Canberra announced its determination yesterday to block a gold mine being established close to a jungle battlefield in Papua New Guinea where Australian troops fought a desperate campaign against Japanese forces.
But critics said Australia had no right to ask its poverty-stricken northern neighbour to shelve a project likely to earn millions of dollars in revenue.
Queensland-based company Frontier Resources hopes to extract A$1.3 billion (HK$7.6 billion) worth of gold and copper from the site, 5km from the historically significant Kokoda Trail.
During fighting in 1942, more than 600 Australian soldiers died on the jungle path, which winds for 96km through the mountains north of PNG's capital, Port Moresby.
Prime Minister John Howard has sent a delegation to PNG to express Australia's concerns and assess the impact of the proposed site.
The notoriously precipitous path has become a tourist attraction, with hundreds of Australians walking from one end to another in homage to their fallen countrymen.
