Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

There are a number of issues in Senator Patrick's question, but the first thing I would reiterate is the closeness of the Australia-Papua New Guinea partnership, manifested literally in August of this year by the signing of a comprehensive strategic and economic partnership. That says we have the closest of relationships at the political and operational levels. As I said, there are a number of aspects to Senator Patrick's question, but one thing I would like to draw the attention of the chamber to is the work we are doing in Western Province, for example, to address their health and development challenges, including through our investment in the Mabudawan Health Centre, and in food and water security. We will continue to support Papua New Guinea's recovery in both health and economic terms from COVID-19. We have a number of programs in relation to water, food security and sanitation, which are very important to the recovery and strong continuation of the region, and we will work closely with our partners on that. (Time expired)