Australian Government

In a recent introductory meeting with the Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Emil Tammur, Australian High Commissioner, Bruce Davis, reaffirmed the willingness of his government to support and assist tourism projects and programs in preparation for APEC 2018 and beyond.

Both leaders discussed on how best they would work together to develop the industry and ensure maximum benefits from the sector reach the local people at the community level across the country.

Australian Awards is piloting a new Australia Awards short course that aims to help build the capacity of women to trade.

The ‘Australia Awards: Women Trading Globally’ course is offered to Pacific women with their own business who have the potential to become ‘export ready’. 

It will cover international trade and how one might be able to embark on the pathway of growing their business into new international markets.

The K4.8 million project is part of Australia’s long running partnership to help maintain Bougainville’s road network.

A formal ceremony was held  on Thursday February 16, to mark the progress of an Australian funded project to seal selected town roads in Buin.

The town roads in Buin are a vital link connecting communities and businesses.

The newly sealed roads will improve all-weather access to Buin Secondary School, residences, shops and essential services.

The project will deliver safer, more reliable roads for the people of Southern Bougainville.

The participants from the National Capital District and Central Province received training in management, book-keeping, mechanics, driving, cooking and sewing.

Corrinah Apugo was among the latest graduates, completing a course in business management.

It is the second course that the widowed mother of two has completed through Ginigoada. The first, a life skills training program, helped her get a job as a wharf assistant at Pacific Logistics.

He has called on the Australian Government to return those allegedly involved in the rape of a local, for investigations.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over the weekend announced the one-off refugee resettlement deal between Australia and the US for people on Manus Island and Nauru to be moved to the United States.

Turnbull, alongside Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, over the weekend said the deal would only apply to those currently on Nauru and Manus Island. 

The man, who is understood to have been granted refugee status, was allegedly removed without warning or legal representation.

Daniel Webb, the director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, said the man was not a client of his organisation, but did have a lawyer who was not informed of the removal.

"A decent and compassionate government which respects the rule of law doesn't choose to secretively deport people found to be refugees in the middle of the night without any transparency, due process or access to legal advice," said Mr Webb.

The Australian Government will provide K10 million towards the cost of constructing the facility, which is the first-of-its-kind in the country and will be managed by Catholic Health Services.

Catholic Health Services is one of four high performing Papua New Guinea organisations that were awarded funding during the recently held Incentive Fund Strategic Management Group meeting.

The new Bank Soft system was provided under the partnership between the Manus Provincial Administration and Australian Government, which supports the extension of banking and financial services to the rural majority.

About 8000 Manus locals have seen their savings grow following the introduction of the new system. They include about 5000 village finance members, who pool their savings in shared village accounts, and about 3000 individual account holders.

The program, is a joint initiative with the Australian Government and the New Zealand government to make the market environment a safer place for both women and girls.

Acknowledging markets as a critical place in the community, Susan Ferguson - councilor gender and sports from the Australian High Commission said making it a safer place for women and girls directly impacted the economy of a community positively.

This initiative was first rolled out at the Gerehu market and according to Dr Jeffrey Buchanan-UN women representative, has since boasted a good outcome.

The study, commissioned by the Australian Government, World Bank Group member IFC and the region’s leading cruise operator Carnival Australia, looked at PNG’s five main ports and identified a number of opportunities and investments to develop cruise tourism and capitalise further on the growing sector.

The study said cruise tourism brought $5.9 million Australian dollars (K14.4 million) into Papua New Guinea’s economy last year, with an estimated $0.2 million dollars (K0.48 million) in indirect economic benefits, according to a new study.