The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea is horrified by Press reports today, that amendments to the Gaming Machine Act of 1993 were rushed through Parliament on Tuesday, without proper consideration and debate.
"We are amazed at the apparent total lack of honesty and sense of justice, which is reflected in the satanic action of a Government, whose collective conscience appears to be dead and who by all accounts, are not capable of recognizing that which is evil and that is just and honest", Archbishop James Ayong said today.
The Archbishop added, "How can the Parliament, with the stroke of a pen, simply say that conduct that is unlawful is suddenly deemed to be lawful?" (Referring to a question by the Ombudsman, reported in the Post Courier, 9th August 2001). The House of Bishops urges the Ombudsman to take any possible action, including Court action, to correct this madness.
The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church contends that this situation underlines a real concern about how some members are elected to Parliament, with only a handful of votes. They do not truly represent the electorate and once in Parliament, show no real concern for the Nation.
Archbishop James pointed out that "If one reflects on the election results, many members have just scraped through, probably with the support of relatives and in this way the system allows for the election of unpopular, greedy and self-centred individuals, who cannot tell the difference between what is good and what is bad, what is just and what is unjust and who reinforce corruption and destroy honesty."
"It may be argued by some that to stop Pokies operating would put a hole in the Nation's Budget. Surely it is self evident that revenue from Pokies is not an honest way for a Christian country like PNG to use as a way of raising funds, because of the corruption that is entertained and their effect in widening the gap between rich and poor", the Archbishop added.
"The reported happenings in Parliament institutionalize corruption and secure that evil flourishes amongst those Parliamentarians who misuse the power and privileges of their position. This building up of greed and corruption in the Government will one day explode into a terrible disaster!" said Archbishop James.
In order to avoid this he called for: