By Trevor Freestone

Dear Julia,

I have attempted to draw attention to the serious situation in Papua New Guinea to Kevin Rudd as Foreign Affairs Minister and Tony Abbott as Leader of the Opposition. Their staff thank me for my communication and things end there.

The situation is so serious that Australia needs to become aware of what is happening and develop a plan that will be of benefit both to Papua New Guinea and Australia.

The hope of a nation is pinned on the strength of its judiciary, and the final defeat of democracy is for the head of the Judiciary to bring into question its independence.

The Public Prosecutor who referred Prime Minister Michael Somare to a Leadership Tribunal and was about to do the same for his son, Arthur Somare, has been sacked by the Attorney General, Arnold Amet. Amet is an MP from the same National Alliance Party as the Somares.

This the the reaction to the sacking from MP Sam Basil.

A sad day for PNG

Sam Basil MP

Acting Deputy Police Commissioner operations Fred Yakasa again gave us a stark reminder of corruption in Papua New Guinea when he said on Tuesday that a mammoth 50% of its budget annually is lost to fraud. This works out to a whopping K4 billion a year, which Yakasa bluntly said had gone into the hands of corrupt public servants and senior bureaucrats, many of whom he alleges have invested these gains overseas.

PAPUA New Guinea loses about 50% of its budget directly to fraud.

“This is equivalent to K4 billion a year which has gone into the hands of corrupt public servants and senior bureaucrats, many of whom have invested these gains overseas,” acting deputy police commissioner Fred Yakasa said this week at a workshop in Port Moresby.

With the International Finance Corporation (IFC) proudly trumpeting its expansion in Papua New Guinea we should all be aware of its true mission on behalf of the global elite and the world's richest corporations and nations.

Papua New Guinea is already beginning to suffer from the new neo-colonial landgrab with 5 million hectares having being seized in Special Agricuture Business Leases, and the IFC is in the thick of this global phenomena, as the article below by Ava Danlog explains.

By Esther Saoub (gb/dpa/AFP)

In Papua New Guinea we are only too aware of the social and environmental problems that foreign owned mining companies can cause. Ok Tedi, Panguna, Porgera, Tolukuma, Misima and now Hidden Valley have all come with an enormous cost that is paid by local people while the mining company and their shareholders earn massive profits. How can mining companies be made more responsible when they operate in countries like Papua New Guinea?

From The National

10 February, 2011

Community based campaign group ACT NOW!, is calling on Minister for the Environment Benny Allen to investigate claims of serious financial mismanagement and misuse of trust funds in his Department.