Papua New Guinea will boot out Australian officials working for its government by the end of the year.The Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, told the PNG parliament he was concerned about foreign advisers spying while their presence caused local public servants to slack off.
O’Neill’s shock statement came during a debate on PNG’s national intelligence organisation, the ABC reported.
“We’ve got people working in many of our departments that are working as advisers and it has led to two things,” he said.
“One is making our own people quite lazy. They’re not able to take over civil decisions, they are over-dependent on consultants and advisers and sometimes many of those decisions are not ... in the best interests of our nation.
“So our government has taken a deliberate decision that by the end of the year, all foreign consultants and advisers, their contracts will end by 31st of December.”
Several hundred Australians work with the PNG government, many as part of Australia’s $500m aid program.
O’Neill singled out the 70-odd Australian federal police officers working in the country, the ABC said.
“If we need to recruit experts, it will be recruited by PNG government as an employee of the PNG government,” he said. “That includes policemen, that includes all the other consultants in every line department.”
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade declined to address O’Neill’s comments directly, but said in a statement: “We have a strong partnership with the government of Papua New Guinea and our development program reflects the priorities agreed to by our two governments.
“We regularly discuss with PNG concerns that they have with our support and how we can achieve the most effective development outcomes through our aid program. Australian advisers are selected in consultation with the government of Papua New Guinea working to priorities which are jointly agreed.”
PNG police have been angered by the removal from the country in July of three Australian workers at the Manus Island detention centre whom they want to interview in relation to the alleged drugging and raping of a female PNG colleague.
The Manus Island police commander, Alex N’Drasal, threatened to arrest detention centre managers on Thursday if the men were not returned, but the deadline passed without any apparent action being taken.
It is unclear if the steps against Australian advisers have any connection to the Manus dispute.
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