PNGBLOGS

A dental student has been seriously injured when a group of more than 30 soldiers armed with bush knives, iron bars and firearms attacked students at the Port Morseby General Hospital. Papua New Guinea police have condemned the attack, which happened at about 1pm local time, and say it is a likely retaliation for an earlier incident. The incident happened just hours before Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd flew into Port Moresby to hold discussions on PNG's widespread law- and-order problems with his counterpart Peter O'Neill. "This is totally uncalled for and unacceptable behaviour by members of a disciplined organisation," Acting Police Commissioner Simon Kauba said in a statement on Sunday. He said he had contacted PNG Defence Force officials, and that Military Police and National Capital District police are now investigating the incident. "I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms and will ensure that it is thoroughly investigated and those res

A dental student has been seriously injured when a group of more than 30 soldiers armed with bush knives, iron bars and firearms attacked students at the Port Morseby General Hospital. Papua New Guinea police have condemned the attack, which happened at about 1pm local time, and say it is a likely retaliation for an earlier incident. The incident happened just hours before Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd flew into Port Moresby to hold discussions on PNG's widespread law- and-order problems with his counterpart Peter O'Neill. "This is totally uncalled for and unacceptable behaviour by members of a disciplined organisation," Acting Police Commissioner Simon Kauba said in a statement on Sunday. He said he had contacted PNG Defence Force officials, and that Military Police and National Capital District police are now investigating the incident. "I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms and will ensure that it is thoroughly investigated a

By ANDREW ANTON MAKO PNG politics was labeled unstable for many years, for some it’s analogous to the well-known political impasse in 2011.Today we’re still experiencing these problems. The notion of political “stability” in PNG has often been used by many governments to increase their political longevity in Parliament, and to quash any attempts of change in government. This is a narrow definition of political stability, which was described as elusive at best and been “achieved” in many ways, that undermined parliamentary democracy, and lessened the power of the Parliament or the Legislature over the years. Constant change in government is disruptive to socio-economic development and should not be encouraged. However, in PNG the Executive Government’s practice of amassing power, particularly in the last decade, at the expense of the Legislature, the second arm of government, is in itself undemocratic, and impedes the separation of power between these two arms of government. Since 1977,

By ANDREW ANTON MAKO PNG politics was labeled unstable for many years, for some it’s analogous to the well-known political impasse in 2011.Today we’re still experiencing these problems. The notion of political “stability” in PNG has often been used by many governments to increase their political longevity in Parliament, and to quash any attempts of change in government. This is a narrow definition of political stability, which was described as elusive at best and been “achieved” in many ways, that undermined parliamentary democracy, and lessened the power of the Parliament or the Legislature over the years. Constant change in government is disruptive to socio-economic development and should not be encouraged. However, in PNG the Executive Government’s practice of amassing power, particularly in the last decade, at the expense of the Legislature, the second arm of government, is in itself undemocratic, and impedes the separation of power between these two arms of government. Sin

By BELDEN NAMAH, MP The Prime Minister and those surrounding him need to mature and appreciate the importance of public debate and criticism of government decisions and performance to ensure democracy and good governance. The Opposition often takes the lead in public discussions in respect of activities and policies of government. The Opposition gives credit to government where due with criticism and offers alternatives where it sees fit. We take exception to the Public Statement by the Prime Minister in defense of his proposed constitutional amendments branding Opposition MPs including learned Papua New Guineans who are critical of his Government as social misfits and psychopaths. The Opposition and the public have every right to express their views on decisions and activities of government. The Prime Minister tries his best to justify the vandalism and demise of a very significant law of our Constitution by telling us that there is something or things that are doubtful or not clear i

By BELDEN NAMAH, MP The Prime Minister and those surrounding him need to mature and appreciate the importance of public debate and criticism of government decisions and performance to ensure democracy and good governance. The Opposition often takes the lead in public discussions in respect of activities and policies of government. The Opposition gives credit to government where due with criticism and offers alternatives where it sees fit. We take exception to the Public Statement by the Prime Minister in defense of his proposed constitutional amendments branding Opposition MPs including learned Papua New Guineans who are critical of his Government as social misfits and psychopaths. The Opposition and the public have every right to express their views on decisions and activities of government. The Prime Minister tries his best to justify the vandalism and demise of a very significant law of our Constitution by telling us that there is something or things that are doubtful or

As Papua New Guinea threatens to again impose the death penalty, Mark Baker investigates the nation's fightback against crime Brian Leahy's father was one of the first white men to set foot in the New Guinea highlands, among the last regions on Earth to be explored by Europeans. In 1934, Dan Leahy, with his brothers Mick and Jim from Queensland, went looking for gold over the forbidding mountain ranges that were thought to guard an impenetrable wilderness. Instead they found a vast network of temperate, fertile valleys that were home to a million people. The Leahys established one of the first coffee plantations on the outskirts of Mount Hagen. Now Brian Leahy runs the last of the coffee co-operatives that, after Papua New Guinea gained independence in 1975, succeeded the great colonial family plantations that had spread across the Western Highlands. ''We are the last one still in production. All the others fell apart because of tribal conflicts,'' says Leahy, w