National Press Club

PM launches National Press Club

In a fully packed conference room at Lamana Hotel, expatriates, business executives and media personnel gathered to ask the Prime Minister regarding issues affecting the lives of people in the country.

Chaired by the Media Council President Alexander Rheeney, the National Press Club conference room was filled with a mixture of experts including Institute of National Affairs Director Paul Barker and other business executive  in the likes of SP Brewer Managing Director Stan Joyce and others.

Media organisations filled the Working Press Table.

PNG PM calls Manus centre a problem that should end

Addressing the National Press Club during a visit to Canberra, Mr O'Neill also said the facility must eventually close, saying people can't remain on Manus forever.

The newspaper, The Age, reports him saying his government cannot afford to resettle those found to be refugees, fuelling concern that many more men will continue to languish on the remote northern island.

Since 2013 Manus has been hosting hundreds of asylum seekers who attempted to reach Australia before being intercepted by its naval forces and transferred to Manus for offshore processing.