This is an edited excerpt from the 2024 PNG Update opening address, delivered at the University of Papua New Guinea on 21 August 2024. A recording of the full address may be viewed here.
In 1975, we were fused into one nation and merged over 1,000 tribes, the most diverse nation on the face of planet Earth. There is no other nation like ours which speaks over 800 languages. Those languages each have their own matching cultural and ethnic structures. That diversity was fused into one sovereignty in 1975. Some parts of our country had been exposed to contact for less than 100 years. I want to acknowledge the Motu-Koita who’ve given the land for this university to be situated on; they were in contact with the outside world since the 1800s. Some cultures – where I, for instance, come from — the first contact with the outside world was in 1952, only 23 years before our nationhood was established in 1975.
So we came together as a nation in 1975. Forty-nine years on, if you ask me to rate our progress on a scale from one to ten, I would not go past three.
That is the crudest assessment. If I benchmark against human development indicators, we have yet to reach even the halfway mark in terms of where our country should be. Some of the impairments, retrospectively speaking, have always been: number one, the lack of greater, relevant education opportunities for our people; number two, the lack of relevant employment and economic opportunities for our people; and number three, in my view, in the midst of those other two, the lawlessness amongst us which has always held us back.
Now, what has the government been doing? As it is the government’s primary responsibility, I want to apologise here for the government. For the past 49 years, it has not served you, the people, very well. I do sincerely apologise and admit that the many shortcomings of government in the past. I stand here today on the eve of our nation’s fiftieth anniversary. This year we’ll be celebrating 49 years. And I want to say on behalf of leaders of the past until today, if we have fallen short, and I know we have fallen short, I do sincerely apologise.
The economy is the mother of our country. If the economy is bigger, if the economy is healthy, if the economy is stronger, then the economy pays the bills. I do not want this country to be a borrower forever. I make no apologies to anyone when I fight to take back more from our resources at this time. That’s the country’s entitlement. That’s why Porgera has now reopened with 51% ownership to us and 49% to our investors. That’s why we are restructuring to ensure that in all other resource projects we negotiate we will take above 50% of the economic gains, and our investors under 50%.
We are fighting very hard to grow the economy. And I want to give opportunities to every citizen of our country. Part of the focus on the growth of the economy is to achieve import replacement at the very earliest. I have spoken at many investment conferences about the food sector — rice, beef and other produce. This is the lowest-hanging fruit to replace our imports, supply local markets and ramp up exports to the markets around us.
I will also speak of our export-driven strategy. We must focus on production for exports, capitalising on the kina finding its own strength in the market. Sometimes it goes down, sometimes it will go up. Those in the export business can gain from a lower kina, and these are things that we are working on to improve going forward.
The task before me is to ensure that, as we cross into the fiftieth anniversary of our nation next year, first and foremost we remain one people, one nation, one country, and second, that economic opportunities are open for all our citizens. Our national goals and aspirations demand governance that ensures our people participate in the economy.
That includes putting more students into school. In the last five years, we’ve been able to put more students into secondary school and to be flexible in order to open up this education level. We’ve been able to put more students into universities and colleges. We’ve introduced the higher education loan program to subsidise costs for students who come from families who need assistance. We’ve also helped students to go and study overseas, expressly in areas we feel our economy and our country need for the future.
So, I want to say, we’re doing our absolute best. The economy has been my number one focus. I need to grow the economy at the very earliest to a K200 billion plus economy, to sustain our population that now is possibly about 15 million. We need the help of everyone.
I want to close off with the same words that Chancellor Robert Igara mentioned a little bit earlier. The sons of this country must rise up. The greatest impediment facing us today is a lack of respect for our country’s law. I will repeat it. The greatest challenge facing us today is the lack of respect for our customary laws and our combined constitutional laws. Respecting the law is the easiest contribution any one of our citizens can make for their country. It comes at no cost. It is a free gift.
And I want to conclude with this point. It really falls to our sons. I address the Papua New Guineans amongst you — you are my kinsmen and kinswomen, because you are the most educated. To all the males in this university, in your home, on your campus, in your learning places, give respect to the females amongst us. At the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of our nation, I ask you, respect your sister, respect your daughter, respect your mother in your country, and gradually it will fall into place in our country. Small things matter most, and these are the first steps to build our country bigger and better.
The Prime Minister also talked extensively about the importance of political stability in his address, and participated in a Q&A session. A recording of the full opening address and Q&A may be viewed on the University of Papua New Guinea Facebook page. Presentations from the 2024 PNG Update are now available here.
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