Freedom at the Crossroads

On 29 February and 1 March this year, the Papua New Guinea Media Council held a seminar in Port Moresby to discuss threats to that country's freedom of expression. David Flint attended.

Threats by government to press freedom are nothing new. There have been recent attempts or proposals to establish government-appointed bodies to control the press not only in distant countries, for example Kenya, but also among our neighbours - the Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea.

I was recently invited to speak at a conference in Papua New Guinea Freedom at the Crossroads - The Media and the Constitution on 29 February and 1 March 1996. The Conference was organised by Anna Solomon (of the PNG Media Council), Oseah Philemon and Max Tomlinson (respectively, editor and general manager of the Port Moresby Post-Courier).

There was an extremely strong panel of speakers including the Chief Justice, Sir Arnold Amet, Mr John Momis (an elder statesman), Sir Peter Kurongku, who is Archbishop of Port Moresby, Professor John Waiko from the Constitutional Review Commission, and academics David Robie and Sorariba Nash.

Government initiative

Some months before (on 19 November 1995) the government had sent a direction, under the authority of the Governor-General, to the Constitutional Commission. This asked the Commission to advise whether changes should be made to the Constitution which, while maintaining freedom of the press, would ensure owners, editors and journalists "of all elements of the media are accountable, and that persons aggrieved by media abuses would have reasonable redress".

The PNG government has not been too happy with the media. One of the areas of contention was the way in which logging licenses were granted, often to foreign interests. Many Papua New Guineans believe these do not sufficiently protect the environment and the rights of the indigenous people. Indeed, the World Bank is worried that logging may have expanded beyond sustainability. There were stories of alleged corruption of politicians.

During the conference the Chairman of the Constitutional Commission was, however, at pains to deny that press freedoms would be at risk. He was replying to criticism that the commission had looked at press regimes in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and China.

Are you from the ABC?

Just before the conference, the ABC's Sean Dorney was threatened with being called before the Parliamentary Privileges Committee for a story he had broadcast. This was about a World Bank team which objected to proposed changes in the forest licensing regime. The government had tried to resume its discretionary power to hand out licences taking this power away from the forest authority.

Sean Dorney reported that the government had ordered them to leave town. The Prime Minister said they had not.

Journalists and the media generally were afraid that the Media Tribunal Bill (drafted by Stuart Littlemore QC), which had been rejected in 1987, would be revived. The "Littlemore" Bill was seen by many as providing a way for effective government control of the press under a statutory Media Tribunal.

No summons

Just before the end of the Conference, the Speaker of the PNG Parliament, Sir Rabbie Namaliu, ruled that Sean Dorney should not be called before the Privileges Committee. And in a closing address to the Conference, Sir Rabbie indicated his very strong preference for accountability being determined by the media itself.

The conference also received a report concerning the establishment of a Media Council, which will take a strong proactive role in these areas. There was a general feeling at the end of the conference that changing the Constitution and reviving the "Littlemore" Bill seemed less likely.

The Conference was widely reported in the PNG media.

David Flint

see also
Index on David Flint's material on the website

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