Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Or other codes—indeed, Senator. It was in the period between 1999 and 2001 that I lived and worked in Papua New Guinea, and as part of that process I sat the Papua New Guinea law exams. There were three law exams that I had to sit: constitutional law, customary law and land law. It was in reading the history of the development of PNG's constitution that I developed a deep abiding respect for Sir Michael Somare. I can remember that in the year 2000, when PNG was celebrating the 25th anniversary of its independence, there was a lot of discussion with respect to the journey to independence and where PNG had gotten up to at that stage, after 25 years. I always reminded my friends in Australia that PNG had gone on a fantastic, momentous journey to independence. It was still a functioning democracy. It still had rule of law. It still had free press. And it still does, to this day.

That year, 2000, there was an Olympic torch relay. Senators here might not realise that the Olympic torch, as it made its way to Sydney, actually went through Papua New Guinea. The penultimate holder of the torch during that relay was the great Melbourne Storm winger Marcus Bai, in keeping with PNG's esteem for the great game of rugby league, the greatest game of all. But the last holder of the torch was Michael Somare, and I can picture Sir Michael with the torch as I deliver this speech, and the joy with which he took that torch as he handed it on to those who were to take it to the Sydney Olympics.

In reflecting on Sir Michael's contribution to the independent state of Papua New Guinea we should give careful regard to the events of 1980. In my view, this was a key moment in the history of Papua New Guinea. Sir Michael, who was the sitting Prime Minister in the time leading up to 1980, had been the subject of three no-confidence motions on the floor of the parliament in Papua New Guinea. Now, no-confidence motions are not a rare thing on the floor of the parliament in Papua New Guinea, and politics in PNG is extraordinarily robust. Sir Michael had successfully defeated the first three no-confidence resolutions. But in 1980 he succumbed to one; he lost one. So, the father of the nation, the first Prime Minister, had lost a motion of no confidence on the floor of parliament. What did Sir Michael do? He respected the decision of the parliament, he respected the democratic process and he stood aside for the next prime minister.

That was a key point where Papua New Guinea demonstrated that instead of going the way of some post-colonial nations, where they embrace dictatorship and despotism and turn their back on democracy, PNG would not take that path. Indeed, Sir Michael successfully contested the next election, where his Pangu Party had a storming election win. A storming election win in a Papua New Guinea context was 51 seats out of 109—about 34 per cent of the vote. That's a huge win in Papua New Guinea's first-past-the-post system. So Sir Michael respected legal and democratic processes deeply. He carried no rancour or hubris in relation to the discharge of his deeply held responsibilities and he was well respected by all of the people of Papua New Guinea, including the people of Bougainville, even during the times of great difficulty in that regard.

Sir Michael, notwithstanding the fact that he was a Blues supporter, did have a close connection to Queensland, and I would like to tell at least two stories in that regard. I'm informed by a friend of mine who was head of the PNG Students Association at the University of Queensland that, on one occasion, Sir Michael presented himself to a bank in Queen Street in Brisbane to convert some kina into Australian currency. The bank teller advised him that Sir Michael would have to show identification before she could convert the currency, in response to which Sir Michael duly presented the 50-kina note and said, 'That's me, Sir Michael Somare.' I think he got his Australian dollars! Sir Michael was also known to go to horseraces in Brisbane and really enjoyed that spirit of freedom he could have in a Brisbane context, where he didn't need a security detail; he was just another racegoer enjoying the day.

Finally, I would just note—and I was reflecting on this over the weekend—that perhaps the events of Sir Michael's final journey, from Port Moresby to his final resting place in Wewak, say all you need to know about the regard in which Sir Michael was held by the Papua New Guinean people and also about Papua New Guinea's relationship with Australia. When Sir Michael's casket was taken to the PNG airport, the attendants attempted to load it into the Air Niugini flight to go to Wewak, and the casket wouldn't fit. So the attendants proposed to put the casket in the hold of the Air Niugini flight. In response to that, the many hundreds and hundreds of Papua New Guineans present watching this journey revolted. This could not occur. Their founding father, Sir Michael Somare, could not suffer the indignity of being held in the hold of an Air Niugini flight on his final journey to Wewak. So what was the solution? Well, the Australian RAAF provided a transport plane. After some negotiations with the Somare family and also with the protesters, it was agreed that that plane would collect Sir Michael and deliver him, with dignity and honour, back to Wewak. That, in my view, says everything you need to know about the special relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Long may it be so.