Australian scheme to boost governance in Papua New Guinea

THE first stage has been completed of an Australian program to improve governance in Papua New Guinea.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop signed a memorandum two months ago to establish a Pacific Leadership and Governance Precinct in Port Moresby’s public service and university hub of Waigani valley. The program also aims to help build partnerships between Australian and PNG institutions.

As an initial step, 27 senior PNG public servants partici­pated in an executive course run by the universities of Queensland and PNG. The Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, the Australian Public Service Commission, Canberra Institute of Technology Solutions and the Australian National University are also involved, planning leadership courses and developing university, certificate and diploma-level qualifications.

The new precinct in Waigani will include a School of Business and Public Policy at the University of PNG and the adjacent Institute of Public Administration.

Ms Bishop said yesterday: “As a friend and partner of PNG, Australia recognises that an ­effective and ethical public sector is vital for PNG’s stability and prosperity.”

The launch of the program coincides with an intensification of government control of key institutions in PNG, as the country enters the second half of its five-year parliament, when the ruling coalition becomes theoretically vulnerable to votes of no-­confidence.

But the government of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has kept consolidating its power rather than seeing it erode, as has tended to happen with previous PNG administrations.

THE AUSTRALIAN

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