Piers Akerman: Australia courts trouble by ignoring Papua New Guinea

If China is going to buy PNG, throw in the justice system as well if Australia is not interested in helping, writes Piers Akerman.

Scott Morrison likes saying the Pacific nations are “our family”, they are “our neighbours” but we are dangerously neglecting the closest and largest family member, our neighbour, PNG. Two instances in the past week have highlighted the failure of Foreign Minister Marise Payne to come to grips with reality.

The first is her lack of understanding of PNG. In August, PNG Justice Minister Bryan Kramer begged Australia to second a Federal Court judge to PNG to help deal with a massive backlog of cases waiting to be heard before the nation’s National and Supreme courts. The cause was urgent when he wrote because Covid-19 had claimed the lives of three of PNG’s superior court judges.

Papua New Guinea’s first prime minister Sir Michael Somare died in February. Picture: Torsten Blackwood / AFP

“Our judiciary needs support at this difficult time, particularly in relation to dealing with Covid-caused backlogs in chambers and trial list matters,” he wrote. “The existing support of two Australian Federal Judges in the appellate jurisdiction of the PNG Supreme Court has not been utilised during 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, and does not meet our current needs.

“I would appreciate if you would consider a request for one of your Federal Judges with past PNG experience to be temporarily seconded to our National and Supreme Courts at this time of need.

“I understand that a Federal Judge with PNG experience would be prepared to undertake such a role, and that he is fully vaccinated.”

Under the existing arrangement, two Federal judges were to have spent a week each in the PNG Appeals Court rotating through two or three times a year but without sitting in trials or hearing interlocutory applications.

What is needed is a judge or judges prepared to work in PNG on a three-weeks-on, one-week-off, basis because there is a crying need for experienced judges prepared to spend time actually on the bench hearing cases and sharing their knowledge with PNG nationals before they reach the Appeals Court. Since the minister wrote, a fourth judge of the PNG National and Supreme courts died, though not of Covid, further heightening the justice emergency.

So, nearly three months after the initial request, which identified suitable Australian judges, nothing has happened, with Minister for International Development and the Pacific Zed Seselja telling the PNG Justice Minister that international border restrictions prevented the judges from travelling.

Piers Akerman says Foreign Minister Marise Payne lacks an understanding of PNG. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Mr Kramer’s approaches to the Australian High Commission have been equally fruitless.

The judicial problem will not go away and nor will the health issue, as fewer than 4 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated.

Which raises the matter of last week’s announcement of China’s commitment to build a 330-bed hospital in Central Province, east of Port Moresby, at a cost of Kina700 million or about Australian $280m. State-owned Chinese company Sinopharm will provide 85 per cent of the funding, with the PNG government finding the rest.

The project is to be completed in time for PNG’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2025.

Prince Charles and prime minister Gough Whitlam celebrated PNG’s independence with the nation’s first prime minister (later Sir) Michael Somare, who died in February this year. From 1945 until September 16, 1975, PNG was administered by Australia as a United Nations Trust Territory.

It is no secret that China is gradually increasing its stake in PNG through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and PNG now owes China about $1.9bn in concessional loans.

PNG’s budget papers show China holds almost 25 per cent of PNG’s total external debt.

Given Australia’s lack of interest – through ignorance or apathy – in assisting PNG improve its creaky justice system as China builds a larger and larger debt trap for the nation, perhaps Canberra should let the Chinese take over something more.

It’s well known that Chinese courts are super efficient so perhaps the Chinese should appoint the judges – they have a conviction rate of well over 99 per cent – 99.965 per cent in 2019 and 99.969 per cent in 2018.

In 2019, of the 1,818,808 people indicted by the People’s Procuratorate of China, just 637 defendants were acquitted, according to the ChinaJusticeObserver website.

If China is going to buy the country, throw in the justice system as well if we aren’t interested in helping.