Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698054870775.pdf (Papua New Guinea)
SEVENTH DAY _____________________ Thursday 26 July 2018 DRAFT HANSARD _____________________ Subject: Page No: CERTIFICATION OF ACTS .......................................................................................................................................... 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF STUDENTS FROM VITUGORO PRIMARY SCHOOL – STATEMENT BY THE SPEAKER .................................................................................................. 2 COMPLETE BAN ON CARRYING AND CONSUMPTION OF CHEWING OF BETELNUT AND THE SMOKING OF CIGARETTES WITHIN THE PARLIAMENTARY PRECENTS – STATEMENT BY THE SPEAKER .................................................................................................................................. 2 QUESTIONS .............................................................................................................................................................. 3 Upgrading of District Hospitals............................................................................................................................. 3 Millions spent on APEC ......................................................................................................................................... 5 Negative impact on Facebook ............................................................................................................................ 15 Supplementary Questions – Negative impact on Facebook .................................................................................. 16 Same Sex Marriage ............................................................................................................................................. 17 MOTION BY LEAVE ................................................................................................................................................. 18 SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS – REARRANGEMENT OF BUSINESS ............................................................................................................................ 19 ADDRESS-IN-REPLY TO THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S SPEECH ................................................................................. 19 MOTION BY LEAVE ................................................................................................................................................. 56 SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS – REARRANGEMENT OF BUSINESS ............................................................................................................................ 56 TREATY DOCUMENT – DECLARATION OF ASIA PACIFIC MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON CIVIL AVIATION – PAPER AND STATEMENT – MOTION TO TAKE NOTE OF PAPER ........................................................................................................................ 57 ADJOURNMENT ..................................................................................................................................................... 57 SEVENTH DAY Thursday 26 July 2018 The Speaker (Mr Job Pomat) took the Chair at 10 a.m..
There being no quorum present, Mr Speaker stated that he would resume the Chair after the ringing of the Bells.

Sitting suspended.

The Speaker, again took the Chair at 10:50 a.m., and invited the Member for Lufa, Honourable Moriape Kavori to say Prayers: ‘Tenk yu Papa God bilong Heven.

Yu wokim dispela mipela man na meri olsem yu yet.

Mipela sindaun, lukluk nay u yet yu save pipol bilong yu igrow.

Yu makim mipela ol lida long lukautim pipol bilong yu.
Yu makim King Nabechaneza na putim gutpela tingting long em.

Yumi nau stap long lastpela divided nation long dispela world.

Papua New Guinea igat Gavman bilong em yet.

Mipela pre na askim yu long helpim Praim Minister, na olgeta lida long hia, blssim tingting na toktok mipela bai mekim long sindaun bilong mipela tete.

Wanem rot mipela bai kisim na helpim pipol bilong yu, mipela lusim long han bilong yu.

Mipela pre na putim olgeta, hevi, na wari ikam long yu.
Rausim olgeta pasin nogut na givim mipela gutpela tingting, long name bilong Jisas; Amen.’ CERTIFICATION OF ACTS Mr SPEAKER – Honourable Members, I have to inform the Parliament that, in accordance with Section 110 of the Constitution, I have certified the following Acts as having been passed by the National Parliament: (1) Summary Offences Amendment Act 2018; and (2) Village Court Amendment Act 2018.
1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF STUDENTS FROM VITUGORO PRIMARY SCHOOL – STATEMENT BY THE SPEAKER Mr SPEAKER – Honourable Members, I have to inform the Parliament that Grade 7 and 8 students from Vitugoro Primary School in Rigo District are present in the Public Gallery this morning.

On behalf of the Parliament, I extend to the visitors a very warm welcome to the National Parliament.
COMPLETE BAN ON CARRYING AND CONSUMPTION OF CHEWING OF BETELNUT AND THE SMOKING OF CIGARETTES WITHIN THE PARLIAMENTARY PRECENTS – STATEMENT BY THE SPEAKER Mr SPEAKER – Honourable Members it is the Chair’s intention to use its powers under the Constitution and the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act 1964 to impose a complete ban on the carrying and consumption of betelnut and the smoking of cigarettes within the Parliamentary precincts.
Honourable Members after consideration of Section 108 of the Constitution, which states that the Speaker is responsible, subject to and in accordance with the constitutional laws, the Acts and the Standing Orders of the Parliament for upholding the dignity of the Parliament, maintaining order in it.

Regulating its proceedings and administering its affairs.

And for controlling the precincts of the Parliament or under an act of the Parliament.
And after consideration of the provisions contained in Part 5 of the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act 1964.

