NEW GENERATION PARTY

BUILDING A STRONG, VIBRANT AND DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY FOR PRESENT AND NEW GENERATIONS

2007 AND BEYOND

DRAFT POLICY

After three decades as an independent sovereign nation, Papua New Guinea is still a country in turmoil. Despite its vast natural resources and potential wealth, Papua New Guinea remains poor. It failed to improve the well-being of the people because of political instability and weak economic management. Consequently, economic well-being is now little changed since independence in 1975. Poverty is pervasive with significant regional disparities, health facilities and education are sub-standard, and unemployment is high as the population growth accelerates. This pattern must now come to an end. Papua New Guinea must recover lost ground and advance for the benefit of current and future generations to come.

In this regard, the paramount goal of the New Generation Party (NGP) is to serve the people of Papua New Guinea to ensure common prosperity and durable improvements in the well being of the people of Papua New Guinea. The NGP will at all times be guided by the by the National Goals and Directive Principles established in the Constitution of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea and implemented through its duly elected representatives.

KEY POLICY OBJECTIVES

The critical elements which can and will ensure a decisive and irreversible forward progress are not just economic and political, but also social and cultural. These are critically important.

We must legislate National Goals and Directive Principles to guide the policies for social and economic development.
We must improve the welfare of all Papua New Guineans by ensuring that they have access to basic medical and educational services.
We must achieve high and sustained growth rates by developing and expanding the resource sectors to include downstream processing all agricultural and mineral resources. We must do so responsibility to ensure sustainable development of our natural resources.
Similarly, we must expand and rehabilitate physical infrastructure to allow people to take part in the modern economy and to thereby lower unemployment and underemployment especially in the rural areas.
We must promote the private sector as the key engine of growth in order to generate income earning opportunities for all Papua New Guineans.
Government’s role in the economy must be limited streamlined regulation and providing an enabling framework for the rapid growth of productive capacity in the private sector.
We must eradicate corruption and graft at all levels by ensuring that transparency and accountability permeates every aspect of public transactions. We must learn from the past and adopt best practices that have worked elsewhere.
We must reduce waste and improve the efficiency of service delivery to our people, especially those in the rural areas. To do so, we must break from past tradition and review the current three tier system of government with a view to making more cost effective and service oriented. A lean productive and responsive public service machinery will deliver better services to our population.
We are a proud nation, rich in diversity of people, ideas, and action. We must use this to our advantage to create an integrated order of one people and one nation.
We must also protect and preserve our natural environment, and cultural heritage for future generations yet unborn.


These critical elements can only be held together at the top by a truly national symbol of unity in a Head of sate selected in a non-partisan manner as a lever of political unity. From this strength of unity, many political policies and divisive practices will disappear or will no longer be possible.


It is time now aim high and to set our course on the right path and relentlessly set our goals high and steadfastly pursue these goals to build a nation and lift the economic, social, and cultural well-being of all Papua New Guineans. When this is done, Papua New Guinea will then truly be one nation and one people, harnessing and unleashing all energies together to build a brighter future and better future for the current and future generations.

1. GOVERNANCE REFORM PLAN

The NGP recognizes improved governance as a critical requirement for PNG to address its development challenges. Support for public sector reform, improved public financial management and the application of sanctions for non-compliance and corruption are critical elements in maintaining good governance.

NGP will address corruption by:

a) Introducing legislation to create an Independent Commission Against Corruption.
b) Ensure that the sufficient resources are provided to institutions responsible for fighting corruption.
c) Appointing a contract Police Commissioner by the Constitutional Appointments Committee on a finite contract to reform and rebuild the police force.
d) Ensuring that adequate resources are provided to the Public Accounts Committee and the fraud squad and National Anti Corruption Coalition to take action on irregularities exposed by the committee.
e) Directing and making sure relevant agencies perform their constitutional functions and responsibilities according to law.
f) Establishing audit committees and units in all levels and instruments of government.
g) Review and strengthen systems of checks and balance to prevent abuse of power and process.
h) Stringent compliance to the merit-based system of appointments and termination.
i) Review and simplify the current cumbersome appointment process of Departmental heads and statutory bodies.
j) Instituting a performance based management systems for Departmental heads aimed at achieving and rewarding results and applying sanctions on poor performance.
k) Enforcing strict code of professional ethics for public office holders, public servants and professionals within government instrumentalities.
l) Strengthen the professional bodies’ responsible for ethical conduct of professionals in government instrumentalities.


2. ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT

The NGP will implement macro-economic policies that will build investor confidence and create the foundation for sustained low inflation, a stable currency, high levels of investment and significant economic growth. High sustained economic growth facilitates widespread job creation and reduces poverty.

a) Increase Gross National Savings and Gross Domestic Investment from current low levels.
b) Accelerate economic growth to at least 5 per annum sustain it above 5 percent per annum based on the phased implementation of the key projects and improved productivity in the agriculture and mineral sector.
c) Remove obstacles to productive growth in the formal and informal sectors and encourage downstream processing of primary resources.
d) Setting realistic economic goals and targets production levels by number of tones/units and identify the constraints to reaching these targets and removing them.
e) Review and improve fiscal and monetary policy. Monetary and fiscal discipline will result in a gradual reduction in interest rates, providing businesses with lower cost funding for investment, growth and job creation.

f) Reduce the ratio of debt to GDP by setting and strictly enforcing maximum borrowing levels to minimize the use of revenues to service debt.
g)
h) Review the Medium Term Development Strategy to be guided by the Medium Term Fiscal Strategy.
i) Review the taxation system to enable better outcomes

3. PRIVATE SECTOR and BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Recognizing that the private sector is the backbone of the economy, and that small and informal business is part of the private sector, NGP will pursue a number of key strategies to facilitate private sector growth by:

a) Direct the public sector to cooperate with the private sector and do all it can to encourage business rather than create barriers and impediments. Ensure that these efforts are coordinated within government agencies.
b) Provide or encourage necessary infrastructure (transport, telecommunications, electricity, and financial) to assist sustainable business to grow.
c) Strengthen the law and justice sector to reduce law and order problems in both rural and urban areas.
d) Reduce the institutional barriers to business and ensure that approvals are given quickly with assistance from the Investment Promotion Authority.
e) Provide more effective technical support and training for small and medium size enterprises by restructuring number of government agencies.
f) encouraging a competitive and dynamic private sector through various policy initiatives.
g) limiting the role of government to one of regulatory rather than a direct player.

In addition NGP will promote the public-private partnership and aggressively pursue trade liberalization to comply with international commitments.

4. INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

NGP recognizes the importance of industrial development to broaden the economic base and create opportunities for employment and income generation. The NGP will ensure that our manufacturing sector becomes more competitive and that manufacturers upgrade their facilities and have increased access to overseas export markets by:

a) Encouraging and fostering manufacturing and downstream processing activities with the view to add value to exports.
b) Encourage and foster upstream activities to sustain the industry.
c) Enhance operations of a one-stop shop and approval system for security in business.
d) Re-examine and strengthen existing initiatives on free trade zones, industrial parks/centers and tax free factories
e) Encourage informal sectors and businesses in towns and villages.
f) Promote micro- finance scheme to support small-scale business and individual entrepreneurs.
g) Promote development of entrepreneurial culture and skills.

5. PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM

The NGP believes in the importance of the public sector to the economy and service delivery to our people. Reforming the public sector to make it more effective, efficient and economical is important in this regard. NGP will accomplish this by:

a) Abolishing provincial governments and progressively relocating public servants to districts after ensuring that there is adequate housing and infrastructure available.
b) Initiating reform towards results-based performance in all government instrumentalities.
c) Where possible outsource provision of traditional government services with strong government control over standards and regularity, air, sea and road. of delivery.
d) Review and implement the Right Sizing recommendations presented to the government in 2005 where relevant including provincial governments.
e) Review number of Boards and Authorities with a view to reducing the numbers and increasing their efficiency by introducing strict performance management criteria and penalties for failure to reach them.
f) Developing and implement an institutional and implementation professional capacity building programmes for all levels of government through the reintroduction of a public service cadetship system, formal training schemes through regional training institutions, promotion based on formal training results;
g) Establishing a coherent policy, planning, budgeting and accounting system for program implementation
h) Developing a comprehensive National and District Data Management System to improve planning, delivery and monitoring of program of public services.
6. PRIVATISATION

