Kramer tasked to restore public confidence in constabulary

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK - The National

PRIME Minister James Marape is confident new Police Minister Bryan Kramer will implement plans to restore public confidence in the constabulary.
“We will be asking him in the first instance to restore credibility in the entire police hierarchy,” Marape said.
“It’s not only the commissioner or few sections of the force but the entire structure which is dysfunctional at the moment.”
Kramer said morale in the force was low.
“We need to revamp this area and we will give him total support to make sure that police officers are proud of their duties,” he said.
“They must work with pride and dignity and the restoration of the rule of law comes with effective policing.
“He will come under the watch of the Deputy Prime Minister Davis Steven.”
Marape urged people to assist the constabulary in its work.
“I’m calling on the public talking about corruption and mismanagement issues (to) bring evidence to the police,” he said.
“Your talk must be balanced with evidence.”
Marape urged the people who have any issue with “anyone including me” to present evidence to the police in the proper way to help in the investigation process.
“When our time is up in two years when we go for elections, we will leave behind an effective functional and better police force than the one we have today.”

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/kramer-tasked-to-restore-public-confidence-in-constabulary/

Marape: Picking new Cabinet a struggle

By HELEN TARAWA - The National 

PUTTING together a new Cabinet was a bit of a struggle, says Prime Minister James Marape.
He said he could not satisfy “everyone”.
A notable omission from the line-up was coalition partner United Resource Party led by Hagen MP William Duma
He said some MPs short-listed for Cabinet were not considered because their party had requested four or five ministries which was not possible.
“We gave them an opportunity with one or two spots available but they wanted more than that,” Marape said.
“We will respect them wherever they are.
He has also told Opposition Leader Patrick Pruaitch that the Government will support to the Opposition.
“We want a functional Opposition (which) is good for a robust democracy and we expect them to fulfil that role.”
He said the Government would strongly recommend opposition MPs to parliamentary committees, especially the Public Accounts Committee and Public Works Committee.
Marape also said the UBS loan issue would be brought up for discussion in Parliament.
“Some key fundament institutions of the State would be looked at.
“For instance, the Attorney-General will set up the Independent Commission Against Corruption to ensure that good governance practices are maintained in our country,” Marape said.
“My name is mentioned in the report.
“Every one of us will make public announcements as to what will take place.
“I am subject to law like everyone else. I’m not higher than the law.”
The 14 ministers in the O’Neill Cabinet not in the Marape Cabinet are: Peter O’Neill (SHP), Kevin Iisfu (East Sepik), Fabian Pok (Jiwaka), John Pundari (Enga), Benny Allen (EHP), Merrah Kipefa (EHP), Rimbink Pato (Enga), Patrick Basa (Morobe), Jelta Wong (ENB), Roy Biyama (Western), John Kaupa (NCD)Simon Dumarinu (ARB), William Duma (WHP) and Douglas Tomuriesa (Milne Bay).

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/marape-picking-new-cabinet-a-struggle/

PM picks two Opposition MPs in new-look Cabinet

Posted on The National

THE country’s eighth Prime Minister James Marape, pictured, made history on Friday when he included Opposition MPs Bryan Kramer (Madang) and Kerenga Kua (Sinasina-Yongomugl) in his 33-man Cabinet.
The announcement of Kramer as Police Minister during the swearing-in ceremony at Government House was greeted with a loud cheer – something never seen before at the governor-general’s official residence. Kramer is the Allegiance Party leader.
Kua, the National Party leader, is the Petroleum Minister.
Wabag MP Dr Lino Tom, an Independent, is the Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources.
Marape’s Cabinet has 11 new faces, 10 of whom are first-time MPs. They are former West New Britain Governor Sasindran Muthuvel as the Minister for State Enterprise, Finschaffen MP Reinbo Paita as Minister for Communications and Energy, Telekom and PNG Power, Okapa MP Saki Soloma as Defence Minister, Jimi MP Wake Goi as Minister for Community Development, Sumkar MP Chris Nangoi as Minister for Correctional Services, Maprik MP John Simon as Minister for Agriculture, Lae MP John Rosso as Minister for Lands and Physical Planning, Wosera-Gawi MP Joseph Yopyyopy as Minister for Education, plus Tom and Kramer.
The ministers in the caretaker cabinet all retained their ministries except for Alotau MP Charles Abel who moves to Finance from Treasury and Bulolo MP Sam Basil to Treasury.
Justice Minister and Attorney-General Davis Steven, the Esa’ala MP, is the new Deputy Prime Minister.
Marape said Steven would look after ministers responsible for social sectors.
“Our country can never be fully benefit from gains of resources if we don’t have an effective functioning social sector.” Marape said.
Pangu has 10 ministries, the People National Congress Party was allocated nine, Melanesian Alliance Party has four, People’s Party with three, Peoples Progress Party has two, Our Development Party also has two, and one each to THE Party, National Party and the Allegiance Party.

Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/pm-picks-two-opposition-mps-in-new-look-cabinet/

DAY 1 ON THE JOB AS POLICE MINISTER

By Bryan Kramer - Police Minister and Madang MP

Today marks my first day on the job as Minister for Police, an appointment where all credit goes to Prime Minister James Marape.

9:30am this morning I met with Commissioner for Police, Gary Baki at Police Headquarters to receive a debriefing. 

Commissioner arranged for a further debriefing 1:30pm this afternoon with Australian Federal Police who are heading the Australian PNG Police Partnership Program.

On Friday I will receive a debriefing by the divisional commanders from around the country.

Under the Marape Davis Government Members of Force can expect sweeping changes, not only in the how Government engages with the Constabulary but greater public accountability.

Papua New Guinea appoints reformer to crucial petroleum portfolio

By Tom Westbrook | Reuters | June 7, 2019

Commodity and energy companies with projects in the resource-rich archipelago have been awaiting the makeup of Marape's cabinet as a sign of his plans, after parliament voted him in last week on a platform of economic change.Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape installed a reformer as petroleum minister on Friday, handing him a mandate to overhaul the sector and warning investors to "pack up and leave" if they did not like it.

Announcing his ministries in the capital of Port Moresby, Marape said Petroleum Minister Kerenga Kua - brought in from the opposition - shared his vision for raising more revenue from the resources sector.

"We are tired of being rent collectors," Marape told reporters at Government House where the cabinet was sworn.

He promised changes "friendly to the investor but also friendlier to our country".

Marape had sparked months of political chaos when he quit as finance minister over the government's handling of a big gas agreement struck in April with French oil major Total SA.

He then rode a wave of discontent over that deal, and an earlier one with ExxonMobil Corp, into the top office, triggering a new round of scrambling - this time from commodity firms clamoring to meet and lobby him.

Kua is a former attorney general turned prominent opponent of Marape's predecessor, Peter O'Neill.

He has been quoted in the media as saying resource laws should be changed to give the state a bigger stake in extractive projects.

"(He is) widely respected and a noted critic of dodgy deals," said Jonathan Pryke, director of the Pacific Islands program at Sydney think-tank the Lowy Institute.

Nevertheless, Marape has insisted reforms would be slow, unlikely to take effect until well beyond elections due in 2022, and not designed to harm investment.

Peter Botten, the head of PNG-focused energy firm Oil Search Ltd said in Sydney on Thursday he did not expect to make any significant new concessions on a gas deal it and ExxonMobil Corp hope to strike with the government.

Marape, referring to concern among foreign investors, offered both reassurance and a warning.

"I make no apologies to anyone," Marape said. "You don't like the way I'm speaking? Pack up and leave."

"Peter Botten knows me. I am investor friendly. But I have also to win for eight million shareholders of this country and that's what this generation of leadership is all about."

Go to this link for more: https://ramumine.wordpress.com/2019/06/08/papua-new-guinea-appoints-reformer-to-crucial-petroleum-portfolio/

Oil Search reinforces PR team as pressure mounts on several fronts

By Matthew Stevens | Australian Financial Review 

Don’t imagine for a second that Oil Search sits wholly calm amid the storm created by the dumping of long-standing Papua New Guinea prime minister Peter O'Neill  and the company’s place in the events that proved a tipping point in the collapse of political support for him.

In the lead-up to O’Neill’s replacement by leadership neophyte James Marape, Oil Search made wholesale changes to the way it manages its external affairs, delivering new blood to its media management and inviting Crosby Textor to take on the driller’s reputation management.

The most immediate effect of the Oil Search deckchair shuffle is that long-standing general manager of investor relations and communications, Ann Diamant, appears to have lost half of her brief to a former PNG television executive.

