09/05/2012 12:58

 

 

By the Rt Hon Mekere Morauta KCMG MP

Deputy Prime Minister, colleague Ministers and Members of Parliament, PNG Party candidates, PNG Party members:

As Party Founder it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to our party convention.  I am delighted that so many people have travelled to come to Lae for the meeting.  Thank you to the party executives, particularly party secretary Patricia Kassman, for organising the convention, and to our Morobe MPs Sam Basil, Koni Iguan and Vincent Michaels for hosting us here.

PNG Party was founded on 22 November 2002 from a split within PDM.  I was its first Leader.  We were in Opposition. Today, ten years later, PNG Party is the biggest party in PNG and the biggest party in Government. We have 25 sitting MPs and during this Convention the party will endorse candidates in around 70 other seats.  I am confident that we will not only form, but lead the next Government.  If we do not manage to lead it, I am sure PNG Party will be the kingmakers, just as we were in August last year.

When I handed over the leadership of the party last year, many people asked me why.  Many supporters told me that it was not good for the Party.  Others said it was like writing a death certificate for the party.

In fact, the change can be likened to administering a life-saving blood transfusion.  Why did I do it? I did it for two main reasons.  The first was that in my view, the political landscape in PNG had changed.  My decision to stand down as party leader reflected my recognition of the change that had taken place and was likely to accelerate post 2012 election. 

The second reason was that I firmly believed PNG needed a change of government.  The Somare Kitchen Cabinet had become deeply entrenched; their power permeated and was corrupting all the major institutions of state.  I saw this as dangerous for PNG.  But it was my calculation that the shape, look and politics of the Opposition had to change in order for the government to change. 

And I was right.  We did change the Government.  Everyone involved in forming the Government last August, from the Prime Minister down, know the pivotal role that PNG Party played in changing the Government.  And that gives me great satisfaction.

PNG Party is now led by younger, vibrant leaders, willing and able to take PNG into the next decade.  You see them all here today, representing all regions of the country.

What was my vision for PNG Party?  My vision for the party was, and still is, for the party to lead reform and development of our country.  PNG Party should provide a Government that has vision.  It should be an intelligent government; a hard-working government; an honest government; a government that follows rules, due process and the law.  Above all, a PNG Party Government should be a government that recognises that the present generation has an obligation to leave Papua New Guinea in good order for the next generation.  I am reminded by a pledge that I with others made at a Divine Word University seminar on governance:  “We acknowledge that we did not inherit Papua New Guinea from our parents; we borrowed it from our children.”

A PNG Party Government should be:

• A government committed to improve the lives of ordinary people by bringing them services no matter where they live
• A government committed to responsible and competent management of Papua New Guinea and all its resources, especially human resources
• A government committed to use those resources for sustainable economic growth
• A government committed to lead the fight against corruption, not just by words, but through its own actions 
• A government for the people in every region, not for a selected few in a selected region
• A government led by leaders who have vision, experience, knowledge, and the guts to make decisions.

PNG Party has a history of making difficult decisions, of introducing far-reaching reform.  I am sure you are all aware of the reform record of my Government from 1999 to 2002:

On the economic front:

• stabilising government finances and the economy after inheriting a country on the verge of bankruptcy in 1999;
• turning the bankrupt PNGBC into the most profitable bank in the country and South Pacific region;
•  reforming the superannuation industry, chiefly by removing, by law, political interference and control;
• turning the bankrupt NPF into the thriving institution Nasfund is today, with asset growth in the last 10 years to 2.2 billion Kina, a growth of  830%;
• giving value to the Government’s oil and mineral assets by merging the stagnant Orogen with Oil Search, now in the top 100 companies on the ASX, and  in which the Government has an 18% share;
• a stronger and more independent Central Bank, protected by law from becoming a money-printing machine for the Government;
• keeping Air Niugini in the sky, through significant cost reduction and negotiating the code-share with Qantas;
• negotiating with BHP to give its 52% equity in Ok Tedi as a gift, in trust, to the people of PNG and the establishment of PNG Sustainable Development Programme, now a significant development partner and financial institution;
• reviewing and rationalising the tax system to make it internationally competitive and reducing personal income tax on the lowest paid workers;
• reforming the fisheries sector to encourage maximum domestic participation and benefit from the industry;
• saving Post PNG from bankruptcy;
• establishing ICCC and the regulatory regime for telecommunications, resulting in the mobile telephone licence being granted to Digicel and the revolution in communication that ensued.