The NGP believes that state owned enterprises should be fully commercialized and where relevant privatized. NGP will:

a) Review roles and function of Independent Public Business Corporation.
b) Review the current regulatory regime with the view to opening up the market for competition.
c) Ensure that all appointments of Boards and Chief executive Officers are made on merit
d) Assess the performance of State Owned Enterprises and determine their immediate and long-term commercial viability
e) To privatize SOEs where such enterprises have proven to be commercially unviable or in instances where the gains from privatization outweighs the future benefits by continuously holding onto them.
f) Ensure that the Community Service Obligations are included in any sale or commercialization.

7. AGRICULTURE, LAND, AND NATURAL RESOURCES

(i) Agriculture

The NGP will work to make traditional agricultural crops more competitive and actively seek to diversify into higher value-added and niche market areas to benefit from our comparative advantages.
a) Encourage and foster upstream processing of agricultural commodities.
b) Reduce the National Department of Agriculture and Livestock to a small policy making unit advising the Minister.
c) Review, consolidate and restructure existing commodity boards, ensuring that growers make appointment of at least half the board members and those they have effective controls to prevent unnecessary wastage of growers’ funds.
d) Consolidate all agricultural research under the National Agricultural Research Institute or the private sector. Ensure that adequate government funding is provided for agricultural research by providing funding on a kina-for-kina basis. Ensure regular external reviews of agricultural research.
e) Revive agricultural extension by expanding the Smallholder Support Services Pilot Programme to all provinces,
f) Review and enhance the Rural Development Bank lending and operational policies to make it accessible to rural populace.
g) Encourage small holder’s farmers to increase production.
h) Review all outstanding debts to government owed by commodity boards.
i) Ensure that transport infrastructure is adequate to allow farmers to get produce to market and trade goods back to villages.
j) Ensure adequate telecommunications to enable farmers to access information about markets and prices.
k) Support and rehabilitate livestock industry including institutional strengthening.

(ii) Forestry

a) Get industry agreement on sustainable logging levels through roundtable discussion between all Stakeholders.
b) Review current practice of round log export versus downstream processing.
c) Ensure that ALL conditions of EVERY logging lease/agreement are uniform and guarantee lasting benefit to landowners.
d) Review the Forestry Act to ensure it provides sustainability with the emphasis on on-shore downstream processing to enhance growth in manufacturing sector and rural employment.
e) Enhance landowner participation in decision making and development.
f) Encourage more research into forestry resources with the view to conserve rare and unique habitat for future generations.
g) Review and restructure the forest management services including the institutional setup.

(iii) Fisheries

a) Review the fisheries management arrangements for fisheries development
b) Promote and encourage onshore processing of tuna and other species.
c) Rehabilitate and strengthen research and training institutions.
d) Review the provisions of the border treaties relating to marine resources.
e) Encourage and support aquaculture development in inland fishery.

(iv) Tourism

The NGP will provide adequate support to marketing and advertising the tourist product, expand offerings of attractions to visitors and improve our infrastructure, especially in our resort towns. It will:

a) Review and promote the recommendation of the ICCC-TPA Review and Development Plan 2007-2017.
b) Address impediments to tourism development with the view to addressing the high cost structures
c) Increase allocation of resources to the promotion and development of the tourism industry through incentives to the private sector.
d) Implement more tax incentives for new tourism development.
e) Institute a high level coordination and communication between provincial, districts and the national departments on eco-tourism development
f) Encourage and support for tourism related training initiatives.
g) Encourage and support community and village based tourism projects.
h) Review existing instructional setup to facilitate tourism development.
i) Encourage cultural heritage for tourism development.

