Australia in partnership with Papua New Guinea against COVID-19
The Australian Government is committed to helping Papua New Guinea respond to COVID-19. There has never been a more important time for Australia to stand with our Pacific family. This goes to the heart of Australia’s Pacific Step-up – working together to keep our people healthy and safe in uncertain times.
The PNG–Australia Partnership is stronger than ever. We are working with PNG across multiple areas and across the entire country to respond to the Government’s plan to prepare for, and address, COVID-19. We have already reprioritised over PGK47 million in assistance to support PNG’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, and will continue to work closely with the government to tailor our response as the situation evolves. We are not just working in Port Moresby, but we are also supporting provincial level responses.
Our assistance is focused on:
• support for direct outbreak preparedness and response, including communication and community awareness raising;
• support for health institutions, systems and infrastructure; and • support for the likely economic impact and PNG’s recovery.
So far, this assistance has included the provision of protective equipment for health workers, support to the World Health Organization in PNG to continue to provide technical assistance to the PNG Government response, and funding to the Morobe Provincial Health Authority to manage the response to the first confirmed case in PNG. We are supporting highly qualified technical advisors to work in the PNG National Department of Health and other agencies, to bolster local capacity. We are empowering PNG’s churches and others to support public information campaigns on avoiding infection, and are helping to staff the PNG COVID-19 emergency call centre so people can get the information they need, when they need it.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is also working with the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) in their preparation and response to COVID-19, in Port Moresby and through the provincial office in Lae. The AFP PNG-Australia Policing Partnership currently has 28 members in PNG, our largest international policing deployment in the world. These members are working side by side with the RPNGC and Government of PNG. This includes senior advisors embedded with RPNGC Commissioner Manning, supporting him as Controller for the State of Emergency in PNG, to advisors in the Joint Agency Task Force directing PNG’s
COVID-19 efforts.
The Australian Defence Force contingent in Papua New Guinea will remain at full-strength as our largest Defence Cooperation Program in the world. This contingent is working with the Papua New Guinea Defence Force to build capacity to respond to any outbreak, across operations, logistics, health infrastructure and communications. They are also working on options to expand response capacity, through helicopters and the re-tasking of the first
Guardian Class Patrol Boat, the Ted Diro, provided in 2019. Even before COVID-19, we have long worked with PNG to build local healthcare and governance capacity. These sectors will be tested during this crisis, but we will continue to prioritise our assistance and work together to build PNG’s resilience. We remain committed to PNG’s longer-term development objectives, and will continue to work across many other sectors, such as education, gender, infrastructure and law and justice.
Our support builds on the $300 million low interest budget support loan we provided to the PNG Government in 2019, which will help buffer the economy and the government against the economic impacts of COVID-19. Australia is actively exploring what further support may be able to be provided.
Finally, although temporarily some of our staff are working from Australia, our High Commission in Port Moresby is open and remains one of Australia’s largest overseas missions. Our new High Commissioner, Jon Philp, has arrived early in PNG, ready to start work as soon as he completes 14 days of social isolation.
As the virus spreads globally, Australia is ramping up efforts with our Pacific partners to respond appropriately. We are also working with global partners, like the G20 and others, to ensure the Pacific remains a priority in international support.
If you have any questions about Australia’s support, the team at the Australian High Commission is here to help. Australia wok wantaim PNG.
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The PNG–Australia Partnership is stronger than ever. We are working with PNG across multiple areas and across the entire country to respond to the Government’s plan to prepare for, and address, COVID-19. We have already reprioritised over PGK47 million in assistance to support PNG’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, and will continue to work closely with the government to tailor our response as the situation evolves. We are not just working in Port Moresby, but we are also supporting provincial level responses.
Our assistance is focused on:
• support for direct outbreak preparedness and response, including communication and community awareness raising;
• support for health institutions, systems and infrastructure; and • support for the likely economic impact and PNG’s recovery.
So far, this assistance has included the provision of protective equipment for health workers, support to the World Health Organization in PNG to continue to provide technical assistance to the PNG Government response, and funding to the Morobe Provincial Health Authority to manage the response to the first confirmed case in PNG. We are supporting highly qualified technical advisors to work in the PNG National Department of Health and other agencies, to bolster local capacity. We are empowering PNG’s churches and others to support public information campaigns on avoiding infection, and are helping to staff the PNG COVID-19 emergency call centre so people can get the information they need, when they need it.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is also working with the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) in their preparation and response to COVID-19, in Port Moresby and through the provincial office in Lae. The AFP PNG-Australia Policing Partnership currently has 28 members in PNG, our largest international policing deployment in the world. These members are working side by side with the RPNGC and Government of PNG. This includes senior advisors embedded with RPNGC Commissioner Manning, supporting him as Controller for the State of Emergency in PNG, to advisors in the Joint Agency Task Force directing PNG’s
COVID-19 efforts.
The Australian Defence Force contingent in Papua New Guinea will remain at full-strength as our largest Defence Cooperation Program in the world. This contingent is working with the Papua New Guinea Defence Force to build capacity to respond to any outbreak, across operations, logistics, health infrastructure and communications. They are also working on options to expand response capacity, through helicopters and the re-tasking of the first
Guardian Class Patrol Boat, the Ted Diro, provided in 2019. Even before COVID-19, we have long worked with PNG to build local healthcare and governance capacity. These sectors will be tested during this crisis, but we will continue to prioritise our assistance and work together to build PNG’s resilience. We remain committed to PNG’s longer-term development objectives, and will continue to work across many other sectors, such as education, gender, infrastructure and law and justice.
Our support builds on the $300 million low interest budget support loan we provided to the PNG Government in 2019, which will help buffer the economy and the government against the economic impacts of COVID-19. Australia is actively exploring what further support may be able to be provided.
Finally, although temporarily some of our staff are working from Australia, our High Commission in Port Moresby is open and remains one of Australia’s largest overseas missions. Our new High Commissioner, Jon Philp, has arrived early in PNG, ready to start work as soon as he completes 14 days of social isolation.
As the virus spreads globally, Australia is ramping up efforts with our Pacific partners to respond appropriately. We are also working with global partners, like the G20 and others, to ensure the Pacific remains a priority in international support.
If you have any questions about Australia’s support, the team at the Australian High Commission is here to help. Australia wok wantaim PNG.
Next :
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