Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

We are actually increasing aid to Papua New Guinea, mate, and we are doing it better. Instead of just throwing money out the window as you drive past, we are actually targeting programs which will give defined benefits on the ground. We are partnering with the NRL and with the Seventh-day Adventist university up there to produce 500 midwives, fully trained, throughout the country. That is the sort of thing that our aid budget will do.

My only problem with the foreign minister's address was that, when she was told she would have to back an NRL team—the obvious answer was the North Queensland Cowboys—she chose the PNG Hunters! The PNG Hunters were in the Intrust Super Cup up against the Mackay Cutters and the Northern Pride. She chose the PNG Hunters. So she had a fair bit of explaining to do when she hopped off the stage, I am telling you! The minister spoke of respect and duty. She spoke about getting the best bang for our buck on our aid budget. She spoke about driving our aid dollar further by partnering with people to get better things in place.

I would also like to take this opportunity to plug the PNG Games in Lae this year. Lae is in the industrial heartland of Papua New Guinea. I have never been to Lae but they say it is a great place; it is a busy town. Lae is the home of the 6th Papua New Guinea Games. The theme this year is 'Bilong yumi', which is pidgin for 'it belongs to you and me': it belongs to all of us. Fourteen thousand athletes throughout the country will compete in not just rugby league—they do more stuff than just rugby league—but also football, netball, volleyball and traditional sports. The leader of the contingent at the forum was Terry Johnson from Brand Ambassadors, who is Townsville based, and Scott Prince is an official PNG Games Ambassador. Scott Prince had a fair bit of explaining to do as well!

The closest capital city to Townsville is not Brisbane; it is Port Moresby. We must make sure that we take care of our northern neighbour. We must make sure that they participate in the development of northern Australia. We must make sure that they are a quality driver in that region. They are a country of over 8½ million people with an average age of 42. They are a great country and they are a great resource for all of us, and I thank them all for having me.

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