I have made this comment previously and repeat the same here...

I have made this comment previously and repeat the same here tonight. The PNG to Gladstone gas pipeline is nothing more than a pipedream which the promoters find very useful to keep alive inspite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

In 1998 the landowners ordered and acquired several huge caches of arms and chartered a plane to return to the Southern Highlands after meetings in Port Moresby with Bill Skate amongst others. Peter McNeill was also present as were executives of British based construction company Barclay Mowlem.

What transpired there was a carve up of the benefits of the pipeline and exploitation of the resources of that part of the country with mainly outsiders getting the bulk of it. These being the private interests of mining and cnostruciton company executrives and members off the Skate government. The landowners were to be baggage boys for surrendering their resource.

It was clear then as it should be to all of them now that any further attempt to build a gas pipeline where the benefits are vastly to go to the 'investors' from the outsidse and not locals is futile and doomed to fail.

The Malaysians have long been overheard to say, if it happens good luck if it does not bad luck. The problems here are the same tricks used as in Forestry logging in PNG and there is a plethora of evidence to back up the analysis.

There was once a K300 million suit threatened against the Skate government and the other parties to the project. it was scuttled with threats and a less than honourable judiciary and public service in PNG acting to frustrate the course of justice then.

The landowners have actually been getting counsel and assistance for their moves from abroad including the US, Switzerland and yes NGO's from Australia some of whom appeared in the begining to work for Australian government interests which the landowners identified themselves with foreign help.

There is less than honesty in the 'progress' of this venture. Yes there is a lot of gas on the ground and more in the press. Unless Australia can pull another 'Timor' by engineering a coup in PNG nothing will move in the near or distant future. The investment here is dead money.

The governor of Southern Highlands retracting his threats can only be put down to the application of the same incentives as used for previous threats to be withdrawn. A flawed mechanism to calm the markets, by paying the trouble maker. It happened in 1998 and will continue till this day but not produce a proper enduring outcome. We must understand that the majority of Papua New Guineans look up to the Bouganvillians unlike what the press tell us here. They in Bouganville tooko on the worlds largest minerals company, foreign mercenaries and the Australian and PNG amred forces and won. Their demands were the right to their soveriegnity and not to the miniscule benefits of their resource, one of the worlds largest deposits of copper and gold. They rather it lies in the ground than for them to be engaged in an undignified exercise of fatttening the purse of the 'white man' whilst they play the role of slave because they are black. (Francis Ona in 1995)