Australia's "racist" visa policies against Papua New Guineans to be on talkback radio tomorrow

Why does the Australian High Commission continue to treat the people of Papua New Guinea like "shit" when it comes to issuing visas?

We want answers from Australian High Commissioner Ian Kemish!

You can have your say at 10am tomorrow - Wednesday, September 28 - on FM100's Talkback Show when SIMON MERTON – who has singlehandedly been fighting against the AHC for its blatantly racist visa policies towards Papua New Guineans – will be on air with host Roger Hau'ofa.

You can be assured of fireworks as the long-suffering people of PNG vent their frustration at the AHC!

Numbers to call are 323 3777 and 323 3999.

Student bashed to death in East New Britain

By ABIGAIL APINA

A STUDENT at the Kokopo Business College died on Sunday after being severely bashed up by four others, The National reports.
Provincial police commander Sylvester Kalaut said an East Sepik student was in custody for questioning while three others, also students, were still at large.
He said student Gary Bosa of Central and Bougainville parentage, died on Sunday after he was taken to hospital.
Kalaut said Bosa was attacked by the four students when he was returning to the male dormitory from a nearby bottle shop at 9pm last Friday.
After he was attacked, Bosa accompanied one of his friends to Kinabot stage 2 to avoid further assaults that night.
But when he returned to the campus on Saturday while under the influence of alcohol, the four students went to his room and assaulted him again.
Kalaut said Bosa's roommate noticed later that Bosa had not woken up nor changed his sleeping position.
He was taken to the Vunapope Hospital on Sunday but died on arrival.
Kalaut said his officers were investigating the death and a post-mortem examination would be conducted soon.
Police suspect that the motive for the assault was related to an arson case which happened on the campus three months ago.
KIalaut said Bosa was the student who had triggered a riot on campus three months ago after he was attacked.
He said senior staff at Kokopo Business College told him yesterday that Bosa was recently suspended for one year over an alcohol incident.
Kalaut said three of the four suspects were students who had been suspended in relation to the arson suspected.

22 seats reserved for women, United Nations told

PRIME Minister Peter O'Neill says the government plans to have more women take an active role
in national affairs and the economy, The National reports.
It was part of the message he delivered last Friday at the United Nations general assembly in his first address to world leaders.
"I believe that women play a critical role in all facets of development, therefore, the government
has recently passed the first vote on a parliamentary bill that will provide for 22 reserved seats for women to contest in the national election in 2012 besides contesting for any of the existing 109 seats," O'Neill said.
He said PNG appre­ciated the push by multi-lateral partners such as the Asian Development Bank
and the World Bank on gender equality.
And he urged them to support PNG's financial institutions and positively discriminate in favour of women by specifically allocating 10% of all funds without risk to be lent to women entrepreneurs to develop small and me­dium-sized enterprises.
"The good news is that many studies confirm the fact that women are good entrepreneurs, but even better when properly supported," he said.
"We note the recently adopted San Francisco declaration by Apec countries last week under the leadership of the United States of America.
"This is a major step forward in supporting wo­men in business and is a powerful tool for wo­men of Apec member countries like mine to effectively participate in business and the economy of our country.
"We will encourage our women in Papua New Guinea and urge the wider Apec community to take advantage of opportunities created by the declaration," the prime minister said.

O’Neill tells United Nations: Papua New Guinea on target

Caption: Prime Minister Peter O'Neill addressing the United Nations general assembly in New York City last Friday.

Caption: Prime Minister Peter O'Neill addressing the United Nations general assembly in New York City last Friday.

