Why are New Zealanders more interested in Donald Trump’s latest tweet than the outcome of the national election of one of our largest Pacific neighbours?
Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a population of over eight million and a land area double that of New Zealand’s. The country has recently gone through an incredible period of expansion, with one of the fastest-growing GDPs in the world during 2014-15.
As New Zealanders, we spend more taxpayer dollars on aid programmes in PNG than in any other Pacific nation - an estimated $70 million between 2015 and 2017, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Culturally, we have much in common with the people of PNG. We share a love of sport, particularly rugby league and union, and, like the majority of New Zealanders, Papua New Guineans have a deep pride in and respect for the indigenous cultures that make up their society.
It is surprising, then, that most New Zealanders know so little about our Melanesian neighbours.
I’ve been travelling to PNG since 2001 and I’ve been fortunate enough to visit many of its regions in the last couple of years.
When I was exchanging New Zealand dollars into PNG kina recently, the man at the counter mused, “Kina, you going to PNG? That makes you either a missionary, a helicopter pilot or just mad.”
At the airport, one of our friendly border control officers asked me where I was headed. “New Guinea! Why on earth would you want to go there?” he wondered aloud before dismissing me with a shake of his head.
These reactions are by no means unusual and reflect the perception of PNG held by most New Zealanders and Australians. The common opinion is it’s a dangerous and backward country with tribal fighting, cannibals roaming the hills and frequent muggings and murders. Such perspectives are generated and fostered by media outlets that seemed to delight in printing horror stories of flesh-eating tribes people. Don’t believe me? Try typing the word ‘cannibals’ into Google; the first prompt to drop down is ‘Papua New Guinea’. (RNZ’s Pacific team is an exception as the only New Zealand media outlet that regularly reports on issues and politics in PNG.)
I’m not denying PNG has it challenges or that unusual occurrences take place occasionally among the 800 different cultural and linguistic groups that inhabit the terrific landscapes of those islands. However, it’s high time New Zealanders looked beyond the surface of sensationalist headlines and tabloid stories, and peered a little deeper into the fascinating world of PNG politics and culture. A world that is infinitely more interesting than Trump’s opinions about his own popularity ratings and more pertinent to our lives and our place in the world.
PNG’s political history is fascinating. After achieving independence from Australia in 1975, the country has managed, with the notable exception of the Bougainville crisis, to maintain a peaceful, harmonious and stable society—no small achievement given the incredible diversity of languages and cultures that coexist there.
Few New Zealanders know PNG is currently counting votes to determine the results of the country’s ninth election. The outcome of this election is highly anticipated and has been much discussed by PNG’s citizens, even in the remote rainforest regions where I work. People in Southern New Ireland have been keenly anticipating this election for months. The result is so important because now, more than any time in PNG’s history, the victors will be able to determine the future of the nation and potentially direct government fund to make real change in the country.
With ExxonMobil’s major liquefied natural gas project ramping up over the next few years, the government coffers are set to grow at an unprecedented rate. For those that dwell in the isolated communities I work in, there is finally light on the horizon: development, health care, roads and access to education may finally be in reach.
The problem that is all too familiar in PNG is one of corruption. Government money is frequently evaporated away and used by local politicians to play ‘poverty politics’. Every year, millions of kina are distributed in the form of pots and pans, dinghies and Toyota Land Cruisers instead of used for roads, hospitals and other essential infrastructure projects.
There is little doubt PNG’s star will continue to rise during the next few decades, and as the country’s wealth and influence grows in the Asia-Pacific region, New Zealand needs to develop a greater level of understanding. Like us, they need strong partnerships with their neighbouring countries for security as well as economic reasons. It’s time we respectfully engaged with our Melanesian cousins and stopped dismissing them as ‘those cannibals next door’.
Dr Paul Wolffram is a filmmaker with 16 years’ experience working with isolated communities in PNG. His latest film, What Lies That Way, focuses on traditional shamanic practices there and is screening in the 2017 New Zealand International Film Festival.
Read the original article on Newsroom.