Author: Charlie

This is not a PNG bill – it’s an Australian environment bill being imposed on PNG in a clandestine manner.

There is no record of any consultation with key stakeholders in Kokoda pilgrimage tourism in the drafting process of the bill as required by PNG law.

The bill seeks to extend the influence of foreign aid-funded officials by expanding the gazetted boundaries of the Kokoda Trail to include a large part of the Owen Stanley Ranges and protecting their aid-funded careers with another layer of unnecessary environmental legislation.

The bill fails to acknowledge that the Kokoda Trail is PNGs most popular pilgrimage tourism destination and should therefore be managed on a commercial basis as a tourism enterprise owned by Traditional Resource Custodians (TRCs) for the benefit of their village communities.

Following are comments on each section of the proposed bill along with serious questions that need to be answered by the proponents of the bill before it is considered any further.

A trek across the Kokoda Trail should be regarded as a respectful pilgrimage in the footsteps of the brave – through a rugged jungle shrine linked to our Australian military heritage in the ‘land of the unexpected‘!
It should not be degraded as a ‘bucket-list’ item; a ‘Tough Mudder‘ event; or a ‘bogan challenge‘ complete with guitars and cringeworthy ‘Ozzie, Ozzie Ozzie – ‘Oi, ‘Oi, ‘Oi’ chants.