Aussies not welcome on Kokoda Trail | NEWS.com.au VILLAGERS felled a tree across Papua New Guinea's historic Kokoda Trail, where Australian soldiers fought Japanese troops in 1942, declaring trekking tourists unwelcome. Village spokesman Barney Jack said about 1000 villagers are demanding the PNG government allow the Australian company Frontier Resources to dig up 600m of the track to mine a $6.7 billion copper and gold deposit. The villagers have been offered five per cent in the mine, which could deliver them more than $110 billion over the proposed 10-year life of the project. But the Australian government is pressuring the PNG government not to allow the track to be disturbed, Fairfax reports. PNG officials expect that up to 6000 trekkers, most of them Australians, will want to travel to PNG after the 2008 trekking season opens early next month. The blockage has been set up near Naoro village - a cluster of 40 hilltop huts about 55km north-east of the PNG capital Port Moresby.
Hmm, maybe someone should ask them whether they would have got 5% from the Japanese, or whether they would have liked being turned into slave-labour to extract those deposits.
The annoying thing is that it's an Australian mining company behind it all. Embarrassing really. They talk about digging up 600 metres of track but there's also the ancillary features of a mine that will mean land is cleared. What of any soldiers' remains (both sides), relics, gun pits etc etc. The history will just disappear as the mining company will quickly get sick of stopping operations when remains are found. And I work in mining!
More shifty negotiations. Promise the money to the locals and get them to put the pressure on the government. "Dirty Pool"!
Foreign Minister jumps in Smith to meet PNG counterpart over Kokoda row - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Foreign Minister Stephen Smith will meet Papua New Guinea's Foreign Minister next week to discuss the need to protect the Kokoda Track for tourism purposes. Landowners have closed the historic World War II path to all tourists until the PNG Government approves a proposed copper mine. The mine would force part of the track to be redirected. Mr Smith says minerals development is a matter for the PNG Government, but Australia will again spell out the benefits of protecting the tourism value of the track. "We think that there is a way forward where the iconic value of the Kokoda Trail can be protected, preserved and enhanced, where PNG can benefit from the tourism potential of that," he said.
PNG wants to protect Kokoda too. PNG Govt joins push to protect Kokoda Track - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) The Papua New Guinea Government says it supports Australia's push to have the Kokoda Track world heritage listed to protect it from a proposed copper mine. It is the first time PNG's Government has indicated which camp it supports in the battle between economics and the environment. The PNG Government first granted Frontier Resources an exploration licence near the southern end of the Kokoda Track four years ago, but a significant copper find means part of the track will have to be redirected. Canberra wants a world heritage listing for the track and PNG Mining Minister Dr Puka Temu agrees. "Because our two leaders have discussed it they will sway towards protecting the Kokoda Track and applying for world heritage listing of this area," he said. Dr Temu also said Frontier would be welcome to mine the area if it did not impact the track.
Australia 'needs to pay' to protect Kokoda Track - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) - click on link for photo of terrain today The Federal Opposition says the only way Australia can protect Papua New Guinea's (PNG) historic Kokoda Track is to pay for it. The Government is pushing to have the track world heritage listed to protect it from a proposed copper mine. Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson has told Fairfax radio that the track belongs to PNG, so paying for it may be the only answer. "It is an iconic piece of territory for Australia, we are a free nation now because of what those men did up there," he said. "But it belongs to the Papua New Guineans - it's their land, it's the country, it's their territory. "I think in the end we need to work with the PNG Government and we need to be prepared to pay to preserve it, if that's what we want to do, which is what I think we ought to do." Investor concerns The PNG Government says it is committed to protecting the long-term future of the Kokoda Track ahead of mining interests. But the country's independent mining body says such a commitment will send the wrong message to international investors. The PNG Government has indicated Australian company Frontier Resources is welcome to mine there as along as it does not impact the Kokoda Track. Frontier's exploration licence is up for renewal and it has already spent $4 million on the site. Greg Anderson from PNG's Chamber of Mining and Petroleum says future international investors might be turned off if the Government does not renew Frontier's licence. "Mining and exploration is a huge part of the PNG economy, and if the tenement is not renewed, then it will have an impact on people's thinking," he said. Meanwhile, the PNG Mining Minister wants to meet landowners who are blocking the track to tourists in support of the mine.
