The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) has come under attack for "neglecting the cries of its people, particularly in West Papua".
Fiji Opposition MP, Anare Jale, told Parliament's Budget debate this week the government's allocation of $FJ1.12 million to the regional group should be reduced by $120,000.
Mr Jale, who is shadow minister for foreign affairs, said the MSG has lost its way and intent, and has failed the people of Melanesia.
The MSG includes Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia's Kanaks.
Mr Jale said the MSG's role is to look after the interests of Melanesians in the region but he said the group has failed.
Foreign Affairs Minister Inia Seruiratu rejected Mr Jale's claims.
"We now have our trade agreements. We just need to strengthen the MSG and it's the leadership of the MSG that will make it work. And it was the leader of the Opposition that made Fiji join the MSG."
Mr Jale's motion to reduce contributions to the MSG was defeated along with his motion to remove the $FJ1.2m ($US560,000) allocation to the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF).
Mr Jale said the PIDF was a duplication of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and there was no need for the budget allocation.
But Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the PIDF had given more opportunities to NGOs and civil societies in the region to participate in high-level discussions.
He said the PIDF also created more awareness on climate change.
Papua New Guinea's Police Minister is pushing for an investigation into the procurement of luxury cars for last year's APEC summit.
The government imported fleets of Maserati and Bentley cars for use in transporting dignitaries at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders meeting in Port Moresby last November.
Bryan Kramer, who was appointed as police minister this month, told local media he will file a complaint on the process behind procurement of the vehicles.
It was a controversial purchase for its apparent extravagance while PNG citizens struggle for basic health and education services across the country.
Assurances from the minister in charge of APEC, Justin Tkatchenko, that the cars would be onsold after APEC only added to public outrage.
The luxury cars, which were priced at about $US10 million, are understood to be mostly sitting unused in a Moresby parking lot. In the event, a number of APEC leaders, including New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, opted not to travel in them while at the summit.
A range of vehicles were APEC vehicles bought for APEC, but the government has faced difficulties accounting for them all.
Mr Kramer has questioned whether the vehicle purchase followed Public Finance Act rules on procuring from overseas. The Act also requires any State assets to be acquired or disposed of by calling for public tender.
However, Mr Kramer has claimed there was a lack of transparency by the former Peter O'Neill-led government over the process.
Australia's Defence Minister Marise Payne meets PNG Prime Minister James Marape and members of his government, including Police Minister Bryan Kramer (third from right) and Housing and Urban Development Minister Justin Tkatchenko (to Mr Kramer's right). Photo: PNG PM Media
Earlier this year, Mr Tkatchenko said that the government would account for all funds spent on hosting APEC, and that a report would be tabled in parliament in due course.
In the interim, Mr O'Neill resigned as prime minister following a series of resignations from his government over concerns over issues relating to governance, economic management and other concerns.
Mr O'Neill was replaced last month by James Marape, his former finance minister. Mr Marape's new government coalition contains many MPs who were part of Mr O'Neill's government, of which Mr Kramer was a trenchant critic.
Now part of government for the first time, Mr Kramer sits at the cabinet table alongside various ministers whose projects he has vigorously criticised in public previously.
The minister stressed that he doesn't have the power to control police investigations. But he is now a position to push more for accountability on controversial dealings by politicians.
However, RNZ Pacific has learnt from sources in PNG that the country's National Intelligence Organisation has discovered a plot against Mr Kramer, although details are not available.
While ruffling feathers by questioning the business model of PNG politicians has earned Mr Kramer some powerful enemies, he appears to have the backing of the new prime minister.
One of three compounds used to detain men on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island was set on fire today.
Video sent by refugees confined to the island by Australia shows smoke billowing from Hillside Haus in Lorengau, where about 150 asylum seekers not given refugee status by PNG are accommodated.
Sri Lankan refugee Shaminda Kanapathi said the fire, which is now out, was started by a resident of the compound in an apparent suicide attempt.
The man had sought medical help from Pacific International Hospital's (PIH) private clinic for refugees in another compound, but was angry about the level care he was provided, Mr Kanapthi said.
Hillside Haus was evacuated and the man, who had also cut himself in an act of self harm, had been taken back to the PIH clinic, Mr Kanapathi said.
