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Editorial: Kokoda - No longer a Neglected Shrine | |
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 Prime Minister John Howard has pledged $15.9 million to assist Papua New Guinea obtain world heritage listing for the Kokoda Trail as well as build capacity to manage the environmental issues effectively. This is welcome news to those who have a first hand appreciation of the track and its special significance for us all. It has taken some time to engage government on this issue. We first submitted a proposal for the track to be proclaimed as a National Memorial Park on 26 August 1994. On 3 October 2002 we submitted a proposal for the Kokoda Trail to be registered as a place of special significance on our National Estate together with a submission for the track to be proclaimed as a National Memorial Park. ON 4 September 2004 the World Wide Fund for Nature initiated a Rapid Assessment and Prioritisation of Protected Area Management project in Papua New Guinea in partnership with the PNG Department of Environment and Conservation. The assessment was conducted by Paul Chatterton of WWF PNG. On 30 June 2006 we submitted a Strategic Plan which was prepared by Templeton-Galt in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature and University of Technology Sydney. In September 2006 Frontier Resources announced plans to commence mining activities in the Ofi Creek area of the track. On 3 October 2006 the World Wide Fund for Nature called on the governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea to support our Strategic Plan for Kokoda. The government established an Inter-Departmental Committee comprising representatives from Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Veterans Affairs, Defence and Environment with the aim of protecting the historical, cultural and environmental integrity of the track. The committee is chaired by Mr Hugh Borrowman. We met with Hugh and representatives of the committee at Ofi Creek during an on-site inspection trek they were conducting under the guidance of Pam Christie in September 2006. Colonel David Knaggs and I have since travelled to Canberra on two occasions to brief the committee on issues impacting on the track. We were much impressed with the committee's interest in Kokoda and their determination to protect the integrity of the track from logging and mining incursions into the area. We then submitted a Discussion Paper on the Kokoda Eco-Trekking Industry at our final meeting with the committee and urged them to give priority to the issue in view of the rapidly increasing numbers of trekkers and the inability of the PNG Kokoda Track Authority to provide effective management under its current structure. This week's announcement by the Minister for Environment, Malcolm Turnbull, has elevated the issue to the national inter-governmental level and will provide Kokoda with both the recognition and the protection it deserves. Charlie Lynn |
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Kokoda: More than just a track! | |
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Our experience with Kokoda has provided an interesting insight into our relationship with Melanesia in general - and Papua New Guinea in particular. At the beginning of our journey in 1991 we quickly realised that Papua New Guinea was not on our collective radar. Our general views were conditioned by negative media reports that registered the country as a 'no-go zone' in our national subconscious. Nobody would argue against the widely held view that Papua New Guinea faces some formidable challenges in the short and medium term. Some commentators argue the country will descend into chaos before the problems are properly addressed. Others believe the natural assets of the country - mineral wealth, agricultural potential, pristine environment and cultural diversity will see it emerge as a destination of choice for eco-trekkers. We were once brothers in the Pacific. The United Nations decreed that Australia be responsible for nurturing our closest neighbour, which was regarded as a 'nation of a thousand tribes', into the 20th Century. We established a Department of External Territories and set up a colonial administration based on Governors and Patrol Officers known as 'kiaps'. A School of Pacific Administration was established in Mosman to train adventurous young 'kiaps' in the language and culture of Melanesia. One of the responsibilities of our colonial administration was to provide educational opportunities for bright young New Guineans' who were sent 'south' to boarding schools and universities. They would be nurtured to someday run their country as an independent nation. Over the years our young 'kiaps' gained a good understanding of the Melanesian mind while New Guinea students got to understand our 'anglo-saxon' ways. It was a good system as we got to walk in each others shoes. The system came to an end with the granting of independence to the new nation of Papua New Guinea in 1975. Many 'kiaps' remained with their new families and took out PNG citizenship but no more were sent. The School of Pacific Administration was closed down. The flow of PNG students was reduced to a trickle as they established their own schools and university with our support. Australia adopted a 'hands off' approach and delegated political responsibility for the new nation to a bureaucratic aid agency. A gap in our mutual understanding began to emerge. Over the years since independence our focus has shifted wider afield as we have sought to engage Asia, Europe and America. We have neglected our own 'international area of responsiblity' and adopted a 'big brother' stance in the region. London, Paris, Washington and Peking were obviously more attractive destinations than Port Moresby, Honiara and Suva for our Foreign Affairs officials. Recent instability amongst our Melanesian neighbours and the threat of terrorism has caused us to refocus on the region. Our ability to understand the deep seated problems facing these island nations is hampered with our lack of empathy with the local people speaking more than a thousand different languages in remote areas separated by formidable mountain ranges and scattered over hundreds of islands. But the major obstacle in our relationship is