A rally will be held in the PNG capital Port Moresby tomorrow to highlight the push for independence in the Indonesian province of Papua. Papua was annexed by Indonesia in 1969 following the controversial act of free choice, and some Papuans have been fighting ever since for self rule. The rally has been organised by a group of Non Government Organisations, which are seeking to bring the Papua issue to the attention of Pacific Forum leaders.

Presenter/Interviewer: Caroline Tripeman

Speakers: Powes Parkop, Lawyer and leading Papuan supporter

Parkop: We want to show to, especially the governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia that their push and position of their governments is not really supported by the people of the Pacific, and in terms of the Pacific Plan it should include a plan for the people of West Papua.

Tiriman: Two weeks ago the PNG Foreign Minister clearly pointed out that the Papuan issue was not going to be raised during this Forum meeting. What do you think of that?

Parkop: The position of PNG government is as I say it's a morally bankrupt position because it's just based on a patronage within a nation, PNG and political expediency, it's not based on the common views of the people of PNG. And the common views of people of PNG we have collected signatures, and a lot of thousands of people have signed with signatures, so the common view of the people of PNG is with the West Papuans.

But in the context of the Pacific Leaders Forum, PNG does not have any right over the agenda. It's a Forum and if the leaders of the forum want to discuss this issue, it's up to the collective will of the leaders of the Forum and we have a letter from the Prime Minister of Samoa that they're willing to raise this issue in the current Forum meeting.

And West Papua as long as it remains unrecognised and unresolved it will remain as a moral dilemma for the countries of the region. It's a moral dilemma for Australia. Why should Australia go halfway around the world to bring democracy, bring down a dictatorship halfway around the world in Iraq, when right before its doorstep people are dying, people who have not known freedom for 40 years? How are we going to allow them another 40 years to live under this type of regime that kills people, denies them their basic rights? This is a moral issue for all the leaders in the Pacific and especially for Australia as a big power in the Pacific.

Tiriman: For a long time now both the PNG and Australian governments have regarded the Papuan issue as an internal matter for the Indonesian government. Has their reluctance to push the issue?

Parkop: I think in our region Australia and PNG are saying they're standing alone and we must apply pressure on them, because in the Pacific most of the countries are sympathetic towards Papua, Nauru has tried to raise it before, Samoa is willing to raise it now. I know the New Zealand government is sympathetic to it, most of the countries are sympathetic except for Australia and PNG.

And if you look at the world in July there was a resolution passed in the House of Representatives in the US led by a congressman from America Samoa, they passed the resolution in the House of Representatives calling on the South Pacific Forum to address this issue, calling on the US government to raise the issue formally again with the UN General Secretary. That resolution is only waiting signing by the Secretary for State, Condoleezza Rice, and once that is passed then it becomes a legal obligation on the US government to raise it formally.

So at the international level there are movements moving towards recognising the circumstance of the West Papua people and recognising their history has been unfair and an error to them. So there's already movement in the international community to revisit the issue of West Papua.