The sacrifice by Australians in Papua New Guinea during World War II needs greater recognition

The delays are inexcusable, and are undermining our standing. With national elections in PNG to happen in the first half of 2022 this project needs to be completed before then.

The second issue I urge the Defence Minister to focus on is one I wrote about elsewhere last year – the state of the PNG Defence Force.

I am told that morale within the PNG Defence Force, principally the army, has never been worse than it is today. And the PNG Government lacks the budget resources, and frankly the will, to address it.

Australia is doing as good a job as it can in difficult circumstances in helping PNG address the escalating Covid-19 pandemic (China is unsurprisingly doing almost zero) but we must not neglect other areas that put in peril the stability of our closest neighbour.

Papua New Guinea needs a defence force that is loyal, hard work, and happy. It certainly lacks the latter at least today.

The state of all the military barracks, including accommodation for soldiers and their families, is simply sub-standard. In some bases it is frankly uninhabitable.

How can you have high morale, and even loyalty, when you fail to properly house your soldiers and their families? And add to that outdated equipment, and sub-standard uniforms, it is no wonder morale within the defence force is as low as it is today.

The PNG Defence Force comprises just 2,500 men and women. The task of addressing its many deficiencies is urgent, and given the limited size it should not be a massive cost.

But it needs to be addressed urgently, and across all areas – barracks, equipment, other resources, training, and pay scales.

As I read the PNG budget for 2021, and the prevailing economic and fiscal position, even that requirement just cannot be met by the PNG Government.

And yesterday the government fiscal position was made even worse by an announcement from Moody's ratings agency that it was downgrading the PNG Government from stable to negative. That principally means the cost of state borrowings will be even higher.

The PNG Defence Force of 2,500 was at the time of Independence meant to be about the same size as the police force – a sensible approach by the then Chief Minister, Michael Somare, to reduce the threat of a coup or disciplined forces uprising. Today the police force comprises about 5,000 men and women and its budget is far greater than that of the defence force.