Australia 'hysterical' about terrorism, say PNG media

By Jim Baynes, Papua New Guinea Correspondent

PORT MORESBY, Nov 29 AAP - Australia was being "near-hysterical" about the threat of terrorism in Papua New Guinea, the troubled country which shares a border with Indonesia, local media said today.

Observers in PNG hit out today at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's report which recommended Australia intervene in the governments of PNG, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to prevent them becoming bases for terrorist attacks on Australia.

But PNG newspaper The National today described the Australian assessment as "rubbish". The newspaper said the report was a "near-hysterical diatribe" about the three struggling nations.

"According to the sage boffins of Oz, all three countries run the risk of becoming a haven for terrorists, ruled by war lords, and ultimately collapsing as political, social and economic units," the newspaper said.

"Well, in a phrase, what rubbish. The people of this country will never allow it to become a South Pacific rogue state. We've heard these dire predictions for nearly forty years, long before independence - and they won't come true."

Other commentators felt PNG could be at risk, but warned against Australia's "Big Brother" proposals to intervene.

Oseah Philemon, editor of the Post-Courier newspaper, said Australia should instead increase joint operations with the cash-starved PNG Defence Force. Australia has funded the massive downsizing of the PNG military, which led to recent accusations that Australia was trying to "cripple" the force.

Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare's national security adviser, Ted Diro, said in September that Australia's Defence Minister Robert Hill had a "total misunderstanding" of the PNG military.

Philemon said Australia should help the PNG military to patrol its borders, in particular with Indonesia in the wake of the Bali bombings.

"You need to be worried about the situation in Jayapura - the border is not guarded at all," Philemon told AAP. "Every Tom, Dick and Harry, dog and rat can just go across the border as it pleases. Now is a good time for an exercise on the border area," Philemon said.

He said Australian soldiers did not work closely enough with their PNG counterparts in current joint operations. "We don't need special agreements (for anti-terrorism). The defence cooperation agreement's been there for many years.

"We need Australia here doing more exercises in-country - ones which involve the PNG Defence Force guys, too, because you don't see them really interacting with the PNG soldiers."

The Australian report said PNG could serve as a base for groups planning attacks in Australia. "Their governments are weak, transient and hard to deal with," it said. "Corruption is rife and control over territory is uncertain.

Their ability to resist penetration by outsiders - whether states or non-state entities - is almost nil. "Australia can no longer avoid being drawn too closely into the management of their internal affairs."