He has been suffering with severe helth issues, his medical treatment has been denied for longtime today he went to PIH clinic help but been turned back with no help He was very stressed & anguished he cut himself & set himself on fire in room #auspol@KKeneally@drkerrynphelps
The island's police chief, David Yapu, said he was out of Lorengau but had been called back into town to be briefed about the fire.
Refugee advocate Ian Rintoul said the man, a 31-year-old Indian asylum seeker, had suffered burns to his face and hands after setting himself and his room on fire.
Last year, the compound was damaged by another fire lit by a mentally unwell asylum seeker.
There have been numerous suicide attempts by self immolation on Manus, including several among about 500 men still detained on the island since the Australian election in May.
By Divya Venkataraman & Jonathan Pryke - The Lowy Institude
Gender equality is fundamental to human development. Papua New Guinea is Australia’s closest neighbour and biggest recipient of Australia’s bilateral development aid globally – but significant and persistent inequalities remain when it comes to the status of women in society, sexual violence and representation in politics. So, what are Australia’s obligations and how is Australia’s aid helping?
In the mainstream sphere, the conversation on aid distribution often begins and ends at geographic and country distribution. But sectoral breakdown matters, too. How does Australian aid address fundamental problems that women face in daily life? Should we be focussing more on gender equity across the region?
In PNG, the female population is underrepresented in schools, universities and the workforce. Family violence is endemic, and women continue to be traded as property because of enduring cultural norms that attach to women a “bride price” in some parts of the country. PNG’s gender inequality index score as of 2017 was 0.741, which gave it a ranking of 153 out of 189 countries.
But numbers wise, it’s dire straits all across the Pacific. The percentage of women in parliament in the Pacific is a paltry 8.2% and men outnumber women two to one in all paid employment, except in the agricultural sector where women fare a little better. But there is currently a round total of zero women in parliament in PNG, a figure matched only by two other Pacific nations: the Federated states of Micronesia and Vanuatu. If Australia is to tackle this level of inequality, we need to focus on targeted implementation of aid.
Women in PNG fare a little better in the agricultural sector but typically men outnumber women two to one in all paid employment (Photo: Kim Eaton/UN Women)
PNG’s aid concentration is remarkable by global standards. According to the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map, in 2011-2016, 63% of aid which flowed to PNG came from Australia. With this generosity comes great responsibility.
Gender is on the minds of aid policy-makers. The Australian government has committed to give up to $320 million over the period between 2012–2022 to addressing gender in the Pacific. Australia’s flagship program on gender equality in the Pacific, “Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development”, aims to empower women to create change as they envision it for themselves. As the 2017–18 Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade review states, “Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development projects enabled more than 19,000 women and girls to access support, including counselling, health and justice services, including for sorcery accusation-related cases”. But mostly, the information surrounding the effectiveness of aid in PNG is patchy and difficult to verify.
DFAT also has an 80% target for including gender as in its delivery of aid programs. However, it is the only one of ten targets yet to be achieved.
Churches shoulder a
significant proportion
of the blame for the
continuing ill-treatment
of women in the Pacific
… domestic violence
is justified with reference
to skewed interpretations
of scripture.
There are also systemic issues in the implementation of aid in PNG generally, due to the sheer breadth of the aid program, issues of governance and corruption and the mismanagement of government funds. Archaic, entrenched values play their part as well: major gaps in sexual health and education for women in PNG can be in part linked to the nation’s deep Christian foundations which have fostered widespread suspicion of contraceptives and sexual health education.
UnitingWorld’s Bronwyn Fraser points to churches as shouldering a significant proportion of the blame for the continuing ill-treatment of women in the Pacific. This is based on literal interpretations of passages preached in order to entrench inequality, where domestic violence is justified with reference to skewed interpretations of scripture. However, churches can also be part of the solution, as shown in the instituting of DFAT’s Church Partnerships Program which has led to positive change in the arena.
But it is particularly hard to address gender equality in PNG through aid because of the difficulty in establishing good governance systems free from corruption and the necessary safeguards to ensure that women get the protection they deserve. The lack of political participation of women in PNG, as mentioned above, is also a hindrance to the level of impact that Australian aid can actually have in terms of improving gender equality. Internal, national resistance to change in PNG will be a tough obstacle to overcome.
