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

On Sunday and Monday, 18 and 19 May in Cairns, the Australia Papua New Guinea Business Forum and Trade Expo was held. Phil Franklin, President of the Australia Papua New Guinea Business Council, who is based in Lae, and Frank Yourn, the executive director, who is based in Wynnum in Brisbane, were both heavily involved in setting up this fantastic affair. It is a trade show with dinners, get-togethers and lots of chat around the place. It was well attended, with a wide cross-section of banks and companies plying their wares, and I hope everyone had a great time. They had one aim, and that was to do business better and increase activity between our two countries.

One of the keynote speakers was the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, the Hon. Peter O'Neill. He said it was great that Papua New Guinea was back on the map for Australia. He did note that it was the first time in history, probably never to be repeated, that Papua New Guinea had been visited by three different Australian prime ministers in one calendar year. It made an impact. He spoke quite passionately about the visa issue in trying to get to and from Australia. People applying for education and business visas would like to have quicker access to the country. We do throw up a fair few barriers when it comes to access for those sorts of people. Whilst the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, who also spoke at the forum, recognised their concern, it is not a governmental thing; it is not a policy thing. This is a regulatory thing, and we are working with the Papua New Guinean government to bring their processes up to scratch, the same as other countries.

Papua New Guinea is coming into its 14th year of real economic growth. Whilst I was in Port Moresby recently for Anzac Day, they were burning off all the impurities in the natural gas pipeline and so there was an ethereal glow over the horizon, where the gasworks were going on. This is a massive project for PNG and it will be an economic driver into the future. Their economy is expected to grow over 15 per cent in the foreseeable future, and they have a plan to grow their economy, to build their workforce and to work their way through.

At the forum, Julie Bishop spoke about our aid and the respect between our two countries.

Andrew Leigh (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Did she mention the cuts?

Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! It being 9.30 pm, the debate is interrupted.

House adjourned at 21:30