**** DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER’S INDEPENDENCE ADDRESS IN KURIWINA - Provincial Member for East New Britain & Minister for Inter-Government Relations - INDEPENDENCE DAY, 16 September 2014 **** Honourable Member for Kiriwina-Goodenough, Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen At the outset, let me thank you Honourable Member for the invitation to visit this beautiful place. I thank you for the warm welcome you have given me and my delegation on my arrival at Losuia yesterday. Thank you very much indeed for your demonstration of great leadership in mobilizing our civil servants, members of the Police Force, school children and the public to grace us with your unique and hospitable welcome. Ladies and gentlemen, I have made a decision to be here with you all at this very special Independence Day to honor an invitation from your own son and Member for Kiriwina Goodenough and Minister for Forest and Climate Change, Honorable Douglas Tomuriesa. He is vibrant and fearless young leader that I admired about his passion that he so often advocates to me as Minister for Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs about his dream and vision to change things for the better in his entire electorate of Kiriwina Goodenough. As Minister, I am in fact very impressed with the level of progress that your Member is making in translating the Policy of this government to improve service delivery at the provincial and Local Level Government levels. These are visible through development in the health and education sectors, the telecommunication sector, road and general transport infrastructure improvement, policing and general Law and Order as well as economic empowerment sector through your unique culture and tourism that Milne Bay in known for and indeed here in the Trobriand Group of islands. Thank you once more Honourable Member of this Electorate and District for this invitation. Honourable Member It is 39 years since we gained independence in 1975. Who would have thought that we will make it this far as a united country? For those of you and especially the post-independence generations, the conception of our country was - for lack of a better word – abnormal. Papua New Guinea Independence came very quickly; - from the first national elections for the foundational House of Assembly in 1964 to Independence in 1975. During this time, the Australian colonial territories of Papua and New Guinea were rolled into one. The people from both sides did not see themselves as one people or a united nation under one potential country. The preparations for Independence went hand-in-hand with an elaborate effort to institute a sense of nationalism among the people. In the mean time, the basic essential institutions for a functioning modern state were not present during much of the 1960s. Apart from the House of Assembly, the full complements of a judicial system were not instituted until the early 1970s. The early tertiary institutions such as the University of Papua New Guinea and the PNG University of Technology did not graduate local students until around 1970. The emerging workforce - which was to become the public service – therefore had limited qualified manpower until much later. What was happening was that the nation and state building processes that took hundreds of years in other parts of the world to evolve was actually fast-tracked in just a decade or so in Papua New Guinea. Perhaps the most critical component of any country has its own story of evolution too, and I am referring to the National Constitution. Papua New Guinea’s had to be framed and substantiated through a preliminary national consultative process with an audience - many of whom were relatively ignorant of the significance of statehood. The constitutional vision was steered in part by inspirations drawn from former colonies particularly from Africa. In essence, what transpired was the development of a “home grown” constitution for a people whose thoughts and aspirations were guided towards a future ideal society that we now called ‘Papua New Guinea’. Honourable Member, Ladies and Gentlemen It should be clear by now that we were the country that many people expected to collapse as soon as the Australians were to leave. Hank Nelson, a late professor in History, who got his doctoral degree from the University of Papua New Guinea, was one of the few who sensed that the country had the inner spirit of confidence and determination. In his words (and I quote): “in the long term, it is the people of Niugini who make one confident. They possess a courtesy, imagination and pragmatic strength to provide their own solutions.” It is now 39 years – and we are still standing. There are many reasons out there that have been used to explain our resilience and continuity as a country. Among them are three key ones, which I often refer to as pillars. First, Papua New Guinea has been anchored on a foundation laid out by the different Christian churches. Just as much they came to evangelize our people, they also brought with them and instilled work ethics and moral standards. Early leaders that came through that church processes more than made up in commitment to work responsibilities than what they lacked in terms of higher education standards. Second, there was sound leadership that went hand-in-hand with firm commitment to community and human development. Leadership in this regard was practiced by those who were traditionally recognized as having such standing in a local or traditional sense, just as those who were recognized as such by their privileges to be educated. In your communities in this part of the country, you have a strong chieftainship system – and that is what I am referring to as leadership qualities at that level. However leadership was sourced, what mattered was how the people and authorities interacted with them, and how they behaved on behalf of the people. Third, of course, are our traditions and cultures. In any organized societies, certain traditions, cultural practices and processes are instituted over time so that peace and order are maintained for the benefit of everyone. Our cultures and traditional are still instrumental today, even though they have been challenged by the forces of change