2018 Australian Budget aims to strengthen relationships with Pacific, including PNG

2018 Foreign Affairs and Trade, Tourism and Investment Budget
Joint media release
Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Julie Bishop MP
Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP
8 May 2018

The 2018 Budget demonstrates the Turnbull Government's commitment to ensuring Australia's economic and national security, as outlined in the Foreign Policy White Paper launched in November 2017.
We will strengthen relationships with our Pacific partners and work together to support the region's stability, security and economic opportunities.
 The region will benefit from over $1.3 billion in aid in 2018-19 - our largest ever contribution.
This includes funding for undersea telecommunications cables to Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands delivering faster, cheaper and more reliable communications infrastructure, and providing economic and development benefits. 
The Budget also further delivers on the Government's largest diplomatic expansion in over 40 years and the White Paper's commitment to open more overseas missions over the next ten years, providing $10.8 million for a new Consulate-General in Kolkata, India.
The new Consulate-General will help Australian businesses access opportunities in India's growing mining sector, and protect and advance our interests in a changing Indo-Pacific.
We will also provide $8.4 million to open a High Commission in Tuvalu.
Tuvalu is a key member of the Pacific Islands Forum and an important partner in the Pacific. 
We will invest an estimated $4.2 billion in total eligible Official Development Assistance in 2018-19, including $410 million for humanitarian funding, helping those most in need after a crisis.
An additional $10 million will support the new Australian Aid: Friendship Grants scheme for Australian community groups to tackle poverty in the Indo-Pacific.
The Turnbull Government continues to seek justice for victims of the downing of MH17.
We will provide $50.3 million over four years to support the Dutch prosecution of those responsible, and assist next-of-kin to participate in court proceedings.
The White Paper committed to delivering more global opportunities for Australian businesses, which will create more jobs and economic growth.
This Budget includes a $15 million business engagement package to continue tackling non-tariff barriers on trade, which materially impact on Australian exporters.
 The package will also increase the competitiveness of our service exports and strengthen dialogue with the business community on foreign policy and security issues.
To enhance Australia's competitiveness as an international screen production destination, the Turnbull Government will provide $140 million over four years to establish the Location Incentive Funding Program.
 From 1 July 2018, the incentive will encourage more international productions to film in Australia, reinforcing our reputation as a world-class filming destination and lead to more jobs for our creative industries.
The Turnbull Government is supporting the tourism sector with $45 million in grants through the Building Better Regions Fund to help move tourists beyond the major cities.
These funds will support projects in regional areas and encourage more visits and expenditure in regional locations, creating more tourism jobs for Australians.
The Cruise sector contributes $2.7 billion to the Australian economy each year and continues to grow rapidly.
 This Budget will fund work to identify solutions to the lack of berthing infrastructure in Sydney, Australia's cruise gateway, ensuring our share of the cruise ship market continues to grow.
The Turnbull Government is also focusing on Australia's most valuable inbound tourism market, China, with the continuation of the Approved Destination Status Scheme.
 This scheme allows Chinese tourists to travel to Australia in guided groups, and plays a strong role in deepening our economic and bilateral engagement with China.
 The Turnbull Coalition Government continues to provide record funding into Tourism Australia.

Papua New Guinea: Highlands Earthquake Situation Report No. 9 (as of 7 May 2018)

reliefweb.int | May 7, 2018

This report is produced by the National Disaster Centre and the Office of the Resident Coordinator in collaboration with humanitarian partners. It was issued by the Disaster Management Team Secretariat and covers the period from 17 to 30 April 2018. The next report will be issued on or around 15 May 2018.

Background

• 270 000 people in need of assistance across four provinces of Papua New Guinea’s highlands.

• 42,557 people (11,041 households) remain displaced in nine care centres and affected communities.

• From 21-22 April, 32.5 MT of food were distributed by humanitarian partners in Urila, Lil, Kopa,
Ponga/Merep in Southern Highlands Province.

• 4,055 people reached with shelter kits in Southern Highlands, Hela and Western provinces, and 28,217 people reached to date with shelter related non-food items in the three provinces.

• 71 community mobilizers trained on providing psychosocial support.

• Total estimated cost of rehabilitating damaged social infrastructure – primarily health and education facilities in three provinces – is US$105 million.

270,000 people in need of assistance

$62 M funding required

32.5 MT metric tons of food assistance distributed

28,217 people reached with shelter-related NFI support

683 hygiene kits distributed

Situation Overview

On 26 February 2018, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit the Highlands Region of Papua New Guinea (PNG), affecting an estimated 544,000 people in five provinces – Enga, Gulf, Hela, Southern Highlands and Western provinces, with Hela and Southern Highlands the most affected. More than 270,000 people, including 125,000 children, have been left in immediate need of life-saving assistance. Since the initial 26 February earthquake, at least 202 aftershocks have occurred, of which six were of a 6.0 or greater magnitude.

A partial assessment of key social infrastructure (primarily focusing on health and education facilities) in Hela, Southern Highlands and Western provinces was commissioned by the Australian Government on behalf of the National Department of Works. The completed assessment concluded that total estimated cost of rehabilitating assessed social infrastructure across the three provinces is approximately AUD 140 million (USD 105 million). The assessment does not include rehabilitation of road infrastructure, which is estimated by the Government to cost approximately PGK 100 million for earthquake-affected sections of the Highlands Highway.

