The purpose of this paper is to outline the basic policy problems
for good community relations programmes in the resource
extraction industries of Papua New Guinea. The main focus of
the paper will be on defining and analysing those problems which
lie on the landowner side and which are still not widely understood
within the resource extraction industries despite several decades
of turbulent experience. Many of the companies operating in the resource extraction
industries of mining and petroleum and gas have in recent decades
adopted, by choice or necessity, 'good corporate citizen' policies.
Some of these companies now pursue ethical business,
environmental and community relations policies. Some have
adequately funded and well-trained staff in their community
relations departments. Although different industry sites scattered
over Papua New Guinea show significant differences in their
experience of social conflict, I argue here that a good deal of this
variation has less to do with the differences between the
companies' public relations policies and their effectiveness and
more to do with the conflict causing features of indigenous society.
Experience suggests that even a company well-equipped with good
intentions, good policies and good staff may experience serious
difficulties in maintaining good community relations in Papua
New Guinea. Many of these difficulties, I argue, can be traced to
causes that lie, essentially, within the structure of Papua New
Guinean communities and in the customs and social relations of
Papua New Guinean peoples. Accordingly the attention of this paper is focussed on the conflict
causing aspects of Papua New Guinean society. It is true, to the
point of being a cliche, that Papua New Guinean societies are
oriented very strongly towards achieving consensus and social
harmony. In this regard Papua New Guinean communities differ
significantly from, say, Australian communities. My purpose here
is not to denigrate this aspect of Papua New Guinean societies
but, rather, to point out that the drive for consensus is driven by
the desire to avoid its opposite, dissensus. This paper sets out to
define the dissensual aspects of Papua New Guinean societies
and my special interest is in those conflict producing aspects of
Papua New Guinean societies that are most resistant to the
mechanisms that are designed to create social harmony. A survey of the recent history of industry and community relations
in Papua New Guinea indicates that there are three main factors
present on the landowner side which are liable, separately or
through their interaction, to cause difficulties. These factors are
respectively generational challenge, social boundaries and custom
variability and I shall discuss each of these in turn.