PRIME Minister Peter O'Neill has told the Uni­ted Nations general assembly that Papua New Guinea had achieved some of its national millennium development goals, The National reports.
Addressing world lea­ders for the first time since taking up office last month, O'Neill said since the publication of the inaugural MDG report in 2004, PNG had produced two MDG pro­gress reports – a summary report in 2009 and a more comprehensive report last year.
He said the reports showed that PNG was able to achieve some of the national MDG targets, especially on po­verty reduction and child mortality.
On poverty reduction, he said the country got the informal sector involved in cottage industries with growing access to microfinance services at user-friendly and affordable rates.
In terms of primary education, PNG was progressing well with the enrolment of children in Grades 1 to 6 increasing significantly by 53%, he told the assembly.
"This is a marked improvement and will increase the literacy rate in the long term," he said.
O'Neill told world lea­ders that PNG had welcomed and formalised the "One UN – Delivering as One" concept in 2006 as a model self-starter country.
He said PNG continued to benefit from a strong UN presence through its delivery of various development programmes.
"This has unified all the efforts of the separate UN agencies under one budgetary framework and monitoring and evaluation process,'' he said.
He said a new country programme for PNG to begin next January would target governance,
social justice, health, education, gender, environment, climate change and disaster management.
He said the government had recently announced a free education policy from elementary Grades 1 to 10, and subsidised fees from Grades 11 to university next year.
On health, O'Neill said PNG aimed to address key areas such as improving immunisation programmes, providing a clean and safer water supply, centralising the purchase and supply of drugs, maternal and child mortality, malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other communicable diseases.

InterOil failed to honour agreement, says department head

IN a double-pronged charge, the go­vernment has launched a direct attack against PNG's only oil refi­ner and promoter of the second LNG project, InterOil, The National reports.

While Petroleum and Energy Mi­nister William Duma announced a cabinet decision to "reject the Gulf proposal", department head, Rendel Rimua expressed concern at InterOil's "inability to comply with the requirements and obligations set out in the InterOil refi­nery project agree­­ment for NapaNapa refinery".
Rimua said the refinery was set up to produce refined petroleum products for the Port Moresby's market with provisions to extend to other parts of PNG.
He said: "Big companies like Shell and BP exited the retail petroleum industry in late 1990s and early 2000s while InterOil set up the refinery to fill the gap created by the departure of these companies to continue supplying refined petroleum products.
"The national government saw the need for a refinery to address the above situation; hence it nego­tiated and subsequently entered into a project agreement with InterOil to set up the refinery.
"The primary objective of the re­finery project agreement was for InterOil Ltd to buy crude oil from the Kutubu oil fields operated by Oil Search Ltd, then process the crude oil to produce and supply refined petroleum products for Port Moresby and the rest of the country.
"The department has reason to believe that InterOil Ltd is not complying with the intent of the project agreement signed between the company and the state.
"The department is concerned that InterOil Ltd has not been able to provide details of the volume of refined petroleum products produced at its refinery at NapaNapa since it commenced operations in 2004 des­pite numerous requests for them to provide the information.
"In light of the above, the department understands InterOil Ltd has not been buying crude oil from the Kutubu oil fields and the department believes InterOil has been importing refined products and is possibly reblending them again for distribution in the country, away from the agreement signed."
Rimua also said InterOil Ltd refinery project was not complying with the pricing mechanism esta­blished by the National Executive Council for Import Parity Pricing (IPP) formula.
According to Rimua, InterOil sought a review of IPP formula in 2007 claiming it was making losses on its refinery business.
The state undertook a review and came up with an interim IPP formula but InterOil Ltd had issues so it was revised again and the state finalised the formula for implementation in 2010 but Rimua said he was informed that InterOil "has not been complying with the revised IPP formula".

The InterOil refinery operates under Petroleum Processing Facility Licence (PPFL) No. 1 under the Oil and Gas Act.
"When the department issues directions or requests for information in relation to Licence conditions or as required by the Oil and Gas Act and a Licence holder does not comply, this is non compliance and this is undermining the laws of the country," Rimua said.
"The department also expects that any investor that has a contractual obligation with the State must ensure it honours its obligations."