A mobile Vulnerability Assessment Mapping (mVAM) survey was conducted from 22 March to 12 April 2018. The results indicate that 14 per cent of 1,534 households contacted in affected areas were displaced in the wake of the 7.5 M earthquake. The survey further showed that households in nine of 31 Local Level Governments (LLGs) surveyed experienced high or extreme food shortages, with the destruction of food gardens in these areas removing the main livelihood and food supply source for the majority of people.

New Zealand hikes foreign aid budget with eye on contested South Pacific

by Charlotte Greenfield, reuters.com
May 8, 2018

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand will ramp up foreign aid spending by nearly a third, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Tuesday, as the country seeks to pour money into the Pacific in part to counter the rising influence of China.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Peters, who struck a deal in October to form a coalition government, have promised a ‘Pacific reset’ to woo neighboring countries at a time when China is dramatically increasing its presence in the region.

Peters said an extra NZ$714 million ($498.94 million) will be set aside for aid over the next four years in the new Labour-led government’s first budget, set to be announced on May 17. This compares with the current annual aid budget, set under the previous center-right National government, of NZ$647 million.

“The South Pacific has become an increasingly contested strategic space,” Peters, who is also deputy prime minister, told reporters and officials in Parliament on Tuesday.

“Our voice has been weakened during the past decade at the same time as Pacific nations face a myriad of challenges they are not, in many cases, well equipped to tackle.”

The additional aid would “primarily” be directed to the Pacific, Peters added, but he gave no specific details.

New Zealand and neighboring ally Australia have long enjoyed near unswayed influence in the Pacific, including acting as protectorates over Pacific nations such as Papua New Guinea. But their dominance is being challenged with the world’s second biggest economy turning its attention to the region.

Chinese economic aid to the region is growing, according to Australian think-tank the Lowy Institute, with an estimated $1.78 billion spent in the decade to 2016.

China has denied Australian accusations that Beijing is using its aid program to exert influence in the Pacific.

“Does New Zealand need to focus more on the Pacific and to think about its delivery of aid?” said Robert Ayson, a strategic studies professor at Victoria University in Wellington.

“The China factor does encourage New Zealand to think more about that.”

Other nations have expressed similar concerns about China’s growing influence. French President Emmanuel Macron this month called for the creation of a new strategic alliance between Australia, India and France to respond to challenges in the region and China’s assertiveness.

Peters raised the issue with Britain’s foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, at a meeting in London in April. Later Johnson pledged Britain’s “scaled up presence” in the Pacific, a focus analysts say was probably prompted by the Asian giant’s rise.

($1=1.4276 New Zealand dollars)

Vanilla beans now more expensive than silver

by Sue Gleiter, pennlive.com
May 7, 2018

Bakers and ice cream makers are paying a hefty price for vanilla beans.

The key ingredient in sweet treats has soared to near record levels and is now hovering at about $600 a kilogram, making it more expensive than silver.

As a result, consumers may be paying more for that pint of ice cream or doughnut with their coffee.

Earlier this spring, Dunkin' Donut's chief executive officer Nigel Travis told Bloomberg that dairy and vanilla prices are weighing down returns at Baskin-Robbins, one of its brands.

"It puts pressure on both our margins internationally, and the costs to our franchisees, so we've taken this very seriously," he said in the story.

Locally, Urban Churn ice cream's founder Adam Brackbill said he stopped buying vanilla beans in exchange for vanilla bean paste to make his artisan ice cream, which is mostly sold at the Broad Street Market in Harrisburg.

The paste is less expensive than the actual vanilla beans, he said.

"With the prices they are now a days, it's better to buy vanilla bean paste. That is, if you want the beans for that visual appeal," Brackbill added.

In the United Kingdom at least one ice cream maker stopped producing vanilla ice cream, while another ice cream business, Snugburys Ice Cream, says it is paying 30 times more for vanilla than it did last year, according to the BBC.

"It has really gone up, so last year we decided to buy it forward by a year's-worth," Cleo Sadler, who manages the production side of the business, told the BBC.

The high prices can be blamed on a cyclone which last year hit Madagascar, a tropical island off the south-east coast of Africa and the world's top vanilla growing region.

About 75 percent of the world's vanilla is grown in Madagascar. It is also grown in Papua New Guinea, India and Uganda.

Julian Gale, a commodities analyst for IEG Vu, told the BBC they had hoped prices would go down by now but they have remained high due to strong demand.

Melbourne Storm's Justin Olam a humble role model for PNG kids

nrl.co | May 7, 2018

Storm centre Justin Olam says he is humbled to be the first graduate from the successful PNG Hunters Intrust Super Cup side to play NRL and honoured to be able to show young kids back in Papua New Guinea that it is not impossible for them to make it to the NRL.

Storm centre Justin Olam.

©Robb Cox/NRL Photo

While the PNG Kumuls Test side has generally been bolstered by a few NRL stars alongside local players - such as David Mead, James Segeyaro and Nene Macdonald in recent years - Olam is the first domestic player to graduate from the Hunters team to the NRL.

