PNGBLOGS

By JAMES PEREYAP A very reliable source has confirmed today that Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG) has well over US$2.5 billion foreign currency exchange orders pending release. The source confirmed that ANZ Bank has well over US$900 million requests pending whilst it is believed Westpac and BSP Bank have similar or even more. Other foreign exchange dealers are also having difficulty transacting foreign currency and their requests are pending clearance. The total amount now stands above US$2.5 billion. BPNG has a foreign reserve of just under US$2 billion and if all the requests are cleared, it would still have US$.5billion outstanding to be cleared. It will be crises!!! PNG businesses that use foreign currency to import goods from overseas are seriously affected by this foreign currency shortage. Businesses and individuals who wish to remit more than US$10,000 out of PNG are cuing up at the Central Bank for an average of two weeks at least. This is and will have a lot of flow-on conse

By Bal Kama The recent revelation in the media from documents leaked by Edward Snowden, a former employee of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, of alleged spying operations in Pacific Island countries by Australia and New Zealand, may have serious implications for the region into the future. In 2013, Papua New Guinea expressed concern when it was alleged that the Australian Embassy in Port Moresby was used for spy operations on countries in the Pacific. Indonesia was also concerned at that time and recalled its Ambassador from Canberra. Media reports in March 2015 based on the Snowden documents alleged New Zealand was conducting mass surveillance through the telecommunications network, including the phones and internet of citizens across the Pacific. Some of the countries alleged to be spied on include Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Samoa, Vanuatu, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Tonga and French Polynesia. Reported names of senior government offi

By BRYAN KRAMER Contempt of court is behaviour that opposes or defies the authority and dignity of the court. Contempt charges may be brought against individuals who party to proceedings; including lawyers, court officers; witnesses; people who are seated in courtroom or those protesting outside. Courts have great leeway in making contempt charges, and thus confusion sometimes exists about the distinctions between types of contempt. Generally, however, contempt proceedings are categorized as civil or criminal, and direct or indirect. Civil contempt - generally involves the failure to perform an act that is ordered by a court. (failure to comply with or defy court orders) A direct contempt - is an act that occurs in the presence of the court and is intended to embarrass or engender disrespect for the court." Indirect contempt - occurs outside the presence of the court, including public or media statements with the intention to belittle, mock, obstruc

Only one head of a foreign government flew to Melbourne for the state funeral of Malcolm Fraser last Friday. That was Peter O’Neill, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. Whatever that says about Fraser, more importantly it underlines the closeness between PNG and Australia — which often appears to be a one-way street, with Australians knowing less about PNG as each generation succeeds the next. O’Neill himself has emerged as a remarkable figure in PNG’s usually battle-scarred political landscape, which makes Game of Thrones look tame. He has suffered criticism for the peremptory manner of his government’s takeover of OK Tedi mine, and for the failure to clear up the cloud of corruption that lurks over well-attested collusion between public service heads, lawyers and others to steal hundreds of millions of dollars of public funds. But he has emerged as an almost irrepressible force in the nation, with a growing role in the Pacific Islands region and as a link between the island