(v) Environment Management and Development

The NGP will promote sustainable development and protection of the environment to develop and preserve the country for future generations.

a) Promote and conserve our natural environment for sustainable and use consistent with the 4th Goal of our Constitution.
b) Rehabilitate existing protected areas and promote small to large scale conservation areas for sustainable development.
c) Review the environment and conservation legislations with the view to enhancing management and development of our natural resources and biodiversity.
d) Strengthen the administrative ability of the Department of Environment and Conservation to enable it to better monitor exploitation of natural resources.

(vi) Land

The NGP will place special emphasis on the unique issues surrounding the economic use of land. It will devise focused strategies to address these problems to encourage the productive development of land as a key economic input. NGP Will:

a) Ensure proper security of indigenous landownership for maximum and long term benefits.
b) Review the land administration and management legislations.
c) Encourage landowner participation in using their land for economic development.
d) Review and implement the National Development Land Reform.

(vii) Mining and Petroleum

The NGP will work to expand the mining and petroleum sector. It will

a) Review the appropriate legislations to ensure it provides sustainability with the emphasis on on-shore downstream processing to enhance growth in manufacturing sector and rural employment.
b) Enhance landowner participation in decision making and development.
c) Review and restructure the current administrative arrangements in the management of land-owner benefits.

(ix) Cross-Cutting Issues

a) Provide revolving credit facilities such as the micro-finance to provide opportunities for investment and productive employment.
b) Review existing incentive structures to encourage subsistence farmers in agriculture, fisheries, tourism and forestry to consolidate these sectors as the backbone of the economy.
c) Promote and enhance capacity building in those economic sectors.

6. INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

NGP recognizes that infrastructure development is the key to any economic and social development. The NGP will focus on the rehabilitation and development of all basic infrastructures by:

Transport
The NGP will upgrade, improve and maintain Papua New Guinea’s transportation network, and improve the quality and diversity of the transportation system.
a) Ensure adequate provision of transport services (air, sea and road) to all remote areas.
b) Review the existing transport policy to ensure that a more integrated approach transport planning to provide a safe, dependable, effective and cost efficient transport services to all sections of the community.
c) Increase funding for the maintenance, rehabilitation and upgrading of existing infrastructure in the three modes of transportation (land, sea/waterways and air).
d) Develop and maintain rural feeder roads, airstrip, and waterways to facilitate easy access to social and economic services.
e) Implementation of the sub-sectoral authorities such as National Road Authority, National Maritime Authority and Civil Aviation Authority and ensure they are more effective accountable to finance and management of transport assets.
f) Review and institute regulations to encourage competition in the sector.

Health
The NGP believes that every one must have access to basic health care. It will encourage:

a) Encourage private provision of health services down to village level.
b) Review existing legislations with the view to improving and realigning the health sector.
c) Make a stock take of all medical facilities throughout the country and provide funding to ensure that they are reopened by government or private health care providers.
d) Maintain and rehabilitate existing health facilities including accommodation for staff.
e) Establish mobile clinics to provide medical access to the poor, elderly and infirmed.


Education

The NGP will:

a) Make a stock take of all schools, their condition, actual versus funded staffing levels and provision of adequate materials and supplies including desks, books and stationary.
b) Review existing legislations with the view to improving and realigning the education sector.
c) Increase funding for education facilities such primary, secondary, vocational/technical, colleges and tertiary institutions.
d) Maintain and rehabilitate existing educational facilities including accommodation for staff.

Information, Communication, Telecommunications

The NGP will develop a modern information, communication and technology (“ICT”) policy that provides for the acquisition, installation and operation of different means of ICT to make Papua New Guinea a world leader in ICT and also meet the developmental needs of the people. NGP believes that

Communications must play a critical role in promoting economic, social, scientific, educational and cultural progress as well as a better understanding among Papua New Guineans.
In the globalized economy, information technology and communications media have a vital role in educational advancement and in promoting economic and social development.
To effectively take advantage of the opportunities offered by ICT, Papua New Guinea must put in place a cost-effective and technologically advanced human resources and regulatory infrastructure. The NGP will:
a) Promote and increase funding for establishment of rural telecommunication network.