Olam's chance came when Curtis Scott failed to pull up from an ankle injury suffered in round eight and Young Tonumaipea suffered a hamstring strain at training, resulting in a late call-up.

He had some impressive moments in his team's 34-14 loss to the Dragons at Kogarah, pulling off some big tackles and helping outside man Josh Addo-Carr into space on more than one occasion.

"It's not the result we wanted but it's good for me to have a game and go out there and play. I loved it," the softly-spoken 24-year-old told NRL.com after the game.

"I'm the first to come through the Hunter system to play NRL so I'm really humbled. It's a good pathway. I came through thanks to the Storm giving me the opportunity to play.

"It's great for the pathways, that's the main reason why the Hunters have been established as a club, to make a pathway for young Papua New Guineans to come and make their NRL dream.

"I'm happy to be the first one. For me to be the first one is a message to the young kids in Papua New Guinea that it's not impossible to play NRL.

"I'm really humbled I can be an example."

Olam acquitted himself well in his top-grade debut, putting outside man Josh Addo-Carr away for a try and putting on a few shots in his 10 tackles while also accruing 97 run metres. However he said he was far from satisfied with his own performance.

"It's my first game, I just need to get my body up to the pace and understand the game as well," he said.

"It's different from [Intrust] obviously. I'm not really confident at the moment but if I play a second or third game I know what to do next. I know I'll be very confident my next game."

Olam wasn't sure how long teammates Scott and Tonumaipea would be sidelined. Coach Craig Bellamy also has the option of a fit-again Cheyse Blair, who recently returned from injury as well.

"All I need to do is go back and train well and improve on my mistakes," Olam said.

"Hopefully I get a second call-up."

Anzac Day 2018 at Bomana War Cemetery

All pictures@Malum Nalu

Change of CEO of PNG Air Ltd

PNG Air Ltd

The Board of Directors of PNG Air Ltd (POMSOX: CGA) announced on Wednesday that the company’s chief executive officer, Muralee Siva, has resigned from his role as CEO.
Siva was appointed to the CEO position in November 2012, and has overseen the
implementation of the company’s strategy to focus more on regular passenger transport services, introduce majority ownership by major PNG institutions, re-fleet with new ATR 72-600 aircraft andr ebrand the company as PNG Air.
Chairman of the company’s board, Murray Woo, said: “Muralee believes that after more than five years in the role and with rebranding and the initial stage of the re-fleeting programme successfully completed, it is time for him to move on, and to allow someone with a new perspective and a
different set of ideas to come in and take the company through the next stage of its
development.
“The board has been speaking for some time to Muralee about a transition, and agrees that this is the right time for it.
"On behalf of the board, the company and its major shareholders, I want to express to Muralee our appreciation of his outstanding efforts and contribution.
"I sincerely thank him for his dedication to the company, and for the skills, experience and acumen he has brought to it."
Pending appointment of a permanent CEO, the company’s chief commercial officer, Paul Abbot, will be the acting CEO.
Abbot joined the company as manager sales & distribution in January 2011, and became the chief commercial officer in October 2013.

Fresh Produce Development Agency commended for its work

Fresh Produce Development Agency

Fresh Produce Development Agency (FPDA) will continue to promote its programmes in the country backed by an excellent corporate governance and best management practices, National Planning Minister Richard Maru said on Tuesday.

National Planning Minister Richard Maru (right) with Fresh Produce Development Agency management including CEO Mark Worinu (third from left).

The minister met with FPDA’s top management to discuss on issues relating to fresh produce development in the country and the way forward.
A presentation made by FPDA chief executive officer Mark Worinu touchedon the successes and prospects for the organisation.
Maru said he was impressed with the work of FPDA so far and assured them that he would ensure funding was secured to carry out to their activities.
Worinu said FPDA had been around for 30 years now and had been working in the back stage promoting and developing food crops for farmers and assisting with the market chain so farmers could get their produce to the markets.
He said some of the major crops that were commercially-viable included bulb onion, sweet potato and English potato, among others which they have been promoting in the country.
FPDA has developed seed-multiplication for distribution and assisted local farmers to grow and supply seedlings where and when required.
Potato and bulb onions are commercially-viable and can be grown in quantity to replace the import market and even export to other countries if emphasis and skills were transferred to local farmers.
Other crops such as citrus and pineapple had the potential to develop into large-scale with the potential for downstream processing only if there was concrete Government intervention with funding and technical support.
Worinu said FPDA was only a regulatory body assisting with skills and knowledge,  but given the need and interest shown by the small farmers, it had gone out of its way to assist with farming skills transfer, supply chain and securing markets.
Maru said while he was impressed with the work of FPDA, he also challenged them to provide their plans and objectives so the government could assist wherever they could.
“I want us to look at the bigger picture and take our food crop production and development to the next level," he said.
"We have to be innovative and learn the new skills and technology in farming.
"We need downstream processing and look at supplying our markets adequately and even exporting our crops to other markets around the world."
Maru is determined to see agriculture,  especially horticulture industry, adequately funded and driven to the next level.
“Our farmers must work in cooperatives and be owners of the market chain," he said.
"They should own the processing plants and continue to work on their farms to supply the market.
"We cannot sit back and allow outsiders to take over our agriculture industry."
Maru also commended FPDA for building a four-storey office complex in Goroka which is scheduled to be opened later this year.
He said with the best corporate governance and sound financing system, his office would not hesitate to assist FPDA with funding in their projects and programmes.
While thanking minister Maru for having confidence in FPDA Worinu said his office would be ever-ready to deliver what was required by the Government to fulfil the  Vision 2050 policy and the medium-term development plans.
Ends…

Boluminski Highway sealing in New Ireland underway

Australian High Commission

Works are well underway in New Ireland on a major project to reconstruct 32.4km section of the Boluminski Highway between Pinatgin and Loloba.

