Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The Minister for Foreign Affairs has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) Six of the 487 adviser positions considered by the Joint Adviser Review in Papua New Guinea are currently filled by former AusAID employees. Of these six, four individuals are Papua New Guinea nationals.

(2) 89 AusAID Canberra-based officials have travelled to Papua New Guinea between 21 August 2010 and 30 June 2011.

  (a) The total cost of this travel, including accommodation, meals and incidental costs, was $495,031.

  (b) (c) and (e) Consistent with the practice of successive governments, AusAID does not comment on the nature of specific security measures, personnel movements or locations where this information may put staff at risk. AusAID has put in place some new measures to protect our staff in Port Moresby and we are providing our staff with a higher level of security than before. AusAID closely monitors the security environment in Papua New Guinea and ensures all necessary protective security measures are in place to mitigate the risk to AusAID officials when travelling to PNG.

  (d) The total cost of their accommodation was $115,162.

(3) Four AusAID officials have visited the Southern Highlands region of Papua New Guinea since the 2010 Australian election.