The Chair is satisfied that it is well within the functions of the Speaker to make such a decision.

Honourable Members as you are aware it will be difficult to polish this ban.
But the Chair will not hesitate to invoke its powers under Section 15, Sub-section 2 of the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act 1964, which states; the Speaker may at any time and whether the Parliament is sitting or not direct a person who is not a Member of the Parliament be removed from the precincts of the Parliament, to remove any person not abiding to this ban.
Honourable Members, a direction under Section 15, Sub-section 2 of the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act 1964 by virtue of Section 16 (b), remains in force 2 until the Chair directs otherwise.
And the person removed must not re-enter or attempt to re- enter the precincts of Parliament while the direction is in force 02/07 Honourable Members, a direction under Section 15(2) of the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act 1964, by virtue of Section 16(b) remains in force until the Chair directs otherwise and the person removed must not, ‘re-enter or attempt to re-enter the precincts of the Parliament while the direction is in force’.
Under Section 132 of the Constitution and Section 2 of the Parliamentary Service Act 1997, which give the Chair the power of direction and control over the Parliamentary Service, the Chair will issue written directs to the Clerk and staff of the Parliamentary Service to enforce this betelnut and smoking ban.

This may include searches of bags or of offices and vehicles entering the precincts.
Honourable Members, there will be no designated smoking areas and those that choose to smoke shall be required to exit the precincts to do so outside.

The Chair expects all Members of Parliament to adhere to this directive and lead by example as the mandated Leaders of this Nation.

Members of the general public and visitors will also be subject to this directive together with staff of the Parliamentary Service.
Honourable Members, litter from cigarettes and betelnut skins together with betelnut spittle are unsightly and unhygienic and the Chair in his efforts to uphold the dignity of the Parliament and for controlling the precincts of the Parliament will impose a complete ban on the carrying and consumption of betelnut and the smoking of cigarettes within the Parliamentary precincts.
QUESTIONS Upgrading of District Hospitals Mr JOHNSON WAPUNAI – Thank you, Mr Speaker, for recognising the people of Ambungti-Drekikir.

My questions are directed to the Minister for National Panning and I ask the Minister for Health to take note.

My questions are related to District Hospital Upgrades and rollout programs.

3 In the 2018 Budget, our Government allocated K50 million to start work for the new development of new hospital to reach level 4 standards.
Mr Speaker, many of us Members of this House fully support this initiative of the Government through the National Health Department Plan but we do not when we can have our district health centres upgraded to level 4 standards hospitals and to date district hospitals roll out has not started.

Mr Speaker, many Members including myself are frustrated over the delay of district health centres to level 4 districts hospitals.
My question are as follows; (1) Has any of the K50 million allocated in the Budget to upgrade the district health centres into level 4 district hospitals been released to the Department of Health?

(2) Why has the program not started as stated?

(3) When will the District Hospital upgrade begin in my district as in physical work done on the ground?

03/07 Mr RICHARD MARU – Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for Ambunti-Drekikir for his questions.
I am sure this same question is in the minds of other members as well.

Mr Speaker, I am glad to announce that it’s the first time in history for a government who had decided to upgrade all the district health centres and hospitals to one main standard to level 4.

So with that I commend the Minister for Health and HIV/AIDS with his Department for a job well done, this standard will be applied right throughout all the districts in PNG.
Yes, K50 million was appropriated in the National Budget to start this program and K21 million has been released to the Department of Health and HIV/AIDS to start on scoping work so that when the full funds are released we will meet this standard of level 4.

In the next two months I will complete releasing the balance of it and adds to K50 million.
Once I am done with the releasing of funds the Minister for Health and his Department and all you members to collaborate and finalised it to kick start the actual work done on the ground for each districts.

Once again on my side nearly half of the funds has been released to the Department of Health and HIV/AIDS, because we are very serious about this program.

4 The other point is this program will take five years, to reach all the districts around the country and we cannot do it in one year.
Because the resources envelop is not enough to cater for all of it.

So I have advised the Minister to start with the district hospitals in the remotest areas where there is no road link to the provincial centres, where they are total under served.

This is part of a deliberate strategy for the National Government to try and improve the health services in rural areas, so that we can improve our health indicators.
We all know PNG continue to have some of the worse health indicators throughout the Asia-Pacific Regions.

And this is an important program and we are committed and K21 million has been released and the onus is with the Minister for Health and HIV/AIDS and his Department to liaise with all the members like Member for Ambunti-Drekikir and get on with the rolling of the program.

