GOVERNMENT FAILING AUSTRALIA-PNG RELATIONSHIP

October 08, 2019

 

with

NITA GREEN

SENATOR FOR QUEENSLAND

 The Morrison Government must do more to foster Australia’s economic, social, political and strategic ties with our closest northern neighbour Papua New Guinea.

 

Labor welcomed the agreement by Prime Ministers Scott Morrison and James Marape to work towards elevating our countries’ relationship to the status of a Comprehensive Strategic and Economic Partnership, but the Government is failing the relationship by undermining the Pacific Labour Scheme and refusing to take action on climate change.

 

Senator for Queensland and Labor Indo-Pacific Trade Taskforce Secretary, Nita Green, and Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, held a roundtable in Cairns today to draw together business and community leaders committed to fostering links between Australia and PNG.

 

Senator Green said that if we want a stable and prosperous region, Australia and PNG must work together.

 

“With just a few kilometres separating us, and important historic and cultural links, PNG and Australia are the closest of friends. This presents opportunities for trade, investment and jobs, but it also presents challenges regarding security and tropical health,” Senator Green said.

 

Mr Conroy said the Pacific Labour Scheme was a useful way to exchange skills and training between our countries, while at the same time meeting labour shortages in Australia, but this was at risk of derailing.

 

“A central plank of the Coalition Government Pacific Step Up, the Pacific Labour Scheme had a deeply disappointing first year, bringing in just 203 Pacific island workers, or around one-tenth of the number the Government  predicted,” Mr Conroy said.

 

“The Coalition undermined Pacific labour mobility by deregulating working holiday maker, or backpacker, visas, which are running at more than 185,000 visas annually.

 

“We heard only last week the difficulty fruit growers have retaining backpacker labour. If implemented properly, the Pacific Labour Scheme would deliver a motivated semi-permanent workforce keen to develop skills and gain experience.”

 

Senator Green said on a recent trip to PNG she had learned that 8,000 health workers were needed to staff rural and remote health clinics in this fast-growing nation with a population approaching 10 million.

 

“There is no reason why the training for these future health workers should not occur in Far North Queensland,” Senator Green said.

 

In addition to prioritising the Pacific Labour Scheme, ideas discussed at today’s roundtable included:

• An Office of the Pacific based in Cairns – as advocated by peak advocacy and economic development body Advance Cairns.
• A PNG rugby league team – as advocated by Cairns Mayor Bob Manning.
• Timely delivery by the Federal Government of a Cairns University Hospital which specialises in tropical diseases.
• The upgrading of Horn Island Airport, which provides biosecurity services for the Torres Strait Islands, under the Regional Airports Program (promised by this Government during the Budget).
• Incentives to encourage airlines to make PNG more accessible to business in Queensland, including direct flights from Cairns to Lae.
• Training to address skills shortages in Australia – since the Liberal National Government came to power six years ago, 1,000 apprentices have been lost in Far North Queensland.