Aussie Prime Minister Tonny Abott to visit PNG

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott  will visit Papua New Guinea  next week. This  will be his first visit to PNG since becoming Prime Minister of Australia last year.

PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said  he looked forward to the visit to PNG next week by his Australian counterpart.

 “I look forward to receiving Prime Minister Abbott when he visits our beautiful country.“Australia is our neighbour and a great friend. Our ties go back a long way, and has remained very strong. We can only build on it. “This visit gives us an opportunity to discuss issues of mutual interest to both countries, and issues that affect the region,” Mr O’Neill said.

 Issues likely to be discussed include the Australian aid program and its realignment with PNG Government’s development priorities, the Manus Regional Processing Centre for Asylum Seekers, Australian Visa issue, the progress of the PNG LNG project, PNG’s assistance to Fiji elections, trade and investment issues.

 Prime Minister O’Neill will brief Abbott on the implementation of his key government policies, including free education, free health care, rebuilding infrastructure, modernising the police and defence force, and investing in oil, gas, and mineral projects to secure PNG’s economic and financial future.

 Australia is already helping PNG roll out some of these priorities, including deployment of Australian Federal Police in PNG, building a new hospital in Lae, rebuilding the Ramu-Madang Highway, and building a court complex in Port Moresby.  Australia is also assisting in rebuilding the Bomana Police Training College, with PNG aiming to increase police manpower from 5,000 to 8,000 by 2017.O’Neill is expected to host lunch for Abbott before he returns to Australia.
PNG Today/ Post Courier