Latest news with #PapuaNewGuinea
RNZ News
a day ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Veteran Bougainville politician wants new approach to independence and development
Joe Lera (file image) Photo: Bougainville Care Foundation A longtime Bougainville politician, Joe Lera, wants to see widespread changes in the way the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) is run. The Papua New Guinea region, which is seeking independence from Port Moresby, is holding elections in the first week of September. Seven candidates are running for president, including Lera. He held the regional seat in the PNG national parliament for ten years before resigning to contest the presidency in the 2020 election. This time around, Lera is campaigning on what he sees as faults in the approach of the Ishmael Toroama administration and told RNZ Pacific he is offering a different tack. (This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.) Joe Lera: This time, people have seen that the current government is the most corrupt. They have addressed only one side of independence, which is the political side, the other two sides, They have not done it very well. Don Wiseman: What do we mean by that? We can't bandy around words like corruption. What do you mean by corruption? JL: What they have done is huge. They are putting public funds into personal members' accounts, like the constituency grant - 360,000 kina a year. DW: As someone who has operated in the national parliament, you know that that is done there as well. So it's not corrupt necessarily, is it? JL: Well, when they go into their personal account, they use it for their own family goods, and that development, it should be development funds. The people are not seeing the tangible outcomes in the number two side, which is the development side. All the roads are bad. The hospitals are now running out of drugs. Doctors are checking the patients, sending them to pharmaceutical shops to buy the medicine, because the hospitals have run out. DW: These are problems that are affecting the entire country, aren't they, and there's a shortage of money. So how would you solve it? What would you do differently? JL: We will try to make big changes in addressing sustainable development, in agriculture, fishing, forestry, so we can create jobs for the small people. Instead of talking about big, billion dollar mining projects, which will take a long time, we should start with what we already have, and develop and create opportunities for the people to be engaged in nation building through sustainable development first, then we progress into the higher billion dollar projects. Now we are going talking about mining when the people don't have opportunity and they are getting poorer and poorer. That's one area, the other area, to create change we will try to fix the government structure, from ABG to community governments to village assemblies, down to the chiefs. At the moment, the policies they have have fragmented the conduit of getting the services from the top government down to to the village people. DW: Okay, in the past, you've spoken out against the push for independence, suggesting I think, that Bougainville is not ready yet, and it should take its time. Where do you stand at the moment on the independence question? JL: The independence question? We are all for it. I'm not against it, but I'm against the process. How they are going about it. I think the answer has been already given in the Bougainville Peace Agreement, which is a joint creation between the PNG and ABG government, and the process is very clear. Now, what the current government is doing is they are going outside of the Peace Agreement, and they are trying to shortcut based on the [referendum] result. But the Peace Agreement doe not say independence will be given to us based on the result. What it says is, after we know the result, the two governments must continue to dialogue, consult each other and find ways of how to improve the economy, the law and order issues, the development issues. When we fix those, the nation building pillars, we can then apply for the ratification to take place. DW: All right, so you're talking about something that would be quite a way further down the line than what this current government is talking about? JL: The issue is timing. They are putting deadlines themselves, and they are trying to push the PNG government to swallow it. PNG government is a sovereign nation already. We should respect and honestly, in a family room situation, negotiate, talk with them, as the Peace Agreement says, and reach understanding on the timing and other related issues, but not to even take a confrontational approach, which is what they are doing now, but take a family room approach, where we sit and negotiate in the spirit of the Peace Agreement.
ABC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Destroyed bridges and stolen ballot boxes mar PNG by-election
Police in Papua New Guinea say bridges have been destroyed and ballot boxes stolen during a by-election in the country's highlands. Extra police and soldiers were deployed for the voting in the Porgera Paiela district in Enga province and all vehicles ordered off the roads to try and prevent election-related violence. The area was already under a state of emergency because of ongoing outbreaks of tribal fighting. Enga's police commander Fred Yakasa says polling in and around Porgera township was peaceful but two bridges were destroyed by a candidate's supporters in Mulitaka the site of last year's deadly landslide.