The K39.4 million project is being delivered
through the Papua New Guinea - Australia Partnership, with the support of the New Ireland Provincial Government.

Australia is committed to supporting a prosperous Papua New Guinea.
Works along the Boluminski Highway will help business, help local communities access markets and services and boost the tourism industry in New Ireland Province.
Department of Works Secretary, David Wereh, is pleased to see the project progressing well.

“This is an important project on an essential economic corridor for
Papua New Guinea," he said.
"The project will finally link the centres of
Namatanai and Kavieng with 265km of sealed maintainable road.
"This will be a significant achievement made possible through a long term
commitment by the Papua New Guinean and Australian governments”.
More than 140 local residents are employed on the project and worksare expected to be completed by the end of December 2018. The project is being delivered through the Papua New Guinea – Australia Transport
Sector Support Program.

ExxonMobil PNG reopens Komo Airfield

*Flights resume into Komo airfield, APNG:WLN-donated humanitarian supplies on board
*ExxonMobil PNG assistance to rebuild infrastructure and key roads

Flights have resumed into the Komo airfield, operated by ExxonMobil PNG on behalf of PNG LNG, following the Feb 26  earthquake.
The first flight with staff on board arrived at Komo airfield on April 26, 2018.
A cargo plane delivering earthquake relief landed shortly after.

Jukuli Kapiako of APNG;WLN and ExxonMobil PNG staff arriving on the first flight that landed at Komo airfield

Relief items included household goods such as clothes, shoes, kitchen items, bedding and toys collected by the Advancing PNG: Women’s Leaders Network (APNG:WLN) and the Salvation Army from public relief drives and ExxonMobil PNG staff donations. APNG:WLN representatives were also on the first flight to coordinate distribution of the items within communities.

Cargo flight arriving at Komo airfield with APNG;WLN humanitarian relief supplies

ExxonMobil PNG managing-director Andrew Barry said the reinstatement of Komo airfield in such a short timeframe is a testament to the hard work and dedication of those involved.
“The Komo airfield is an integral piece of infrastructure, its reopening is a significant step forward and restores important transport and logistics infrastructure to assist with our operations and delivery of relief and recovery support for communities," he said.

Cargo flight unloading APNG;WLN humanitarian relief supplies at Komo airfiel

“We’d like to thank the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for accommodating timely inspections of the repaired runway to ensure we could resume flights into the airfield as quickly as possible.”
In consultation with aircraft operators and design contractors, ExxonMobil PNG repaired cracks and depressions to the runway, re-marked the entire airstrip and repaired fencing in line with the highest safety standards.
Local landowner company, Hides Gas Development Company assisted with the repairs along with teams from Wood Group and Aurecon.

ExxonMobil PNG Hides Gas Conditioning Plant Community Affairs team and Advancing PN; Women’s Leader’s Network representatives with the humanitarian relief supplies that arrived on a cargo plane at the Komo airfield

Non-critical repairs to various Komo airfield facilities will be finalised in subsequent phases.
ExxonMobil PNG is also assisting the government to build infrastructure and key roads and bridges for Hela and Southern Highlands orovinces that were destroyed during the disaster.
Humanitarian support provided by ExxonMobil PNG includes 50 tonnes of food and drinking water, 600 tarpaulins, 1,020 solar lights and other essential items such as purification tablets, cooking aids and hygiene kits.
 Exxon Mobil Corporation has also provided nearly K3.5 million towards humanitarian relief.
Longer term support is being provided for the restoration of health care facilities, education services and community food gardens. 

Protecting women and girls after the earthquake in Papua New Guinea

unfpa.org | April 26, 2018

MENDI, Papua New Guinea – When a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the remote Southern Highlands Province on 26 February, 18-year-old Julian Ako was heavily pregnant with her third child.

In earthquake-affected Tamande, Mendi, local emergency responders meet with UNFPA staff. © UNFPA

She and her family emerged unscathed, but their home, like many others near the earthquake’s epicentre, was severely damaged.
A landslide contaminated their sole nearby source of safe drinking water. The earthquake’s aftermath brought strong aftershocks, while newly impassable roads and disruption of vital services made it hard for Julian to provide for her two young children.
February’s earthquake, perhaps one of the most under-reported natural catastrophes so far this year, has affected over half a million people, with over 270,000 still in need of vital aid as of April 2018.
Even in the best of times, inadequate infrastructure makes many parts of this impoverished country hard to access, and the number of health facilities is insufficient to meet the population’s needs.
Since the earthquake, landslides and sporadic unrest in some areas have made delivering aid even harder. Meanwhile, many critical health stations are out of commission.

