It was great to get back on the road reporting in July, and even better to be in Papua New Guinea after three years absence. Nearly 10 years ago, I wrote a long reportage piece for Griffith Review on the push for female representation, and the formidable obstacles female candidates face. Then, there were three … Continue reading
As a serial ‘parachute’ journalist, dropping in & out of places not my own, I’m all too aware of the shortcomings of this model of reporting. Thinking out loud about how to tell truer, deeper stories of climate impacts in the Pacific in this critical moment, I’m grateful for the insights of Katerina Teaiwa and … Continue reading
Heritier Lumumba, who I hesitate to describe as a former Collingwood FC star given he is so much more, is much in the news at present. There’s a terrific long read on his campaign to call out racism today by the ABC’s Russell Jackson in which Heritier, in calling out the media more widely, gives … Continue reading
Several years ago, researching a story on land grabbing (tree stealing) near Kiunga on the PNG border, I ran into a PNG nurse and nun who was climbing into a dinghy to take a trip down the Fly River. She told me she was taking vaccines to children in the refugee camps. “What refugee camps?” … Continue reading
During a brief but busy trip to PNG in October, I had the privilege to spend a little time with Behrouz Boochani, the Iranian-Kurdish journalist and refugee whose powerful advocacy has earned him international recognition. (This was shortly before he finally left PNG and flew to New Zealand, and his next chapter.) Behrouz acted as … Continue reading
Revisiting Tari, albeit long distance, for The Guardian. Recent killings of women and children in a village outside Tari deserve to be seen in the context of the spiralling social emergency playing out there. This plugs into the same issues wrote about in my long feature on PNG’s Resource Curse for The Monthly last year. … Continue reading
This latest edition of Griffith Review is dedicated to nature writing, exploring a range of environments, investigating “how these places are changing and what they might become; what is flourishing and what is at risk”. It was a chance for me to reflect on the critical but complex business of conservation in PNG, visiting landscape, … Continue reading
My trip to PNG’s Managalas Plateau conservation area also yielded this radio documentary, produced in collaboration with ABC RN broadcaster extraordinaire Natasha Mitchell. While chasing the elusive and endangered Queen Alexandra Birdwing Butterfly, we explore the hardships facing so many forest-dwelling communities in PNG. Link here. (Image: (COPYRIGHT MUSEUMS VICTORIA; PHOTOGRAPHER BEN HEALLEY) Continue reading
As a serial visitor and close observer of PNG, I’ve been tuned in to the growing distress and anger of health workers at the collapse of supply lines of basic medicines and equipment to hospitals and clinics right across the country. Social media has been churning with reports of desperate and often grieving families. All … Continue reading
Today, world leaders gather in Port Moresby for the APEC Summit. It’s been a long and difficult road for the people of PNG. On a recent field trip, I took the road trip from a PNG village to APEC Haus. This is what I saw and heard. Link here to my story in The Monthly. Continue reading
Notebook & Narrative by Jo Chandler 