b) Establish an Information Technology Authority reporting directly to the relevant minister to plan and coordinate the development of the ICT industry in Papua New Guinea within the public sector and to facilitate linkages with the private sector.
c) Conduct a comprehensive survey of the current status of ICT in the public and private sectors.
d) Conduct a comprehensive new legislation and legislative overhaul initiative to ensure that adequate and appropriate legislation exists covering areas such as digital signatures, privacy, and protection of intellectual property.
e) Actively work toward establishing a national public IT network on a single standard which is competitively priced, utilizes multiple sources, and has adequate penetration into the educational system.
f) Attract joint ventures to build more information technology (IT) digi ports to develop Papua New Guinea as a leading IT operation.
g) Encourage the installation of broadband, high speed internet and wireless technology to attract a wide range of IT investments.
h) Promote wireless internet technology to enable computer access to reach schools and rural homes institution as required.
i) Promote broader reach of television broadcasting to reach the wider population.

Housing


a) Ensure that adequate land is available for citizens to build their own houses.
b) Encourage private provision of housing and in the interim increase funding for maintenance and rehabilitation of institutional housing for public servants including police, correctional services magisterial services and judiciary in urban centers and districts.
c) Encourage and support various housing schemes


7. PROVINCIAL AND LOCAL LEVEL GOVERNMENTS

NGP recognizes that after 31 years of political independence, the three tiers of government have failed to effectively deliver the essential basic services to the rural populace. The NGP will reform Papua New Guinea’s Constitution and system of Governance to improve transparency, accountability and the strength of representation of the people by elected officials. The NGP will:

a) Review the Organic Law on Provincial and Local Level Government with a view to abolishing provincial government.
b) Make appropriate amendments to the OLPLLG to make it more effective and capable of providing the necessary services to all communities.
c) Pursue the District Treasury and District Services Improvement Programme.
d) Review of the work of the National Economic and Fiscal Commission with view to identifying funding for its equitable distribution to provinces.
e) Review and strengthen the National and Provincial Monitoring Authority.
f) Promote training and up skilling of provincial and district professional capacity for effective implementation of government policy.
g) Ensure the all funding for Local Level Governments provided under the Organic Law on Provincial and Local Level Government is provided directly to the districts.

8. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The NGP recognizes the importance of providing social services to improve the welfare of all Papua New Guineans. In doing so, the NGP will:

8.1 Education

The NGP will implement LEARN (Learning and Education Reform for Nation Building) a comprehensive programme to increase funding, reform the curricula, and improve school infrastructure and teacher training, in order to produce more literate and educated students.

a) Recentralize the Education System to make it more effective and responsive to the changing times.
b) Ensure every child will be provided tuition fees from elementary to grade 2 and that will be extended to Grade 8 in 2010, with the view to empowering our future generation and to improve the literacy rate consistent with the Millennium Development Goals..
c) Review the Elementary Curriculum with the view to introduce tok pisin in all elementary schools and to enhance greater local participation and making it more effective.
d) Reform teacher education programmes to make them more effective with view to improving the quality of education.
e) Promote technical and vocational training programmes.
f) Encourage private providers of education and training and expansion of distance education, without compromising the quality standards set by Government.
g) Promote and enhance school inspectorate in all district to monitor the successes and failures of education in the district.
h) Review and strengthen current Tertiary Education Subsidy Scheme to make it more effective.
i) Review and strengthen tertiary education programme/curriculum with the view to making it more relevant and professionally competitive.
j) Rationalise tertiary education especially the number of universities. Reduce the size of Office of Higher education and relocate it back in the Department of Educations.
k) Review and implement the National Education Plan 2005 - 20014



8.2 Health

NGP recognizes the importance of a healthy population as the foundation for nation building. The NGP will introduce four basic disciplines in all of the district hospitals with services on a timely basis: (1) pediatrics (2) surgery (3) medicine (4) obstetrics/gynecology. It will:

a) Encourage family planning programmes to control population growth that the economy can sustain.
b) Promote and provide appropriate resources for mobile health extension services in rural areas.
c) Increase funding for preventable diseases including research and development as well as health promotion and prevention programmes.
d) Increase funding and distribution of essential drugs and basic supplies.
e) Improve the terms and conditions of health workers including the provision of specialized and qualified health workers.
f) Improve training programs for cadres of health workers
g) Promote and encourage health insurance policy to offset rising cost of heath care services.
h) Review and improve the management and operations of public hospitals and district health services.

