Benny Allan (born 1 January 1958) is a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

n politician. He has been a member of the

National Parliament of Papua New Guinea The National Parliament of Papua New Guinea is the unicameral national legislature in Papua New Guinea. It was created in 1964 as the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea but gained its current name after the nation was granted independence ...

since 2002, representing the electorate of Unggai-Bena Open, variously as an independent (2002) and for the

United Resources Party The United Resources Party is a political party in Papua New Guinea. Foundation, Agiru and Akoitai's leadership It was established in December 1997 by Southern Highlands Governor Anderson Agiru, who became the inaugural leader. Its platform emp ...

(2002-2012) and People's National Congress (2012-present). He has been Minister for Lands and Physical Planning in the government of

Peter O'Neill Peter Charles Paire O'Neill (born 13 February 1965) is a Papua New Guinean politician who served as the seventh Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 2011 to 2019. From 2002 until the present he served as Member of Parliament for Ialibu-Pan ...

since August 2012. Allan previously served as Minister for Environment and Conservation under

Michael Somare Sir Michael Thomas Somare (9 April 1936 – 26 February 2021) was a Papua New Guinean politician. Widely called the "father of the nation" (), he was the first Prime Minister after independence. At the time of his death, Somare was also the lo ...

from 2007 to 2011.

Biography

Allan was educated at Goroka High School, Lae Technical College and Goroka Teachers College. He was a high school teacher before leaving to work in the private sector, managing liquor distribution company Negiso Distributors. He was elected to the National Parliament as an independent at the 2002 election, after which he joined the

. He served in the opposition shadow ministry under

Mekere Morauta The Right Honourable Sir Mekere Morauta (12 June 1946 – 19 December 2020) was a Papua New Guinean politician and economist who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1999 to 2002. Inheriting a depressed economy and a fra ...

from February until May 2005 when he crossed over to the government, becoming a parliamentary secretary in June 2005. He was re-elected at the 2007 election as a URP candidate, after which he was appointed Minister for Environment and Conservation by Prime Minister

. Allan was an advocate for addressing climate change in this capacity, telling the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

at the

2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference __NOTOC__ The 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference took place at the Bali International Conference Centre, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, between December 3 and December 15, 2007 (though originally planned to end on 14 December). Representat ...

"if for some reason you are not willing to lead, leave it to the rest of us and please get out of the way". In February 2008, he stated that three foreign firms had attempted to bribe him with free travel in order to fast-track approvals for their investments. In April 2008, he announced that no further exploration licenses along the historically sensitive

Kokoda Track The Kokoda Track or Trail is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs overland – in a straight line – through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The track was the location of the 1942 World War II battle between Japanes ...

would be approved while the Somare government was in power. In April 2009, he proposed a national ban on the use of

plastic bags A plastic bag, poly bag, or pouch is a type of container made of thin, flexible, plastic film, nonwoven fabric, or plastic textile. Plastic bags are used for containing and transporting goods such as foods, produce, powders, ice, magazines, c ...

. In April 2010, Allan defended controversial laws which sought to protect development projects from delays caused by environmental challenges by preventing departmental approvals from being challenged in court, which had been criticised by some lawyers and human rights organisations as "draconian". In May 2011, in his electorate capacity, he advocated for a total ban on liquor sales in the

Eastern Highlands Province Eastern Highlands is a highlands province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Goroka. The province covers an area of 11,157 km², and has a population of 579,825 (2011 census). The province shares a common administrative boundary w ...

. In May 2011, he was one of several government ministers to switch to the opposition and bring down the Somare government, resulting in the election of Opposition Leader

as Prime Minister. Allan was re-elected for the People's National Congress at the

2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

, having crossed to the new governing party led by O'Neill. He was subsequently appointed Minister for Lands and Physical Planning in O'Neill's post-election reshuffle. He faced significant ongoing concerns in this role around corruption in relation to the distribution of land titles. In October 2012, he moved to have the Lands Department collect more than K94 million (US$45 million) in unpaid state land rents. In March 2013, he announced an investigation into land deals alleged to have been fraudulently acquired across the country. Under Allan, the department subsequently undertook an audit of the extent of land that is under state lease and land under customary tenure in the

National Capital District A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politi ...

, with the intent to do the same nationally, in order to settle widespread confusion about legal land ownership. In October 2013, he proposed restricting land ownership to Papua New Guineans, with foreign investors to be required to partner with local entrepreneurs. In March 2017, he refused to revoke a subset of leases that had previously been found to be largely fraudulently obtained, and in the face of public controversy resolved to instead convert them to registered land.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allan, Benny Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea Living people United Resources Party politicians People's National Congress (Papua New Guinea) politicians 1958 births