Monograph Abstracts

The Ok Tedi Settlement: Issues, Outcomes and Implications

Abstract

Ok Tedi has become part of the vocabulary of resource management in the Asia-Pacific region. The environmental effects of the Ok Tedi mine and the highly-publicised lawsuit brought against the mine operators redefined a whole range of issues pertaining to mineral resource extraction. Participation in the process of litigation has represented a turning point for the mining industry, the state, non-traditional stakeholders, local and foreign NGOs, and academics. This volume presents varied, and sometimes opposing, perspectives on the origins of the crisis, the settlement of the lawsuit, and its implications or the future of the mine as well as other similar ventures. Glenn Banks and Chris Ballard discuss the media reporting of the often sensationalised case in the context of Papua New Guinea-Australia relations; Meg Taylor provides the constitutional, legislative and administrative background to the case; John Burton traces the nature of the political process; Colin Filer focuses on the role of the PNG state and the implications of the outcome for sustainable development; David King debunks the simplistic Australian media coverage of the case; Alex Maun, one of the most prominent of the plaintiffs in the case, spells out a vision of hope for an improved environment and better relationship with the mine operator; John Gordon presents a personal view of the court action and considers enduring legal legacies of the dispute; Brian Brunton provides a critical PNG NGO perspective; Stuart Kirsch focuses on environmental impacts of the mine and explores the implications of the suit for other mines in the region. Ila Temu discusses issues of state and landowner equity in PNG resource developments; Chris Harris points to the valuable lessons for an Australian NGO of the Ok Tedi case, and Gavin Murray and Ian Williams frankly assess the reactions within the mining industry to the lawsuit and its settlement.

Contents

1. Introduction: Settling Ok Tedi, Glenn Banks and Chris Ballard
2. Putting Ok Tedi in Perspective, Meg Taylor
3. Terra Nugax and the Discovery Paradigm: How Ok Tedi was Shaped by the Way It was Found and How the Rise of Political Process in the North Fly Took the Company by Surprise, John Burton
4. West Side Story: The State's and Other Stakes in the Ok Tedi Mine, Colin Filer
5. The Big Polluter and the Constructing of Ok Tedi: Eco-imperialism and Underdevelopment along the Ok Tedi and Fly Rivers of Papua New Guinea, David King
6. The Impact of the Ok Tedi Mine on the Yonggom People Is Ok Tedi a Precedent?: Implications of the Lawsuit, Stuart Kirsch
7. The Ok Tedi Lawsuit in Retrospect, John Gordon
8. The Perspective of a Papua New Guinea NGO, Brian Brunton
9. Government and Landowner Equity: Contexts for the Ok Tedi Case, Ila Temu
10. An Australian NGO Perspective: On the Implications of Ok Tedi, Chris Harris
11. Implications for the Australian Minerals Industry: A Corporate Perspective, Gavin Murray and Ian Williams