A familiar media contact point through her 16 years with Oil Search, Diamant has surrendered the day-to-day of communications and media management to a new face in the Australian media landscape. The new vice-president, communications and media, is Matthew Park.

Park lands at Oil Search with an ANU law degree, six years' experience in policy advisory with the Australian Communications and Media Authority and a whole lot of experience in PNG television. His most recent job of import was running a TV station in PNG and, even more recently, he ran PR for PNG’s APEC advisory council. But, according to his various CVs, that is about as close as he has got to knowing who’s who in the zoo of Australian media, or media anywhere but PNG for that matter.

Oil Search insiders suggest this shift and the decision to appoint Crosby Textor shows just how unnerved the company is by regime change rolling out in PNG.

As The Australian Financial Review reported on Friday, Marape continues to send mixed signals about his future relationship with Oil Search and its much more powerful partners in PNG liquid natural gas, Exxon and Total.

The house view at Oil Search is that Marape might seek changes to a recent deal with Santos that aligns the ownership of the P’nyang gasfield with a proposed LNG development, but that previous investment agreements will be left untouched.

Go to this link for more: https://ramumine.wordpress.com/2019/06/11/oil-search-reinforces-pr-team-as-pressure-mounts-on-several-fronts/

New PNG cabinet puts Oil Search and UBS Australia on notice

By Angus Grigg and Lisa Murray | Australian Financial Review 

Papua New Guinea’s new Prime Minister, James Marape, has appointed one of the most outspoken critics of a recently signed gas deal as the responsible minister and taken a swipe at Australia’s Oil Search in announcing a cabinet full of surprises on Friday afternoon.

In swearing in Kerenga Kua as the Minister for Petroleum, Mr Marape noted he was a lawyer who “shared his vision” for reforming the sector and maximising gains for PNG.

Mr Kua has previously said the $US14 billion ($20 billion) Papua LNG project, agreed in April, should be reviewed for its legality, potentially opening the way for the deal to be renegotiated.

The new Prime Minister has said he would not seek to unwind existing contracts. However, looking into the legality of this and other deals could be a way to reopen negotiations.

“We will come to a position that everyone is comfortable with without disrupting business," Mr Kua said when asked about the Papua LNG project after being sworn in.

"But [we will] ensure there is an equitable distribution of benefits which come out of these resource projects.”

Mr Marape used the occasion to take aim at Oil Search chief executive Peter Botten, following a speech Mr Botten made in Sydney on Thursday.

“Peter Botten knows me. I’m investor friendly but I also have to win for the 8 million shareholders of this country,” he said.

Prior to this the Prime Minister said he would not apologise for his comments on getting a better deal for the country out of resource projects.

“If you don’t like the way I’m speaking … pack up and leave,” he said.

This skirmish follows Mr Botten saying that any delay in the Papua LNG project would have it leapfrogged by other projects around the world.

"We can't wait too long before our place in the queue slips," Mr Botten said. "The government is aware of this, as is the new Prime Minister."

ExxonMobil and Total are spearheading the PNG LNG and Papua LNG projects, in partnership with Australian resources players Santos and Oil Search.

Shining a light on corruption

The other surprise move on Friday was the appointment of Bryan Kramer, a popular but outspoken opposition figure, as Police Minister.

Mr Kramer, who has over 117,000 followers on his Facebook page, has said former prime minister Peter O'Neill should face criminal prosecution and has written scathing articles about the UBS loan affair.

He said the deal, which had PNG borrow $1.2 billion from UBS to buy into Oil Search, would "go down as one of the dumbest investments in PNG's history".

His appointment should ensure ministerial-level support to further investigate the loan affair, which cost PNG $400 million.

On Friday, Mr Kramer said his main priority was keeping the people of PNG safe but he would also be looking at high-level corruption.

Shane McLeod from the Lowy Institute said Mr Marape had delivered a pointed and substantial shake-up of the ministry.

“Bringing across prominent opposition voices Kerenga Kua and Bryan Kramer – and placing them in key portfolios of Petroleum and Police – shows that Marape is serious about distancing himself from his predecessor, and shining a light on resource deals and allegations of corruption,” he said.

Go to this link for more: https://ramumine.wordpress.com/2019/06/08/new-png-cabinet-puts-oil-search-and-ubs-australia-on-notice/