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

It can't be an Australian government project alone. It may need the engagement of say the United States and Japan. It also will need substantial private sector engagement. Signing up Andrew Forrest would be a useful starting point.

We have a unique opportunity to lock in longterm good strategic relations with Papua New Guinea, delivering a serious setback to China.

China won't go away. It's sees PNG as having strategic importance in the region.

But we need to build on our current strong relationship.

There are any number of events we can jointly plan to mark half a century of PNG's nationhood. But we need one big hitting project that our nine million neighbours will see as evidence we are in their corner!

Affordable and reliable electricity for industry, business and households alike would have a massive impact. And backing Purari would deliver that!