Kokoda protesters to target Rudd | NEWS.com.au PAPUA New Guinean landowners have extended their blockade of the historic Kokoda Track and threatened protests during Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's visit next month. Representatives of the Koiari people said an unsealed road to McDonald's Corner, where the World War II track begins just outside Port Moresby, had been blocked off. It would stay that way until Australian company Frontier Resources had its exploration licence renewed, they said. Today's protest - the second in as many weeks - was led by local Bagua Watti, who represents 2000 Koiari people. The Koiari stand to make more than $100 million over 10 years if the company is allowed to mine a copper and gold deposit worth an estimated $6.7 billion. Mr Watti said his people were angry the PNG government, which had gone quiet on the issue. The government was using environmental studies as a tool to stall the project, he said. "The mining will still go ahead," he said. "The PNG government is in support, but after Kevin Rudd walked the track and went back and became the PM he is now telling the PNG government what to do. "I don't want the Australians to interfere with us. We will do a protest march for him (Rudd) telling him to shut up, mind his own business and let us landowners to mind our own business." Mr Watti - who would become one of the chief administrators of royalties and compensation payments from the mine - said his people needed the project. "Most of the money that comes in for the track goes back to Australians living here or back there," he said. Mr Watti said a push to have the track World Heritage-listed was causing suffering for his people. "This road to McDonald's Corner is still unsealed and shows how little development comes from trekking companies' money," he said. "This is not negotiable - the mining will go ahead or no-one will walk the Kokoda Track." Some 600 Australian soldiers died on the track during a critical push to stop Japanese troops from reaching Australia, and it is a pilgrimage site for thousands of Australian trekkers each year. Frontier's managing director Peter McNeil yesterday said the 600m section of track that would be affected by the mine was not the trail's original route. Kokoda Track Authority chief executive Warren Bartlett said there had been similar talk for years, and he had no problem with Frontier's exploration licence being renewed. "Trekking companies have been talking about using older routes for years, there are three or four tracks parallel to the track that would be affected by the mine," he said. "Let them explore for another four or five years. The PNG government should allocate a renewal to explore because it doesn't necessarily mean they will go ahead with the venture. The costs and conditions could make mining unviable. "As long as they don't interfere with war graves along the track, where there are still unknown soldiers, then all this seems premature."
Disputed path 'not part of Kokoda' | NEWS.com.au A SECTION of the Kokoda Track which Australia wants protected from mining was not actually walked by diggers during World War II, an expert says. Australia's push to have the track protected by World Heritage listing will be high on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's agenda when he visits Papua New Guinea later this week. Landowners living along part of the track want the PNG government to renew a mining exploration licence for Australian company Frontier Resources, which wants to mine copper and gold along a section of the track. The Koiari people, from Naoro village about 55km northeast of Port Moresby, stand to gain millions in royalties and compensation if mining goes ahead. They have already staged two symbolic blockades of the track, which is a pilgrimage site for Australians who go to honour 600 diggers who died on the track while fighting the Japanese. But Kokoda Track expert Soc Kienzle says Australia's stance is ill conceived because the relevant section of the track was not used during the war. Mr Kienzle, who grew up on the track and whose father helped map it, says the section of the current track which might be mined has no war heritage value. Mr Kienzle says the current problem stems from maps drawn up in the late 1970s by PNG surveyors. "What completely astounds me is that they didn't come anywhere near us to compare notes or ask if what they'd mapped was correct," Mr Kienzle told ABC television. Barney Jack, speaking for the landowners of the region, said it was "unfair and insane" they could not exploit their resources to improve their lives.
Red tape. No doubt the PNG pollies are waiting for a hand out so this will string along for quite a while.
Landowners agree to reopen Kokoda Track - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Kokoda Track landowners have agreed to reopen the war time trail to tourists after being given an ultimatum by the Papua New Guinea Government. Upset Kokoda track landowners closed the track last month in support of a proposed copper mine that would give them a better life. However spokesman Barney Jack says the landowners were given no choice by the PNG Government after it told them that no mining would be taking place. "We are left with no other option because the Government said there would be no mining, because of the environmental issues they keep telling us about," he said. The landowners are seeking a compensation package worth over $100 million.
Mining company drops plans to mine track Company drops plans to mine Kokoda Track - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
New deal doesn't prevent mining Kokoda deal doesn't ban mining: Smith - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
They (the mining company) must have known that Kokoda is very close to the hearts of many Australians. No doubt the Australian Government offered the PNG Government a number of future inducements to deny the lease. Good on them.
