Coalition vow to ease PNG visa restrictions

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Australia's Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister and Deputy Opposition Leader, Julie Bishop, has committed a future Coalition government to easing up visa restrictions on Papua New Guineans wanting to visit Australia.

Seen from Papua New Guinea the current tough requirements are regarded as racist.

And as our Pacific correspondent, Sean Dorney, reports Julie Bishop's pledge to do something about it was warmly greeted at a recent annual PNG business forum.

SEAN DORNEY: Papua New Guinea's high commissioner to Australia, Charles Lepani, recently described as galling the treatment of Papua New Guineans wanting to get visas to Australia.

The issue came up again and again at the just completed Australia/PNG Business Forum.

Aware that it would, Australia's Deputy Opposition Leader, Julie Bishop, in her keynote address made a promise.

JULIE BISHOP: If we are honoured to be the next government of this country I most certainly commit to ensuring that we can free up the visa arrangements between Australian business people and PNG business people in particular, so that we can have much easier means of doing business and investing in each others' countries.

(Applause)

SEAN DORNEY: That commitment won warm support.

The current requirements to obtain a visa are time consuming and hugely frustrating according to the president of PNG's Business Council, Ernie Gangloff.

ERNIE GANGLOFF: If you're applying for a business visa you still need to provide details of your family history, your spouse's family history, whether they're Australian citizens or not, whether they're deceased or still alive. All this sort of information needs to be provided.

The concern we've got it that you've got to keep providing it over and over again; it's a repeat exercise.

SEAN DORNEY: Papua New Guinea's former commissioner general of internal revenue, David Sode, who is now the chief executive officer of the multi-million dollar company, PNG Sustainable Development Program Limited, broke out of his prepared speech to complain about how unfair Papua New Guineans regarded the treatment they received in applying for visas.

DAVID SODE: A little word on Australian visas. In English, in Grade 10, I was taught a terminology in High School called "being reciprocal", the terminology was called "being reciprocal". But I guess they don't teach English in Foreign Affairs any more.

(Laughter and applause)

You come to PNG to the airport we'll give you a visa for $125. It would save a lot of headaches if I could turn up to the Brisbane airport, pay 125 Kina, get my visa and get on with life. I'm happy to pay that.

I thought we were a former colony but maybe we forgot history as well. Maybe the Kiwis were the former colony not us. And if for some reason we are judged as an irresponsible former colony then we must ask the question of: "who colonised us?"

SEAN DORNEY: That comment about being treated worse than New Zealand was echoed when I spoke to Godfrey Mantle, the chairman of Australia's Mantle Group of companies.

GODFREY MANTLE: It's very difficult for people who are doing business in Australia from PNG to get visas. And we're talking about substantial business people who are finding that a real frustration. And it's not in Australia's interest that this be the case.

SEAN DORNEY: What do you think they should do?

GODFREY MANTLE: Make it like New Zealand. Treat PNG as a valuable neighbour who are long term friends and have that level of trust.

SEAN DORNEY: During another session of the Business Forum, Scott O'Reilly, the CEO of the IPI Group of Companies, said he'd had to abandon plans to take his senior Papua New Guinean staff to a workshop in Cairns because they could not get visas. And the business went to Singapore instead, where the Papua New Guineans were welcome.

Frank Yourn, the director of the Australia/PNG Business Council, said the visa issue was a top priority for the council.

FRANK YOURN: One of the things that's difficult for us in raising this with Government is often what we have is anecdotal reports of individual cases. It will help us to articulate the issues more clearly if we very specific information about the circumstances in which people have had to do the sort of thing you've done, Scott, that you've reported today.

And so I do issue an invitation to people, we don't want to be flooded with invitations about problems getting cousins and aunts and uncles into Australia, I know that's an issue; but we need to focus on some of the business issues first, I think. And if anyone's got issues like Scott has, I'd be very pleased if people could let me have some detail.

SEAN DORNEY: The president of the PNG Business Council, Ernie Gangloff, said he was delighted Julie Bishop had given an undertaking to do something about it if the Coalition won the next election.

ERNIE GANGLOFF: Absolutely. As I said we've been getting that sort of support at the political level but we haven't been able to get that support at a bureaucratic level. And now that we've sort of, Julie Bishop's indicating that she wants to support this cause, I think we're certainly looking forward to working with her. And if they get into government I think it should address that issue.

JULIE BISHOP: It is simply unacceptable for there to be so many bureaucratic hurdles in the way of trade and investment and doing business across the Coral Sea.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: The Deputy Opposition Leader, Julie Bishop, ending that report from Sean Dorney.


ABC

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