BY BEN JACKSON
THE FIRST STEP AN Australian government needs to take in attempting to understand the issues and perspectives of Papua New Guineans is to admit that they don’t understand them at all.
Martyn
Namorong and visited Parliament House in Canberra last Monday and
Tuesday with the hope of bringing a fresh perspective on the PNG issues
of land ownership, aid distribution and the long term role of Australia.
In general, with Martyn’s visit, the federal government squandered a rare opportunity to look beyond PNG’s diplomatic and political elite and engage with a young Papua New Guinean who shows a precocious ability to understand, analyse and articulate the issues facing his country.
Instead of seeking the insider knowledge available to them, and seeking to improve Australia-PNG relations, our frontline decision-makers on the Pacific seemed to me to be intent on self-aggrandisement.
Too
often patronising comparisons were drawn between Australia and Papua
New Guinea and there was an underlying tone that “it works here, so it
should work over there”, with no consideration given to the huge
cultural differences.
The simplification of a complex truth is this: Papua New Guineans want their nation to be a more equitable version of PNG; not a miniature version of Australia.
There haven’t been many superlatives thrown at the current federal opposition, but they have proven to be both patient and opportunistic.
Martyn
and I were welcomed to Parliament House like old mates by Sam Riordan –
adviser to Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, Hon Julie Bishop MP.
We met with Sam several times before the appointment with Ms Bishop and each time he made no assumptions about his own knowledge; he listened and asked questions of Martyn.
Before our eventual meeting with Julie Bishop, Martyn and I had the pleasure of meeting Hon Alan Griffin, former Minister for Veterans Affairs and Defence Personnel. By his own admission, Griffin’s knowledge of PNG is not great, but his analysis and political nous were invaluable to us.
Alan
is a realist (he said cynic, but I think better of him) and there was
no pandering or pretence that Australia and PNG have been and always
will be best friends.
He listened and offered constructive, sometimes blunt, advice on how Martyn should present issues to Australian politicians so that in time his views might effect real change.
Sadly, just as many Papua New Guineans have been compromised by their government over the years, Alan has also been disenfranchised. A good man excluded from the inner sanctum of the Labor Party because of internal division.
While the government languished, the ever opportunistic opposition swung in. Sam Riordan had heard all the right things previously and Julie Bishop said all the right things.
This was a meeting with a future minister and policy-maker who was extremely well briefed and enthusiastic to offer suggestions on progressing Australia-PNG relations.
Ms Bishop was on topic and aligned with the issues Martyn came to Canberra to convey.
I won’t be so naïve as to believe that everything we were told in Parliament House will emerge as concrete results, but there are at least some promising murmurs that might be enacted as foreign policy in the future.
Ben Jackson managed the program for Martyn Namorong's tour and accompanied him on his visits to Sydney and Canberra
THE FIRST STEP AN Australian government needs to take in attempting to understand the issues and perspectives of Papua New Guineans is to admit that they don’t understand them at all.
Martyn
Namorong and visited Parliament House in Canberra last Monday and
Tuesday with the hope of bringing a fresh perspective on the PNG issues
of land ownership, aid distribution and the long term role of Australia.In general, with Martyn’s visit, the federal government squandered a rare opportunity to look beyond PNG’s diplomatic and political elite and engage with a young Papua New Guinean who shows a precocious ability to understand, analyse and articulate the issues facing his country.
Instead of seeking the insider knowledge available to them, and seeking to improve Australia-PNG relations, our frontline decision-makers on the Pacific seemed to me to be intent on self-aggrandisement.
Too
often patronising comparisons were drawn between Australia and Papua
New Guinea and there was an underlying tone that “it works here, so it
should work over there”, with no consideration given to the huge
cultural differences.The simplification of a complex truth is this: Papua New Guineans want their nation to be a more equitable version of PNG; not a miniature version of Australia.
There haven’t been many superlatives thrown at the current federal opposition, but they have proven to be both patient and opportunistic.
Martyn
and I were welcomed to Parliament House like old mates by Sam Riordan –
adviser to Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, Hon Julie Bishop MP.We met with Sam several times before the appointment with Ms Bishop and each time he made no assumptions about his own knowledge; he listened and asked questions of Martyn.
Before our eventual meeting with Julie Bishop, Martyn and I had the pleasure of meeting Hon Alan Griffin, former Minister for Veterans Affairs and Defence Personnel. By his own admission, Griffin’s knowledge of PNG is not great, but his analysis and political nous were invaluable to us.
Alan
is a realist (he said cynic, but I think better of him) and there was
no pandering or pretence that Australia and PNG have been and always
will be best friends.He listened and offered constructive, sometimes blunt, advice on how Martyn should present issues to Australian politicians so that in time his views might effect real change.
Sadly, just as many Papua New Guineans have been compromised by their government over the years, Alan has also been disenfranchised. A good man excluded from the inner sanctum of the Labor Party because of internal division.
While the government languished, the ever opportunistic opposition swung in. Sam Riordan had heard all the right things previously and Julie Bishop said all the right things.
This was a meeting with a future minister and policy-maker who was extremely well briefed and enthusiastic to offer suggestions on progressing Australia-PNG relations.
Ms Bishop was on topic and aligned with the issues Martyn came to Canberra to convey.I won’t be so naïve as to believe that everything we were told in Parliament House will emerge as concrete results, but there are at least some promising murmurs that might be enacted as foreign policy in the future.
Ben Jackson managed the program for Martyn Namorong's tour and accompanied him on his visits to Sydney and Canberra
No comments:
Post a Comment