ABC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Is Palau about to accept third-country nationals from the US?
On the program today The government of Palau considers a request from the Trump administration to accept third-country nationals seeking asylum in the United States. Police in Papua New Guinea report destroyed bridges and stolen ballot boxes during a by-election in the country's highlands. Accommodation concerns ahead of the Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting in Honiara in September. The history-making Solomon Islands women's soccer team receive a hero's welcome on their return to Honiara after toppling Papua New Guinea in the OFC Nations Cup Final. And new archaeological research carried out in PNG has revealed women played a bigger role in information sharing than previously thought.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Wapu Sonk stands down from PNG NRL franchise board amid corruption allegations
By Papua New Guinea correspondent Marian Faa , ABC . Wapu Sonk has stood down over allegations of corrupt business dealings linked to a Chinese state-run company. Photo: ABC News / Craig Hansen In short: What's next? A powerful businessman has stood down from the board of Papua New Guinea's new NRL franchise amid corruption concerns relating to business dealings with a Chinese state-owned company. The newly established board has been entrusted with overseeing more than AU$200 million in Australian government funding to set up PNG's new NRL team, which plans to join the rugby league competition in 2028. PNG businessman Wapu Sonk led a successful campaign as chair of the PNG NRL bid in 2024, and was appointed as a director of the franchise board last month. On Friday, PNG Prime Minister James Marape said Sonk had agreed to step aside following corruption concerns reported in the Sydney Morning Herald . The concerns surround business dealings related to Sonk's role as managing director of PNG state-owned oil company Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL), and not the NRL franchise. An official letter seen by the ABC shows KPHL insisted that Chinese state-owned company China Petroleum and Pipeline Engineering Corporation award a subcontract to an Australian company owned by Sonk. China Petroleum and Pipeline Engineering Corporation was awarded a contract to upgrade fuel storage facilities at a major wharf outside PNG's capital. The letter suggests that failure to award the subcontracts could "compromise the project's overall success" and collaborative efforts between the Chinese Company and KPHL. Sonk did not respond to requests for comment and has not yet publicly commented on the allegations. In a statement, Marape said the allegations "raise concerns that cannot be ignored". He said the allegations against Sonk, who is not in PNG presently, were not a presumption of guilt. "Mr Sonk is entitled to due process and the opportunity to clear his name," he said. "Stepping down allows him the space to do so without casting a shadow over the franchise process or compromising the confidence of our partners. "This moment demands clarity, accountability, and the upholding of public confidence. Our national sporting future - and our international reputation - depend on it." To help the PNG franchise join the NRL, the Australian government has committed $600m over 10 years. The money will also fund community outreach programs supported by the new club. -ABC
South China Morning Post
4 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Australia sends mixed message with China visit and war drills
While Anthony Albanese was busy this week trying to improve relations and promote business for Australia in his state visit to China, his country and the United States were hosting what has been advertised as their biggest military exercise involving 17 other allies and friendly nations. Talisman Sabre is the biennial exercise dating back to the mid-2000s. This year, it involves almost 40,000 troops and 19 nations. And a not-too-subtle hint: they are united in preparing against an aggressive and expansionist China. Talk about Canberra sending mixed messages to Beijing! The press releases put out earlier by the defence departments of Australia and the US were positively breathless. 'Talisman Sabre 2025 is the largest and most sophisticated warfighting exercise ever conducted in Australia,' the Australian version read. 'Over the next three weeks, more than 35,000 military personnel from Australia and partnering nations will deploy across Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia, New South Wales and Christmas Island. For the first time, activities will also be conducted outside of Australia in Papua New Guinea.' Poor New Guinea! But when your two overlords say so, you don't have much of a choice. Likewise with Fiji and Tonga, two other 'allies' called to duty to boost the numbers.
