Broughton speaks out

FORMER PNG NRL Bid strategic adviser and Gold Coast Titans CEO Paul Broughton broken silence over his resignation from the PNG NRLBid.
He said he was never consulted by the board on two critical matters.
The matters were the  standing down of PNG development officers and the K700,000 sponsorship agreement with Brisbane Broncos.
Broughton said he was not made aware until both the merchandise and Broncos sponsorship had been signed off.
He said for the Bid to make progress there needed to be a spirit of transparency and accountability practices by the board and its employees.
“The people of PNG are entitled to know why the Bid has gone down this path and what is the cost.”
As strategic adviser, he said he was disappointed that the successful All-schools programme led by experienced and dedicated Papua New Guineans would be centralised in  Port Moresby.
He said shedding this valuable human resource was counter productive.
“The work of junior development can never be complete.
“This programme was always intended to be an on-going one.”
NCD Governor and  Bid board member Powes Parkop argued for the Bid’s operations to be centralised in NCD citing costs, logistics, and resources thus disengaging from a national approach.
Broughton said he believed in decentralisation and he was responsible for implementing programmes when he held various administartive positions in Australian rugby league.
“The process of decision making is distributed which then allows people to exercise local preference, thus allowing the game to be community driven, giving local people some ownership of the sport.”
He said the potential benefits of decentralising the junior development programme outweighed the risks.
“This is a proven structure because the game should be community driven,” he said. 
“Ask the people and they will determine whether the decisions we made were acceptable to them, because neither the PNGNRL Bid nor I own the game, we’re merely caretakers.”