The Human Rights Law Centre is calling on the Albanese Government to end 10 years of calculated, cruel policies inflicted on people who came to Australia seeking safety.

A decade ago today, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced he would not allow any person seeking asylum by sea to settle in Australia. Thousands of people were subsequently sent to detention camps in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

In Nauru and Papua New Guinea, the Australian Government oversaw torturous conditions of detention, the separation of families, grossly inadequate medical treatment, sexual abuse, and failures of care for children. The decision resulted in irreparable physical and mental harm and ultimately, the deaths of at least 14 people.

After powerful resistance from refugees, the last remaining people detained under Australia's offshore detention policy were evacuated from Nauru. However, the Albanese Government has confirmed that it will continue to keep the detention centre in Nauru open.

The Albanese Government refuse to evacuate 80 people, who were previously detained on Manus Island from Papua New Guinea, and continues to deny thousands of people their right to safe, permanent resettlement.

The Human Rights Law Centre will join demonstrations across the country to call on the Albanese Government to:

1. End offshore detention;

2. Evacuate the 80 people still in Papua New Guinea

3. Provide permanent safety to all people affected by offshore detention and the flawed Fast Track process.

Sanmati Verma, Managing Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre:

In offshore detention, the Australian government designed a system of calculated cruelty which is now being exported to other parts of the world, to torture and punish people seeking safety.

Every person sent to Nauru or PNG has lost years of their lives and been separated from loved ones because of the intentionally punitive policies of successive Australian governments. The Albanese Government must end offshore detention, evacuate the 80 people stranded in PNG, and give these people who have resisted the Australian Governments brutality, their right to make a safe and permanent home here.

Uncertain visa status has been weaponised to further punish people who have been transferred to Australia, to compel them to accept resettlement in third countries or return home. The Albanese government must recognise peoples right to rebuild their lives in safety and in freedom.

Media Contact:
Thomas Feng
Media and Communications Manager
Human Rights Law Centre
0431 285 275
thomas.feng@hrlc.org.au

After over three years closure, the final formalities required to reopen the Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guineas Enga Province are now being processed under the supervision of the Mineral Resources Authority. Business Advantage PNG spoke to the MRAs Managing Director, Jerry Garry, for an update.

The Porgera gold mine in Enga Province has been under care and maintenance since its closure in April 2020 following the stalling of negotiations over a new special mining lease.

With negotiations finally completed following the signing of the Porgera Project Commencement Agreement (PPCA) in March and outstanding tax issues seemingly resolved all that is now required for the mine to be reopen is for a Special Mining Lease (SML) be issued to its newly-constituted operator, New Porgera Limited (NPL).

Statutory requirements

Under PNGs Mining Act, certain statutory requirements have to be met for an SML to be issued. The first of these is a Wardens Hearing, which has been gazetted for 31 July at Engas Paiam Sports Field and 1 August in Tari Square, Hela Province.

The Wardens Hearing is a public forum designed to inform recognised landholders, to gauge their views about the plans for the mine and to register any concerns, explains Jerry Garry, Managing Director of PNGs Mineral Resources Authority (MRA). These concerns are then recorded in the Wardens Report to the PNG Mining Advisory Council, which Garry chairs.

We are look...

Early works contracts for the TotalEnergies-led Papua LNG gas project are expected to start being issued next month. Institute of Banking and Business Managements CEO Susil Nelson-Kongoi shares some advice on how businesses can position themselves for the work with Business Advantage PNG.

Following procurement roadshows for the TotalEnergies-led Papua LNG project in Port Moresby and Lae earlier this year, 208 companies have so far registered on the Institute of Banking and Business Managements (IBBM) Supplier Management Portal for early works engineering, procurement and contraction (EPC) contracts, according to IBBMs CEO, Susil Nelson-Kongoi.

She tells Business Advantage PNG that registrations are likely to exceed her expected target of 500 before closing in mid-August. Also in August, IBBM and TotalEnergies also aim to run further supplier procurement roadshows in Madang and Kokopo.

Not too late to register

The first...

The marine biodiversity hotspot known as the Coral Triangle is home to more than 76% of the worlds known coral species and more than 3,000 species of fish. It sustains the livelihoods of more than 100 million people living along the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste. Its also home to a lot of plastic. Much of the waste clogging the waters of Coral Triangle countries is the result of poor waste management at the local and national levels. But a recent study published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering shows that plastic also comes from much farther afield. It found that microplastics in the Mekong River in mainland Southeast Asia are spreading to the densely populated coasts of the archipelagic countries of the Philippines and Indonesia. As the region hosts some of the richest fauna and flora on the planet, experts say these findings show that cooperation between Southeast Asian nations is crucial to reduce the harm done to marine life and the communities that depend on aquatic resources. Trajectory of the plastic drift from the Mekong River in 15 months, according to a recent simulation.  The green dots show the initial location of plastic waste, blue dots show plastic still in motion, and red dots show plastic that has been stranded on shore. Image courtesy of Nguyen et al. (2023). Earth, wind and water The Mekong River provides livelihoods to about 1.3 billion people, but is also oneThis article was originally published on Mongabay