Is Marape crabwalking away from anti-corruption legislation?

By KEITH JACKSON - PNG Attitude

AARHUS, DENMARK – Once again we have a Papua New Guinea government that feels it needs to have another look at much-required legislation that PNG governments have been having a ‘hard look at’ for years.

And after each hard look they have made a bunch of promises and never have those promises been fulfilled.

Now the freshly-minted James Marape government is set to have a hard look at two desperately needed pieces of legislation that could be introduced tomorrow if the prime minister had the will.

I refer of course to whistleblower protection and anti-corruption laws.

Marape said his government is serious about introducing an Independent Commission Against Corruption Act and a Whistleblowers Act. So was his serious predecessor Peter O’Neill. But they ended up being the Nothing Act and the Nothing (Again) Act.

Marape says the introduction of an ICAC will follow the Commission of Inquiry to the UBS/Oil Search saga.

“In the absence of ICAC, we are working and getting commission of enquiry to look into the UBS, but what the structure of the enquiry will be the precursor of what will eventually become ICAC,” he said, adding that the introduction of ICAC will also come with a Whistleblower Act.

Both pieces of draft legislation have had plenty of scrutiny in PNG and could be introduced immediately if there was real will. They’re ready for implementation.

But the excuses are already being made.

“We always have instances where people because they have a personal vendetta against some, they can hide behind corruption issues and raise up some unsubstantiated claim so we’ll have a lieu way out of it and find the right balance,” Marape said.

Expect to hear more like that.

“I’ve asked for a deeper look into it so that it can have the right balance in which Whistleblowers Act protects genuine people who are channelling in reports of corruption but also isolates and allows for penalties for those who sends in false misconstrued evidences which eventually holds no water and can be also contestable by the law and court.”

Amongst the verbosity one can sense the ‘corrupt business as usual’ signs being re-erected in PNG.

Go to this link for more: https://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2019/07/is-marape-crabwalking-away-from-anti-corruption-legislation.html

Papua New Guinea will not be dependent on Australia in 10 years, new PM says

By Kate Lyons and Helen Davidson - The Guardian

Papua New Guinea will be free of its dependence on Australian aid within a decade, the new prime minister, James Marape, has said in Sydney.

He said the first 44 years of PNG as a modern nation had been “filled with so many wasted opportunities and failures”, and pledged “regime shifts” in the resource industry to bring more wealth to the people.

Marape made the comments on Thursday in an address to the Lowy Institute as part of his official visit to Australia.

“We welcome every support Australia can give, but in 10 years’ time I want to assist Australia helping the rest of the Pacific,” he said. “We want to be participating with Australia looking after smaller island nations.”

In 2019-20, Australia will give an estimated $607.5m to PNG in development assistance.

Marape was recently appointed as prime minister of the Pacific nation after several months of political chaos which resulted in the ousting of his predecessor, Peter O’Neill, whose tenure was marked by numerous scandals including the controversial UBS deal.

Marape spoke of his dreams for PNG to become the “richest black Christian nation on earth”, and welcomed Australia’s commitment to infrastructure support and social partnerships over the nation’s history.

“But I don’t envisage this type of aid donor-recipient relationship to last,” he told the sold-out event, which the head of the Lowy Institute, Michael Fullilove, said had drawn more media interest than any event since the institute hosted Boris Johnson in 2017.

“We will move from an introduced culture of dependency and complacency, where we rely on overseas aid and inward investment alone, to one where we become a vibrant economic powerhouse and are totally economically independent by expansion and diversification of our economic base.”

Marape said PNG had to tweak its resource laws and institutions to bring its share of taxes, equity and royalties to above 50%. Major resource projects have routinely been accused of bringing wealth inequality and sparking major disputes.

“[O]ur people demand change of course for the better because what we have done thus far as a nation has been inequitable and disproportionate to our natural resource extraction.”

Go to this link for more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/26/papua-new-guinea-will-not-be-dependent-on-australia-in-10-years-new-pm-says?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR2ibgcm4HFG8GGF0jFZZsOyDHFYJH964NwTwd-CiZn_wK65xtLPrpZIdPs

PNG won’t be economically dependent on Australia in a decade, PM vows

Posted on SBS News

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape says he wants his nation to move away from an "aid-donor" relationship with Australia.

"I don't envisage this type of aid donor, recipient relationship to last, in fact within the next 10 years I want my country to grow into economic self-reliance and independence," Mr Marape said during a speech in Sydney on Thursday night.

PNG receives more than half a billion dollars in aid from Australia each year.

Mr Marape's speech comes days after Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced another $250 million in grants and low-interest loans to help PNG connect 70 per cent of its country to electricity by 2030.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape at Parliament House in Canberra.

AAP

The new PNG prime minister arrived in Australia on Sunday for a six-day visit after taking over from Peter O'Neill in May.

During Thursday's speech in Sydney, Mr Marape reiterated his pledge to make PNG the world's "richest black Christian nation".

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape and wife Rachel Marape arrive at Canberra.

AAP

"For too long we have allowed external forces to dictate the direction that we take, but this will now change," he said.

"We will move from an introduced culture of dependency and complacency, where we rely on overseas aid and inward investment alone, to one where we become a vibrant economic powerhouse and are totally economically independent."

Go to this link for more: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/png-won-t-be-economically-dependent-on-australia-in-a-decade-pm-vows