Month: July 2015

Torres Strait Islands – a government to government matter.

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By Susan Merrell Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has instructed cabinet to appoint an eminent persons committee to conduct a review of the Torres Strait Treaty with Australia.  He says: …for 40 years no government has ever stood up on behalf of Trans Fly villages. Indeed they haven’t Prime Minister, although there are some who have been pointing out the inequities for quite some time.  In 2011, I opined that only a government to government solution would work (litigation had already failed).  At last (and bravo!) a PNG government is seeking to effect a more equitable solution for the people of Continue reading Torres Strait Islands – a government to government matter.→

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Democracy, custom and the Melanesian Way.

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By Susan Merrell This is an article I wrote almost three years ago.  Inspired by a conversation with a learned PNGean, I am republishing – the thesis has not aged although the cast of characters has. Is there a democratic Papua New Guinean nation – or is it merely an arbitrary state built on a shaky, crumbling foundation of disparate traditional customs and the ‘Melanesian Way’? Has the system of government become a hybrid of concepts that fail to work on any level – a bastardization of both democracy and custom? Bernard Narokobi in his book ‘The Melanesian Way’ refused Continue reading Democracy, custom and the Melanesian Way.→

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