InterOil LNG project in strife

THE  InterOil-proposed Gulf LNG project has been dumped by cabinet on grounds that it deviated from the original pro­ject agreement, The National reports.
An industry observer warned last night this could be seen as a case of "expropriation" by the government and the state could be hit with a "hefty lawsuit".
He said the project agreement provi­ded for disputes and agreements to go before an arbitration tribunal, but "it appears the government has taken the extreme decision".
InterOil executives were contacted last night for comment but did not  respond.
Announcing the cabinet decision, Petroleum Minister William Duma blasted InterOil for moving away from the original agreement and instead proposed a "small scale fragmented" Gulf project to be developed by companies not recognised as LNG operators.
He said none of these companies were experienced in operating a world-class LNG plant that InterOil was contracted to deliver.
"Hence they do not fit the description or intent of a world class operator as contained in the project agreement," Duma said in a statement.
In what appears to be a double-barrel blast at InterOil, Petroleum secretary Rendel Rimua issued a separate statement attacking the company for not complying with requirements of its NapaNapa oil refinery agreement.
Duma said original project agreement executed between the state and Liquid Niugini Gas Ltd (LNGL) in December 2009 was for a "world-class LNG plant of international scale and quality using internationally recognised technology with a plant size of 7.6 million to 10.6 million tonnes of LNG per annum and to be operated by an internationally-recognised LNG operator".
"Instead of delivering a pro­ject that fits this project description, LNGL/InterOil has been announcing, presenting and promoting a different project without seeking prior formal state approval," Duma said.
The original InterOil LNG plant was to be built alongside the NapaNapa oil refinery outside Port Moresby, but LNGL/InterOil had over time changed that and proposed a Gulf project using a combination of different production methods.
These included a land-based LNG plant using multiple mini LNG trains to be developed by Energy World Corporation and a fixed floating LNG plant to be developed by Flex and Samsung.
"Clearly this is not the project contemplated by the project agreement and to which the state has dedicated its gas for commercialisation," he said.
Duma said that since May last year, Rimua had on numerous occasions been conveying the state's requirements for LNGL/InterOil to deliver the project contemplated in the agreement.
The minister said the developers ignored these concerns and proceeded to publicly promote a different project in Gulf pro­vince.
Therefore, the cabinet deci­ded last Wednesday that the Gulf project was not the kind that was contemplated in the project agreement.
"I have also reminded LNGL and InterOil to comply with their contractual obligations to deliver a world-class project with the support of a world class LNG operator," Duma said.
He said NEC still supported the development of a second LNG project by LNGL/InterOil and reiterated that it must comply with the original project agreement.
"The NEC confirmed that if LNGL and InterOil continue to progress the fragmented Gulf project, they will inevitably reach a point at which LNGL/InterOil will commit a repudiatory breach of the project agreement.
"The PNG government supports and will continue to support LNGL/InterOil in delivering the project contemplated in the agreement but not a project which deviates from the agreement."

Australia’s policy on visas towards Papua New Guineans

By SIMON MERTON

http://www.facebook.com/groups/austpngvisapolicy/

I started this group on Facebook out of pure frustration in dealing with the Australian High Commission Migration Office in Port Moresby for visas,  etc.

I thought that due to the popularity of social media these days that I might stir up a couple of hundred of peoples’ interest.

Little did I know that in under a week that we would have over 1,000 members.

I find their policy and attitude towards Papua New Guineans in general to be borderline racist.

I understand that this is an emotionally-charged topic, but please do remember, our ultimate goal is to have such an impact where we encourage positive changes.

I am not trying to create disharmony, division, racism etc.

I am simply highlighting an issue that needs to be dealt with.

I feel that it’s an absolute disgrace, Australia's attitude towards Papua New Guineans at the High Commission.

What's even worse is the apparently racist attitude that the Papua New Guinean staff  have towards their own country folk.