8.3 Sports and Recreation

The NGP will improve the opportunities for Papua New Guinea’s athletes to fully develop their physical and sporting abilities to the highest levels and for young Papua New Guinean’s to have enhanced recreational outlets. It will:

a) Provide adequate sporting facilities in all urban centers; ensure that potential sporting facilities are not diverted into industrial and commercial land.
b) Encourage community sports involvement and participation.
c) Review management and functions of existing sporting bodies to improve standards and promote professionalism in various sports to be internationally competitive.
d) Provide adequate funding in the promotion and development of sports in the country.

8.4 Youth Development

The NGP will review and strengthen existing policies and programmes under the National Youth Services Commission to make them more responsive to youth development.

8.5 Churches and Non State Actors

a) Promote Christian values and provide adequate funding to support the work of Christian churches and Non-State Actors (NSAs).
b) Support Churches and Snaps participation in the delivery of development services to the rural populace in line with government policy and programmes.

8.6 Settlements

Improve basic services to settlements including their rehabilitation and resettlement.

8.7 Housing

a) Address the shortage of housing issue and to ensure better and affordable housing for all citizens.
b) Review the National Shelter Policy to encourage the home ownership schemes.
c) Review the management and structure of National Housing Corporation to ensure that there is effective and efficient accountability.

9. HIV AND AIDS

NGP recognizes the profound effect of HIV and AIDS to the economy and the population. NGP will:

a) Review, strengthen and enforcement of legislation on HIV and AIDS to prevent its spread.
b) Support various stakeholders in prevention and spread of HIV and AIDS in all sectors of the community including government instrumentalities.
c) Review and strengthen the work of the National Aids Council to make it more effective.
d) Encourage and support awareness programmes in the provinces and districts.
e) Increase funding to support various stakeholders responsible for HIV and AIDS programmes and activities.
f) Institute non-discrimination policy on all employment and other social settings.

10. GENDER EQUALITY

The NGP recognizes the importance of maintaining gender-balanced in society. It will:

a) Encourage gender balanced participation in development and promotion of justice in all areas.
b) Promote and encourage women contributions to the economy, communities and welfare of families consistent with international commitments.
c) Implement legal reforms and expand existing programme to ensure that men and women are treated equally and that abuses against women are punished with the full force of the law

11. LAW AND JUSTICE

NGP reaffirms that law and order is an important issue affecting the overall development efforts of the country. The NGP is committed to undertake major review to legislate necessary changes to address the law and order issue. The NGP will:

a) Immediately implement the recommendations of the Police Administrative Review Committee. Appoint a monitoring committee which will include members of Parliament, the private sector and civil society to ensure that satisfactory progress is made.
b) Review management and structure of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary.
c) Review the management, structure and infrastructure of Correctional Services including its policy and programmes. Encourage institutions to become self funding.
d) Charge the Law and Justice Sectoral (Coordination) Committee to ensure that the whole sector is coordinated and made more effective, reduce investigation times and make timely prosecutions.
e) Ensure that the sector receives adequate financial and manpower resources to be able carry out its work.
f) Charge the Law and Justice Sectoral (Coordination) Committee to ensure that the whole sector is coordinated and made more effective, reduce investigation times and make timely prosecutions.
g) Ensure that the sector receives adequate financial and manpower resources to be able carry out its work.


12. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND TRADE

New Generation Party is committed to actively participate in regional and global affairs so that our international trade, investment and security interests are protected and to ensure that, the impact of globalization on our people and our nation are well managed.

a) Review our foreign policy and develop a new strategic and partnership approach “think globally act locally”.
b) Actively participate in bilateral and multilateral affairs to sustain trade, investments and security policy interests.
c) Review overseas representation to focus on strategic economic and security interest.
d) Review Immigration and Citizenship Act to meet the global changes.
e) Review one-stop shop policy to enhance timely approval processes and procedures for immigration, work permit and company registration.
f) Establish a Centralize Overseas Travel Committee with powers to approve overseas travel as part of budget process.