Once again, I will make sure that over the next two months the balance of it will be released depending on the cash flow.
The program will start off this year and will be completed within this term of Parliament.

Sir MEKERE MORAUTA – Mr Speaker, I want to direct my question to the Prime Millions spent on APEC Minister and it’s in relation to APEC.

Prime Minister, the nation and the people are being deliberately shacked-up to the point of high level of expectation and enthusiasm about the immediate medium and long term benefit stored in APEC to be unleased beginning in November 2018.
Prime Minister, APEC is being portrait also as a King kind of prosperity that will float the nation to higher planes of social and economic development and status and drawn all our sorrows and I wonder whether this picture is going to be a reality.

Prime Minister, billions of kina are being spent directly and indirectly in preparing the nation for APEC.

For instances, the APEC House at Ela Beach, I believe budgeted by Oil Search to cost about K70 million will now cost K100 million.
Mr Speaker, to make this even more ridiculous I believe that Oil Search is paying this through future tax credit on profits that are not realised and declared.

This is like eating our future seeds now in terms of taxes are very dangerous practice.

Another example, is the Poreporena Highway, a perfect good road is being torn up, relayed and resealed causing traffics jams and the final product seen from the paths that are completed is only about 40 per cent better than the roads that have been drawn up.
5 04/07 It is not much better.

At one stage I wondered whether the Prime Minister will get Ok Tedi to bring its gold and seal the roads with gold.

Papua New Guineans have endured and will continue to endure huge sacrifices with money diverted from deteriorating core services like health and education to promote APEC.

Our departments and provinces are suffering because of lack of funds.
The MPs DSIP are being drip fed, feeder roads and schools in Port Moresby let alone our rural areas and towns are neglected therefore are suffering.

This are the real opportunity costs and things that Papua New Guineans are giving up on – Mr SPEAKER – Honourable Member, can you ask your question?

Sir MEKERE MORAUTA – Mr Speaker, I am coming to that now!
Prime Minister, can you telescope to now this future benefits, are you in a position to quantify and specify some of these benefits so that the nation can expect what is instore for us after APEC?

Mr PETER O’NEILL – I thank the Member for Moresby North West for his question.

As a former Prime Minister he has attended APEC Meetings before and he knows the value of it.

To simply trying to gloss it over with some clever wordings and slogans is certainly – Sir Mekere Morauta – Point of Order!
I did attend two APEC Meetings and were in Shanghai and Auckland.

Never did I witness the psyching of a nation – (Members interjecting) Sir Mekere Morauta – The benefits that are being talked about were never discussed.

This is a meeting of leaders.

6 Mr SPEAKER – Honourable Member, your Point of Order is out of order!

Honourable Prime Minister you may continue.

Mr PETER O’NEILL – Can you be patient so that you can hear the answers that you are demanding?
If you have conclusions to your own questions then you should not have asked them in the first place.

Mr Speaker, as I said he has been attending those meetings and he knows the value of the relationship that we have with other APEC member countries.

We have been a member of this particular organisation for over 21 years.

Most countries in this organisation have hosted the APEC Meetings either twice or once except for Papua New Guinea.

We have never hosted one single meeting.


Mr Speaker, isn’t it not shameful for a leader to go and be just a joyrider on some of these organisations if you think you are not a worthy member of this organisation.

We know that these 22 economies and PNG is a small portion of it.

The 22 economies control over 50 per cent of global trade and investment.

Out of about 200 countries in the world this 22 economies control them and their GDP is close to over 50 per cent of the global GDP.
Which other countries have the capacity to invest if you are always looking for investment dollar.

Most of these countries know Papua New Guinea only by name.

They have never been here and they think that we are somewhere in Africa.

Mr Speaker, nobody said there will be a king tide of investments coming into Papua New Guinea tomorrow.

No Government policy has declared that and there is no cargo cult mentality that is being pushed around.

05/07 It’s only in Mekere Morauta’s mind and Bryan Kramer’s mind.
In their own little minds that can’t think broadly.

So, Mr Speaker, it’s in their minds that they are thinking that tomorrow all the answers to our country will be given by APEC.

That’s nonsense.

And we are not spending billions of kina as he has alluded to, I think in 2017 we spent less then K200 million.

This year we have budgeted for K300 million but I think we’ll come under that.

We are cost conscious in what we are doing.


We are not like China or Russia, big economies where they can spend billions and billions of dollars because they have to impress 7 someone.

We are not here to impress anyone.

They know the situation that PNG is going through.

