PNGBLOGS

AN accountant who put on his first pair of shoes when he was 16 to visit his father's relatives in Melbourne has in six short weeks taken a firm grip on the steering wheel in Papua New Guinea. But this country, Australia's closest neighbour, a tinny ride away, is notoriously resistant to direction. It is on the cusp of rapid, overdue modernisation, or sinking back to tribalised subsistence. Especially today, Independence Day and a public holiday, the country's seven million people will be asking whether Peter O'Neill can succeed. It is 36 years since prime minister Gough Whitlam and governor-general John Kerr, with Prince Charles representing Queen Elizabeth, who remains PNG's head of state, formally declared the country independent, inaugurating a brief, sunny period of optimism for PNG's future until corruption began to take its terrible toll. The only Papua New Guinean most Australians can name is Michael Somare, who became prime minister at independence and

AN accountant who put on his first pair of shoes when he was 16 to visit his father's relatives in Melbourne has in six short weeks taken a firm grip on the steering wheel in Papua New Guinea. But this country, Australia's closest neighbour, a tinny ride away, is notoriously resistant to direction. It is on the cusp of rapid, overdue modernisation, or sinking back to tribalised subsistence. Especially today, Independence Day and a public holiday, the country's seven million people will be asking whether Peter O'Neill can succeed. It is 36 years since prime minister Gough Whitlam and governor-general John Kerr, with Prince Charles representing Queen Elizabeth, who remains PNG's head of state, formally declared the country independent, inaugurating a brief, sunny period of optimism for PNG's future until corruption began to take its terrible toll. The only Papua New Guinean most Australians can name is Michael Somare, who became prime minister at independence

On behalf of everyone here at PNGBLOGS, we want to wish you all a Safe and Happy September 16 Independence Celebrations. Stay safe PNG and celebrate the true meaning of bring free. Terry S PNGBLOGS

On behalf of everyone here at PNGBLOGS, we want to wish you all a Safe and Happy September 16 Independence Celebrations. Stay safe PNG and celebrate the true meaning of bring free. Terry S PNGBLOGS

So, the Opposition, with a bunch of disgruntled (or opportunistic) MPs on the former government benches, moved swiftly and installed a new government for PNG. It was certainly a piece of high political drama, at which PNG excels, and provided a contrast from the incessant infighting within the ruling party. Whether the process stands up to legal scrutiny will not be discussed in this column, beyond noting that it clearly enjoyed an absolute majority of MPs and that there’d been a disruptive power vacuum hitherto. Former Acting Prime Minister Abal should be commended for seeking to hold a somewhat unruly team together, and trying to impose standards, including launching an overdue inquiry into abuse of customary land (SABLs), in defiance of some party powerbrokers, and penalising some senior Ministers for apparent abuses (e.g. over licensing). Ultimately, however, Abal’s extended acting appointment was a poisoned chalice, lacking the universally-accepted mandate over power-

So, the Opposition, with a bunch of disgruntled (or opportunistic) MPs on the former government benches, moved swiftly and installed a new government for PNG. It was certainly a piece of high political drama, at which PNG excels, and provided a contrast from the incessant infighting within the ruling party. Whether the process stands up to legal scrutiny will not be discussed in this column, beyond noting that it clearly enjoyed an absolute majority of MPs and that there’d been a disruptive power vacuum hitherto. Former Acting Prime Minister Abal should be commended for seeking to hold a somewhat unruly team together, and trying to impose standards, including launching an overdue inquiry into abuse of customary land (SABLs), in defiance of some party powerbrokers, and penalising some senior Ministers for apparent abuses (e.g. over licensing). Ultimately, however, Abal’s extended acting appointment was a poisoned chalice, lacking the universally-accepted mandate over power

The ‘Moti Affair’ isn’t over for PNG warns Susan Merrell  Legend has it that Italian courtier Damocles was awarded a much-coveted throne that brought with it great power and wealth. But also inherent in the acquisition was a sword, suspended by a single horse’s hair over the throne - the proverbial ‘Sword of Damocles’. Considering the threat intolerable, Damocles relinquished the throne (although I’ve never quite understood why he didn’t just remove the sword). There are outstanding issues, precariously suspended, like the Sword of Damocles, over the PNG government. The Moti Affair, for instance – while a legacy of the Grand Chief, Sir Michael Somare, unresolved, it’s now been passed on to the new PNG government and, in its current state, will dog any subsequent government. Recent Wikileaks cables emanating from the US embassy in PNG are a reminder. In one cable, headed ‘Papua New Guinea Prime Minister on Moti and Bilateral,’ Somare stated that the PNG government “knows who the cu