Speech by
Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Somare GCL GCMG CH CF KStJ
Prime Minister
at the Revived Waigani Seminar Series
[University of PNG Campus, 15 August 2008 ]What a pleasure it is to see the Waigani Seminar being revived!
I commend the organisers and UPNG for their vision to relaunch this prestigious forum where ideas can be aired and shared that lead to new thoughts being born!
It has been many years since the last Waigani Seminar and I am pleased to see that our first University is once again taking up its rightful place in provoking healthy discussion in our country.
I therefore thank you for the opportunity given to me today to address this eminent gathering. I welcome to Papua New Guinea our old friends that have been involved with the Seminar and PNG in the early years and are still with us today; the likes of Professor Ted Wolfers, Ron Crocombe and Bill Standish.
I note that the topics discussed in the last two days range from Government and Political Process; the Constitution; Organic Law; the Evolution of Democratic Processes; Village and City and Heritage and Culture.
I see that you have slotted me into the session on the future specifically on Climate Change, which is commendable.
And while Climate Change and Carbon trade are currently the hot global issues, I have to seize this invaluable opportunity as the person who brought this country to nationhood to share with you my thoughts on where we have come from and where I believe we are heading.
I have never regretted the decision that I took in the early 1960s to lead the many peoples of this country to unite as one nation.
Today many young people do not know the feeling of being an adult and not having the freedoms then that we often take for granted in an independent PNG.
In the past I have been labelled a communist, a rebel and an angry young man because I wanted my people to have the freedom to make choices about their destiny.
Today we have free and fair elections; even a robust media and can hold opinions without fear of persecution. In some democracies today, people still cannot exercise these basic rights that we have in this country.
Our people today are managers in both the private and public sector.
They have the flexibility to find better paying jobs in other countries because this country has educated them. In the early days we did not have the education and nor could we leave to find greener pastures abroad.
Today is certainly not the Papua AND New Guinea that I lived in as a young man.
I also believe that the Westminster System has served us well over the past 33 years. Many nations achieved Independence around the same time as us and sadly some have either collapsed, opted for military regimes or been impoverished by civil wars.
And while the Westminster System of government is a foreign system that some argue does not complement our many Melanesian traditions, we made it our own by adopting and adapting it to our customs and ways.
We also back then had to pick a system that everyone would respect and not see as being too Islands, too Momase, too Highlands, or too Papuan. So Westminster system united and held us together to this day!
In the same way we have adapted our home-grown Constitution to suit our ways and may I remind you that we have more than 832 ways! As guaranteed by our Constitution not one culture should dominate over another.
At times however, we like to forget our differences, pretend that we all live in urban centres and expect miracles after these last 33 years of Independence. We have to be patient about our diversity.
Globalisation is upon us but it is important for us to remember who we are. NOKEN SEK SEK HARIAP LONG NUPELA PASIN. Let’s be fully conscious of these changes as we take them on.
Coming back to the establishment of organisations, I was also instrumental in setting up many of our other institutions that are in place today, like the Ombudsman Commission.
For many years until 2002, budgetary allocations for offices like the Ombudsman Commission remained stagnant. We restarted the funding process of institutions.
For this reason, I want to assure not just the attendants of the Waigani Seminar but the people of Papua New Guinea that I would be the last person to undermine the institutions that I played a pivotal role in establishing.
I want to qualify however that as a member of the legislature it is my role to amend legislation and give rise to policies that keep up with the changing times and suit our circumstances.
We will continue to exercise these responsibilities bestowed on us as mandated representatives of the people of this country.
So we the founding fathers have put in place great institutions. But what are institutions without human beings?
And institutions are nothing if they are not used appropriately. What is the value of a home-grown Constitution if we as citizens do not exercise our rights that are guaranteed within?
This brings me to another topical issue. Corruption.
As a democracy, every citizen of this country is also empowered to exercise their rights. If school teachers do not turn up to classes for instance, it is your right as parents to question the conduct of these teachers.
This breakdown in the delivery of service has taken place over a long period of time. To accuse government of corruption is over simplifying a very large problem that all of us can address together.
This government has put money straight into the districts to create opportunities at our people’s doorsteps.
We have in fact been committing funds to all sectors. Sadly, government’s intentions are not being matched with implementation of services.
In order to address this serious problem of implementation, the government has reviewed the public sector reform programme. We realise the need for drastic action especially in our social sector.
NEC will soon announce what measures it will take to address this serious problem of service delivery.
Before concluding, I also want to raise an issue that has caused considerable uncertainty in the minds of many in recent times.
I am a practitioner in the democratic process of government in PNG.
Since 1968 I have sought the mandate of the people of East Sepik.
Before the 2007 National Elections, the National Alliance Party voted me in as the leader of the Party. We won government just over a year ago and Members of Parliament agreed to support the National Alliance Party to form government.
Therefore in accordance to the National Alliance Constitution and the mandate of the people of East Sepik I will remain the leader of the National Alliance Party until the next National Alliance Convention when the new leadership is decided by its members.
In the meantime I will continue to focus on the achievements that we as a people and a country continue to make.
Many of us do not want to acknowledge the positive developments that are taking place in our country; we would rather rehash the same bad clichés like ‘going to the dogs’ or ‘nothing to show for in 33 years’.
I leave these rantings for the mad among us and encourage the silent achievers to keep adding those blocks to nation building.
Incidentally I also note the increased numbers of seminars that are taking place in our country at the moment and along side that cultural and artistic activities are also taking place.
PNG I believe is going through a period of resurgence.
It is easier to be critical than it is to be constructive which brings me to Climate Change.
When people were still afraid to commit, I led the discussion in various meetings such as the MSG, PIF, APEC, UNGA and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings.
While I was away last week, the Deputy Prime Minister Dr Puka Temu, thanks to the British High Commission, took up the issue with the National Research Institute.
I am happy to see our institutions take on Climate Change. As I said earlier is a hot global issue that will become increasingly important as we all look at sustainable ways of achieving economic growth and development.
On that note ladies and gentlemen, I want to again thank the organisers and UPNG for bringing back the Waigani Seminar. I know there will be some good outcomes that will result from all these discussions and it is a great opportunity for old friends to catch up while contributing towards our progress as a nation.
In the words of Sir Winston Churchill:
Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.
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