I’ve just spent three weeks in Papua New Guinea investigating disaster capitalism for a new book (out 2013), as well as filming a documentary. Here are my photos of Bougainville, Madang and Port Moresby/Papa Lea-Lea. It was a wild trip and revealed deep complicity of Western and Chinese corporations in the exploitation of the nation.…
Showing all posts tagged Papua New Guinea
Disaster capitalists in Bougainville just want another shot at ruining the place
A foreign company destroys Bougainville in Papua New Guinea and leaves a trail of ecological destruction. Years after, the same company wants to re-open the same mine by whispering sweet nothings about its intentions. Dont believe a word. Following my Crikey investigation last week, today sees an unintentionally funny response to the publication. Yes, vulture…
If only mineral wealth could bring true gains for PNG
Here in Papua New Guinea, the local media is filled with stories that economic growth in Asia will help the local people: Papua New Guinea is well positioned and poised to reap huge benefits from the fast growing economies of Asia. ANZ Group Bank chief executive Mike Smith said closer trade and investment ties with…
What the resource curse is doing to Bougainville in Papua New Guinea
My following investigation appears in Crikey today: The rusted air vent is deafening and a whoosh echoes around the pit. Copper-polluted water sits in a pool nearby and trees are starting to take over the graded hillside. Rocky, uneven ground is where locals pan for gold, hoping to find a few grams to make some…
Exploiting Papua New Guinea with its people barely acknowledged
This story in the Wall Street Journal is typical of reporting on PNG. “Development” is framed as the saviour of this nation, despite the fact that decades of resource exploitation has left the vast bulk of citizens poor. I’m currently in the country researching a book on disaster capitalism, filming a documentary and a host…
Handy definition of vulture capitalism right here in Australia
Good piece in today’s Sydney… Daily Telegraph that tackles head-on the reality of private corporations that make a fortune by allegedly assisting the most vulnerable in the world and yet: Just seven corporations have raked in a staggering $1.81 billion in taxpayer-funded contracts under the booming foreign aid program. But the lack of scrutiny of their…
PNG welcomes Israel into its beating bosom
This is how Israel builds its soft power. As civilised peoples increasingly recognise the Jewish state as a racially discriminatory anachronism from a different age, Zionism must cultivate backing from smaller, more desperate nations keen for infrastructure and cash. Hello Papua New Guinea: The people of Hela and the Israelis will work in partnership to…
Holding power to account in PNG when resource curse hits hard
This is welcome news, as corporations are systemically raping Papua New Guinea; it’s disaster capitalism on crack with little oversight: A US federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit seeking to hold Rio Tinto responsible for human rights violations and thousands of deaths linked to a Bougainville copper and gold mine it once ran. A…
When disaster capitalism strikes, Papua New Guinea is on front line
Barely a day goes by when another report emerges of locals in PNG not gaining anything from multinationals pillaging the vast natural resources of the country. This week’s Guardian features a story on the subject and explains how the PNG government is more than happy to allow rapacious corporations to extract the valuable assets from…
Lest we forget PNG’s pain and call for true independence
Mining and exploitation remain live issues in and around Papua New Guinea; it is disaster capitalism on a grand scale. These two clips, made in the 1990s for ABC TV and Channel 9 TV, show that the issues of today have been around for decades, as long as a poor nation has a resource curse: