This Month
Timor-Leste hands most new mining licences to Australian groups
The developing nation is thought to hold deposits of copper, gold, zinc and manganese, as well as rare earths and other critical minerals.
Billionaire Gerry Harvey takes major stake in PNG cement play Mayur
The Harvey Norman chairman now owns almost 7 per cent of the ASX-listed building materials hopeful, which raised $100 million last week.
February
Australia locks out China from PNG ports as military tensions flare
Australia’s $4 billion taxpayer-funded Pacific bank has signed a deal to upgrade one of Papua New Guinea’s major ports and keep Beijing out.
New Zealand ‘blindsided’ by Cook Islands-China deal
New Zealand, along with Australia and the United States, have become increasingly concerned about China’s growing presence in the Pacific region.
January
I get sick in a Sydney cab. Why am I going on a cruise?
A journey around Papua New Guinea’s remote south-east combines luxury cruising with some of the world’s finest snorkelling and diving.
December 2024
Gold miner St Barbara hit with $210m PNG tax demand
The company’s ASX-listed shares fell 36 per cent after subsidiary Simberi Gold was handed a taxation bill that could endanger its viability.
PNG PM’s big hopes for delayed LNG project
James Marape reported “good progress” in reducing a 50 per cent cost blowout that delayed the Papua LNG project, but doubts remain on its timing.
Bigger than sport: PNG’s PM on getting an NRL team
James Marape, Papua New Guinea’s prime minister, says the bid to join the NRL goes way beyond sport and commerce for the country, and will also benefit Australia.
October 2024
Welcome Charles, King of Great Britain alone
There is a way to achieve a republic by stealth. And one that Charles III might well understand.
September 2024
East Timor gives Pope Francis a massive welcome
Timorese jammed the motorcade route, waving Vatican and Timorese flags and toting yellow and white umbrellas – the colours of the Holy See.
June 2024
Why Australia needs to stop being PNG’s payday lender
It might seem a good, neighbourly thing to do. But loans can be damaging as poorly tied aid. The alternative is subsidising direct Australian business investment.
As China’s premier leaves, Australia launches full court press in PNG
The Albanese government will help PNG with domestic security as it tries to ward off Chinese efforts to gain influence in Australia’s closest neighbour.
May 2024
Fears of second PNG landslide and disease outbreak
The blanket of debris has become more unstable after rain and streams trapped between the rubble.
April 2024
‘Extraordinary sacrifice’: Albanese, Marape end historic Kokoda trek
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Kokoda Track hike with his PNG counterpart James Marape gave him an appreciation of the sacrifices made by WWII soldiers.
‘You’re the chief now’: Crowds greet Albanese at start of Kokoda Track
Long-time residents of Papua New Guinea said it was the most lavish welcome an Australian leader had received since Paul Keating in 1992.
Albanese to visit the Kokoda Track for Anzac Day
The prime minister and his PNG counterpart James Marape are expected to attend a dawn service at Isurava on April 25.
March 2024
What China gets right in PNG and Australia gets wrong
This former leader of PNG’s state energy supplier says we should take a leaf from the China playbook by using a “tied aid” model.
February 2024
‘No choice but to get along’: PNG to Australia after China dalliance
During a historic address to parliament, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said building up his country’s economy would help with Australian security.
January 2024
PNG security talks with China rouse local anger
Canberra and Port Moresby are hosing down the prospects of Papua New Guinea striking a security deal with China.
From Cobar to Colorado: Aussie Tom Palmer’s rise to global mining CEO
He led a foreign raid on the nation’s top gold miner. But Tom Palmer is also the Cobar kid who wants Newmont to be the top gold pick for Australian investors.