On the social sector front:

• It was PNG Party through my government which introduced free education, short-sightedly abolished by Somare as soon as he came to power. 

On the political front:

• Reforms included the introduction of limited preferential voting, and passage of the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates.
• Michael Somare claims his Government made major economic strides and compares his record with mine.  Such a statement only shows his ignorance and lack of understanding of public finance or the economy.  The economy developed during the last 9 years due to two reasons and two reasons only – one, the foundation I laid through the reforms just mentioned and two, high commodity prices.  During the period of the Somare government oil and copper prices were five times higher than when I was PM, and the gold price was seven times higher.  His government enjoyed unprecedented revenue from the export of commodities, but what can ordinary people see for it?  Nothing. 
• The gap between rich and poor has widened; economic and social infrastructure have deteriorated; the services provided by government, especially in health, education, electricity, sanitation and water, transport and maintenance of all assets, have declined.  Michael Somare cannot cite one piece of reform he championed and achieved in the last 9 years. 
• It took the change of government last year for reform to feature again. And PNG Party has led the reform measures that the O’Neill-Namah Government has been able to introduce in its very short term in office such as:

1. Reintroduction of free education;
2. Introduction of free basic health care;
3. Establishment of the Special Task Force to weed out corruption;
4. Cleaning up the mess left by Arthur Somare at IPBC;
5. Instituting legal proceedings to recover the K96 million lost by MVIL through Woodlawn Capital;
6. Exploring the possibilities of refinancing the IPIC bonds;
7. Amending the IPBC Act to restore the strength, independence and accountability of public enterprises;
8. Re-introducing commercial discipline to public enterprises;
9. Getting the new Lae port approved and making inroads on Port Moresby port, water and sewerage and the national telecommunications network;
10. Driving forward NEC decisions to fix up the power supply in the Highlands, Lae, Madang and Port Moresby via (a) the Yonki hydro project feasibility study has commenced – this is a transformational K2 billion power project and (b) the proposals for Port Moresby power should bring benefits to residents and businesses in NCD in a short period of time.
11. Advancing the National Transmission Network project, which will provide an optic fibre backbone and microwave network to open up data services across PNG;
12. Restoring the process of provincial consultation for forestry permits and taking action against illegal logging;
13. Developing a climate change policy; and
14. Introducing a trial carbon credit scheme in forestry.

PNG Party is a party of reform, a party for change.  PNG Party for Change – that is our motto, our slogan. Our party leader and others will be talking more about the party policies over the next 2 days but I can assure you that as long as I have any influence over PNG Party, free education will remain.

• Free Education
• Free Basic Health Care
• Good Infrastructure
• Sustainable Agriculture
• Stopping Corruption, and
• Recognition of Churches as Partners in health, education and community development

These are PNG Party’s major policy planks. It is now no secret that I am not seeking re-election in the 2012 election.  I want to thank all the people throughout Papua New Guinea who have supported the party over the last 10 years, and supported me for the last 15 years.  A very special thank you must go to the people of Moresby North-West, the people who elected me to Parliament.  I am pleased to have set a record for the electorate – no other Member has served 3 terms. 

All my voters know that if I did stand this year, I would win again.  But it is time for me to hand on to someone else; time to do something else in life; and time to mentor younger leaders. 

The decision not to stand was always contingent on convincing my Leader and other party colleagues that I will still be around to help, and on convincing someone I believed to be a worthy successor to stand as the PNG party candidate in Moresby North-West.  That I have done.   Mr Loani Henao is here at the Convention and will be introduced to you along with all the other candidates later.

Finally, I want to thank Honourable Belden Namah.  As founder of the party, I leave knowing that the party is in the hands of a generous and kind leader, a strong leader, a bold leader, and that the party has a bright future. 

Roslyn and I look forward to hosting you all at Touaguba Hill as Members-elect of Parliament in late July, when PNG Party forms the next Government.  The barbecue, mumu ladies from Moresby North-West, towels, pillows and mattresses are ready. 

In the meantime, I will be hard at work, both helping the party in the election campaign and trying to do as much at IPBC as possible until the writs are returned.

 

 

Thank you.

Rt Hon Mekere Morauta KCMG MP

 

• This speech is the Opening Address by the PNG Party founder Rt Hon Mekere Morauta KCMG MP at the PNG Party Convention on May 8, 2012 at the Index Complex, Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium in Lae, Morobe province.