our refusal to allow Melanesian workers access to our seasonal Labor markets. The fact that Australia has an agreement with 36 nations for seasonal work - but does not, and will not establish one with Papua New Guinea typifies our 'big brother' approach towards them. It is difficult for the layman to understand why we ignore our closest neighbour, fellow Commonwealth member, former colonial territory and wartime ally by refusing to allow them to come south for seasonal work in our rural areas. I have previously addressed this issue in a submission to the Australian Senate but it didn't get anywhere. You can read the submission by clicking here. The emerging interest in our wartime history in the Pacific may well be the catalyst to bring about a renewed understanding of our Melanesian neighbours. As Australians from all walks of life are following the footsteps of our diggers across the Kokoda track they are establishing relationships with the sons and daughters of the famous 'fuzzy-wuzzy angels'. They are gaining an appreciation of their living conditions and the challenges they face on a daily basis in a subsistence economy. But more importantly they want to help in some way and they want to learn more about Papua New Guinea. Kokoda is therefore much more than a track - it is a small bridge across the political and cultural divide between our two countries. If we can make it work we can build more bridges at Milne Bay, Lae, Finchafen, Buna, Gona, Sananada, Shaggy Ridge, Nadzab, Wewak, Bougainville, Honiara, etc. etc. |
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Wouldn't it be great if . . . . ! | |
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Wouldn't it be great if, during the current election campaign, our political leaders took time out from babykissing, glad-handling and giveaway competitions and let us know what their plans are to address the challenges of our Melanesian neighbours in our 'arc of instability'. Wouldn't it be great if they were to announce: . The establishment of a 'Minister for Melanesia' with a Department of Melanesian Affairs to focus on our relationship with the island nations in our region. . The introduction of 'Melanesian Studies' into our education system at Primary, Secondary and Tertiary level to provide a deeper understanding of the range and complexities of Melanesian culture. . The introduction of 'Pacific Military History' to encourage young Australians to visit the battlesites that helped forge our identity during World War 11. Build more bridges! . A 'Seasonal Work Plan' that would marry up 'wan tok' communities with specific farming communities e.g. Koiari with the Mallee; Orokaiva with The Hunter; Sepik with the Barossa; etc. etc. Included in the plan would be a compulsory educational component and a system of saving through remittance. . A 'Melanesian Exchange Program' for public servants in all portfolio areas to assist in changing the culture of poor governance in Melanesia. . Introduction of a 'Melanesian Kiap Scheme' to provide an opportunity for Australian graduates to live in villages and work in selected areas in partnership with PNG graduates for periods of up to two years. . A 'Melanesian Peacekeeping Force' which included provision for long term exchange programs with the Australian Defence Force. . Acceptance of a PNG National Rugby League Team into the Australian Rugby League competition (nothing would do more to unite the various PNG 'wan-tok' cultures than this initiative). Other initiatives including a Melanesian Free Trade Zone, a common Melanesian currency, etc would be developed by the Minister for Melanesia through his Department of Melanesian Affairs. The following extract from a paper titled 'Strengthening Our Neighbour: Australia and the future of Papua New Guinea by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute provide sufficient reason for our policy makers to address this issue: ''PNG is one of our three top-priority foreign policy challenges, along with China-US relations and the future of Indonesia. The deep nature of the problems in PNG makes it perhaps the toughest we face. It is the one which probably places the biggest demands directly on Australia, and the only one we face largely alone. ''The experience of the Economic Enhancement Program reminds us how hard it will be to find new policy approaches that work in PNG. This is especially complex for Australia. We are not just PNG's close neighbour and the major power in its region. Our previous colonial role there, the circumstances of independence, and the complex relationship that has developed since independence, have all made this a fraught and often difficult relationship. "Helping to build effective and appropriate state institutions in a country like PNG is inherently difficult; there is no established methodology for this kind of state-building. PNG has now reached the point at which its institutions are too weak themselves to undertake and sustain the kind of major reforms needed to turn the country around. If PNG is going to be strengthened, it is going to need much more help - and different kinds of help - than it has received over the past three decades. If Australia does not take the lead in offering that help, on one else will. ''Policy choices sometimes have a brutal simplicity. Any Australian policy program for PNG that does not address the underlying weakness of the PNG state and nation has no reasonable chance of reversing the negative trends of much of the past thirty years. To make a real difference, we need new policy approaches that can help get to grips with the underlying weakness of state and nation in PNG, and remedy the problems that have bedevilled the bilateral relationship. But such approaches will entail a deeper engagement, greater commitment and even bigger costs than we have been prepared to accept so far, and it will require big changes to the way we think about and conduct our relationship with PNG.' A dedicated 'Minister for Melanesia' and 'Department of Melanesian Affairs' is an essential first step The 2nd of November would be an appropriate day for a major announcement in this regard as it is the 65th anniversary of the recapture of Kokoda by our diggers! Lukim yu nekstaim niusleta, Charlie Lynn  |
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