fnt in trouble

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Kokoda in danger

30Sep06

THEY battled the Japanese to save Australia from invasion but now the Kokoda Track diggers face a new enemy.

This time it is a Gold Coast-based company, Frontier Resources, and its plan to mine a gold deposit reportedly worth up to $1.3 billion alongside the revered track where thousands lost their lives.

But Frontier non-executive chairman Bob McNeil yesterday questioned the sanctity of the Kokoda Track.

"There is some debate over whether the track is in the same place as it was originally," said Mr McNeil.

"We have to ask, what are we trying to preserve?

"It's not pristine and it can't stay pristine."

Mr McNeil said the thousands of people who walked the track every year compromised the site.

"There are far bigger questions about the Kokoda Track than this issue," he said.

Prime Minister John Howard fiercely opposes the proposal, but it is the Diggers who survived the battle who are 'disgusted' by the 'pure greed'.

Kokoda veteran Bill Bellaris said the Diggers entombed along the track would be 'turning in their graves'.

"Every battleground along the Kokoda Track should be revered by every Australian," said Mr Bellaris, of Main Beach.

"There's no hope of stopping them if there's a sniff of a profit.

"They have no idea of the horrible experiences many of us had.

"If you copped a bullet above the legs, they could do nothing for you. Nothing.

"Our soldiers died protecting Australia from invasion.

"They are undermining what should be held in prestige."

In a move likely to cause tension between Port Moresby and Canberra, Mr Howard said he was determined to stop the mining.

The Prime Minister has sent a high-level delegation, including the director of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and his own senior foreign affairs adviser to PNG to inspect the site.

"We obviously respect the laws of Papua New Guinea but the Kokoda Trail is of enormous historic and military significance to Australia and there has to be a way that fairness and justice can be done to all interests," said Mr Howard yesterday.

"We don't intend to have it run away from us without anything that can be done being done."

The PNG government yesterday insisted the track was not in danger and said Canberra was overreacting to mining exploration in the area.

"At this stage there is exploration and if there are minerals found along the Kokoda Trail that does not mean we're going to dig it up. No way," said PNG Mining Minister Sam Akoitai.

"We will make sure that we preserve the Kokoda Trail," he said, adding it was just as important to his country as it was to Australia.

Frontier has warned against 'foreign government intervention'.

Mr Howard this week sent a delegation to PNG to inspect the proposed mining area on the 96km Kokoda Track.

The track runs through Frontier's 540sq km exploration area, which also contains nearly $400 million worth of copper.

Hundreds of Australians annually make the pilgrimage along the Kokoda Track, which was the scene of fierce fighting between Australian and Japanese troops during World War II.

The Kokoda Track took a heavy toll on both Australia and Japan. More than 600 Australian soldiers' lives were lost and more than 1000 were wounded.

By the time the last enemy bastions at the end of the overland route fell on January 22, 1943, the lives of more than 12,500 Japanese had been lost.

Mr McNeil has defended the proposal to mine the area.

"We have no plans to mine the Kokoda Track. We are talking about a 400sq km area which at its closest point is 2km from the track itself," he said.

"We have no plans that impact on the track.

"All our people are instructed not to impact on the Kokoda Track."

Mr McNeil criticised Mr Howard for politicising the issue.

The company maintains the mine would have minimum visual impact on the track and had been welcomed by villagers, who believed the only locals who benefited from trekking were a handful who owned hostels along the track.

Opposition Leader Kim Beazley warned Mr Howard not to bungle the heritage of the Kokoda Track, as he said had happened with the preservation of Gallipoli. Mr Beazley said he was 'seriously concerned' about the mine proposal.