Prime Minister Peter O’Neill gave an undertaking to the Sydney Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference that there will be no change to laws that govern resources ownership in Papua New Guinea.
O’Neill promised instead that there would be a comprehensive review of the fiscal regime governing the resources sector and that all parties would be consulted.
This should allay the fears that the fiscal regime enjoyed by the extractive resources sector for over three decades might be turned on its head if Parliament were to give in to moves from landowner sections to change ownership of minerals and hydrocarbon resources from the State to landowning groups. This is a central tenant of this year’s conference entitled: A foundation for growth and prosperity: With success comes responsibility.
In his keynote address to open the conference Monday at the Sydney Hilton, O’Neill said: “I am aware of concern with regard to stability, and certainty, in both the mining and petroleum industries with regard to ownership of resources and direct landowner ownership in particular.
“We understand this is a sensitive issue. We understand it can impact on investor confidence if not managed carefully and responsibly.
“Our position, as a government, is based on a commitment to the fair and equitable sharing and distribution of the benefits from resource sector development between all stakeholders.
“The undertaking I give you today is this. There will be no drastic or radical change to the laws that exist today and there will certainly be no immediate change.
“I will set up an independent panel to review the concerns that have been expressed and the resource sector will be fully consulted in this process.”
He announced that the review announced in the budget into mining and petroleum taxes and charges was a high priority and would be launched at the earliest opportunity.
He said such reviews ought not to be carried out to meet the budget bottom line or to increase taxes and charges to the extent where they became a disincentive to investment and international competitiveness.
At the same time he held out no promises for massive cuts in taxes and charges, only that the review would be wide ranging and would “look openly and transparently at every aspect of the tax regime and government imposed charges”.
Meanwhile, the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum is using scare tactics to steer the government away from introducing the Boka Kondra Bills in Parliament, a leading Papua New Guinea lawyer says.
Responding to, Say No To Land Bill in The National, Peter Donigi said in statement yesterday: “PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum executive director Greg Anderson and his people are purveyors of scare tactics and are engaging in misrepresentation of the Boka Kondra Bill.”
The chamber was asking for a commitment from Prime Minister Peter O’Neill that moves to change ownership of the mineral and petroleum resources from the state to individual land-owning be stopped.
The chamber said that the end result of the bill would lead to a complete loss of security in tenure, making it “all but impossible for the resource industry to ope¬rate”.
However, Donigi, who authored the bills, hit back.
“They (the chamber) do not want us to preserve our customary law which has served us since time immemorial,” he said.
“Anderson used to be a government officer who influenced the current regime and is now defending the regime from outside government.