By Rowan Callick
SYDNEY (Australian Financial Review/Pacific Media Watch): Prime Minister Michael Somare has blamed the media for Papua New Guinea's rating as the 15th most corrupt country in the world.
Answering a parliamentary question from former Australian Mal Smith Kela about the Corruption Perception Index produced by Transparency International, Sir Michael said the media should be controlled.
"Our own people are telling foreign newspapers and others that we are being corrupt, with politicians topping the list," he said.
"But we know in our own minds that we are not [corrupt]. I know for a fact I have not had the privilege of receiving something that was offered to me under the table. And I know the same goes for all of us here. But we've been given that tag."
Sir Michael said he had opposed legislation to control the media in the past - referring to the Mass Media Tribunal Bill drafted by then Communications Minister Gabriel Ramoi in 1987, with involvement by Sydney barrister Stuart Littlemore.
The legislation was not presented and Ramoi was later jailed for two years for stealing government funds.
The Prime Minister said he now realised he should have said yes to the proposed media controls.
"For a developing country like ours, you need to do something," he said. "The Western world may not like it, but so what? Our press has so much freedom.
"They think they are damn foreigners who are living here. The press has a habit of putting down its own country. So we may have to give them work permits."
At the national election last year, 80 per cent of MPs lost their seats, in part because of public perceptions of incompetence and corruption.
Papua New Guinea's media - including newspapers owned by News Ltd, by Malaysian conglomerate Rimbunan Hijau and by the PNG churches - have been highly active in exposing corruption. And the PNG Media Council, allying itself with other civic organisations, has played a prominent role in lobbying for tougher measures against corruption, which it blames for triggering crime more broadly.
The 15-month-old government can claim achievements including, recently, stabilisation of the economy. But Sir Michael faces a likely challenge once the constitutional protection of 18 months' freedom from parliamentary no-confidence votes expires early next year.
An admirer of Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, Sir Michael arranged a massive official welcome for Dr Mahathir on a state visit to PNG three weeks ago - his final foreign trip before retiring.
At a state dinner for Dr Mahathir, Sir Michael criticised people seeking improved governance in PNG.
"We are reminded too many times of being corrupt, when corruption thrives in key institutions among those who champion the fight against corruption," he said.
Coincidentally, a PNG television crew from Channel Nine-owned EM TV was robbed at gunpoint this week outside the PNG parliament after it had filmed an interview with an MP who had been robbed at a bank automatic teller machine.
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