Remarks, Australia-Papua New Guinea Ports Infrastructure Investment Program Virtual Signing Ceremony - Sydney, NSW
21 January 2022
PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much and greetings again to you, Honourable Prime Minister Marape, James, my dear friend, and to your ministers who are joining you, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Treasurer and of course, the Minister for State-Owned Enterprises, Mr Duma. Thank you very much for all the work you've done in getting us to this day. The direct relationships between our ministers, Prime Minister, working this issue through our Treasurer, our Finance Minister, Treasurer Frydenberg, Finance Minister Birmingham, has been first class, our officials, our High Commissioners. I think they've all done an extraordinarily excellent job to get us to where we are today.
Papua New Guinea's success is Australia's success. The two contribute to each other and, as you know, I've always seen this as a family relationship, a family relationship right across the Pacific. And at this very moment, I know we both share a keen concern for our Pacific family in Tonga, in the same way that we've stood together to support the situation in the Solomon Islands very recently. And back when there was the the measles outbreak in Samoa, the the COVID outbreak in Fiji, where we were providing vaccines. Our family sticks together in the Pacific and we support each other. And Papua New Guinea is a very, very big part of the Pacific, as you've said, James, representing so much of the economy, the population and the opportunity that's there. And so your success is not just great for Australia and Papua New Guinea, but I believe it's very much part of the success of the Pacific as a whole - our great blue Pacific.
And I remember being at APEC Haus some years ago and when the world came to Papua New Guinea, and I was so pleased to be there on that occasion in that wonderful centre that is built there in the harbour. My grandfather knew that harbour very well because he served there in Port Moresby during the Second World War, unloading supply ships on that very dock up there in Port Moresby to support the Australian Forces, as so many Australians did. And Australians will never forget what the people of Papua New Guinea did for Australia at that time. We will never forget. There is a debt that runs deep and that family partnership was established there firmly during those days, particularly of the Kokoda campaign, but Milne Bay, Finch Haven and so many others. And when I think about that time, and particularly Kokoda, we also this year will mark the 80th anniversary of that campaign in Kokoda. And that is a a timely reminder, I think, of the deep, deep ties that we share as two nations and as two peoples who have an abiding affection for one another. That's reflected in our personal relationship. And I I do want to commend you, James, because so much of what we've done over these last three, you know, three years or so, so much of that has been a function of the working relationship that you and I have been able to have and the deep level of trust.
When we make these commitments to Papua New Guinea, we make them understanding those who we're dealing with and their ability to follow through and to deal with us in this trustworthy way. And so our agreement today and what we're doing is an expression of great confidence in Papua New Guinea's future. Not just, you know, the larger ports in PNG, but now particularly the Port up in Lae, but the many others, as you said, in New Britain, in Manus, in New Ireland, in West and East Sepik - so many other parts of the country that will benefit economically. And as that economic support is put in place and the economic opportunities are realised, then the prosperity and the wellbeing of the people of Papua New Guinea will rise.
This is about enabling, supporting the sovereignty and the independence and the self-sufficiency of Papua New Guinea, and that has always been our absolute goal with all of our support interventions and assistance. Australia is providing $580 million, as you've said - it's around 1.5 billion Kina - of concessional financing to upgrade the priority ports. We're doing this alongside the PNG Government and the PNG Ports Corporation, and I want to commend the Ports Corporation on their work.
Infrastructure strengthens economies, create the conditions for long-term jobs growth. Bigger ports means greater access to global trade opportunities. So it's all good news, because we know from a strong economy then that can support the essential services that people in Papua New Guinea rely on - health services, education services and the many other important services, transport and so on, that the people of Papua New Guinea rely upon.
So I'm very grateful for the very kind words that Minister Duma and yourself have expressed today towards Australia, but within family, these are things that we don't take for granted. But at the same time, we can reasonably expect each other to be standing by each other, and that's what you and I, I believe, have done, and we have sought to do more broadly across our blue Pacific in the leadership responsibilities that we have there.
And so I really do want to thank you, James, Prime Minister, for the way we have been able to prioritise where this support goes. Australia has always been very pleased to support and invest in the future of Papua New Guinea. But what you've brought is a real focus to where that support needs to go to get the best possible outcome for both countries. And that, I think, inspires a lot of confidence in Australians that the investments of the support we're making is making a real difference to the quality of life and prosperity and the futures of people in Papua New Guinea. I have seen the smiles of Papua New Guinean children in their villages and there's nothing more beautiful. And so I hope that as a result of this we will see many more of those smiles. God bless you too, my friend.