Birth and death in the aftermath

For Julian, the effects of the earthquake and its aftermath compounded the challenges of a difficult birth.
“When my contractions started,” she recalls, “the local nurse told me she couldn’t help, and sent me off to Pimaga hospital to give birth.” This larger facility had already received safe birthing kits from UNFPA.
Early the next morning, after Julian had laboured for hours, midwives discovered that her baby had hydrocephalus. The baby died, and Julian’s life was in serious jeopardy.

Julian (left) with her mother (centre) and UNFPA officer Debbie Kupesan (right) after Julian's life-saving surgery. © UNFPA

But thanks to a swift referral made by a midwife from Papua New Guinea’s Family Health Association and a reproductive health officer from UNFPA, Julian was quickly airlifted to the larger, better-equipped Mendi provincial hospital, where her life was saved.
Julian was one of approximately 3,200 pregnant women caught up in the disaster who, along with an estimated 35,000 earthquake-affected women of reproductive age, were targeted by UNFPA as part of the government-led joint international and United Nations emergency response.
With support from Australia, the government has distributed around 700 of UNFPA’s dignity kits – containing vital health, hygiene and safety products to meet the needs of women and girls – in the worst-hit areas. Many kits were dispatched quickly through a joint Asia-Pacific pre-positioning initiative between the government of Australia and UNFPA. Another 500 kits are now pre-positioned in the hard-hit province of Hela.
In some of the worst-affected areas, UNFPA has distributed reproductive health kits containing supplies related to clean delivery, sexually transmitted infections and post-rape care.
Other UNFPA efforts target violence against women, which often spikes in emergencies.
Working with government and partners, such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation, UN Women and UNICEF, UNFPA is working to establish five women-friendly spaces in earthquake-affected areas, where women and girls can seek services for gender-based violence and receive counseling, awareness and support for referral services.
UNFPA staff have trained humanitarian aid workers in hard-hit communities on stress management, psychological first aid, and the Minimum Initial Service Package for sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence in emergencies.
Julian, meanwhile, is now safe, recovering and looking to the future.
“I’m happy to be alive,” she says. “I’m looking forward to getting back to my husband and children at home so we can get on with rebuilding our house and our gardens.”

Prince Andrew: 'Huge opportunities' for trade between UK and Papua New Guinea

Comments by HRH Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, at the closing of the UK-Papua New Guinea Trade and Investment Forum, London, April 24,  2018.

“All of you are here because you want to know what Papua New Guinea is about.
“I hope that you have heard from the Prime Minister what the opportunities actually are on the ground.

Longtime PNG tourism operator Sir Bob Bates talking with Prince Andrew at the UK-Papua New Guinea Trade and Investment Forum in London on Tuesday. With them is Prime Minister Peter O'Neill.

“The conversations that I have had, and the conversations other members of my family have had over the last week, give a huge amount of confidence in the Commonwealth’s ability to work together in so many different areas.
“Investment and trade are just part of a whole series of activities the commonwealth is good at.
“You have had an exposed time today of concentration on what is available in Papua New Guinea in the coming years.
“I can see that there are huge opportunities.
“I hope today has been useful, I would like to say to the Prime Minister thank you very much indeed for the numerous offers that I have had to go to Papua New Guinea over the last few years.
“I will be going back to Papua New Guinea in the not too distant future.
“Thank you for your participation today.
“I hope to visit you when you have made your investment, increased you investment, traded more actively and increased the amount of actual trade that is going on between the UK and Papua New Guinea.
“It has been a pleasure visiting your country in the past and I look forward to visiting on many occasions into the future.”

Agriculture and tourism opportunities focus at UK-PNG Investment Forum

Agriculture and tourism provide substantial future growth opportunities for foreign investment in Papua New Guinea, and British investors are being given the opportunity to play an active role in these growth sectors.

Prince Andrew with Prime Minister Peter O'Neill at the forum.

