Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Tomorrow, 16 September, our closest neighbours across the Torres Strait will celebrate their independence. It will be 34 years since Papua New Guinea gained full independence from the Commonwealth of Australia. On a momentous occasion for the small nation, the 1975 lowering of the Australian flag for the last official time and the raising of Papua New Guinea’s own flag came peacefully. At Independence Hill in Port Moresby and numerous other places across that nation, people gathered to watch flag ceremonies that marked the birth of their new nation, with much excitement and enthusiasm for the future.

As a member of the Australian Papua New Guinea parliamentary friendship group, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the people of Papua New Guinea. Since independence, the people of PNG have demonstrated an extraordinary resilience. Since they became an independent nation, they have of course encountered many challenges, but they have also demonstrated an extraordinary ability to work together and to grow and progress as a nation. That is no mean feat in a nation made up of some 800 tribal groupings, or wantoks, where 85 per cent of the population live in rural areas with little communication and infrastructure.

As well as that, the people of PNG have demonstrated a generosity and kind-heartedness that, like many attributes of Papua New Guinea, usually goes unremarked. While Papua New Guinea is one of the poorest countries in Asia and indeed the world, the people of Papua New Guinea have been extraordinarily generous to Australia—you only have to ask Australians who have visited there, particularly those who have done the Kokoda Track, to know that.

While 37 per cent of the country’s population live below the national poverty line, thousands of Papua New Guineans made generous individual donations to our recovery efforts in the aftermath of the Black Saturday bushfires and the North Queensland floods earlier this year. Indeed, one remote village alone donated $5,500 to the bushfire appeal, and the Papua New Guinean Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare, and his government donated $2 million to assist us with our relief efforts.

Papua New Guinea is more than just a neighbour to Australia; it is a close friend, and that is a friendship which the Australian government values and highly regards. We share a rich history with PNG and have maintained close ties post independence. At the time of independence, the Australian government under Prime Minister Gough Whitlam committed to the people and the government of Papua New Guinea that Australia would continue to help that nation build a secure and prosperous future.

The Whitlam government also committed to building a lasting relationship with our closest neighbour. That commitment has been met variably by the different governments over the last 34 years. The support was noticeably fractured under the former government, but I am pleased to say that the Rudd government has been working hard to rebuild and foster those strong ties once again. Early last year, Prime Minister Rudd announced that there would be a new era of cooperation between Australia and the Pacific island nations. The current government recognises the importance of a strong partnership with Papua New Guinea and values a sound bilateral relationship.

As I said, since independence Papua New Guinea has faced some great challenges in its quest for ongoing development and prosperity. One of the biggest of those challenges has been the battle against HIV-AIDS. Unfortunately, the disease has reached epidemic proportions and the largest developing country in the South Pacific region, Papua New Guinea, has the highest incidence of HIV in the region. It is currently estimated that two per cent of the population are HIV positive. Those figures are expected to rise dramatically within the next few years, with estimates forecasting a rise to five per cent of the population infected by the disease by 2012 unless measures are taken to address that. Unless interventions to address the spread of HIV-AIDS are scaled up, the future of the country will suffer from reduced life expectancy levels, a depleted workforce, and an increase in health expenditure and reduced economic growth. As Australians, we must assist Papua New Guinea to address that challenge. I am pleased to say Australia is delivering aid to Papua New Guinea to assist in curbing the further spread of that terrible disease. In fact, Papua New Guinea is Australia’s second-largest aid recipient, after Indonesia. In 2007 Australia commenced the Sanap Wantaim, or the Stand Together, support program and committed $100 million over five years to support the government there to lead a strong and coordinated response to the HIV-AIDS epidemic.

While I am on the topic of Australian aid to Papua New Guinea, I would just like to add how pleasing it is to see young Australians becoming involved in Australia’s aid efforts. This week I, and many other senators, met with delegates of the Micah Challenge and found them to be enthusiastic, passionate and selfless about heightening the awareness of poverty and reminding us all about the global commitment we made to the Millennium Development Goals. It is great to see young Australians lobbying and reminding politicians that we should meet our objectives in aid to poverty stricken countries in our neighbourhood.

The nation of Papua New Guinea also faces political challenges. Since independence the nation’s political history has suffered numerous no-confidence motions against ruling governments, which has created instability in political proceedings. Currently, however, Sir Michael Somare—the longest serving parliamentarian in the Commonwealth and who led the country to independence back in 1975—is again Prime Minister and has been since 2002. In 2007 his government was the first government to complete a five-year term since independence and he hopes to complete a 10-year term.

Positively, the most recent elections in 2007 were far less violent than those seen previously. That is a sign of growing political stability and social development for the nation. While increased political stability is evident, it is important in Papua New Guinea, as in all democratic countries, that parliamentary representation reflects the community represented. There is currently only one female parliamentarian in Papua New Guinea, the Minister for Community Development and Religion and Sports and the women’s minister, Dame Carol Kidu. She is a friend of many of us in this chamber. Dame Carol is the only female parliamentarian ever to have been elected in Papua New Guinea. She entered the Papua New Guinean parliament in 1997 determined to make a difference. Since then she has worked tirelessly on issues such as sexual assault legislation, child sex abuse and the sexual exploitation of children, poverty reduction, securing a safe social environment, gender empowerment and the reduction of HIV-AIDS. In July last year she was made a Knight of the French Legion of Honour, in a decision by French President Nicholas Sarkozy, for her dedication to the people and the nation of Papua New Guinea.

Earlier this year a motion was put forward by Prime Minister Somare for greater female representation in the Papua New Guinean parliament. This was not the first time the motion had been put forward, with Dame Carol spearheading efforts for a number of years to bring more women into PNG’s parliament. Unfortunately, though, for the third time the motion failed to gain the necessary support in the March 2009 session of the PNG parliament; and again in July this year the motion was stalled when parliament was adjourned. Dame Carol and the PNG government have said they will continue to push the motion through the parliament, despite these setbacks, in order to gain a necessary voice for PNG women.

Of course, Australia still has a lot of work to do to ensure that our own legislatures are truly representative of women. Those of us who have been involved in working for women’s representation in Australia’s parliaments know just how much of a battle it can be. I am sure we all lend our support to Dame Carol and other members of parliament in Papua New Guinea for attempting to increase female participation in that parliament.

There is some good news from Papua New Guinea. Last year’s statistics showed that the country enjoyed a strong economic performance, with the economy growing at an average rate of 4.1 per cent from 2004 to 2007. Debt levels have fallen from 72 per cent of GDP in 2002 to around 34 per cent in 2007. For the first time in many years the budget was in surplus in 2007. That strong economic performance is indicative of the future that is available to that nation if those of us in Australia and elsewhere get behind them and assist Papua New Guinea to make the most of their opportunities. I am very pleased to again acknowledge the anniversary of independence that Papua New Guinea will celebrate tomorrow, 16 September.