Most of the leaders, Mr Speaker, if the Member for Madang can keep his big mouth shut I will answer the question.

He’s just a loud mouth, that’s what you are, Mr Speaker.

In fact a moron of the first degree.

My Kerenga Kua – Oh boy!


Mr Speaker, are we in a hotel getting drink or what?

You are talking like that.

The Prime Minister is setting the standard.

I think this Parliament is reduced to the status of a hotel.

Is this a pub or something?

Mr SPEAKER – Order!

Allow the Prime Minister to answer the question.

Mr PETER O’NEILL – I think it is important that some of the older Members of Parliament should teach some of the newcomers the decorum of the Parliamentary Process, Mr Speaker.
And the way the Sinasina Member sets an example for his Member sitting beside him is the character of the debates that is being conducted on this Floor of Parliament.

I do not interject while you speak.

I do not make stupid noises while you speak.

Sometimes learn to listen.

Mr Kerenga Kua – Interjecting!

When did I say something stupid?

Mr SPEAKER – Honourable Member for Sinasina resume your seat.

Mr Kerenga Kua – Interjecting!


Mr SPEAKER – Honourable Member for Sinasina, for the last time, resume your seat.

Prime Minister you may continue.

Mr PETER O’NEILL – Thank you, Mr Speaker.

As I said we are leaders in this honourable House.

You have every right to speak your mind and say anything you have to say but sometimes learn to respect other leaders and listen to what they have to say.
Just as you are continuously interjecting, you’ve never seen me interject when Somare speaks or anybody else speaks in this House and I have been here longer than you have.

So, 8 learn from some of the older Members of Parliament and you have every right to say anything you want.

And, Mr Speaker, if you ask a question you deserve and answer so I am trying to give the good Member for Moresby Northwest the answer that he truly deserves.
Mr Speaker, let me say this, he is accusing us of spending billions and billions of kina on APEC which is quite untrue.

He has no facts to prove that.

We can only spend what we approve in the budget and passed by this Parliament.

He knows what the budget papers say and he knows the actual outcomes that we print every year.

So as what we have spent on APEC, it’s not some hidden expenditure that we have hidden somewhere that the honourable Member seems to think.
In fact this will be the cheapest APEC hosting by any member country.

Mr Patrick Pruaitch – Point of Order!

Mr Speaker, with respect to the Prime Minister I think the honourable Member for Moresby North-West is asking for the benefits that are going to be accrued through APEC.

Instead of the Prime Minister carrying on about expenditure, I think the Member asked for benefits that are available.

Can the Prime Minister answer that question?

06/07 Mr PETER O’NEILL – Mr Speaker, I am getting to it.
If the honourable Deputy Speaker, can be patient, I will get to it.

If the honourable Opposition Leader can be patient, I will get to it.

He was accusing us of spending billions of kina and I am simply correcting him.

Mr Speaker, that is simply not true.


When he talks about digging up very good roads like Poreporena freeway, I think Sir Julius Chans Government built that road over 30 years ago, I am not an engineer but I am told by experts that we are supposed to reseal that roads after 20 years so that the roads continue to be maintained.

Mr Speaker, our Government has not spent a toea on that road.

Not a single toea.

This has been given to us as aid by Chinese Government.
There is Mr Patrick Pruaitch – What is the deal?

Mr PETER O’NEILL – There is no deal, Mr Speaker.

We receive grants from the Australian Government, we receive grants from other governments so what is wrong with the 9 Chinese grant.

If you have any evidence of some deals please table it because the public has to know but don’t make smart aleck comments that you have no evidence to prove.

Mr Speaker, that is simply unbecoming of a leader.

So Poreporena Freeway, is been reconstructed by Chinese aid.
They have also donated school in Kilakila which is a new model school which will start from elementary up to year 12.

They have also done the Independence Boulevard which they are building from Parliament all the way to Waigani drive and they have donated the International Convention Centre which will help us host the site meetings for senior officials.

This meeting is taking place as we speak today.

Mr Speaker, there are benefits of the APEC Meeting.
You will have access to many of the business leaders who are going to be here on that occasion.

Apart from the leaders Meeting, Mr Speaker, as the Member for Moresby North West knows, there are also CEO’s summit.

The CEOs of almost all the top 500 companies in the world or their representative will be in our country.

They will see the opportunities that we present, the investment dollar that can be derived out of their engagement and their presence in the country is beyond measure.
So our businesses have the opportunity to engage with them if they want to export coffee, cocoa or copra.

They have this opportunity.

