Independant Commission Against Corruption: A failed Election Promise!

With less than 2 weeks before voting in the National Elections starts on June 24, existing Members of Parliament and their challengers have stepped up their game trying to convince voters of what has not been done and why; what needs to “change”, AND what the process of “change” is.

The Prime Minister’s announcement of an Administrative Inquiry into the Manumanu land deals and naval base relocation is just another exercise in covering up corruption and avoiding justice.

We have seen numerous lengthy and expensive Commission’s of Inquiry over the years but no action to address the corrupt behavior they uncover. It will be the same with the latest inquiry, whether it is termed as a Commission of Inquiry or an Administrative Inquiry.

 A student protest in Port Moresby in June 2016. Human Rights Watch says PNG has failed to respond to corruption and police violence. Photograph: AAP

Author: Helen Davidson     Source: The Guardian

Papua New Guineans took to the streets to protest against government corruption and were met by gunfire, Human Rights Watch has said in a scathing assessment of Australia’s nearest neighbour.

Australia is a haven for dirty money, money stolen from countries like Papua New Guinea, according to research by Professor Jason Sharman which will shortly be published in a new book, The Despot’s Guide to Wealth Management.

The dark side of economic globalisation: politics, organised crime and corruption in the Pacific

By Sinclair Dinnen and Grant Walton on DevPolcy Blog

The recent corruption case in Singapore involving former Prime Minister Michael Somare emphasises the need for Australia to do much more to crack down on money laundering from PNG.

The oil palm mill at Dirina in Pomio

SABL Story Project*

Who would think that a responsible government, whose income is dependent on tax revenue would allow one of our major export crop to be smeared with more dirt? 

The Singapore court has found Somare received over US$750,000 in corrupt payments and authorities have frozen his Singapore bank account

Source: Amir Hussain – Straits Times

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.

Dr Kristian Lasslett, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Ulster University

The recent shooting of university students brings home the incredible contrast that exists between the streets and the suites in Papua New Guinea. Police bullets don’t mince words, nor should we.

Decades of research and inquiry have established time and time again that the elite corridors of power in government and business operate through corruption, violence and theft. Many complicit individuals populate the most senior levels of government. Fact.