Port Moresby | Friday, 27 June 2025 — A passionate call has been made for urgent reform of Papua New Guinea’s Kokoda tourism industry, with former New South Wales MP and Kokoda advocate Charlie Lynn declaring that over 65,000 Australians have been “cheated” over the past 20 years due to persistent mismanagement and neglect of the historic Kokoda Trail.
Lynn, who has led numerous treks along the 138km trail, claims that K1 billion has been injected into the local economy by Australians trekking to honour the WWII Kokoda campaign, yet none of that money has gone toward preserving or interpreting the military heritage that defines the pilgrimage.
“People don’t come to Kokoda for an ‘environmental levitation’ or a ‘cultural awakening’,” Lynn stated. “They come to learn about the Kokoda campaign, to experience what our soldiers endured, and to honour their sacrifice.”
In a media release titled 65,000 Reasons to Reform Kokoda Tourism, Lynn outlined a litany of failures under the Joint Agreement signed between PNG and Australia in 2008, which saw Canberra assume control of the trail under the Kokoda Initiative.
Among the key concerns he raised:
- No investment in heritage interpretation of key WWII battle phases (Advance, Attack, Defence, Withdrawal) along the trail.
- No recognition or educational material on the “fuzzy-wuzzy angels” — the PNG wartime carriers who aided wounded Australian soldiers.
- Absence of a Military Heritage Master Plan or environmental interpretative signage.
- Poor sanitation, with not a single hygienic toilet installed across the trail.
- No community-based tourism training for villagers to earn income from trekkers.
- Lack of transparency on the use of K20 million collected in trek permit fees.
- Illegal operation of many Australian tour companies who evade tax and do not comply with the PNG Investment Promotion Authority Act.
- Continued management of the trail as an “environment park” rather than a heritage tourism asset.
As a result of these issues, Lynn revealed that trekker numbers have dropped by 42%, causing an estimated loss of K50 million in direct economic benefits for subsistence village communities along the trail.
“65,000 trekkers are asking the same question: where has the money gone?” he asked.
He called for immediate transfer of Kokoda’s management from the Minister for Provincial and Local Level Government to the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, positioning the trail as a national tourism enterprise rather than a foreign aid experiment.
Despite his criticism, Lynn remained optimistic: “They understand that if it’s to be – it’s up to PNG!”
For more information, contact: Charlie Lynn – charlie@kokodatreks.com.au.