Papua New Guinea foreign minister Patrick Pruaitch suspended over ‘misconduct’

Patrick Pruaitch, who ordered a review of a deal with Australia over the use of Manus Island’s naval base, will face an inquiry.

Patrick Pruaitch will face a leadership tribunal over unspecified “allegations of misconduct”. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

Papua New Guinea’s Foreign Minister has been suspended from office after declaring PNG’s agreement with Australia redevelop Manus Island’s Lombrum Naval Base as a joint facility was invalid.

Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika announced late on Thursday that Patrick Pruaitch would face a leadership tribunal over unspecified “allegations of misconduct”.

The move followed the Minister's announcement in parliament that day that last year’s memorandum of understanding on the Lombrum base, signed by the country’s former O’Neill government, would be reviewed because it was signed by Defence rather than Foreign Affairs officials.

“When Foreign Affairs is not involved, it means the interest of our country is not represented,” he said.

“I am making an undertaking on the floor of parliament to lead a review on that particular MOU.”

It’s unclear whether the move to suspend Mr Pruaitch was related to his declaration on the Lombrum MOU.

Mr Pruaitch lost a Supreme Court appeal in December 2019 against moves to refer him to a leadership tribunal over a decade-old referral “for alleged misconduct in office”.

The Australian government was blindsided by Mr Pruaitch’s announcement of the review, which threw into doubt the future of the partnership, which the US has also joined.

Security experts said the move could open the way for China to commence negoti­a­tions to access the base.

The move follows a recent Australian Defence Force tender to redevelop the base worth up to $175m, which the Governor of Manus province, And ADF spokeswoman told The Australian on Thursday night that “the Australian Government has not received a request to review the memorandum of understanding”.

The redeveloped base “will be owned and operated by PNG”, she said.

“The Lombrum Joint Initiative, including this infrastructure development, demonstrates Australia’s commitment in partnering with Papua New Guinea to build a region that is secure and stable,” the spokeswoman said.

She said PNG-based contractor Hornibrook NGI Ltd recently commenced works to prepare the site for construction across the Lombrum base. The development would include community facilities, she said.

“The contractor for the major works is being selected through an open and competitive tender process, which will provide the opportunity for full participation by local contractors in the construction project,” the spokeswoman said.

The deal to develop the Manus base as a joint facility was agreed between former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Peter O’Neill in July 2018 and formalised in last year’s MOU.