Speaking to more than 150 participants at the UK-Papua New Guinea Trade and Investment Forum in London this week,  Prime Minister  Peter O’Neill  said alongside the resources sector, agriculture and tourism expansion was broadening the economic base of the nation.
“For many years, the Papua New Guinea economy has been based on the resources sector,” he said when opening the forum.
“We have delivered the most efficient LNG project in the world, and now with our partners we are initiating our second LNG project with Total from France.
“Demand for LNG will continue to increase in the next 30 years and this provides opportunities for investment with a healthy return.
“At the same time, as an economy, we must broaden our horizons so that we are not held captive to the boom-and-bust cycles of the global resource sector.
“Over the past few years we have been broadening the base of our economy focusing on sectors such as agriculture and tourism to be the key drivers of the economy in the years to come.
“Our people were some of the first in human history to establish organised agriculture.
“We have some of the most fertile soil in the world and a great landmass available for agriculture.
“We need to mobilise the capital that is needed to open up opportunities to produce more food for our growing population, and access the huge export markets in Asia.
“We are commercially producing milk, expanding production of cocoa and coffee and embarking on producing more of our own rice.
“Just as an example, we have demonstrated that double the yield of rice per hectare can be grown in our soil than is possible in other parts of South East Asia.”
O'Neill further highlighted the substantial potential PNG had as a tourist destination.
“Unlike many parts of the world where tourism is just one product based on sand and the ocean, Papua New Guinea has much more to offer," he said.
“We are a very culturally rich country, with a wide diversity of places where people from around the world can visit and engage with our people.
“As one off our tourism pioneers, Bob Bates, who is here with us today, will tell you, Papua New Guinea is a country that once people have visited they want to come back.
“Our Government is embarking on a programme that will provide incentives to increase investment in tourism.
“We are piloting a programme in East New Britain Province, working with landowners and Mineral Resources Development Company, and we are developing a master plan that will encourage investment in the tourism industry.”
 O’Neill told the forum that expanding opportunities in agriculture and tourism, requires ongoing investment in infrastructure.
“To grow future sectors we are investing heavily in new roads, bridges and airports that will get agricultural goods to market and enable tourists to travel in our country," he said.
O'Neill thanked the government of the United Kingdom, and the Duke of York, HRH Prince Andrew, for their commitment to strengthening economic relations between the two countries.
“Papua New Guinea’s relationship with the United Kingdom is growing" he said.
“I thank the UK Government for expanding more opportunities in Europe, and Papua New Guinea will continue to work with investors from the United Kingdom to increase opportunities, particularly in oil and gas, mining, agriculture and tourism
“Papua New Guinea has proven that it will deliver strong return on investments
 “We have demonstrated the political stability that our country is experiencing, and this is essential for business to expand investment.”
At the conclusion of the forum, O’Neill further extended his invitation to investors to visit PNG as part of APEC in 2018, and attend the APEC CEO Summit that will take place in Port Moresby in November.
UK-Papua New Guinea Trade and Investment Forum was opened by the Prime Minister on April 24, and included a key-note address by the British Foreign Minister, Mark Field MP, and was closed by the Duke of York, HRH Prince Andrew.
Other speakers at the forum included PNG  Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato, Bank of PNG Governor Loi Bakani, and representatives of leading PNG businesses.

ICTSI agrees to reinstate PNG dock workers' pay

porttechnology.org | April 25, 2018

Workers at South Pacific International Container Terminal Limited (SPICT), Lae, Papua New Guinea. Image courtesy of ICTSI

The PNG Maritime and Transport Workers Union (PNGMTWU) signed a Memorandum of Agreement with International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI), the Philippine port operator, following building pressure from the local workforce and international sources.

ICTSI and PNG officers after signing the agreement. Image courtesy of ICTSI

ITF president and chair of the ITF docker’s section, Paddy Crumlin, said: “This Memorandum of Agreement is a significant victory for workers who were looking down the barrel of a 50% wage cut.
“The ITF congratulates the PNGMTWU and its members for digging in and demanding the pay and conditions that PNG dockworkers have fought for over decades.
“However the ITF remains concerned that 213 workers are still without a contract after receiving termination notices from the former concession holder at Port Moresby.
“The transition of these jobs to the new Motukea terminal needs to be urgently addressed by ICTSI.”
The agreement follows months of disruption and protests after the ICTSI was awarded concession agreements for the operation PNG’s two major ports in October 2017, and cut in worker’s pay down to the legal minimum — impacting overall working conditions.
Paddy Crumlin continued: “This sits in sharp contrast to ICTSI’s industrial relations practices elsewhere in the world. For this to be real progress ICTSI must extend this respect for workers’ across the entirety of the company’s global operations.
“The ITF is prepared to work with ICTSI to progress the fundamental rights of all workers across its global network, to end the exploitation of its global workforce, recognise trade unions and stop undermining the wages, conditions and safety of its workforce.”
The ITF recently released a shareholder advisory note detailing governance issues at the ICTSI, and recently exposed the company when an Indonesian worker died at its facility in Jakarta in November 2017.

Papua New Guinea: Highlands Earthquake Snapshot - Community Messaging Uptake (as of 23 April 2018)

reliefweb.int | April 23, 2018

Digicel network users in Hela and Southern Highlands Province continue to receive life-saving messages and access pre-recorded automated voice messages. Over 38,000 callers have listened in on the automated voice messages in 2 weeks. An increase of 20,000 calls were made this week targeting 50,000 automated voice messages.Click for full report.

Papua New Guinea: Measles - Emergency Plan of Action Final Report (Operation n° MDRPG006)


reliefweb.int | April 30, 2018

Summary:

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) was granted on 1 November 2017 for CHF 88,808 to the PNGRCS. The DREF reached 9,132 people, of which 57 cases were identified as directly reached through vaccination/mobilisation messages; over 50,000 people were indirectly benefited from social mobilisation campaign in 33 villages.

Since 19 October, no new measles cases were reported and the epidemic is completely under control. The declaration of measles outbreak was lifted on 19 November and the Department of Health has since diverted the focus to a “mopup” Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccination campaign. The Vanimo-Green District Health Manager requested the PNGRCS volunteers to focus on social mobilization in the three target areas. Changes in the operation’s targets and activities were reported in Operation Update -1. These included scaling down the target numbers from 60,000 to 50,000 people and adding a new activity - mass awareness campaign through radio programming.

