Australia must plan for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of our legacy of independence to Papua New Guinea now

When I last checked the discredited Ramu Two project was still being pushed by the Chinese Embassy at a cost of around K6 billion, a project that will deliver power to but a fraction of the population at unaffordable cost to business, industry and domestic consumers alike.

There is only ONE solution to meeting the electricity needs of our neighbour.

That is the long-promised Purari hydro power project in the Gulf Province, a province that has attracted China's attention and even spending.

Fifteen years ago there was a real prospect Purari could not just deliver affordable power across Papua New Guinea, it would even help meet Australia's electricity needs with green, affordable and reliable electricity.

For reasons I never fully understood the main proponent, Origin Energy, abandoned its involvement even though there had been some interest shown by Queensland electricity generators, and even various levels of government.

Since then the project has lain dormant until Andrew Forrest expressed some interest in it when he visited PNG a couple of years ago.

I was not certain whether he was acting on his own or raising the prospect of Chinese involvement in the project as part of an interest in downstream processing industry, such as a smelter.

Whatever the reason for his interest, the Australian Government should invite him to work with the Australia and PNG Governments to deliver Purari as part of a genuine and ambitious program to deliver the whole of Papua New Guinea affordable and reliable electricity.

It might not be able to be completed in 3 years but the people of our closest neighbour will realise we want to help their leaders deliver higher living standards, more employment opportunities and real downstream processing.

Our relationship with PNG has been in the best shape it has been in for some time. The Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles, is making his 20th visit to PNG, partly to discuss defence co-operation and to visit the start of the Kokoda Track at Owers Corner to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle for Kokoda.

But we need to add some real substance to the ongoing relationship. Helping deliver Purari would do just that.

The cost is formidable - a decade or so ago it was around $6 billion. It is probably now closer to $10 billion.