Papua New Guinea needs a new leadership

Today, Papua New Guinea desperately needs good strong and a honest leadership to drive our government machinery forward.

Presently, it is sluggish and all agencies do not seem to be functioning as a collective,  well-drilled team.

This is because the coalition government is not made up of the right people who want to see change in our country.

It is comprised of selfish people with many different personal agendas who do not really care about PNG's national interest.

Papua New Guinea needs to now make broad and sweeping political reforms to overhaul all systems and processes.

We also need good honest leaders in parliament.

The government must take the lead and be prepared to make the required changes for a better future.

This is PM Somare's greatest challenge before he exits the political scene.

If he is not prepared to do this, then it is time he retired from politics.

He will be more respected in future if he hands over the tough job to a more-capable and energetic political leader to take PNG to a whole new level of strong political leadership, good governance and accountability.

Lastly, our government must start taking pressure off its Australian counterpart by systematically reducing AusAID funding levels as a grant component of the national budget over the 15 to 20 years.

I feel we are again all going to wait for some time until the current leadership dies out and hope the next lot do a better job than the current mob.

To totally transform PNG in future, parliament must be fully functional, as must all state agencies at the three levels - national, provincial, local - right down to the ward councils.

The national mindset, and the people put in charge at all levels, must have the required training, experience and be properly remunerated.

This way, they can be totally committed to what is required of them to make the whole state mechanism work to the country's benefit.

Papua New Guinea needs a responsible and responsive government with an effective opposition as a counter-balancing force to make parliament an effective law-making body.

Importantly, the PM must be in tune with what the whole country needs and work in direct and close collaboration with the opposition leader in and out of parliament.

The leaders of both the government and opposition must work with industry, community stakeholders and external development partners to ensure the state is functioning like a well-oiled machine.

While it's easier said than done, it's all about good leadership, organisation and ensuring the environment created by PNG's political leadership (and government) is conducive to make every agency function well and in unison.