BY GILLIAN DAVY
& NORMAN BREWER
The Papua New Guinea Solidarity Action group (PNGSA), formed after at least four PNG student activists were killed by riot police on June 26, started the new year with a successful tour of PNG activist Graeme Kunjil.
The students were killed by the Australian-trained Mount Hagen mobile squad while protesting outside Prime Minister Mekere Morauta's house. They wanted to hand over a petition against the devastating privatisation policy package imposed on PNG by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Kunjil is the president of the Environment Society at the University of PNG (UPNG). The tour was organised by PNGSA to build support for the growing anti-privatisation movement in PNG.
While in Australia, Kunjil met with unions, NGOs and other organisations. On January 5 he addressed the educational conference of the Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance, and gave a workshop on the situation in PNG.
PNGSA organised a January 14 public meeting at UTS in Sydney, and a similar meeting at the New International Bookshop in Melbourne on January 15.
At both meetings, each attended by more than 30 people, Kunjil explained the strategy of the UPNG students. As up to 80% of PNG's people don't have access to newspapers, radio or television, the students used the summer campus break to go to villages and talk to people in their tribal languages about PNG politics. This "awareness campaign" involves explaining the privatisation of public utilities, land registration plans and corruption in PNG politics.
The anti-privatisation students have forged links with public sector unions, NGOs like Melanesian Solidarity, women's organisations and the Council of Churches, Kunjil told the meetings. They also get strong support from the PNG Trade Union Congress, which has set up a new party, the PNG Labor Party (PNGLP). The students had also discussed forming a new party, Kunjil explained, but instead decided to support the PNGLP.
Discussion at the meetings brought out the exciting possibility that the government will soon face a broad anti-privatisation movement that has the support of the PNG Defence Forces, and could also rely on the neutrality of the local police.
Fear of such a movement is one reason, Kunjil argues, for cuts in funding to the army and the establishment of a special police force, at a cost of 200 million kina, which was provided by the Australian government.
Other issues canvassed in discussion included the student movement's support for privatisation of non-profitable assets (as opposed to profitable ones) and the involvement of women in the protest movement.
The Sydney meeting also discussed the activities of the PNGSA. The group's main aim is to help PNG students establish international solidarity links, but it is also campaigning for the PNG government to release the findings of the Commission of Inquiry into the UPNG Student Demonstrations.
Other projects discussed included supporting planned protests on May Day, and participating in the second Asia Pacific International Solidarity Conference in Sydney at Easter.
To get involved in PNGSA contact <Norman@Brewer.to> or refer to <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/png_action_group>.
From Green Left Weekly, January 23, 2002.
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