KEY POINTS:
Eugene Bingham's article on gun control highlighted gun use in Papua New Guinea. While reporting on such matters is generally accurate, it is regrettable that most of the publicity that PNG receives in the New Zealand and Australian press is negative.
PNG does have socio-economic problems. Some involve
incidents with guns but the attention given by the international press to the "dangers" of PNG verges on sensationalism.
PNG is not all guns and HIV, although it is certainly facing some challenging developmental and social problems.
In many ways PNG is its own worst enemy and must take much responsibility for a dodgy international reputation, a struggling economy and a falling standard of living. Yet it is not entirely to blame for the situation in which it finds itself.
The origin of many modern problems lies in the colonial past and while many benefits arose from colonisation, the legacy has included some vicious barbs.
The media provides a stream of items documenting African "post-colonial" disasters, countries that have struggled socially, economically and politically since gaining independence.
Sierra Leone had child soldiers, Somalia had warlords, in Eritrea there was famine and civil war, and Uganda's Idi Amin made Robert Mugabe seem almost decent.
Closer to home, PNG is often, perhaps unfairly, referred to as a post-colonial disaster. To this end, Australia - as PNG's former colonial overlord - must take some responsibility.
Australia's role in PNG's development is complicated.While successive Australian governments have played down Australia's role in PNG's post-colonial struggle, it must be acknowledged that Australia is PNG's major supplier of financial aid and has invested liberally in PNG's development.
For Australia, however, PNG is a problem that even huge quantities of financial assistance cannot solve.
Australia's level of aid to PNG - and the wider Pacific - goes further than satisfying Australia's humanitarian obligations and acknowledgment of historic ties.
The generous aid budget is a firm indicator of Australia's level of concern regarding the necessity of cultivating and maintaining stable, solvent and friendly neighbours.
Australia is concerned about the prospect of PNG forging ties or entering into arrangements with countries of which Australia does not approve and which could jeopardise Australia's ambitions for the region.
Put simply, PNG is the proverbial "pea" in the bed of the Australian princess.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer conceivably lie in bed at night hopin' and a-prayin' that there will be a huge earthquake and PNG will either sink to the bottom of the Coral Sea or the tectonic plates will move so much that PNG becomes someone else's neighbour.
Australia had little choice but to grant independence. The problems that followed are not uniquely Australian but are arguably the inevitable and generic consequences of colonisation. With the departure of the Australian administration, inexperienced Papua New Guinean public servants were expected to carry on where experienced colonial officers had left off. PNG was expected to manage its own finances, educate and care for its people, and to combine custom with globalisation.
Newly independent countries are like children - enthusiastic, strong-willed know-it-alls - and the role of the colonial parent is to guide and to assist, all of which Australia did admirably at first. But as to more recent development policy directives, it is however questionable whether Canberra still has PNG's best interests at heart.
On the AusAID website the main objective of the Australian Government's aid programme is stated as being "to advance Australia's national interest by helping developing countries reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development".
Given that Australia's ultimate goal is its own national interest and not that of PNG - which is fair enough - it is reasonable to recognise that Australia's aspirations for PNG development will not be the same as PNG's aspirations for itself.
Post-independence, PNG has struggled with national unity and the rival associations of family, clan and region remain strong. People identify with their region before the country.
The classic example of regionalism is Bougainville - a product of creative colonial cartography. Bougainville people see themselves as Bougainvillean rather than Papua New Guinean, and their focus on identity contributed to fuelling a bloody civil war.
These internal divisions do not make PNG an easy place to govern because local loyalties often undermine the national good.
Problems have been compounded by corrupt leaders who have not only lined their own pockets with public funds but who have achieved power by supporting the interests of their own clansmen and province before that of the country.
Such nepotism can also encourage tribal warfare.
PNG is a country of breathtaking splendour. In its forests are birds of paradise and fragile orchids. There are mighty rivers, magnificent fish, wonderful beaches and goldmines which keep many Australian shareholders happy.
It is indeed a paradise that has not yet been lost.
This is election year in PNG and with that comes renewed hope. Let us hope that real leaders are elected to Parliament, leaders who will build on the positive residue of the colonial legacy and who will work for the national good.
Maybe then there will be an end to PNG's economic decline, living standards will improve, and there will be less reason for young men to pick up a gun.
* Laurentia Laracy worked in PNG as a commercial lawyer.
