PNGBLOGS

by WAIGANI INSIDER The PM and his advisors aren’t dumb.  As it became more apparent what an economic mess the government had gotten PNG into, they were clear that more people would start speaking out. When anticorruption activist Noah Anjo organized his protests last year and MP Don Polye followed, the PM knew that he had to act fast.   The word was sent out not to allow any protests that were against the PM (this did not extend to TI protests. PM believes that TI protests aren’t any threat to his power and by allowing them to continue, he can say that he supports efforts to fight corruption).    The PM effectively keeps his MPs bought off but he fears public outrage.  Last October was the first serious threat to the PM’s authority, when Noah Anjo organized a protest march from Jack Pidik park to Parliament to support a vote of no confidence on the PM.   Anjo’s request for a protest permit was also turned down.  When Anjo got a court order allowing the protest, the PM knew tha

by GREG POYA   Peter O'Niell should be worried about Australia's new Prime Minister, Mr Malcolm Turnbull. Papua New Guinea's prime minister has signalled a partial back-down from recent comments that Australian consultants and advisers would be expelled from PNG by the end of the year. Peter O'Neill announced in July that his government would remove all foreign advisors and consultants from government departments because their presence was m aking locals lazy. There were also suggestions that the foreign, mainly Australian, advisers, were spying on his government. Mr O'Neill now says he prefers a change to contract officers who can be accountable to his government. He told AAP that his government is not that silly to displace families overnight, and that nobody is being thrown out on the street. Mr O'Neill says he wants to ensure people assigned to PNG show loyalty to the government and to service. Australia has 34 public servants on

CANBERRA TIMES The Gillard Government must stop paying huge salaries to aid officials working in poor countries, Australia's main foreign aid group said yesterday.  The strong reaction from the Australian Council for International Development came after Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the huge salaries paid to Australians administering aid programs would be trimmed by one-quarter. He confirmed the Government would axe 257 long-term positions from 11 different programs over two years. Council executive director Marc Purcell said reducing advisers must be the first step as part of a larger reform and questioning of what made foreign aid effective. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said the high level of advisers' salaries had been raised with her by heads of state and foreign ministers from the region. ''This is a matter of concern to them, that Australian aid is being absorbed by payments to the officials in charge of the aid program an

CANBERRA TIMES The Gillard Government must stop paying huge salaries to aid officials working in poor countries, Australia's main foreign aid group said yesterday.  The strong reaction from the Australian Council for International Development came after Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the huge salaries paid to Australians administering aid programs would be trimmed by one-quarter. He confirmed the Government would axe 257 long-term positions from 11 different programs over two years. Council executive director Marc Purcell said reducing advisers must be the first step as part of a larger reform and questioning of what made foreign aid effective. Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said the high level of advisers' salaries had been raised with her by heads of state and foreign ministers from the region. ''This is a matter of concern to them, that Australian aid is being absorbed by payments to the officials in charge of the aid progr