Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sunday, 16 September, may have been just another day for most Australians, but for Papua New Guinea 16 September represents a momentous occasion in their lengthy history—their independence as a self-governing country. No longer were they a territory of a foreign power. They were now a power in their own right.

Independence was not an overnight occurrence, and Papua New Guinea—a name conferred only in 1972—certainly lived through some tumultuous times prior to this. Times for Papua and New Guinea were far from easy, with areas being annexed by Germany and, at one stage, the British government. In fact, it was not until 1920 that Australia assumed the role of governing the former German territory of New Guinea. These pivotal years, until 1975 independence, saw investment in infrastructure, education and, importantly, health care for the population. PNG has since experienced its fair share of catastrophe—from the Bougainville conflicts, where we saw significant loss of life, to natural disasters and outbreaks of polio and TB.

I recently met with a delegation from Papua New Guinea, and we discussed their desire to develop and establish more and closer city-to-city relationships and business opportunities. One matter that always seems to persist—and I know that it is an ongoing concern for my friend, the member for Leichhardt—is TB and polio. For a small, developing nation, both illnesses can be, and often are, fatal. Polio is historically a devastating disease. It is one of the most dreaded childhood illnesses in human history, and, for a country with already high infant mortality rates, it does not bode well that, despite eradicating the disease as of the year 2000, it has now broken out in three provinces.

Polio may well be a nightmare disease, with death and lifelong ailments as a result of contraction, but with TB, a commonplace airborne virus, Papua New Guineans also need our assistance. PNG experiences one of the highest rates of this highly contagious and airborne disease in the Pacific. In 2015, PNG was struck with an estimated 33,000 cases of tuberculosis. To put that into perspective, that is equivalent to the population of the City of Gladstone in Queensland. However, with the assistance of organisations like YWAM and their medical ships, together with Australian aid, PNG is receiving the assistance it so desperately needs.

My close affinity with Papua New Guinea has given me many dear PNG friends. I'd like to take this opportunity to celebrate PNG's 43rd year of independence, and I look forward to continuing my advocacy for this wonderful nation and our friend and neighbour. Too often we take our close friends for granted. We must not let complacency damage this vital relationship.