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Papua New Guinea's future depends on Australia

JULIA Gillard has just returned from a meeting with Pacific Island leaders where she announced a major aid initiative to tackle gender inequality. We know that promoting gender equity can increase economic prosperity and transform community well-being so the PM's announcement is a great step forward. But having just visited the Pacific region, I am also struck by the immense challenge that lies ahead for our island neighbours, and the responsibility that Australia must face up to. On the flight over to Papua New Guinea last month, I realised that the patch of water below me carried with it a moral significance. At one shoreline, state-of-the-art healthcare for all; at the other end, complications at birth carry with them a death sentence. Papua New Guinea is our nearest neighbour, just a stone's throw from our own coast, and yet the two nations sit 151 places apart on the Human Development Index. There is a profound challenge here. While other countries are fast making ground t

Papua New Guinea's future depends on Australia

JULIA Gillard has just returned from a meeting with Pacific Island leaders where she announced a major aid initiative to tackle gender inequality. We know that promoting gender equity can increase economic prosperity and transform community well-being so the PM's announcement is a great step forward. But having just visited the Pacific region, I am also struck by the immense challenge that lies ahead for our island neighbours, and the responsibility that Australia must face up to. On the flight over to Papua New Guinea last month, I realised that the patch of water below me carried with it a moral significance. At one shoreline, state-of-the-art healthcare for all; at the other end, complications at birth carry with them a death sentence. Papua New Guinea is our nearest neighbour, just a stone's throw from our own coast, and yet the two nations sit 151 places apart on the Human Development Index. There is a profound challenge here. While other countries are fast making

Rants from a patriot

By GOVERNOR GARY JUFFA I usually write about all manner of issues that confront Papua New Guinea...issues which I feel most Papua New Guineans are passionate about...well, I am anyway and a few friends I know...At all times, I make an effort to write clearly and with clarity, but usually it ends up being a rant. I feel about my country, my people. This is a beautiful home, these are beautiful people. What is it that makes one yearn to come back almost the moment one leaves? What is it that draws us back home to this place that is listed as dangerous, volatile and unpredictable? Is it the amazing land and forests, the pristine waters and crystal clear skies, the people who laugh and cry, survive and live with enthusiasm hard to find elsewhere? Is it the raw untouched cultural aspects that are a window into yesterday when Man walked as one with his felllow creatures, living in harmony with nature? Is it the fact that regardless of how bad things get or how rough, there is always an eleme

PNG may gain from higher gold and copper mine reserve estimates

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An increase in the estimated copper and gold reserves at a Papua New Guinea mine could boost the country's income by some $1 billion a year over the next quarter century if the government moves to acquire a stake in the project. Australia's Newcrest Mining, which jointly owns the Golpu mine in Morobe Province with Johannesburg-based Harmony Gold, said on Tuesday new exploration work pointed to revised reserves estimates of 5.4 million tonnes of copper and 12.4 million ounces of gold. This is an increase of 4.7 million tonnes of copper and 11 million ounces of gold compared with previous estimates provided by the companies. The mine could start producing by 2019, pending results of more studies and various approvals, Newcrest said. The firm will also conduct a study later this year into a neighbouring deposit called Wafi. Papua New Guinea holds the rights to buy up to 30 percent of any mineral discovery at Wafi and Golpu. The CEO of Harmony Gold, the world's fifth largest go

PNG may gain from higher gold and copper mine reserve estimates

Image
An increase in the estimated copper and gold reserves at a Papua New Guinea mine could boost the country's income by some $1 billion a year over the next quarter century if the government moves to acquire a stake in the project. Australia's Newcrest Mining, which jointly owns the Golpu mine in Morobe Province with Johannesburg-based Harmony Gold, said on Tuesday new exploration work pointed to revised reserves estimates of 5.4 million tonnes of copper and 12.4 million ounces of gold. This is an increase of 4.7 million tonnes of copper and 11 million ounces of gold compared with previous estimates provided by the companies. The mine could start producing by 2019, pending results of more studies and various approvals, Newcrest said. The firm will also conduct a study later this year into a neighbouring deposit called Wafi. Papua New Guinea holds the rights to buy up to 30 percent of any mineral discovery at Wafi and Golpu. The CEO of Harmony Gold, the world's fifth largest

Free Education needs a plan

EDUCATION secretary Dr Musawe Sinebare has copped some criticism levelled at his department for a perceived slowness in ensuring subsidies reach the schools in time to make a difference for the 2013 school year. Some of the blame maybe warranted but Dr Sinebare is by no means entirely culpable here – in fact he could be a scapegoat in this affair. Prime Minister Peter O’Neill earlier in the month was scathing in his appraisal of the country’s public service machinery and its sloth in carrying out National Executive Council-approved policies and directives. He went as far as describing their efforts as “lazy” and “incompetent”. The free education policy was one of the cornerstones of O’Neill’s People National Congress campaign. He had made the undertaking months before the national election and was intent on following through with his promise. Parents who rely on the public school system to educate their children are anticipating an easier time next year. The government, as such, is det

Free Education needs a plan

EDUCATION secretary Dr Musawe Sinebare has copped some criticism levelled at his department for a perceived slowness in ensuring subsidies reach the schools in time to make a difference for the 2013 school year. Some of the blame maybe warranted but Dr Sinebare is by no means entirely culpable here – in fact he could be a scapegoat in this affair. Prime Minister Peter O’Neill earlier in the month was scathing in his appraisal of the country’s public service machinery and its sloth in carrying out National Executive Council-approved policies and directives. He went as far as describing their efforts as “lazy” and “incompetent”. The free education policy was one of the cornerstones of O’Neill’s People National Congress campaign. He had made the undertaking months before the national election and was intent on following through with his promise. Parents who rely on the public school system to educate their children are anticipating an easier time next year. The government, as such, is det

Banning journos is suspicious

LET there be no mistake: Foreign journalists do have access to PNG, whether it be one operating in Peru, Azerbaijan or Timbuktu. They have the local media whose work is published instantaneously on the worldwide web. They have the social networks. They have the non-governmental organisations. Many have local contacts. What the fortnight-old government of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has done in banning foreign journalists from entering the country to cover the Manus detention centre issue is to take a highly inflammatory decision which can have no real impact except to attract criticism and bad publicity. All the issues are out in the public. The PNG government has made its decision: The centre on Manus island will be available to asylum seekers which the Australian government wishes to detain for processing. The Manus people, or as many of them as the governor can speak for, have come out in support of the government decision. Governor Charlie Benjamin has said Manus was used before f

Banning journos is suspicious

LET there be no mistake: Foreign journalists do have access to PNG, whether it be one operating in Peru, Azerbaijan or Timbuktu. They have the local media whose work is published instantaneously on the worldwide web. They have the social networks. They have the non-governmental organisations. Many have local contacts. What the fortnight-old government of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has done in banning foreign journalists from entering the country to cover the Manus detention centre issue is to take a highly inflammatory decision which can have no real impact except to attract criticism and bad publicity. All the issues are out in the public. The PNG government has made its decision: The centre on Manus island will be available to asylum seekers which the Australian government wishes to detain for processing. The Manus people, or as many of them as the governor can speak for, have come out in support of the government decision. Governor Charlie Benjamin has said Manus was used before f