Coronation TikTok costs Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister his job

Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister has lost his job after a furious row about lavish coronation spending by his 25-year-old daughter.

Savannah Tkatchenko shows off her new shoes on Tiktok.

To other guests at King Charles’s coronation, they would have been just another pair of foreign dignitaries: a middle-aged father and his glamorous young companion.

But now Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister has lost his job after a furious row about lavish coronation spending by his 25-year-old daughter.

Justin Tkatchenko stepped down after denouncing his fellow countrymen as “useless” and “primitive animals” for criticising his daughter, Savannah. He claimed that she had been “traumatised” by mockery of a video she posted on TikTok in which she flew first class, shopped in ­designer stores, and unpacked her purchases in a luxury hotel in London.

The flaunting of luxury on a trip funded by taxpayers provoked anger and dismay in a country where two out of five live beneath the poverty line.

But it was compounded by the furious and racially insensitive ­reaction of her father, an Australian-born white man who became a naturalised citizen of Papua New Guinea.

Mr Tkatchenko’s daughter posted a video to Tiktok in which she spoke about shopping in designer shops at Singapore airport

Demanding Mr Tkatchenko’s resignation, opposition MP Belden Namah said: “The ‘useless people’ and ‘primitive animals’ of this country have ensured he grew his business, gave him a wife, offered him citizenship, elected him into public office, made him a minister and sent him and his daughter to London.

“If he has indeed uttered those despicable words then I am calling on Justin Tkatchenko to immediately resign as foreign affairs minister and as member of parliament and further renounce his citizenship.”

Justin Tkatchenko and his daughter Savannah, both at rear, attending the coronation of King Charles III.

The Tiktok video posted by the minister’s daughter, which has since been removed, shows her putting on a white dress in preparation for the coronation, and shopping during a stopover on the way to London.

“We did some shopping around Singapore airport at ­Hermes and Louis Vuitton,” she tells her viewers. “For those of you that don’t know, Singapore airport shopping is honestly so elite.”

At least 20 people flew to London from Papua New Guinea as official coronation guests or supporting staff, including the Governor-General, Bill Toraso.

Ms Tkatchenko, who studied law in Australia and who tagged her video #aussiesinengland, went in place of her mother, who was unable to attend. She reportedly received an allowance of K25,000 ($10,600) in government funds as an allowance for accommodation and meals on the trip. Her flight was separately paid for by the government.

Mr Tkatchenko added fuel to the fire on Australian radio. “[My daughter] is absolutely traumatised by these primitive animals,” he told ABC.

“We went to London, we ­attended all the meetings and events, and she represented her country without fear or favour to the highest degree and honour … is that misuse of funds when you’re going there on an invitation, representing the government? “Jealousy is a curse. And, you know, these people clearly show that they have got nothing to do in their lives.”

“It is not just about the offensive comments,” University of Papua New Guinea student Michael Pais told Radio New Zealand during a protest march on Friday.

“The primary reason is the manner in which money has been spent on this trip and the extravagance displayed while our people lack the most basic services.”

The Times