We are encouraging many of the business leaders, especially our Papua New Guinean leaders to participate in this CEO Summit so they can make the useful connections that are necessary for us to have access to their markets.

Mr Speaker, China, United States, Russia, Japan and South Korea, have the population.
They have the market, they have to consume all these products that we produce in our country.

It opens up opportunities for young people making sure that they have opportunity to the digital economy that is being promoted by these countries.

So the opportunities are quite enormous.

It doesn’t mean that tomorrow you will be flushed with billions of kina and all our problems will be solved tomorrow.

Certainly, it doesn’t happen like that.


We don’t go hand- in- cap like others do and beg everybody to give us money for free.

We want to do business with these people.

We want to do business that will benefit our country ion our national interest, making sure that it creates opportunities and jobs for our people.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr SPEAKER – The Chair will recognise the Regional Member for Bougainville – Mr Bryan Kramer – Supplementary question, Mr Speaker.
10 Mr SPEAKER – Honourable Member, you have asked a lot of supplementary questions so the Chair will not entertain your question.

There are others Members that have questions to ask, so I am going to give them the opportunity to ask.

If you still want to ask your question, you will have to raise it as a new question.

Mr Bryan Kramer –Thank you, Mr Speaker, I will ask a new question.

Mr SPEAKER – Honourable Member for Madang, the Chair will entertain your question later on.
Mr JOE LERA – Thank you, Mr Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Communication and it is in regard to Radio Bougainville.

Does your Department or the Government for that matter have any plan to improve Radio Bougainville to what it was before the crisis when the coverage was Province wide and people were well informed on global, national, provincial and local issues affecting their lives?

07/07 The frequency than was short way one but now change to FM which covers the urban centre’s only.
This is very important for referendum awareness purposes which is just one year away.

At present only 55 per cent population have some understanding of what referendum is and the issues relating to it while the other 55 per cent have very little understanding.

So radio Bougainville can play an important role in helping my people to understand what referendum is and vote freely, fairly with their consensus without pressure or outside influences.

Thank you.
Thank you.

Mr SAM BASIL – Mr Speaker, I say thank you for the good question for the regional member for Bougainville as the Minister responsible for Communication.

Mr Speaker, we are also concern about disseminating information down to the grassroots people of Bougainville.

In doing so, my Department has been task to make sure 11 that we bring those equipment up to standard so that we can help disseminate information in preparedness for the referendum which is closing in very soon.
Mr Speaker, from information we got one FM station that is in operation and we’ve got two possible sites that we need to bring back to life.

We also have the other option of re- establishing the shortwave installation which is new, but the problem we have is that the shops in Papua New Guinea no longer sell shortwave radio, they are only selling the FM radio and medium wave frequency receivers.
Mr Speaker, we have another option of going directly to the factories of radio to make sure that they produce those radios to some numbers that we might require to distribute in Bougainville and those are the decision that we will be making.

My team is travelling there in two weeks’ time to visit and make the decision whether we put two more extra FM transmission or we go back and reactivate the newly established or installed shortwave station.
We also have the option of approaching the suppliers or the manufacture of receivers to manufacture radio to the frequency that we need.

So we will make the decision soon and I can assure the Regional Member for Bougainville that NBC will attend to that and I will also bring it to the attention of the Cabinet.

Mr Speaker, if we need funding to do that, we will ask for it so that we will move forward with the disseminating information to this people of Bougainville.

Thank you Mr Speaker.


Mr PETER NUMU – Thank you Mr Speaker, my question without notice is directed to the Minister for Public Service regarding inconsistency or confusion in laws that is affecting the Provincial Administrators Appointments.
Before I ask my question, I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of my people of Eastern Highlands Province to thank the good Prime Minister and the NEC for the recommendation to call for re-advertisement of the position of the Provincial Administrator, once again thank you.
Mr Speaker, the recent 2014 Amended Public Service Management Act which regulates Public Service Department on the employment of provincial administrators, Regulation 2014 calls on the Provincial Executive Council to send a shortlist to the Department of Personnel Management.

12 08/07 From the province, we will send one recommendation to NEC but the Organic Law requires that we send three recommended nominees.
So this is causing a lot of confusion as to whether to follow the Organic Law or the enabling laws.

So my question are: (1) Do we send three recommended nominees to the NEC as required under Organic Law or follow the enabling laws of the Public Service Management?

Many provinces have put out vacancy notices for these positions and applications are being received as I speak.
We must prepare ourselves and I will probably get my PEC to make a decision on this, and we begin the process of selecting three as well as one nominee.

