Gus Gould in PNG

[Paul J]

I doubt that thousands of Australian Government workers live there. At least, I hope not. If we assume that each worker (and their family) would cost a minimum of $100,000 each, and that there are 3000 of them, that would mean that our total aid budget goes on employing Australians. (In fact, the total cost per family would be far in excess of $100k).

That may have been an exaggeration but the point is valid. If office workers leave Canberra and Sydney to live there then footy players can.

 

[Paul J]

seriously why dont you travel to png and see for yourself. seriously why this keeps getting brought up is beyond me. the country is a shambles and the fact that the government is willing to spend money on an nrl side is taking precedent over actually fixing the country is downright negligent. as red foreman would call it its a sugar packet solution

Does anyone want PNG's standard of living to stay where it is?

Of course not.

PNG is about to get $ billions invested in the country. It will be much improved in ten years.

The NRL has a unique opportunity to help our closest neighbour as it builds for it's own independence from Australian aid. The PNG Gov attitude is like that of the Indian Gov breaking free from British rule.


The people of PNG want an NRL team - let's give them one.

 

[shiznit]

IMO the NRL needs to get serious about a 2nd team in NZ. because if NZ Football can capitalise on there current situation the chances of RL spreading in NZ any further will dissipate pretty quickly.

 

[Timbo]

If the logical arguments won't sway you, can anyone here tell me how your average PNG punter living on ~1000 bucks a year is going to afford to go to a game?

 

[nqcowboy87]

Does anyone want PNG's standard of living to stay where it is?

Of course not.

PNG is about to get $ billions invested in the country. It will be much improved in ten years.

The NRL has a unique opportunity to help our closest neighbour as it builds for it's own independence from Australian aid. The PNG Gov attitude is like that of the Indian Gov breaking free from British rule.


The people of PNG want an NRL team - let's give them one.

seriously its nice to have an opinion but youve got to look at facts

this is not a place that is ready for an elite football operation. the country needs to focus on schools, healthcare paving roads. the png government is acting negligent in choosing an nrl side over issues thagt need to be fixed, but the png government does not have a very good track record anyway of prioritising so this is no surprise, and before you compare the australian governments foibles to pngs have a look at their capital and then theres and if you still think they should get a nrl side before the country is fixed up, slap yourself repeatedly

 

[roopy]

PNG are poor, so they have no right to play sports or aspire to greater things.
That's only for rich people.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

That's right. How dare these third world people want an NRL club. It's our duty to ensure they don't get it. We know better than them because we're white and have more money. I don't care if they're elected government says it will be a huge boost for the whole country and help solve a lot of problems. Until they can get their sh*t together we'll just tell them feck off.

 

[Timbo]

There is nothing wrong with them wanting or aspiring to having an NRL club.

But it's ludicrous to think it should be prioritsed above things that really matter, or to say that they're capable of supporting it.

As for the 'it would unite a country' bullsh*t - how about getting 100% literacy? Getting unemployment to less than 10%? Clean drinking water or electricity to the bulk of the population? Stamping out HIV and other infectious diseases?

Would these not unite a country and provide an actual benefit to the people?

 

[East Coast Tiger]

The government believes the team will help do these thing BY uniting the country. And when it comes to AIDS etc it would help educate people. That's the point. It will be hugely beneifical to the country in so many ways.

 

[Raiders_Premiers]

That looks to be the poor parts of PNG...... does anyone have photos of the wealthy parts

 

[mrpwnd]

Why have NRL clubs when you have bucketloads of kava?

 

[Timbo]

The government believes the team will help do these thing BY uniting the country. And when it comes to AIDS etc it would help educate people. That's the point. It will be hugely beneifical to the country in so many ways.

....

A football team. Will educate people about HIV.

....

.......

Ah I see. I missed your point.

Here's a random idea though.

I know it'll sound a little quirky, a little out of left field, but hear me out.

Use the $100 million+ that it would have cost to establish and run an NRL side for HIV education?

Or to provide clean drinking water?

Or to provide health care?

I know - CRAZY suggestion and a far more irresponsible course of action for a third world country than propping up a professional sports team, but I think it would have a little bit of merit.

 

[Timbo]

For the record the United Nations gives Papua New Guinea a Human Development Index rating of 0.541, ranking it 144th out of 182 ranked (Australia with 0.970 ranks 2nd out of 182 and New Zealand with 0.950 ranks 20th).

A HDI is, more or less (quoting wikipedia here):

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, a developing or an under-developed country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life.

Some of the global powers that have higher HDI's than PNG are Madagascar (145th), Republic of the Congo (136th), Botswana (125th), Palestine [PALESTINE FFS] (110th) and Iran (88th).

This is the place some of you think can support a professional football team?

 

[East Coast Tiger]

The elected government of the country wants to put money into RL. They want to do it because THEY see it as beneficial to THEIR people. And the people want it too. As Roopy says, the same could be said of any government anywhere that puts money into sports or the arts or any other area that might be seen as frivolous compared to health and education etc. But it's highly patronising to tell these people that their choice is wrong and they their idea won't be considered.

 

[nqcowboy87]

That looks to be the poor parts of PNG...... does anyone have photos of the wealthy parts

the funny thing is those photos are of the capital. you want to see real rough neck places go over to new britain (the kokopo airports one toilet has been out of order since 2003)., or you could try the highlands like mt hagen

 

[Wheeled Warrior]

PNG + NRL = Winner

It's simple Math, dont deny a dream make a dream happen

 

[mikail-eagle]

the funny thing is those photos are of the capital. you want to see real rough neck places go over to new britain (the kokopo airports one toilet has been out of order since 2003)., or you could try the highlands like mt hagen

That is a photo of the village of Hanuabada. The village was there long before the city of Port Moresby got built and enveloped it to what it is now.

And Kokopo is not a rough neck place at all. I lived there for 5 years and it is more peaceful than western Sydney.

 

[RHCP]

Sports teams for poor countries always fail anyway. South African Rugby and Indian cricket have failed rather miserably imo.

 

[Timbo]

Sports teams for poor countries always fail anyway. South African Rugby and Indian cricket have failed rather miserably imo.

This post is fail.

The sports teams you refer to are by and large supported by the wealthy elite in South Africa and India. The supporters of the PNG bid are saying it will be a team 'for the people' not for the wealthy elite.

 

[Paul J]

Some of the global powers that have higher HDI's than PNG are Madagascar (145th), Republic of the Congo (136th), Botswana (125th), Palestine [PALESTINE FFS] (110th) and Iran (88th).

This is the place some of you think can support a professional football team?[/QUOTE]

Yes.

That is how PNG is now. We are talking about how PNG will be in 10 or 20 years.

The natural resources boom there is huge, this will have billions invested in the country. If PNG did not have these natural resources i would say no to the NRL going there.

PNG has more languages and tribes than any other country. The NRL bid is about uniting this fractured country which will greatly aid progress.

The PNG Gov is supporting the NRL bid, not private investors. The PNG Gov can see the benefits of an NRL team in helping the country improve.