Please please please, will someone please take notes or minutes of what is brought up and email it to me??
I am not in BNE but am in QLD and there is no std assoc. here.

Displa Konstitiusen ya miyet tu mi laikim kopi.

Gutpla olsem yupla bai bung, hopefully sampla gutpla na useful nius i bai kam outsait long displa bung.

Maybe Anthony (or the BNE std community) could appoint someone to inform others throughout QLD all outcomes of the meeting. Damn, I wish i was there.

Thankyou in advance.

Hi Hazza

Great to hear from you. As you know, the KSICOC is being inundated with inquiries about transport, accomodation, registration and affiliation. I can't speak for the KSICOC, only in my capacity as an advisor to the KSI, and as one of the patrons (along with Dr Deklin and Dr Baloiloi).

I was going to be Brisbane on Wednesday for business anyway, so I thought that we could knock off two birds with one stone, so to speak, by having a KSI info meeting. Part of the reason why I thought that we would have a meeting (thanks to QUT prez Elvina Ogil for organising it) was to discuss the level of interest from Qld and the logistical arrangements for getting the Qld students to the Convention.

One of the biggest problems that previous Conventions have had to grapple with has always been the tyranny of distance; Australia is such a big country. Its always difficult to keep an organisation going when its members are spread all over a whole continent and there isn't that much money around. Thankfully KSI was able to survive thanks to the enthusiasm of its members, particularly the executives (eg. Gae Kauzi, Hitolo Moka, the previous Prez Otto Wangillen from CQU)and the generous support of sponsors like Orogen Minerals and ANZ - companies who believe in the potential of the PNG students studying in Australia and believe that investing in KSI is an investment in those students.

In the first two conventions (1997 and 1998), held in Brisbane, Canberra was the further outpost sending students, and we were able to transport them relatively cheaply through using the weight of numbers - hiring buses, packing them full with students who would contribute a tranport levy, and then having our own drivers (eg. Dr Deklin and Amos Wama). The organisation committee subsidised these transport and accomodation costs through part of the sponsorship funds. Canberra then represented the further outreach of convention attendees. Now it is Townville and Victoria that represent the furthest outreaches of the KSI.

Of course, the KSICOC has a limited amount of money to run the Convention with. Some of this money may be available to subsidise the accomodation and transport costs of the interstate students - but it is likely it won't be that much, so students ultimately bear much of the cost. As you alluded to before, the larger the number of students travelling from a certain place (eg. Brisbane, Townville, Melbourne, Armidale, etc.), the cheaper it is. Additionally, students can also make reduce the costs more through their own fundraising in those centres. I know the Melbourne students, led by the Victoria PNGSA (PNGSAV) Prez Samuel Yuguru, have formed a committee to look at fundraising options to assist in the transport arrangements for his students to the Convention.

I am hoping that my presence in Brisbane at this KSI info session on Wednesday will result in more Brisbane students making the decision that they should be there in Canberra in July for the Convention. Maybe if the numbers are big enough, there may enough interest to justify the hiring of a bus, dramatically cutting the cost of transport (and how hard it hits the students' hip pocket). The larger the numbers also means that the group rate at the motel/hostel in Canberra will be much cheaper.

But why is going to the Convention a good idea?

Well from my perspective (and based on my experiences at previous conventions), a number of reasons -

1. its great way to learn about issues affecting the country from other Papua New Guineans who have experience or qualifications in those areas (and who knew more about those issues than I did);
2. its a great way to generate change in the country through the discussion of issues and dissemination of ideas in a group of similar nationalistic, educated and motivated Papua New Guineans;
3. Networking with Papua New Guineans who are going to emerge as leaders in the business, governmental, social and academic sectors of our country and forming bonds that will serve you well over the future as you make your way in PNG; and
4. its a great way to see another part of Australia, cheaply and with wantoks!!

Some of my best friends are people I met through KSI Conventions and other student activities whilst I was a uni student in Brisbane . Ex-KSI members are now senior figures in the civil service, in the business sector, are are rapidly emerging on fast-track management career paths at corporate institutions like ANZ (and in so doing, they are assisting other ex-KSI members by establishing a reputation for excellence among the cadre). Misty Baloiloi, Unitech Vice Chancellor, is an ex-KSI member and current KSI Patron. There are also actually 4 ex-KSI members running for the National elections (my money is on at least one of them getting into the next Parliament). I have never regretted my association with the KSI.

I hope to see and meet you at the Convention.

There is also another compelling reason to attend the Convention - the election of the new KSI Executive Council will be taking place there, with all KSI members able to run for office and to vote. I will explain more about the nomination and voting processes when I post on this board after the Brisbane meeting. I will also talk more about the discussions in Port Moresby that certain ex-KSI members are having about forming a KSI alumna - there should be more developments on that later this month.

Please feel free to email me, anybody who is interested.

Cheers

Anthony
a_smare@hotmail.com

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