As a former Australian citizen and long-term resident of PNG (I have been here since I was an infant) and married to a Papua New Guinean, I have sponsored relatives, friends and employees on several occasions to travel to Australia for short stays, for weddings, funerals, shopping trips and holidays.

It's the same each time, and it's getting worse.

Forced to line up in the hot sun or pouring rain like cattle, when they eventually get in the door and wait a further two hours, they treated with contempt and suspicion by the PNG officer who serves them.

They are then forced to provide hideous amounts of personal information that can include letters of support, medical histories, bank account statements of the applicant and those of their sponsors and even more.

Of course my story is the same as everybody else's.

The AHC demands sensitive and personal information that they never acknowledge receipt of.

The whole process can take months just to get a one-month visa.

I just met a couple in the AHC car park a few weeks ago morning, the wife was in tears.

They had applied for visas for themselves and their child to fly down to Brisbane for a couple of weeks and visit the husband’s sick grandmother who is in hospital down there.

 It cost them K300 each for their visa applications and guess what, their applications were rejected!

The reason? Well apparently the wife’s sister had previously overstayed her visa by a few days due to a mix up in airline bookings.

So she is automatically considered an overstay risk and automatically rejected. This poor lady and her husband get penalised because of a mistake that someone else made.

So I can now confirm, they are now black listing people based on who your relatives are. Were these people given a chance to explain or even submit further information to support their case? No, it was automatically denied.

How were these people told that their visas were denied? Via email. So on this particular day they came down in an attempt to talk to the officer and explain their circumstances, guess what? They weren’t even allowed past the gate.

You will find stories just like this one on our Facebook page, it’s absolutely disgraceful.

It appears that the Australians have Papua New Guineans on an automatic "at risk blacklist", something carried over from the pre-colonial White Australia Policy.

What's really insulting is Papua New Guinea's history with Australia, especially that of WWII where Papua New Guineans played a critical role in defending Australia from Japan during the war.

Now a citizen of Japan can apply for an Australian Electronic Travel Authority online and a visa is granted on arrival in Australia.

Papua New Guinea gives visas to Australian nationals on arrival at the airport as well. Yet the humble Papua New Guinean whose ancestors helped protect Australia from Japan during the war is made to jump through near impossible hoops.

I find this extremely unfair, when we offer visas on arrival to Australians as long as they arrive with a return ticket.

A Samoan, Tongan, and Cook Islander can freely travel between their home and their former colonial master, New Zealand, yet ours has put up an impassable barrier! Why ?

Now that the opening of two new Australian Visa Application Centers (AVAC) in Port Moresby and Lae is being promoted by the Australian High Commission as a positive step in addressing our concerns. Fact is, it doesn’t! All it is doing is shifting the line up from the car park to somewhere else. These application centers are third- party contractors who simply accept applications and then pass them over to the AHC for processing. What they have achieved by introducing these centers is placing yet another barrier between the applicant and the Migration Office which is now closed to the general public.

And to further rub salt into the wound, on top of the existing no- refundable application fee, people will now have to pay an additional k49 to fund these centres. Why is this? Because the AVAC is operated by a private contractor, TT Services which belongs to an Indian company that specialises in, among other things, “out sourcing solutions” such as call centres.

Now Papua New Guineans will be faced with even higher processing fees and of course, as they are now been handled by a private contractor, they will not be able to answer any questions in regards to declined applications or policies etc.

I strongly suggest that the PNG Minister responsible for Migration should immediately implement a blanket ban on the issuance of visas on arrival to all Australian citizens traveling to Papua New Guinea until such a time when Australia can accord Papua New Guineans the same privilege.

We have an email address austpngvisapolicy@gmail.com

And our Facebook group, Australia’s policy on Visa’s towards Papua New Guineans can be accessed here, http://www.facebook.com/groups/austpngvisapolicy/

We also have an online petition that can be accessed here, http://www.petitions24.com/call_for_a_fair_unbiased_visa_treaty_between_australia_and_png