So I would like clarification on this and the process to follow.

A lot of the applicants are calling to talk to us, the Governors and I believe some have come to visit your department.

Many are coming with money to influence the merit based appointment process.
(2) When are you to complete the shortlist of nominees for Eastern Highlands so that the Provincial Government goes through and makes its final selection of three nominees and send it to NEC?

Mr ELIAS KAPAVORE – Thank you, Mr Speaker and also the Governor for Eastern Highlands for those important questions.
With regard to the appointment of the Provincial Administrators under Section 73 of the Organic Law, it requires for three names to be submitted to the National Executive Council through the Minister for Public Service.

But there was an amendment made in 2014 where regulation No.9/2014 requires that PEC will recommend one nominee through the Minister for Public Service to be submitted to the NEC.

During NEC discussions, it was found that this part of the Organic Law was not repealed and it still exists.
When I sought legal advice, I was told that in terms of superior laws; we should adhere to the Organic Law.

I can assure the Governor that my pre-selection Committee sat this week and a shortlist of candidates will be furnished to your office for your perusal and the same goes for West New Britain, Manus and Chimbu Provinces, the committee has met this week so they will inform the respective Governors.
13 09/07 So, I will repeat myself administrators we will still maintain the Organic Law and I require you all to bring three names because this part was not refilled and it still remains.

This means that you will bring three to five names and the by law it must not be done after the shortlist then your Assembly’s will meet and send us a shortlist after the consideration of five names you will have to bring three names back to my office and I will take it to NEC.
NEC thinks that this is an important decision so we have to stick to following the Organic Law which is still the superior law which we have to maintain.

Secondly, with regard to the question on merit based selection, Mr Speaker, I want to maintain that we have a strict control integrity on Merit Base Selection for Departmental head and that also goes for the provincial administrators and it still the same, we do not interfere with the process, it is maintained and must be follow.
We will not allow anyone to come in, I have given strong instructions to my team that we must respect the integrity of the selection process and we need to maintain it at that and it is important that we need to allow it to happen.

I do not know who applies as well so do not come and ask me or my team on who has applied and do not try to give any kind of bribery because we will not entertain all those anymore because we are maintaining the integrity of the selection process.
Mr Speaker, it is important that we need to this as a requirement, Mr Governor and your team, the four provincial administrators that I have mentioned already so when the selection team has completed most likely by the end of this week you should be given names of the shortlisted candidates and we should extract at least two weeks to submit those names back before that NEC Decision.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.


Mr ISI HENRY LEONARD – Thank you, Mr Speaker, my questions are directed to the Minister for Environment, Conservation and Climate Change but he is not present so I wish to redirect them to the Minister for National Planning and I want the Prime Minister could take note.

Around December 2012, a cheque with a cheque number 4043 amounting to about K3 million was paid to a gardening company in Port Moresby for a mangrove rehabilitation in the National Capital District.
The name of the Gardening Company is PNG Gardeners owned and operated by a Minister on the other side of the House.

14 Look around the National Capital District beach fronts and swamplands and you will for sure see that there has been no such rehabilitation of mangroves or a plantation of that sort.

In other words, there has been no mangrove rehabilitation as intended.

My questions are as follows: (1) Was this contract ever tendered for a fair competition from other gardening and tree planting companies?
(2) Why was such a huge sum of money paid to PNG Gardeners without having any experience or specialist scientist in the field of environmental conservation and climate change?

(3) Can you inform the Parliament of the work that was undertaken or a mangrove plantation that was developed using this money?
(1) If no work has never been done and five years has passed, when will you refer this gardening company, its owners and directors to the Police fraud Squad for investigation, prosecution before the Courts and possible the jail terms at Bomana?

Accordingly, Mr Speaker, I present a copy of the Cheque Usage Report from the Integrated Financing System of the National Government.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.


10/07 Mr RICHARD MARU – Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his questions and this is the first time I have heard about it so I won’t be able to answer but I would appreciate if you could submit it to me in writing with all the relevant documents and findings that it was from my department then I will instruct my acting Secretary to investigate so that I can report back to Parliament with detailed answers.
Negative impact on Facebook Mr WESLEY RAMINAI – Mr Speaker, I want to direct my question to the Minister for Communication and Information Technology.

This is about the most popular mode of communication which is Facebook which everyone loves and enjoy it very much.

Most of our people really enjoy using Facebook which we all are aware of and even myself I use it as well.

But the post that comes on Facebook are just opinions, a lot of rubbish and defamation as well.
Here in PNG, we can live without Facebook.

