Hospitality Gave

Delegation Headache

Seven Papua New Guinea parliamentarians on an official visit to Japan in November refused to leave for home with gifts given to them by Japanese companies.

The men, who included the Speaker of the National Parliament, Mr Barry Holloway, said on their return to Port Moresby that they would have breached the Leadership Code of the PNG Constitution if they had kept the gifts.

Before flying out of Japan they deposited the gifts at the Tokyo office of the PNG charge d’affaires.

They left instructions that the gifts should be returned to the donors with “suitably worded and courteous replies” quoting the duties and responsibilities of public leadership in PNG.

The gifts returned included tran sistor radios and travelling clocks presented to the men at Japanese fac tories which they had inspected by in vitation.

There was also a small box of sago and a magnifying glass, presented by a Japanese businessmen who had been a soldier in PNG during World War Two.

The businessman told the visitors he was presenting the sago as a sym bolic link to express his appreciation of sago as the food which had kept him alive during the war.

The action of the politicians in returning the gifts which the men themselves call small tokens brought a mixed reception at home. It led to some criticism that the men had taken the Leadership Code to un gracious extremes. There were suggestions that, where token gifts are involved in formal visits, politicians should be able to accept them provid ed declarations are made to the PNG Ombudsman Commission. The Om budsman Commission administers the Leadership Code which defines the responsibilities and obligations in the behaviour of politicians, public ser vants and other specified “leadership” posts.

The tour itself was sponsored by the Japanese Government to provide new links between the two countries, and to promote understanding and friendship.

On their return home, the delega tion urged greater links with Japan.

One was that the Japanese language should be taught in the PNG Univer sity.

They said in their report that links between the two countries were now becoming so important that PNG had a special responsibility to meet certain commitments. These included a strengthening of the PNG trade representation in Tokyo, a general up grading of the Tokyo office, and a regular exchange of tapes between the PNG and Japanese broadcasting authorities. The tapes should include “current and cultural affairs” the delegation recommended.

They also suggested that PNG should establish short post-graduate courses outlining the Japanese legal system, with particular reference to commercial contracts. This step, together with a better knowledge of the Japanese language, was becoming essential as the two countries strengthened their trade links.