30 December 2022
13 December 2022
31 October 2022
Breaking Bows and Arrows
In Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, thousands of people have been killed in a decade-long secessionist war. Exploring challenging emotional terrain with the victims and perpetrators, this film examines the extraordinary human capacity to forgive and marks the beginning of a path to true peace and healing for Bouganville.
5 October 2022
Getting under the Skin
The Bougainville Copper Agreement and the Creation of the Panguna Mine
A readable and insightful account of the conflicts that beset the Panguna project from its inception. To read this book online, click here, then SIGN UP (it's free!), LOG IN, and BORROW.
Also read this commentary/review of the book on pngattitude.com.
1 October 2022
8 July 2022
A rare find
I was searching on YouTube for a copy of Liz Thompson's video "Breaking Bows and Arrows" - click here - when I came across this equally fascinating 45-minute clip of an 84-day voyage in an open dinghy from Sydney to Port Moresby via Thursday Island in 1978.
What makes this video so special for me is that it shows both Thursday Island and Port Moresby's Royal Papuan Yacht Club the way they were when I used to live and work there in the 'seventies.
This is for you, Hubert in Cooktown, and all those who shared my time in Port Moresby in the days when we were still young and full of hope.
P.S. If you're interested in more of Malcolm Douglas's videos, click here.
5 July 2022
"A special place where many had their golden years"
That's the byline Bob Jackson gave his excellent collection of over 450 images of Bougainville Island and what was once Bougainville Copper in the 70s and 80s, many his own and others culled from different sources (including my own website, I noticed).
It's a wonderful labour of love created, as Bob writes, "as an old man's project to give continuing access to these images and maybe a happy memory or two to those who also spent time on this remarkable island".
I enjoyed flicking trough those stunning photographs which brought back many happy memories, Bob! I hope by adding your website to this blog, many more viewers will be introduced to it by clicking here.
And here's more ...
Colonists For a Day
From the Film Australia Collection. Made by Film Australia 1993. Directed by Alec Morgan
Papua New Guinea was Australia's brief and only attempt at colonisation, lasting from 1906 to 1975. It was marked by the colonists' incompetence and inexperience and the inevitable cultural clashes between the tribal clans and their administrators. This documentary combines eyewitness accounts from both colonists and Papua New Guineans with archival footage that was filmed by the colonists as they ventured into the unknown tribal lands of the interior.
3 July 2022
Kieta then and now
If the rain, the mud, the dust, the heat, and the sheer boredom didn't get you down, it was the unrelenting routine of working ten hours a day six days a week. Was it any wonder we dreamt of escaping down to Kieta for a scent of the big wide world beyond?
Once we had, by hook or by crook, hitched a ride to Kieta, our first stop was the waterfront shop of Greens, a veritable Aladdin's cave of desirable merchandise, from t-shirts to bilum bags to postcards depicting Highland 'meris' suckling their babies on one side and a pig on the other. Then it was time for liquid refreshments at the Kieta Hotel, the unpretentious yacht club, and, much later, Arovo Island.
Then, Kieta had a population of just over a thousand. There were thirteen trade stores, a supermarket, cinema shows at the Kieta Club and the nearby high school, two hotels (including the newly opened Davara at Toniva), a deepwater harbour, three banks and enough traffic to cause city-style congestion.
What's left of it today? Nothing! Except for the memories which will stay alive for as long as we stay alive! You know, I'd rather look back on life and say, "I can't believe I did all that" instead of "If only I had".
We only live once, but we can live in such a way that at the end of the journey, we will feel as though we have lived a hundred lives.
7 June 2022
Scramble for Resources
ABC Radio National's Late Night Live looks at mining company behaviour on Bougainville, as everyone jostles to benefit from the rich seams of copper and gold. Click here and wait for the second segment of the show where Phillip Adams discusses Kevin Rudd's report "Scrambles for Resources".
This report outlines how the Autonomous Region of Bougainville has become the target of a scramble for resources. The region, which is pursuing independence from Papua New Guinea, has attracted mining and minerals exploration companies from around the world, drawn by its valuable copper and gold reserves. Over a two-year investigation, Jubilee Australia tracked the companies vying for the right to mine on the island, ranging from one-person outfits to global operations backed by major investors.
To read the full report, click on "Scramble for Resources"
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