Key PNG aid program wins stay of execution

The Morrison government has offered a last-minute reprieve for a flagship aid program in Papua New Guinea.

Pacific leadership and governance student graduates.

The Morrison government has offered a last-minute reprieve for a flagship aid program in Papua New Guinea designed to train future leaders and tackle corruption, which was slated to close to free up money for coronavirus support.

The move to axe the five-year-old Pacific Leadership and Governance Precinct was put on hold after the intervention of PNG’s High Commissioner to Australia, John Kali.

Mr Kali told The Australian he was prepared to fight to revive the initiative, after the Australian government announced it would “draw to a close in June”.

He contacted the head of Australia’s Office of the Pacific, in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to express his disappointment at Australia’s decision to kill-off the program.

Mr Kali, a former PNG public service chief, said the program’s graduates “have made positive and lasting impacts in their respective organisations”.

“Values and ethics-based leadership with transparent and strong governance is the heartbeat of viable democracy,” he said.

Former foreign minister Julie Bishop also blasted the move to wind up the program, saying it had been envisaged as “an enduring partnership” between the two countries.

“I trust that this decision will not send a negative message to PNG and other nations in the Pacific about Australia’s commitment to the importance of improving standards of governance,” Ms Bishop said.

Late on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Minister for the Pacific Alex Hawke told The Australian the initiative would now be “paused”, with its future to be determined after the pandemic.

The closure of the program threatened to undermine Australia’s relationship with its nearest neighbour as China seeks greater influence in the region.

The program has trained thousands of young Papua New Guineans through partnerships with the Australian National University and the Canberra Institute of Technology, with a focus on courses to improve the nation’s public administration capabilities.

A 2019 review for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade found it had “strong political support” among PNG leaders. It was described by the country’s top education bureaucrat as “one of the best Australian programs” in PNG.

Australian taxpayers have poured at least $100m into the initiative, including more than $60m for four new buildings at PNG partner institutions.

The program supported students undertaking undergraduate and masters courses at the University of Papua New Guinea, and public servants doing specialist courses at PNG’s Institute of Public Administration.

Nearly half of graduates were from outside Port Moresby, ensuring the benefits reached into provincial and district administrations.

Lowy Institute Pacific program director Jonathan Pryke said the program, launched by Ms Bishop in 2015, had been “undermined by lofty expectations” that it would transform governance in PNG.

“The irony is the lasting legacy of this program will be some fancy buildings that local institutions will have no resources to maintain,” he said.

“If we don’t rectify that we’ll have to be very cautious accusing China of white elephants in the future.”