Papua New Guinea relations: breaking the Gordian knot

By Paul Oates

John Fowke’s erudite article is very close to the thoughts of many of us. The question that hangs in the air is: how can we change the status quo? It could well be that Somare is losing his grip and his cartel will be swept aside, but who takes over? More of the same or something different?

The bad old days in South America comes rapidly to mind, where one dictator was continually replaced by another under the guise of a revolution of the people. People power is just that: leaderless and disorganised.

If Sir Mekere Morauta, Sir Julius Chan and Bart Philemon were to lead a coalition (and it does have to be a coalition) to power, will they be any different than the present lot, given the traditional way political power has to be won and kept?

What has changed with DFAT since John Fowke wrote his piece in 2006? Not much, if anything. Sure there has been a change in government, but there doesn't seem to have been a regime change at AusAID nor in its methodology.

The essence of the problem is that there are at least two different and independent impediments to changing the current impasse. While the causes of each impediment might be worlds apart, each conspires to keep the other in place.

The 'Doyens of DFAT' (and this includes hangers on) and the ‘traditional PNG bigman culture' may be dissimilar in background yet they are distinctly similar in their desire to prevent change. They are both doing very nicely, thank you.

Why change if we don't have to? That's the nub of the problem. So what's the answer? There's only one real response: agreed responsibility and accountability. The weak points of both camps (DFAT and the PNG elite) are their political power bases.

To hold the collective conglomeration of our foreign aid programs accountable would be to attack the Gordian Knot. To get the Australian government to elucidate a workable and accountable aid program for PNG and the Pacific Rim is something to be worked towards.

The second, equally important initiative must come from the PNG people through their elected leaders. Here there may be a glimmer of hope as Sir Mekere and Bart Philemon actually started to effect worthwhile changes before they were white anted and ended up in Opposition.

If a responsible and accountable PNG government were to require the Australian government to effect overdue change to our ‘neighbourly’ foreign aid architecture, it would be a good forward step.

Similarly, if the PNGAA were to suggest a round table where interested organisations could be evaluated on their effectiveness in achieving results, maybe there might be some way ahead for a more positive outcome. What would not be productive would be to commission yet another 'talk fest'.

An agreed agenda with stated outcomes and benchmarks should be set in place prior to any conference taking place. Invitations could then be issued to all those who have something constructive to offer.

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