With the DREF allocation, PNGRCS met the needs of affected people and implemented a strategy that included hygiene information dissemination and community awareness to minimize or contain the spread of measles over the three-month timeframe. The scope and budget for this operation enabled the targeted population of approximately over 9,000 people to be reached directly, and a further 50,000 people indirectly.

The implementation of activities for the operation was successfully concluded by 31 January 2018. A total of CHF 45,674 was returned to DREF. The final financial report is available here.

Exxon Mobil offers Papua New Guinea LNG cargo for May delivery to N.Asia: traders

by Jessica Jaganathan, reuters.com
April 24, 2018

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. energy major Exxon Mobil has offered a liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from its recently restarted Papua New Guinea plant for delivery into the Japan, Korea, Taiwan (JKT) region in May, two traders with knowledge of the matter said.

Exxon Mobil has offered the cargo on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis, they said on Tuesday, asking not to be identified.

Bids are due on April 25 and are valid until April 27. The cargo will be delivered on the Kumul LNG tanker, one of the traders said.

The PNG LNG plant was recently restarted after a major earthquake triggered a shutdown in February.

Papua New Guinea's Kutubu blend crude returns to market after two-month hiatus

by Norazlina Juma'at, platts.com
April 24, 2018

Papua New Guinea's Kutubu Blend crude has returned to the spot market after a near two-month hiatus, with April, May and June-loading cargoes appearing shortly after production restarted, trade sources Tuesday said.

Production of Kutubu blend was halted on February 26 after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake led to the closure of facilities involved in the production of the grade.

Market sources said there was an April-loading cargo that had been taken by BP. The seller of the cargo is not known, but prior to the earthquake, BP was heard to have bought a cargo loading over April 23-27 from Oil Search.

In addition, ExxonMobil was heard to be offering a May-loading spot cargo of Kutubu blend last week, two traders at a trading house and an Asian refiner said.

There were also two June-loading cargoes that were heard on offer, with Oil Search heard to be the seller of one of the cargoes, another two traders said.

This could not be confirmed with Oil Search and ExxonMobil.

ExxonMobil was later heard to have withdrawn its offer for the May-loading cargo, while the June-loading cargoes were heard to have been sold, market sources said.

ExxonMobil might have been offering the May-loading cargo initially due to issues at its Singapore refinery, market sources said. The oil major typically takes its cargoes into its own system, though market sources said it occasionally offers its cargoes to the spot market.

ExxonMobil could not be reached on the status of its refinery.

Traders have been widely anticipating the return of Kutubu Blend crude to the spot market following notices of production restarting from Kutubu blend stakeholders.

Oil Search had said in a notice on April 3 that operations had resumed at its Kutubu Central Processing Facility and that it had restarted production from some of the wells at the Kutubu oil field.

This was followed by a statement from ExxonMobil on February 12 that it had restarted production from the PNG LNG project two weeks ahead of schedule. Condensates from the PNG LNG project are one of the streams that make up Kutubu Blend.

Expedition provides new look at Australia's first submarine in PNG waters

voxy.co.nz | April 23, 2018

A joint US and Australian expedition to survey Australia’s first submarine HMAS AE1 has provided detailed new images of the 103-year old shipwreck, which lies on the seafloor off the Duke of York Islands in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

The Royal Australian Navy’s HMAS AE1 was lost at sea with all hands on 14 September 1914, and its fate had remained a mystery until its discovery in December 2017. It was the first loss for the RAN and the first Allied submarine loss in World War I but ultimately a tragedy felt by all Australians.

The recent survey was undertaken by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s research vessel Petrel and coordinated by Find AE1 Ltd. in partnership with the Australian National Maritime Museum, the Royal Australian Navy, Curtin University, the Western Australian Museum and the Submarine Institute of Australia. Approval for the survey was granted by Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery. The ship’s remotely-operated vehicle (ROV), fitted with high-definition video and stills cameras, undertook a comprehensive, non-invasive inspection of the submarine, revealing fascinating new information. RV Petrel diverted to the Duke of York Islands following a series of successful expeditions that located the World War II shipwrecks of USS Lexington, USS Juneau and USS Helena.

"The AE1 has a special place in Australian maritime history and I’m proud of our partnership with the Australian National Maritime Museum and others that brought an end to the mystery of the AE1’s final resting place," said Paul Allen. "For all of us associated with Petrel, we view this work as a means to honor the courage and sacrifice of crew of the AE1."

The data collected during this first ROV examination of AE1 will be used by the Australian National Maritime Museum to develop a shipwreck management plan in cooperation with the PNG Government and the PNG National Museum and Art Gallery.

"We are very grateful to Paul Allen, Vulcan Inc, and the crew of RV Petrel for making this survey possible. These incredible images and the new information they provide will help the museum tell the story of AE1 and its brave crew, and ensure their service and sacrifice are remembered by future generations," said Australian National Maritime Museum Director and CEO Kevin Sumption PSM.

The still images of the shipwreck site will also be developed into a detailed 3D digital model using techniques developed by Curtin University and the Western Australian Museum. This will allow the Find AE1 team and museum researchers to further examine AE1 and refine understanding of what happened to it 103 years ago.