Despite these challenges, there are ways that Australia can progressively improve its aid to achieve wider net impact in the future. Sweden has been a proponent of a “feminist foreign policy” since 2014, committing its international strategy to improving the status of women around the world. Importantly, a focussed policy such as Sweden’s recognises the relevance of gender equality to other forms of development, including social, economic and political. And moreover, it goes towards boosting Sweden’s objectives worldwide: equal participation of women in society does wonders for economic development, the proliferation of peace and reduces crime. Canada, too, has positioned gender equality at the forefront of its foreign policy, stating that this approach:
does not limit the focus of our efforts to women and girls; rather, it is the most effective way to fight the root causes of poverty that can affect everyone: inequality and exclusion.
Julie Bishop left a significant legacy as Australia’s first female foreign minister in her re-positioning of gender as a central concern in foreign policy. Despite a rocky relationship with the word “feminist”, Bishop in power instituted the 80% female empowerment target in foreign aid and elevated gender equality to become a key priority of foreign policy. It’s up to Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong now push for renewed and more focussed direction of this policy within the Pacific region.
Australia’s influence in PNG has great potential to change the everyday lives on women in the country. A newly-elected government in Australia and a recent political transformation in PNG could bring new numbers to the table on foreign aid. But the challenge will be focussing it in the right places.
One of the world’s leading mining lawyers, Michael Hunt, an advisor to the Special Mining Lease Osikaiyang Landowners Association (SMLOLA), has issued a stinging attack on the statement which attempted to justify the proposed changes to the Bougainville Mining Act (BMA).
The changes were rejected by the Bougainville Parliamentary Committee on Legislation last week (read the full legal assessment).
This statement was a submission to that committee lodged by Minister Wilson and was published on June 19, 2019.
Mr Hunt said, the Statement, entitled “Interpreting Part 17 of the BMA”, “pretends to explain the Bougainville Mining Act (Amendment) Bill 2019 (Bill) in laymen’s terms but in reality, it is a false and misleading manifesto riddled with errors.”
Mr Hunt categorically confirmed that the proposed amendments would actually abolish all of the landowners’ rights relating to any application by the company 40% of which will be owned by McGlinn’s Caballus Mining and other foreign investors.
He added that all the provisions in Parts 1 to Part 16 of the BMA which protect the rights of landowners are over-ridden by the stroke of a pen in Part A of the Bill.
The confiscation of the landowners’ property and rights under the Bill is “unreasonable, unfair and unconstitutional.” said Mr Hunt in his formal legal opinion.
Mr Hunt confirmed the view previously expressed by SMLOLA: that the Bill “effectively confers a near monopoly on one company over exploration and mining on Bougainville”.
Mr Miriori, the Chairman of the SMLOLA further questioned how it was possible that they got the interpretation of the amending legislation so grossly incorrect?
“Why was Parliament misled? Something profoundly wrong is going on here,” he added.
The Parliamentary Committee reported that the normal practices and safeguards were sidestepped.
Mr Hunt is an Australian legal practitioner, who has written the authoritative book, Mining Law in Western Australia (the fifth edition of which was published in October 2015), the “Energy and Resources” volume of Halsbury’s Laws of Australia and the book Minerals and Petroleum Laws of Australia.
Mr Hunt has been recognised nationally and internationally as a leading mining lawyer, regularly named as such in legal market surveys. He was named in both Chambers Global Guide and Chambers Asia Pacific, putting him amongst the world’s top mining lawyers. Chambers’ review reports: “Michael Hunt is regarded as Western Australia’s pre-eminent expert on mining law.”
In 1987 he conducted a public inquiry into PNG’s mining laws on a commission from the PNG government. His comprehensive recommendations for reform were incorporated into entirely new mining legislation, the Mining Act 1992. The BMA is obviously based in part on the PNG Mining Act 1992.
The Fiji women's rugby league team will create history on Saturday when they take the field in their first ever international match.
The Bulikula play Papua New Guinea in Sydney in the opening match of the Pacific Test invitational.
Across the Tasman, Samoa's women's team will play their first test in eight years against the Kiwi Ferns in Auckland.
The Fetu Samoa players were given a warm welcome by around 150 supporters at a fan event in South Auckland on Thursday, ahead of their first international in eight years.
Billy-Jean Ale and Tasia Seumanufagai are the only survivors from the side that played Australia in Apia back in 2011, while five players have previously represented New Zealand or Australia.
New Zealand Warriors second rower Luisa Gago was a part of the Kiwi Ferns World Cup squad in 2017 but says the opportunity to represent Samoa was one she could not ignore.
"It's not often that we get this chance and I think the last time Fetu Samoa had a team was 2011 so for us to come back it was a chance that I couldn't miss out and an opportunity that I couldn't turn down. Also my family supported me to go and play for Samoa, to represent my country."
While eight years is a long time between kick-offs Fiji will play their first ever women's rugby league international against PNG.
The players have been in camp since Monday but head coach Adrian Vowles doesn't expect the magnitude of what is happening to fully hit the players until game-day.
"It's amazing and I think the enormity of the occasion will probably sink in a little bit to the girls when they line up on Saturday and walk out on the field. I think it will probably sink in there that they're creating history for Fiji."
The 'Bulikula' name was chosen by the late Fiji NRL Chairman, Peni Musunamasi, who died last month after a short illness.
Adrian Vowles says he was a big supporter of the women's programme and is very much in their thoughts.
"It's important that we do Peni's name justice and (he was) very much loved in Fiji Rugby League and Fiji in general and we'd like to get the right result for him and hopefully we can do that."
Front-rower CJ Sims will earn her first cap for Fiji two hours before younger brother Korbin runs out on the same field for the Fiji men's side against Lebanon, while in the opposing team PNG Orchids hooker Therese Aiton will make her test debut, following in the footsteps of older brother Paul Aiton, a former Kumuls captain.
"My mum, I know especially, and my dad are very proud and my brother. I've had a few text messages from him - he's pretty happy to see me representing my country too and he knows that feeling of putting on that jersey and the emotions that come with it - so for me to be a part of it yeah it's pretty big for my family."
The PNG Orchids have not played an official test for two years but head coach Nigel Hukula says the women's game in PNG continues to expand at a rapid rate.
"The growth of the women's it's been phenomenal since the 2017 World Cup - I think it's almost five/six fold: it's gone from a couple of thousand to almost three to five thousand registered players over the last two and a half years as well as the schools programme, which is catering for an under 18 girls competition as well and hopefully we'll get down to the 16s and 14s."
One thing Samoa, Fiji, and PNG all agree on is that more tests and more opportunities can only be good for the international game.
The Bougainville Referendum Commission, or BRC, is not able to extend the enrolment period for people to vote in a referendum on independence from Papua New Guinea.
Enrolment ends on Sunday and the BRC is constrained by rules laid down by the governments and cannot move on this date.
Bougainville women's MP, Francesca Semoso, said there is a need to extend the period by at least two weeks, but the chief electoral officer Mauricio Claudio, said there is literally no more time for what he calls 'phase two' or the active enrolment of voters.
He said a key factor is that the writs must be issued on 16 August ahead of the referendum vote starting on 12 October.
Mr Claudio said only the two governments have any authority to change the dates.
He said the governments were late establishing the BRC and its work has subsequently been hampered by a lack of time and funding.
But Mr Claudio assures there will be a third phase when the rolls will be displayed for everyone to check they are on it and if they are not they will then be able to enrol.
But he stresses that this phase can only run for a seven-day period.
