The below statement is from the Mineral Policy Institute, .
All over Papua New Guinea, mining companies — many with Australian connections — are destroying sites of cultural, economic and spiritual significance to local people.
Traditional burial sites, hunting and fishing grounds, subsistence gardens, waterways and forests are often destroyed by the construction of mine sites and the disposal of wastes containing a cocktail of heavy metals and chemicals.
Australia is silent while communities in our near Pacific neighbour lose their livelihoods, social fabric and environment.
According to Techa Beaumont, Mineral Policy Institute executive director, "It is hypocritical for Australians to ask for the protection of sites meaningful to us, while at the same time an Australian-dominated mining industry destroys not just historic sites but the very basis of people's survival.
The Australian government "could play a constructive role in promoting sustainable development", Beaumont argued.
"The government could support programs that enable community members and organisations to assess the range of development options and make informed decisions that assure them a sustainable future."
The Ok Tedi mine in PNG's Western Province, which has been majority owned for more than 15 years by BHP, has desecrated the once-sacred Mount Fublian. For almost 25 years, the mine has discharged its metal laden waste directly into the Ok Tedi–Fly River system at about 115 tonnes per minute.
It has rendered much of the 1000km Fly River system biologically dead, with impacts felt as far away as Indonesia and the Torres Strait. Local people are experiencing malnutrition due to the destruction of their food sources.
Coastal Papua New Guineans and Torres Strait Islanders may slowly be being poisoned.
Every day the Tolukuma mine in Central Province, until last month majority owned by Australian company Emperor Gold, disposes of 430 tonnes tailings into the Angabanga River. Tailings and drainage from the mine introduce heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, nickel and lead to the waterway.
Due to the impact of this on the environment and the health of local peoples, the world's second largest pension fund, the Norwegian Government Pension Fund–Global, divested from the Emperor Gold's owner, DRD Gold, in April last year.
The Porgera mine in Enga Province has destroyed the food gardens and alienated the land of the traditional landowners.
Deprived of their means of livelihood, local people fossick for gold amongst the mine's operations and waste dumps where they have been shot and killed by the mine's security forces. Villagers living adjacent to toxic mine waste stockpiles are still awaiting relocation.
The mine's waste erodes directly into the river system, impacting on communities for hundreds of kilometres downstream.
Over its expected 37 year life, the Lihir Mine on Lihir Island will dump 89 million tonnes of cyanide contaminated tailings and 330 million tonnes of waste rock into an area of ocean rich in marine biodiversity and seafood resources. Fish kills as far away as Bougainville have been attributed by islanders to the mine.
The Misima Mine, which closed in 2004, disposed of 50 million tonnes of tailings waste onto a near shore coral reef. It pumped fresh water from the small island's aquifers, depleting the islands drinking water resources. It was majority owned by Barrick Resources and managed out of its Perth Australia-Pacific Offices.
The proposed Ramu Nickel mine has been the subject of considerable controversy due to its intention to dump mine waste into the ocean. The proposal to dump the mine's waste into Astrolabe Bay was developed by Australian consultants.
The Bay supports a thriving tuna fishery as well as innumerable small scale fishers. It is also a centre for PNG's tourism industry.
The mine has already destroyed sacred sites of local people.