WORDS of ADVICE

 

Sir Julius (right) chatting with a senior citizen. Picture courtesy of NIPG Media Unit

FROM THE LAST KNIGHT STANDING . . 

on true independence 

 
BY GORETHY KENNETH of Post-Courier 
 
NEW Ireland Governor Sir Julius Chan has urged all Member of Parliament and learned leaders to seriously look at their leadership values in their respective electorates and provinces.
 
Sir Julius said at Grievance Debate last Friday that the leaders should have courage to stand up and say ‘enough of bad leadership, enough of bad bureaucracy, enough of  naysayers.’
 
He said that is very clearly stated in New Ireland in the Malagan Declaration.

New Ireland in Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬 

"We will strive to continually invent the future out of our imagination, rather than being victims of our past, there comes a time in the history of a country when those with vision, those not afraid of hard work, those willing to sweat and toil, those who genuinely love their country and want it to realise its full potential must step forward.

“There comes a time when we must honestly look at what has been done and admit it has not worked, it has been a failure.
 
“We must admit that things have gone wrong, that the ship of state has failed to carry its people to the shore of the Promised Land.
 

House of Assembly members left to right late Sir Thomas Kavali, late grand chief Sir Michael Somare and the last knight standing Sir Julius Chan.

“There comes a time in the history of a country when those who love their country have the courage to say ‘Enough of bad leadership, Enough of bad bureaucracy, Enough of the naysayers who spend all their time finding ways to frustrate those who really want to make a difference.
 
Sir Julius emphasized: “Enough! Enough corruption! Enough of incompetent leadership.”

He said that in New Ireland, they have learnt a lot of valuable lessons.
 
“We have learned that if you want to provide free education for your children, if you want to give all children an equal opportunity to make something of themselves, you cannot wait on the National Government. You must do it yourself.
 
“That is what we have done in New Ireland. That is why, way back in 2008, we introduced free and subsidized education five years before National Government. 

"We have spent over K65 million - yes 65 million on free and subsidised education from 2008 to 2019." 

Indeed, it was the New Ireland example that finally forced National Government into doing what it should have done thirty years ago.

The beauty of New Ireland. Picture courtesy NIPG Media Unit. 

 
“And we have provided our boarding students with rations three meals a day for all boarders. 

"This has never been done before. We have spent over K15 million on rations for our students since 2012.
 
“We provide subsidies of K2,500 per year for all New Ireland students attending tertiary institutions. We provide K10, 000 per year to all undergraduates attending any overseas tertiary institution. 

"We have spent over K2m sending boys to Marist Ashgrove and girls to Stuart Holme in Brisbane. In New Ireland, we have learned from history.
 
“We have learned if you want to provide dignity and respect to the elderly and the disabled, if you want to help those who have spent their lives working hard taking care of their families and villages, you cannot wait on the State. 

"You must do it yourself. In New Ireland, we introduced a pension for our elderly and our disabled in 2009.
 
“We have provided pensions to over 120,000 people and spent nearly K50 million on our elderly and disabled in that time. 

A rural health centre.
Picture courtesy of NIPG Media Unit. 

"No other province has done this. No other country in the entire Pacific, and very few countries in the world, provide a payment to ALL their elderly.
 
“Put together New Ireland has spent over K1.5 billion in government subsidy to our people from revenue generated from Lihir and Simberi. 

"I must admit we are very fortunate to have these resources in our province.
 
“By the end of 2022 we will have spent over k5 million distributing over 35,000 roofing iron sheets since 2011. 

"And this is not only about shelter. It is about health, because when a family has a kappa roof they can collect clean rainwater for drinking.
 
“That has reduced gastrointestinal disorders among children by nearly 75 percent. That has saved lives.

Sir Julius standing outside an old run down home of a public servant. Picture courtesy NIPG Media Unit. 

“We refuse to depend on a National Government that spends all its money on travel costs for officials who come out to our province, hire cars, stay in hotels, rent conference rooms and talk for two, three or five days, then fly back to Moresby having spent ten thousand or fifty thousand kina for expenses.
 
"We have only one thing to say, Stop spending thousands on hotels. Give us the money and watch it go where it should go - into caring for our people, into payments to people, into benefits for THE PEOPLE!!
 
“THAT is what we mean by Autonomy.
 
“I want to say this very clearly: From this day forward we in New Ireland refuse to be the victims of a National Bureaucracy that has shown over and over again that it cannot deliver development and services to the people.
 
“The national bureaucracy is supposed to work with the provinces, with the people. They are supposed to make the vision of Government real.”

Sir Julius addressing locals he visited last Christmas to cheer them up.  Picture courtesy of NIPG Media Unit