1) Papua administration wants 10% of Freeport

2) Catherine Delahunty questions the Minister of Foreign Affairs on West Papua

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/04/19/papua-administration-wants-10-freeport.html

1) Papua administration wants 10% of Freeport

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Papua | Archipelago | Fri, April 19 2013, 8:00 PM

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The Papua administration has announced that it will ask for a 10 percent stake in mining giant PT Freeport due to the fact that the company operates on Papuan soil but contributes little to regional development.

“We demand the Papuan people’s customary land right in the form of a 10 percent stake in the company,” newly installed Governor Lukas Enembe said on Friday.

According to him, a 10 percent share in PT Freeport was equal to Rp 87 trillion in cash.

“Of course, we cannot afford to buy the shares, but the company could grant us the shares in compensation for the years of mining on our land,” he said.

Lukas also expects Freeport to help more with increasing Papuan people’s welfare. He said that all this time Freeport had paid only the central government in the form of taxes and royalties and it was the central government that allocated funds for the Papuan administration.

He said Papuans wanted the company to help the local administration in building infrastructure, such as bridges, highways and other public facilities.

Commenting on this, Papuan activist Joseph Rahawadan said the Papuan administration’s request was reasonable considering Freeport had operated in the province for years and had benefited from its presence here.

“In fact, according to my estimate, it would be OK if the local administration asked for a 25 percent share,” he said.(dic)

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http://www.greens.org.nz/oralquestions/catherine-delahunty-questions-minister-foreign-affairs-west-papua

2) Catherine Delahunty questions the Minister of Foreign Affairs on West Papua

 
Wednesday, 17 Apr 2013 | Oral Question

Contact: Catherine Delahunty MP


CATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green) to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: Will New Zealand journalists be able to visit and monitor the New Zealand Police training programme in West Papua when it recommences in September 2013 under an aid allocation of US $2 million; if not, why not?

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs): The member is ahead of herself. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has received no advice on the design, timing, and funding of the project. There will be an announcement when a decision on the proposed project is made. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade itself monitors aid projects in a stringent way. There is no project yet for journalists to consider visiting.

Catherine Delahunty: Will he support journalists and a parliamentary delegation to visit West Papua and monitor the effectiveness of the proposal announced yesterday of the New Zealand Police training programme, and if yes, how will he support that?
will this project include New Zealand Police training the West Papuan police to stop violently assaulting people who are alleged to have committed political crime, such as raising the Morning Star flag

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: The Minister has received no advice on the design, timing, and funding of the project. There will be an announcement when a decision on the proposed project is made. There is no project yet for journalists to consider visiting.

Catherine Delahunty: After the ambassador's announcement yesterday that the project is starting in September 2013, will this project include New Zealand Police training the West Papuan police to stop violently assaulting people who are alleged to have committed political crime, such as raising the Morning Star flag?

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: The media reporting in the Jakarta Post, which I presume the member is referring to, is wrong. The Minister has received no advice on the design, timing, and funding of the project. There will be an announcement when a decision is made. There is no project yet for journalists to consider visiting. What could be simpler than that?

Catherine Delahunty: Keeping it simple, will he raise the issue of military and police violence against West Papuans at the Pacific parliamentarians' conference in Wellington this week?

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: New Zealand continues to raise the situation in partnership with the Indonesian Government bilaterally and in multilateral fora, including at the United Nations' Universal Periodic Review of Indonesia.

Catherine Delahunty: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's answer, but my question was very specific: will he raise this issue at the conference in Wellington this week, the Pacific parliamentarians' conference?

Mr SPEAKER: The Minister may like to add to that, but my interpretation was there is a multinational forum and they continue to raise the issue. But if the Minister wanted to add to that, it would be helpful.

Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: As I have said, the Minister continues to raise these issues in various multilateral fora. Whether it will be raised by the Minister at the conference to which the member refers, I cannot say.

Mr SPEAKER: I thank the Minister for that.