Elomar brothers in $9 million legal row over PNG deal

canberratimes.com.au
April 22, 2018

Sydney businessmen the Elomar brothers were busy in 2014.

The Elomar brothers in Papua New Guinea. Photo: Supplied

Mamdouh Elomar was publicly decrying the actions of his son Mohamed, an Islamic State fighter in Syria who would go on to be photographed holding severed heads.
Mamdouh was also vying for Iraqi construction contracts with his brother Ibrahim, arranging a $US1 million bribe for which they would both be jailed last year.
But the pair struck another deal that year, paying $6 million for a logging company only to end up negotiating a $9 million payment from the previous owners after a dispute.
The case, now before the courts, involves the forests of Papua New Guinea and a development fund meant to help lift locals out of poverty.
And it hinges on claims that another businessman stole more than $10 million in assets belonging to the Papua New Guinean people.
Mamdouh, 64, and Ibrahim, 61, were raised in Lebanon in a family of 12 children and worked manual jobs in Australia before building a large construction company, Lifese.
The firm counted a former Supreme Court judge as its chairman and completed projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
In time, though, the Elomar brothers became better known for the extremist activities of their relatives.
Mamdouh’s brother Mohamed Ali Elomar is serving 21 years’ jail for his role in planning attempted terrorist attacks in Melbourne and Sydney in 2005.
Mamdouh’s son Ahmed was jailed for four years for assaulting a policeman at the 2012 riots in Sydney’s Hyde Park, after carrying a sign that said “our dead are in paradise, your dead are in hell”.
Then his son Mohamed, formerly a promising boxer, travelled to Syria to become one of Australia’s most infamous IS fighters, before he was killed in an airstrike in 2015.
Terrorism headlines were hurting the Lifese business in 2014, shrinking revenue.
But the Elomars found money in February that year to buy a timber operation called Cloudy Bay from the PNG Sustainable Development Program, a charitable trust part-run by Australians.
Managing $US1.3 billion in assets, PNG SDP funds local development projects with proceeds from the Ok Tedi mine that was once owned by BHP, which handed over its stake in return for immunity from environmental lawsuits.
“We commit ourselves to improving the quality of life of the people of Western Province,” the program says on its website.
The Elomars were joined by another Australian, 25 per cent shareholder Nick Roniotis, in buying the Cloudy Bay timber operation - including logging permits, production plants and a commercial building in Port Moresby - for 40 million kina, about $17 million at the time.
They paid $6.5 million up front, but then defaulted on the rest.
As they faced charges over the bribery in Iraq, the Elomars were negotiating hard over the PNG business to strike a new and unusual deal.
It would have allowed them to keep control of the company while receiving millions of dollars more than they ended up paying for it.
The deal, signed last February, was meant to put an end to a murky dispute.
PNG SDP could have taken back all of the timber operations’ assets, but it decided to forgive the $11 million debt in return for the Port Moresby property alone.
On top of this, PNG SDP said it would pay the Elomars’ company $9 million.
Once the property was transferred back to the development program and the money paid, both sides would relinquish any right to sue over the initial sale.
The deal was fair, according to PNG SDP’s Australian chief executive John Wylie, because it compensated the Elomars for a massive theft on the timber operation.
A former public servant and management consultant, Mr Wylie said the theft was committed by someone working within the development fund before the sale to the Elomars and was only discovered later.
“Physical assets” were allegedly stolen and funds siphoned off to pay for personal expenses, including school fees in Australia.
“The validated quantum of the theft was much more than $9 million,” he said.
The alleged thief, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been reported to an anti-corruption body in Singapore, where the company was incorporated, Mr Wylie said.
“The PNG authorities are in the process of being informed,” he said. “This is being done carefully through lawyers and has yet to be fully executed.”
Deeds sighted by The Sun-Herald refer not to a theft but “disputes” between the buyer and seller.
Asked why the $9 million payment was to go to the Elomars personally, not the Cloudy Bay company, Mr Wylie said Cloudy Bay had given a written executed authority for it.
“How they divvied up the spoils, as it were - we didn’t want to get involved in that. None of our business.”
The deal has yet to go through.
The Elomars’ former business partner, Mr Roniotis, claimed he was cut out of the $9 million payment. He launched action in PNG’s National Court of Justice to have the sum paid to the timber company, not the Elomars’ venture.
Mr Roniotis also questioned the idea of compensation for a theft, saying he and the Elomars conducted due diligence on the company before buying it and found nothing untoward.
His lawyer, Stewart Levitt, has questioned the negotiations between PNG SDP and the Elomars, who at the time had been facing foreign bribery charges for more than a year.
“It would be extraordinary for the trustees of a public trust to want to continue to do business with people known to be facing serious criminal charges which had been widely reported,” Mr Levitt said.
The Elomars, who pleaded guilty to the Iraq bribery last July, will be first eligible for release in September next year. Their lawyer at the time of the PNG deal negotiations, Abdul Reslan, did not return calls.
The establishment of PNG SDP and environmental damage from the Ok Tedi mine is now under investigation after PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill announced a public inquiry in parliament this month.