rudd not welcome

PNG LANDOWNERS at Mt Kodu have said Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is not welcome on their part of the Kokoda Track, which they plan to shut down by July 7 unless Frontier Resource’s exploration licence over the Kodu deposit is renewed.



The Kokoda Track in PNG

With parts of the letter considered too “emotive” and thus rejected by the Australian Securities Exchange for a company release by Frontier, the Mt Kodu Deposit Landowners Association have demanded the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments respect their rights and desires for mining development.

“Our message to Kevin Rudd is that you are not welcome to walk our part of the Kokoda Track again – your selfishness is damaging our lives, PNG’s economy and making our leaders into Australian puppets,” the association stated in a letter addressed to Frontier.

Rudd walked the Kokoda Track two years ago, then as Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesman, along with Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey and Channel 7’s Sunrise Program co-presenter David Koch for an Anzac Day television special.

The letter, signed by the Mt Kodu Landowners Association’s deputy chairman, secretary and treasurer, a Koiari local level government councillor and two landowners said the association’s spokesman Barney Jack made unauthorised agreements on their behalf at the recent Australia-PNG Ministerial Forum in Madang just prior to Anzac Day this year.

One of the key outcomes of the forum was the joint understanding between PNG and Australia to preserve the Kokoda Track and the Owen Stanley ranges

Furthermore, the landowners association said they were bullied and threatened by PNG Deputy Prime Minister and Mining Minister Dr Puka Temu into agreeing to a plan that would benefit only Australia and Australian Track operators.

“The Deputy Prime Minister said that if we did not accept his offer of a World Heritage area with development and infrastructure from Australia and PNG that we would not get any development in our lifetimes.

“We will continue to pursue the renewal of EL 1348 until the licence is renewed. We don’t want a World Heritage area over our land, we signed a declaration saying that.

“It is not fair that the Government gives licences to other landowners and stops Kodu.”

The association also noted recent media reports of Kokoda Spirit tour operators using alternate tracks because of the degraded nature of the Kokoda Track.

“If trekking on alternate paths does not detract from the Kokoda experience, then why can’t Frontier mine the Kodu deposit next to a very short length of the track, with walkers taking a very short detour to miss the deposit?

“We have told people that the part near Kodu is not original WWII Kokoda Track, so we don’t understand the problem.”

The association said the Kodu Deposit Clan leaders and their people were disappointed in the PNG and Australian governments.

“We don’t want to have to close the track again and make everyone suffer, just because Australia is trying to make us suffer, but we will if the EL is not renewed.”

Landowners at Elo, 13km from the Kokoda Track, who could also benefit from Frontier’s mining plans, will join the Kodu landowners in the planned track shutdown.

Frontier managing director Peter McNeil told PNGIndustryNews.net the Elo landowners maintained the shutdown could be indefinite.

“There is not too much pressure the [PNG] Government can bring to bear on them – it is not like they can cut services.”

McNeil also noted the Elo landowners would not benefit as much as Kodu landholders from the World Heritage listing and the associated $A14.9 million pledged by the Australian Government to assist communities along the Kokoda Track.

He said he understood the PNG Government has a difficult job but hopes it can reconsider its position in light of Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Steven Smith’s comments that mining was not precluded in a World Heritage area.

An independent environmental assessment report by Douglas Environmental Consultants, commissioned by Frontier, revealed potential revenues from mining at the copper, gold and molybdenum Kodu deposit massively outweigh the $A14.9 million Australia pledged towards the Kokoda Track.

Tentative figures for the economic benefits of the mine’s 10-year lifespan reveal that, with royalties included, the PNG Government could gain $A2.38 billion, Kodu landowners could receive $136.85 million, while the Kokoda Track landowners and the Kokoda Track Authority could receive $30.15 million and $60.31 million respectively.

Meanwhile, Frontier has estimated the Elo project has a potential resource of up to 500Mt grading between 0.8 and 1% copper equivalent from near surface.

Frontier shares last traded at 5.4c.