PNG police send SOS to Australian counterparts to help combat trafficking and rising armed crime
AUSTRALIA is poised to deploy police back onto the streets of Papua New Guinea after they were once booted out. This time, they face a more powerful threat.
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EXCLUSIVE
AUSTRALIA is poised to deploy police back onto the streets of Papua New Guinea more than a decade after they were booted out under a constitutional challenge that barred armed foreign forces operating on PNG soil.
Almost 170 Australian Federal Police officers were forced to leave PNG in 2005 after a Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional to give foreign police powers equivalent to those of local police even if it was to help combat violent crime.
But after months of negotiations and an alarming rise in transnational crime including trafficking of firearms and drugs between PNG, Australia and Indonesia, a deal is being nutted out to keep on AFP officers operationally deployed to Port Moresby for APEC leaders’ summit in November.
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It is just one measure Australia is reviewing as part of a raft of border security initiatives for PNG including urban and maritime training, pallet x-ray scanners, intelligence exchange and the selling at cost of rapid response NSW Police boats that are currently on Sydney Harbour but set to be retired.
PNG Police Minister Jelta Wong told News Corp Australia help could not come fast enough with a burgeoning issue of criminals trafficking firearms and drugs including through using submarines.
The Torres Strait has long proved a border security challenge for both countries.
“The thing is we’ve never co-ordinated a proper plan between Australia, New Zealand and us in that area and we need to take it seriously where on the Australian side they can scan and monitor the area and we can do the same and put a block on both sides. This would really put a stop to all this piracy and moving of guns and ammunition and drugs.”
Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary Chief of Operations deputy commissioner Jim Andrews confirmed the AFP was set to return to pre-2005 levels.
“We have requested for the government of Australia to leave the AFP officers back after the APEC operations to assist us with those critical areas in law and order. We put that request and the review team has come in last week.”
“The Australians know that PNG is the corridor, the pathway to Australia so they will have to help us a lot for every bad thing to be sorted out here before it goes to Australia. We are the gateway to Australia so we really need them to help us.”
The AFP had now begun a detectives training program in PNG but Mr Andrews said operational duty was required.
“We were restricted to AFP in Port Moresby and Lae (in 2005) but now we want to see them go out into the provinces, a lot of the governors are requesting AFP to operate in their provinces. The arrangement will see them have weapons, there is a question of immunity which is an obstacle.”
It is understood Australia is also engaging Indonesia on best ways to police weapons trafficking through West Papua.
A spokesman for the AFP declined to answer questions on future deployments, with that being a government to government decision but said focus now was supporting local authorities for APEC.
“The AFP currently funds 73 positions under the Papua New Guinea Australia Policing Partnership with 56 positions undertaking specific APEC PNG 2018 advisory roles,” a spokesman said.