that are sweeping through our societies today – as they do in other parts of the world. Honourable Member, Ladies and Gentlemen When we look around ourselves today, we are probably observing the twilight of the political careers of many of our leaders that set the foundation of the country. A few weeks ago I was in the company of the Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare when attending the Mamose Governors’ Conference in Madang. Last week, I was with the Governor of New Ireland, Sir Julius Chan, when I addressed the New Ireland Provincial Assembly. While these icon figures of PNG are our parliamentary colleagues - let me be honest with you Honourable Member – I feel privileged and very fortunate that I am serving with them. Apart from Sir Michael and Sir Julius, there are few others left such as Sir Pita Lus, Sir Rabbie Namaliu and Grand Chief John Momis. Over the past years, we lost the likes of Sir Barry Holloway, Sir Sinake Giregire and Sir Matiabe Yuwi, Sir Danis Young, Sir Albert Maurikiki, Sir John John Guise, Sir Kingsford Debela, Sir Iambaki Okuk, Sir Martin ToVadek and others. We will never ever see the likes of these nation builders again. On this independIndependence Day however, it is important that we must spare a moment to reflect on the examples and the deeds they have done to set the foundation and course to where PNG as a Soverign Country is today. When we look at ourselves inwardly, the country has been on a threshold in terms of a leadership change over the two decades or so. We are witnessing the last of the founding fathers that have steadied the country for some time now. The burning question is whether or not there are leaders capable to carry forward that mantra of quality leadership. When we think of it, there will always be one Wingti, one Somare and one Chan. Regarding the state building process, you only build a country once. What happens thereafter are instances whether you either tear down what has been erected or to continue rebuilding and fine-tuning the state. Thankfully, PNG is of the latter. Therein lays the challenge for us as we commemorate the significance of PNG’s Independence. As leaders, community elders and parents; do we live for the sake of our children and their children – or we would rather live for today and deprive younger generations and those to come whom the founding fathers had in mind when they were placing the foundation stones on the dirt? Honourable Member, Ladies and Gentlemen When I met the Milne Bay Provincial Assembly in mid-August this year (last month), I noticed three qualities that I believe your leaders did well. First, the quality of leadership under Governor Philemon is quite impressive. Initiatives lead to policies, and policies in turn are translated into plans and projects that get implemented. More revealing also was the manner in which older generation of leaders were sitting alongside the younger generations – as was the case when ‘wise man’ Napoleon Liosi was flanked by younger leaders. Second, there was unity displayed by the leaders as they worked together. It might not be obvious to you in the Trobriand Islands, but provinces today that are split apart by infighting find it hard to adequately carry out their mandate responsibilities. It just goes to show that governments that are not focused on the welfare and needs of the people consistently fails to serve any meaningful purposes – regardless of what the leaders concerned say. Third, your provincial government has an uncanny ability to use meagre financial resources wisely. I was surprised to learn that the new provincial quarters was costing less than what its size and features portrayed. The Good Governor and provincial leaders had discovered what I would describe as a ‘secret formula’ to reduce the cost. My focus on the qualities of the provincial government is not only to encourage you to aim up and keep up your good work, but it is also my way of letting you know that I will be using your standards as a measure of sorts to compare with other provinces. Of course I count on Milne Bay to make its position clear when the new organic law on the different levels of government become an item in the public domain for in-depth discussions. I say this while stressing that Milne Bay’s strength does not rest with its leaders, but more so on the ability of members of society to organize themselves and meet the pressing demands of the people. Your LLGs are performing well just as most of your wards and church-run groupings. I implore you to continue your good work so that you also become an exemplary province even to those that have been regarded as frontrunners for so long. Honourable Member, Ladies and Gentlemen As this is our Independence Day, my last wish once more is for all of us to spare a thought for our children. A line from the National Pledge goes (and I quote): “We pledge to build a democratic society based on justice, equality, respect, and prosperity for our people.” It is bad enough that leaders and older generations have to take wealth and resources from our own dependents because of our deceitful ways of management. But it is worse when we allow the little ones to recite words that might not bear any meaning to them tomorrow. What excuses then do we have today? In conclusion, let me congratulate the Honourable Member for your initiative to revive the Trobriand Island Kula Masawa which I have a great Honourable on behave of the government to officially launch today as part of the commemoration of our countrys 39th birthday. I certainly hope that the Kula Masawa Rally that I will launch today will take a successful journey until we meet again On the 16 September 2015 to celebrate our countrys 40th birthday. I also assure that I will discuss with Hon Bokassa Kondra Minister for Tourism to include this Kula Masawa Festival on its official tourism event clandar to become a sanctioned event of the Tourism Promotion Authority. Thank you, Honourable Member, and everyone for spending this memorable time with you all. This is a day and occasion that I will never forget. God bless you all and our beloved country – Papua New Guinea.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 23:34:36 +0000
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