Resentment rises among Manus islanders

MANUS MP Ron Knight has warned that the traditional owners of the Seeadler Harbour are considering closing the main passage.

MANUS MP Ron Knight yesterday warned that the traditional landowners of the Seeadler Harbour, which controls sea access to the Lombrum naval base where the asylum-seeker centre is being developed, are considering closing the main passage.

As friction grows with Manus residents frustrated about the lack of spin-off benefits from the centre, 40 Iranians -- single adult men -- were flown there yesterday.

This was the 13th group to arrive in Papua New Guinea under the deal struck between prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Peter O'Neill.

The Iranian asylum-seekers, who had been held in detention in the Northern Territory because they were intercepted there, were accompanied on their flight from Darwin by Australian Federal Police officers, staff of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, interpreters and medical staff.

Mr Knight, who is Vice Minister for Trade, Commerce and Industry in the O'Neill government, said that access from the centre to the rubbish pit and the gravel pit for construction materials has already been closed.

The centre's garbage is being held on site until access is resumed.

Mr Knight told The Australian: "It's peaceful at the moment. There are 30 or so people involved", chiefly from Los Negros island, which is connected by bridge to the main island of Manus, and which includes the main airport.

"But all of Los Negros is behind them," he said. "And all of Manus is behind Los Negros."

Mr Knight said he would rather the centre were closed until after the Australian election.

He said that since Australia first established an asylum-seeker detention centre on Manus as part of John Howard's Pacific Solution, in 2001, "no contract of substance has been awarded to an islander business".

He said: "Our menial jobs there are being paid at below casual rates. We want first choice of refusal for contracts, as happens anywhere else.They could not get away with this in the PNG Highlands, or even in Australia."

Mr Knight said that PNG Defence Force servicemen and workers at the naval base "are also irate at being overlooked, and their workplaces taken over without their consent.

"They feel demoralised, and discontent is brewing there.

"Unless Australia opens its eyes to the situation and re-evaluates its priorities and gives serious contracts to Manus business and its people, there is a chance the whole thing will get out of hand."

Mr Knight's parents were Australian, his father serving with the Royal Australian Navy at the Lombrum base and later returning to manage plantations and other businesses there. They are buried on the island.

He said: "I have been accused of stirring, but I am not. I am relaying my people's concerns, and trying to contain a spark that may end up an inferno."

He also noted the police were understandably cautious about becoming involved in tackling the blockades, with five officers charged with murder following the death of a 21-year-old man from Los Negros, who they had arrested for causing a disturbance in the provincial capital, Lorengau.

"This is still a sore point," he said.