There are some developed 15 countries like China with 1.3 billion people and others who don’t use this social media because its only opinion that are exposed.

Do you have any plans to control this social media?

Mr SAM BASIL – Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for Kagua-Erave for his questions.

Mr Speaker, we all know that the Facebook issues regarding cybercrime are protected by the law.
So many complaints and problems have been created and we have seen and ready in newspapers, heard over the radios therefore, I thank the member for asking this question which I will elaborate further on it.

Mr Speaker, the crimes committed by Facebook in terms of breaching the cybercrimes law in making defamatory comments to other people.

I am not referring to politicians only but citizens of this country in their daily living.
There are a lot of complaints from a lot of people in regards to this defamation and we want to ensure that our police personnel are well equipped in understanding how to prosecute and carry on with enforcing this cybercrime laws.

In addition to that, my Department through NICTA are urging all Papua new Guineans to register their SIM cards by end of this month.

In doing so, the cyber security team established can track and trace the numbers who access the data by committing this crimes.
But at the moment, it is very hard for us to track the users that are committing these crimes.

Therefore, the registry for all SIM which ends this month is very vital and important for my Department to make sure that we will understand and know who committed these crimes.
Regarding other measures to be taken on Facebook, my Department is still considering some avenues available to be implemented and if we come up with a solution to this issue then I will bring back to Parliament and make public statements on it.

Supplementary Questions Negative impact on Facebook Mr Kennedy Wenge – Mr Speaker, I represent an electorate which is part of PNG and Nawae is in Morobe Province.
16 Before when I was the chairman of one of the schools, Facebook was not introduced yet and the students scored good marks both in primary and high schools.

But now, when Facebook was first introduced in this country, students’ marks have dropped dramatically.

11/07 I therefore would like to conclude that we must ban Facebook.

Mr SAM BASIL – There are calls from people nationwide that Facebook is very dangerous in terms of people defaming others.
We do understand according to my department that Facebook does affect the productivity of workers who are employed by companies – Mr Allan Bird – Point of Order!

Mr Speaker, it is very good for Ministers to stand up and talk about things affecting certain segments of the population but it would be even better if Ministers present that evidence rather than making assumptions.

They shouldn’t be speaking generally and claiming that it affects a great number of people.
Let’s present evidence, otherwise, don’t do that and answer the question without generalising.

Mr SAM BASIL – As I was saying, it does affect workers and students in classrooms.

In schools where children access mobile phones, it is being affected because of the time spent on Facebook and other social media.

Mr Speaker, the concern from the Member for Nawae is true.
Many areas where students and workers have no access to Facebook, there is a higher productivity level as compared to areas that have access.

I will in due time bring something to present to Parliament.

Same Sex Marriage Mr POGIO GHATE – I direct my question to the Minister for Religion, Youth and Community Development and it is in regards to same sex marriage.

Mr Speaker, we as leaders know about this things but we are not saying anything.

This is a very serious issue that must be addressed.
We call ourselves a Christian country and this evil from outside is entering our country.

17 Mr Minister, are you aware of this issue and its effects on Papua New Guinea?

As a leader of this country, I don’t think this must be allowed in our country.

Therefore, what are your plans on this issue?

Mr SOROI EOE – I thank the Member for Daulo for a very tough question.

Mr Speaker, Papua New Guinea is a Christian country and most of our behaviour and our conduct are defined by our belief systems.
I think because of our beliefs, it has already been defined in so far as man and woman are concerned.

12/07 Happenings in other parts of the world and recently, a law was passed in New Zealand as well as Australia which raises the questions about the very norms that churches preach and particularly the Christian countries uphold dear to their hearts, particularly in terms of social fabrics of their society.

This is a challenge.


I am fully aware of it and, as I said, it’s a very difficult question to answer but one of the things that I am bringing to the attention of this House is the issue of declaring this country as a Christian country.

That will come before NEC and eventually to the Parliament.
So, I think in terms of our decisions and our behaviour, this is already defined by this particular move that my Ministry is doing insofar as addressing the issue of marriage and in particular when it concerns same sex marriages.

I personally find it very difficult to understand and I think for me, as a person, individually, my decision is mine, it is personal and that is, God created man and woman to procreate and that is the institution that I think as Christians we should uphold.
MOTION BY LEAVE Mr JAMES MARAPE (Tari-Pori – Minister for Finance) – I ask leave of Parliament to move a motion without notice.

Leave granted.

