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Dame Carol and the archbishop
IT is remarkable that two of the
strongest voices for honour and principle in our community should
be Papua New Guinean citizens born in other countries.
Dame Carol Kidu has displayed enviable non-involvement in the dark
nooks and crannies of politics while losing no opportunity to
fight for those she and tens of thousands of Papua New Guineans
see as her own people.
It is an ironic comment on the mentality of those who would unseat
her that the only weapons they can find to use against her target
the very honour and principles for which she has unwaveringly
stood since election to the House.
The second strong voice is that of the Catholic Archbishop of Port
Moresby Sir Brian Barnes, whose trademark bluntness and matter of
fact approach accurately reflect the beliefs of many silent Papua
New Guineans.
At one level, Dame Carol has flown the flag of responsibility,
obligation and decency by choosing to work through the people of
her electorate. She has achieved significant results in a sector
that many, if not most parliamentarians have shunned and shunted
into their capacious too-hard baskets.
Nobody could accuse Dame Carol of ignoring her people; she and her
family have become an integral part of that community, much as Sir
Percy Chatterton did in the past.
And that community has responded to her energy and her enthusiasm
time and again.
Sir Brian also holds responsibility, obligation and decency high
among the virtues needed in contemporary PNG.
None of those virtues could be regarded as easy attributes.
They demand an unflinching commitment to the truth and the courage
and determination to fight in the public arena for their wider
acceptance.
One of these two remarkable people is a woman.
In PNG, that is a position of weakness. Ours is a society that has
scant time for any woman who dares venture outside of a narrow
framework of male-approved parameters.
Dame Carol has succeeded in that venture; this eminently practical
and down-to-earth woman is well on the way to becoming an icon as
a woman, a politician and a Papua New Guinean.
We are sure she would actively dismiss that perception, seeing it
as a potential obstruction to fulfilling the demands of both her
office and her own character.
But we believe that Dame Carol would allow herself a small smile
of satisfaction if she could witness the beginnings of a dedicated
cadre of other women members taking their seats in Parliament.
The other remarkable figure is a man of the church.
It has become fashionable cant to suggest that those involved in
saving souls should not bother themselves with saving nations or
peoples.
The archbishop has demonstrated that he gives short shrift to such
illogical and self-serving sophistry. Naturally Archbishop Barnes
is committed to developing the spiritual life of PNG; that is the
onerous role he has accepted within the church and the community.
But this is a man of practical Christianity, one who understands
that the role of the church is by definition all embracing and in
no sense limited solely to the pursuit of spiritual purity.
Sir Brian described PNG’s litany of corruption, deceit and
mismanagement of power as “disappointing to say the least,
depressing and often infuriating”.
Those were the words of a leader, a person used to dissecting and
analysing the life of the whole community.
The archbishop clearly does not wish to be counted among some of
the less courageous of his flock, church leaders who deal with the
failings of secular society by separating themselves from its
machination.
He sees the obvious needs of his country and he seeks to inspire
our leaders to meet them.
In his Easter address, he touched on a wide range of subjects –
the hesitation of whether or not to delay the national election,
the failure to table the Guns Committee Report, the unrealistic
free education promises, the Moti saga inquiry, the Finance
Department investigations, and by inference a host of other known
ills afflicting this country.
PNG is fortunate to have these two individuals who work without
hesitation to contribute towards bettering our nation.
Both seek only one reward – a positive outcome to their efforts on
our behalf.
 
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