a time, place and location convenient to them.

“Using a BSP ATM, customers could check balances, withdraw cash, get phone credits, obtain mini-statements, transfer funds and change PIN,” he said.

Electronic banking transactions were cheaper than transactions performed by a teller in a branch, Tambua said.

These ATMs would also benefit international travellers who may use their MasterCard on the BSP network.

Tambua said BSP’s efforts to extend its ATM network would go a long way towards making ATMs more accessible to customers.

“No other PNG bank reaches out to customers like BSP and we are committed to making banking more convenient, simple and safe for our customers.”

 

 

Pray for Papua New Guinea, says acting Prime Minister

ACTING Prime Minister Sam Abal’s Christmas message was for all Christians to pray for the country as most Papua New Guineans celebrated the festive weekend in the peace and comfort of their homes and communities, The National reports.

Spreading the message in front of thousands at his home town, Wabag, on Christmas Eve, he said that Christmas was a time to get blessings from God as well as to give glory to God.

“I urge all people to put God first as everything comes from Him.”

Extra police patrols contributed to peaceful celebrations in the provinces.

However, there were many incidents in several urban centres, notably the National Capital District, where two ethnic clashes claimed the lives of three people on Christmas Day.

NCD Metropolitan Supt Joseph Tondop said city residents celebrated normally elsewhere.

In nearby Central, police reported a double murder at Brown River and a drowning of a picnicker at Kuriva.

In Western, more than 130 Papua New Guineans, who attempted to enter Australia by a flotilla of boats earlier last week to claim Australian citizenship, were returned to Daru Island, where their leader Jonathan Baure was arrested by police over immigration breaches. Australian authorities chartered five planes to return the group.

In the Eastern Highlands, two primary school students were among seven people arrested at a Goroka settlement following a Christmas Day break-in at the Chemica supermarket where thousands of kina in electronic and electrical items, among others, were stolen.

Eastern Highlands provincial police commander Chief Supt Augustine Wampe said that, generally, the people and community maintained peace and unity during the festive season.

Western Highlands provincial police commander Supt Kaiglo Ambane thanked Western Highlanders for their trouble-free behaviour, urging them to continue this during the coming New Year weekend.

He said Christmas Day was also special for his men who arrested two Baisu jail prisoners, one a suspected bank robber, who had been on the run for the past two months.

And, while celebrations in Port Moresby may have been dampened by light drizzles throughout the weekend, the weather office said more wet days were expected throughout the week.

 

 

Christmas bombshell: PNGDF caterer quits

AN unpleasant Christmas surprise awaited PNG Defence Force soldiers at the weekend – they were told that can expect to go hungry for the rest of the festive season, The National reports.

This was because after serving them their Christmas Day meals on Saturday, contracted caterer NCS announced yesterday in a media statement that it had withdrawn catering services to the PNG Defence Force.

“This action is the result of non-payment of accounts dating back to April totalling more than K7 million,” NCS financial controller Tony Green said on behalf of the company’s board of directors.

He said NCS regretted withdrawing its services but it was left with no choice after numerous demands for payment, both verbal and written, over a period of several months went unheeded.

Green said that notice to suspend the catering services was given more than one month ago but was lifted after a payment was promised

“Unfortunately, that payment never eventuated and, two weeks ago, a final notice was given to PNGDF that services would cease if payment was not forthcoming.”

He said that while the PNGDF had always been slow to pay for services, the current level of debt and the time waiting to be paid had never been as bad as it was now.

Green added that the board had met and resolved that the risk to NCS and its suppliers was too great to continue incurring expenses without any clear sign of payment.

“NCS is a 100% PNG-owned company that has, in partnership with other PNG landowner companies, been very successful in winning contracts against international competition.

“Allowing the PNGDF debt to continue to grow would pose an enormous risk to NCS and its other clients,” he said.

The withdrawal of services would affect PNGDF messing facilities at Murray Barracks, Taurama Barracks, Goldie River Barracks, Igam Barracks (Lae), Moem Barracks (Wewak) and Lombrum naval base (Manus).

 

Abal puts God first

By YVONNE HAIP

 

ACTING Prime Minister Sam Abal returned to his Wabag electorate in Enga to a chief’s welcome last Friday for the first time in his capacity as acting prime minister, The National reports.

He was accompanied by Public Service Minister Moses Maladina, Mining Minister and Kompian-Ambum MP John Pundari, Enga Governor Peter Ipatas, Western Highlands Governor Tom Olga, North Waghi MP Benjamin Mul and acting Police Commissioner Tony Wagambie.

Thousands of people throughout Enga turned up to welcome Abal and his delegation, including his wife.

As the people stood watch, church elders dedicated Abal to the Lord and urged him to be the “leader to lead the people, pastor to feed the people and shepherd to look after the people”.

They said Abal had been bestowed a huge responsibility and challenged him to serve the country with integrity and honesty as a God-fearing leader.

The acting prime minister said he was committed to do the best for the people and called for Christians throughout the country to pray for PNG and receive God’s blessings.

He also cleared the air that there was no vacancy in the office of the prime minister as he had be given the power to perform the responsibilities of the prime minister.

He said he would do his job in consultation with other senior ministers to carry on with the policies and programmes implemented under the leadership of sidelined prime minister and East Sepik MP Sir Michael Somare.

“I did not ask for or make a move for the post of acting PM nor the deputy prime minister’s seat but it was Sir Michael’s decision, through his own wisdom (to appoint Abal as deputy prime minister),” he said.

He also committed the office of the prime minister to God because, without God, the country would not progress and asked Christians to pray for guidance during these hard times.

Other parliamentarians who witnessed the occasion indicated their support for Abal and promised to work with him.