NEW Correctional Services Minister Chris Nangoi was welcomed yesterday by the acting commissioner Stephen Pokanis and his staff at the Bomana Correctional Services Institute in Port Moresby. Pokanis welcomed Nangoi and told him that the institute had many challenges and issues to be addressed, but also had many resources. “Since its inception in 1965, the inherited facilities have all deteriorated over the years since Independence and are badly in need of upgrading,” Pokanis said. “We need more houses to accommodate our staff and more dormitories to house detainees as the prisons are overcrowded. “But apart from all these challenges, we also have many resources to offer, we have to re-strategise and look at the resources available to us and use them to address issues and overcome challenges.” Pokanis also called on the new minister to allocate funding to upgrade and maintain facilities and build new dormitories. He also called on Nangoi to push for staff pensions and to allow for leave of absence for low security risk detainees on parole. Nangoi thanked Pokanis and said that in trying times and with limited resources, he was looking forward to working with like-minded leaders in the institution to address the issues. “We will work towards activating leave of absence for low risk detainees and parole for detainees. “We will also start taking stock of what we have and grow crops and use the human resource we have in the institution. “Our duty is to ensure that the detainees are secured, rehabilitated and also doing things that will help sustain themselves,” he said. Nangoi said he bring in people with experience and knowledge at all levels who could help to drive change in the correctional services. He also thanked the Prime Minister James Marape and the Government of the day for having faith in his leadership and appointing him as the New Correctional Services Minister. Former CS Minister Roy Biyama did not attend the handover ceremony as he was away attending to his electorate. Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/pokanis-updates-new-minister-on-issues/
HIGHER Education Research, Science and Technology Minister Nick Kuman wants to reduce tuition fees for tertiary institutions to allow financially disadvantaged students to enrol. Kuman said he wanted students, especially from remote areas in the country, to attend tertiary institutions they had qualified for with affordable fees. “I will pursue the tertiary loan scheme for students to apply for loans to pay for their fees and when they work after graduating they can repay their loans from their salaries. “Currently, the fees are too high that bright children from remote areas throughout the country cannot afford it so they remain back in the village. “With the tertiary loan scheme, it will enable them to afford the fees for their desired institutions to pursue their goals,” Kuman said when taking over the ministry from Pila Niningi at the Aopi Centre in Port Moresby yesterday. Meanwhile, Niningi in his last task also launched the online registry of all the higher institutions in the country. The register provides up-to-date accessible information for students, parents, institutions, the government and the wider public on all registered Higher Education Institutions and the programmes they offer. Niningi said parents and students could be reassured in the knowledge that there was transparent and up-to-date information available to help them. Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/kuman-pushes-for-tertiary-loan-scheme-to-help-students/
WERA Mori says his reappointment as Commerce and Industry Minister is a vote of confidence by the new government. Mori said he had an important task to ensure that the government’s vision of economic recovery was driven for the people’s benefit. “We now have the opportunity whereby we can convert the opportunities we have arising from the expectations from our resources of both extractive and non-extractive industries for the benefit of our people,” Mori said. “I have a big task and responsibility to drive the government’s Small-to-Medium Enterprise (SME) programme in this country. “When the SME policy was introduced in 2016, we simply didn’t have a platform,” he said. Mori said one of the models that would help drive the SMEs was through cooperatives. “We use the cooperative model. “We get landowners of plantation land to cooperate and farm blocks. “They are anchored by one or two processors and exporters.” Mori said the model would see plantations become productive again while allowing landowners to participate directly in the revenue generating activity. Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/mori-says-reappointment-is-vote-of-confidence/
PAPUA New Guinea is on the brink of losing a K340 million European Union grant for small holder farmers if the Government does not sign off the Enterprise Development Fund (EDF) agreement, East Sepik Governor Allan Bird says. If the Government fails to sign by the end of the month, EU would back off with the “free money”, he said. “The money is at great risk of going back to the EU,” Bird told FM 100’s Talk Back Show yesterday. EU’s EDF is funding a pilot programme in PNG and the Pacific, creating enterprises for small holder vanilla and cocoa farmers of East and West Sepik. Bird said the programme was secured with an offer made by the EU headquarters in Belgium, which only needed one signature before PNG could access the grant. “Brussels has already approved it. Their finance minister has already signed,” he said. “There are three copies of the documents sitting here in PNG. It just needs one signature from PNG and you get K340m in foreign currency hit the central bank tomorrow. “The problem is that certain people in planning now, after the money has been approved for something totally different, want to change the scope. “The problem with donor funds is when you borrow money, you can do whatever you want to with the money. If it’s your own money, you can do whatever you like. “But if it’s grants, it’s a tied grant. They are tied to very specific things to achieve specific outcomes and achieve impact. “If you cannot get the outcomes, you cannot get the impacts then basically the programme fails.” Bird said Prime Minister James Marape made a commitment that someone was going to sign it before the deadline. However, Minister for National Planning and Monitoring Richard Maru said the people of East Sepik and the governor “need to understand that donor funds do not belong to one particular province; they belong to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea”. “Work on this project began back in 2014 and EU has already agreed that the project will cover the four Momase provinces,” Maru said. “This is not a Constitutional grant for the people of East Sepik, it’s a donor funding to the national government through the Department of National Planning and Monitoring.” Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/png-about-to-lose-k340m-eu-farmers-grant-bird/
THE office of the PNG Civil and Identity Registry (PNGCIR) yesterday announced the millionth person who registered and offered her a gift and a plaque to mark the magical figure. Lucy Paipmari Felihau, 18, became the millionth registrant on May 23. She is a student at a university in the Philippines. Deputy registrar-general Salome Bogosia said yesterday marked an important day in the history of NID registrations. She said the government had mandated her office to carry out the important function of registering people for identification and statistics. “It has been challenging to come this far to reach over a million registrations,” Bogosia said. “We’ve learnt a lot since the project was initiated in 2015 and we are proud to say that as of May 23, we have achieved that.” Felihau registered twice in the PNGCIR system, before and after she turned 18. The printer at the registry broke down sometime back and no cards were printed for about seven months. Bogosia said the initial process of birth registration was to register births and after turning 18, they registered their national identity (NID) which captured the biometrics. “Due to the backlog of registrations, both NID and births were being registered as single,” she said. “We hope that by the end of the year we can make another announcement. “We hope to complete registering by 2021. “NID is here to stay so people of PNG, if you are not registered, please come forward and register yourselves and your families.” Felihau was surprised she became the millionth person to register. “I really needed my NID card because it was a requirement for my registration at school and I thank PNGCIR staff and management for helping me,” she said. Felihau is studying for a Bachelor of Science in nursing. Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/registry-reaches-millionth-person-registering-for-nid/
SOLOMON Islands High Commissioner Barnabas Anga met with Prime Minister James Marape on Monday to discuss the need for closer cooperation in dealing with important bilateral issues as well as sub-regional issues through the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). Marape said the close working relationship he had built with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare over the years would set the basis for a more meaningful and practical collaboration in addressing maritime, border protection and security issues such as illegal fishing and transnational crimes. Both governments agreed to implement the Police Cooperation Agreement. Marape also assured Anga of PNG’s commitment to pursue and honour outstanding issues including the facilitation of scholarships and visas for Solomon Island students at various tertiary institutions in PNG, including Pacific Adventist University, University of Goroka and University of Technology. Furthermore, Marape also pledged to support the Solomon Islands government host the 2023 Pacific Games. Anga congratulated Marape on his recent election as prime minister and expressed his appreciation for his commitment to work with the Solomon Islands government on the issues. On sub-regional issues, Marape as current chair-in-office of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, (MSG) said the Department of Foreign Affairs was liaising with the MSG Secretariat to firm up arrangements for this year’s Special Leaders’ Summit. Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/marape-meets-si-envoy/
PRIME Minister James Marape welcomed Australian Foreign Affairs and Women’s Minister Marise Payne to Papua New Guinea yesterday during her courtesy. The meeting was an opportunity for Marape to reaffirm PNG’s commitment to strengthening and enhancing bilateral relations with Australia. Marape said there would not be many changes in terms of PNG’s foreign policies and bilateral relations with Australia but he would be looking at areas to consolidate and strengthen, particularly existing relations. He acknowledged Australia’s continuous contribution towards the nation’s development such as the Pacific Institute of Leadership and Governance (PILAG) and the importance of the Australia-Pacific Technical College (APTC) in upskilling Papua New Guineans for the Australian job market. He said their discussion was on Government’s priorities and stressed the need for reforming and strengthening the public sector by conducting regular training programmes in PNG for public servants. Marape, in thanking Payne for her government’s support in conducting police programmes in the country, also encouraged continuation of the programmes. In response, Payne reassured Marape of her support to further broadening the PNG-Australia bilateral relations through comprehensive and economic partnership (CSEP) that would be built on key issues, priorities and values shared, as well as encouraging more business engagements with Papua New Guinea. Payne said that Australia would focus on economic infrastructure which had a financing facility worth A$2 billion (K4.5bil) and would consider viable and transformative projects. Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/pm-to-use-aust-foreign-ministers-visit-to-strengthen-relations/
