Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health and Ageing is currently finalising a report into regional health issues jointly affecting Australia and the South Pacific. As part of that inquiry, in October last year the committee visited PNG. This followed a visit to the Torres Strait Islands, where we looked at the health issues that exist there and also the Torres Strait Treaty. We looked at PNG from the Australian side.

When we visited PNG, we learnt of the problems that were being experienced in that society. The government figures showed that it was highly unlikely that the millennium goals would be reached, particularly millennium goals 4 and 5, which are addressed in the member for Fremantle’s motion. It highlighted that there had been some examples of progress in both countries but that there was still a long way to go. I was pleased to hear the member for Fremantle identify the role of women within the society as being one issue that does impact on the millennium goals that we are looking at here.

When we were in PNG we spent time in Port Moresby and Daru. We then visited the treaty villages, where we could see the support that the women had during childbirth and the children during their early childhood. We could compare that to the support that was available for those people living in the Torres Strait Islands, some 10 minutes away by boat. You could understand why people in PNG would invariably cross to Australia if they could in cases of extreme health crises.

It is important to note that PNG has one of the most rugged terrains in the world. Only three per cent of the roads are sealed, and often air transport or banana boat is the only mode of transport. It is very difficult to get from one place to another. Forty per cent of the population live in poverty and 80 per cent live in hard-to-reach areas, as the committee discovered during its visit to PNG. The maternal mortality rate is 733 per 100,000, making it the second-highest maternal mortality rate in Asia-Pacific region—second only to Afghanistan. About 53 per cent of mothers receive delivery assistance from health professionals, nine per cent from doctors and 40 per cent from nurses. The 53 per cent is a break-up of those figures.

The greatest cause of mortality is obviously post-partum haemorrhaging and infection. These could be circumvented if proper medical treatment was available. Women are giving birth without supervision or proper medical treatment. They are also giving birth in the most remote areas, which can mean that they do not get the assistance they need.

Australia’s relationship with PNG needs to be strengthened so we can continue to support, encourage and help the PNG government reach the Millennium Development Goals. Otherwise, as I mentioned, I do not think they will be able to reach them by 2015. We need to make an ongoing commitment to our nearest neighbour to give them the support that they need to move forward. We need to ensure that the right medical training and the right resources are available in the country to assist women and children. It is very easy to stand here and say, ‘We have the solution,’ but the solution must come from PNG. We must support the PNG government and do everything we possibly can to turn around the disaster on our doorstep.

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