Debate resumed, on motion by Ms Parke:

That the House:

(1)

recognises that International Women’s Day was celebrated on 8 March 2010;

(2)

notes that:

(a)

the Australian Government is committed to the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are the agreed targets set by the world’s nations to reduce poverty by 2015;

(b)

Australia’s closest neighbour, Papua New Guinea (PNG), is currently off track to meet any of the MDGs by 2015;

(c)

the maternal mortality rate in PNG is extremely high, having doubled since 1996, with a woman in PNG being 242 times more likely to die from pregnancy or childbirth related complications than an Australian woman;

(d)

there is a clear correlation between the high rate of maternal mortality and the high rate of child mortality in PNG;

(e)

the high maternal and child mortality rates in PNG are a reflection of the failure of access to, and the delivery of, quality health services over the last 15 years;

(f)

the challenges of reducing maternal and child mortality in PNG are many, including difficult terrain and weather conditions, fragile health systems, limited human resources, weak financial governance and management, and poor service delivery in many rural areas;

(3)

recognises that, despite these challenges, progress is being made by organisations like UNICEF working closely with the PNG Government, AusAID and other key development partners;

(4)

recognises that strengthening health systems and improving human resources for maternal and child health in PNG and the rest of the Asia Pacific are critical if the MDGs for maternal and child health are to be achieved;

(5)

acknowledges the Australian Government’s concern about maternal mortality rates in PNG and its increased commitments towards PNG achieving MDGs 4 and 5; and

(6)

recommends that the Australian Government support the PNG Government to implement, as a matter of urgency, the recommendations outlined by the PNG National Department of Health’s Ministerial Taskforce on Maternal Health, including:

(a)

securing investments to achieve the ambitious but necessary targets required to turn around the current status of maternal health in PNG;

(b)

implementation of universal free primary education as a successful intervention to address maternal mortality in PNG;

(c)

urgent and sustained efforts to address the well-defined system’s problems in the health sector in PNG;

(d)

strengthening of access and coverage of quality voluntary family planning service provision for all Papua New Guineans as a primary intervention;

(e)

access for every woman in PNG to supervised delivery by a trained health care provider by 2030; and

(f)

access for all women in PNG to comprehensive obstetric care and quality emergency obstetric care if required.

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