Next week is the third anniversary of the Commission of Inquiry reports that exposed the mismanagement, negligence and corruption behind the huge SABL land grab.

We are still campaigning as hard as ever to get the government to cancel the unlawful leases, stop the logging and return land to its customary owners

Next week we will mark the anniversary with a media advertisement and a press briefing. We are also continuing our dialogue with various United Nations Human Rights agencies and are planning a new video release, radio advert and petition presentation. We have also just published a new brochure to inform more people about the Commission of Inquiry.

The land grab has critically affected more than 800,000 people living in remote rural communities and we urgently need to collect their stories to give more of a human face to the crisis. That means travelling out by air, four-wheel drive and boat into some of the remotest parts of the country.

If you can help by making a donation, however small, to assist with these costs that will make a real difference - DONATE HERE

Corruption and the model of development

ACT NOW! condemns the terrible events last week at the University of Papua New Guinea where police opened fire with live ammunition on unarmed students protesting against corruption. Since then we have also seen violent scenes at several other universities. Thankfully there have not been any deaths but our thoughts are with all those injured and traumatised. We join with all those, both in PNG and internationally, calling for an independent investigation into the shooting.

The article Radical change is needed to avoid needless cycles of bloodshed in PNG describes how the violence has its root in the incredible contrast that exists between the streets and the suites in Papua New Guinea. 

If anything can come of this violence, it must be a creative, democratic debate that moves beyond the rules of the game established by our colonial and post-colonial history and seeks an entirely new system that does not systematically produce inequality and environmental harm.

ACT NOW! has a critical role in stimulating, expanding and informing this debate through our campaigns for a Better Model of Development and Stop the Stealing.

Your donations really help us to do more, so please MAKE A CONTRIBUTION if you can

Experimental seabed mining

In another important development we have learnt for the first time of the potentially catastrophic climate change impacts from planned experimental seabed mining. Hydrothermal vents have a critical role in capturing enormous quantities of methane gas. These are the same vents the seabed miners want to bulldoze in their strip mining operations on the seafloor!

“Through methane consumption, these life forms are literally saving the planet. There is more methane on the ocean floor than there are other forms of fossil fuels left in the oceans, and if it were all released it would be a doomsday climatic event.”

We are looking at creative ways to get these research findings in front of our politicians and bureaucrats as well as informing local communities.

Please DONATE HERE if you can assist us with this work