18 SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS – REARRANGEMENT OF BUSINESS Motion (by Mr James Marape) agreed to – That so much of the Standing Orders be suspended as would prevent Notice No.

1 of Government business this day been called on forthwith.

ADDRESS-IN-REPLY TO THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S SPEECH Debate resumed from 08 February 2018 (see page….)
Mr PETER O’NEILL (Ialibu-Pangia – Prime Minister) – Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Speaker, on the 8 February 2018 this year our good Governor-General addressed Parliament addressing the nation, stating the agenda of government and the work that is ahead of us in our great nation.

Mr Speaker, it is now almost 12 months since our government has been re-elected to continue to build on the policies and the achievements that we have established in the previous term of Parliament.
Mr Speaker, as a result of stability we are able to continue to build on that and we continue to bring even more and more legislation to this Parliament so that we can deliver real reforms for our people.

Mr Speaker, we are implementing robust policies that is continuing to strengthen how we deliver services to our people and continue to grow our economy and of course, create more jobs and opportunities for our people.
As Members of the government have agreed in the Second Alotau Accord where we had a theme of ‘Strongim Wok Na Sidaun Bilong Ol Pipol’.

We are now in the process of implementing this substantial agenda that we have set for our nation.

These includes the continuation of the Tuition Fee Free Education programme, Deliver and Expansion of the Universal Health Care Program, Improving Law and Order all around the country and Building Much Needed Infrastructure right across the country.
So, Mr Speaker, our government continues to deliver on these programmes as we speak and that’s what we have been doing in the last 12 months.

19 13/07 Mr Speaker, our Government has also invested heavily in our districts.

We continue to fund our District Services Improvement Programs (DSIP) and also to the provinces under the PSIP program.

And we will continue to do so.

Mr Speaker, it is a program that is for the whole year.

The budget allocations will be spread around for that year.
We continue to fund that and we have maintained this policy because we have seen what it can deliver to the most remote districts right throughout the country because of these interventions.

We have no choice but to continue that.

Many a times, many leaders continue to preach about 85 per cent of our population living in the rural communities not having access to decent services and the lack of resource to fund those services.
Mr Speaker, I know there are critics out there to oppose this kind of interventions but let me say that, as a leader representing one of our remote districts in the country, I have witnessed that this is only few or the only interventions in the districts and provinces.

There is no other funding coming from anyone else.

Mr Speaker, I think it is important to highlight to our people, highlight to our critics that this fund does not go to honourable Members of the House.
It goes to the districts and the district treasurers and the districts CEO’s administer the usage of these funds.

There is a perception out there where they think the Members of Parliament are running around with cheque books that is not the case.

We all know that we set the priorities of the programs of the districts, we approve the budgets of the districts and the discharge of those duties and programs are carried out by our district administration.
I think that is where we need to strengthen the administrative process of those funds in those districts.

Mr Speaker, we don’t mind those opposing views, especially on our policies.

We welcome these discussions, but it must be sensible and constructive.

There is always an improvement to make on policies.

It doesn’t matter who is in government, but I think the fundamentals of our economy and the stability of our country is very sound and remains sound.
I think it is important that we continue to build on this.

In the last few years, our nation’s Budget deficit as a percentage of GDP has continued to decline and will continue to decline even further down to 2.5 per cent in 2017 and to 2.3 per cent in 2018 from 3.1 per cent in 2016.

Mr Speaker, when you look beyond that, you will find that this is not the first time our country is in a deficit budget.
We have had deficit budgets in the past, starting from 2002 you 20 will note that these deficit budgets have continued to be maintained because we have a gap in the funding that is required to fund our programs for many years.

In 2000, we had a deficit Budget of minus 2 per cent and in 2001, it was minus 3.8 per cent, 2002, minus 3.88 per cent.

From there, in 2004, we had a surplus Budget so we had a positive growth in many of those years.
In 2008, we ran a 2.2 deficit Budget, so I think this misconception about running deficit Budgets is going to harm our country and continue to mismanage, that is false.

Mr Speaker, as long as we invest the funds out of those Budgets that we are running, invest in the right infrastructure, right social services, and that is continuing to build the economy of our country, creating opportunities for our country, it is a sensible approach.

Many countries around the world continue to run on deficit budgets.
14/07 Mr Speaker, I want to say that inflation, when you look at inflation numbers, I say our economy is very sound, when you look at the inflation numbers in years 2000 we were running at 15.5 percent inflation, in 2001 at 9.3 percent, in 2002 at 11.8 percent and in 2003 at 14.7 per cent; an average and half.

Even in 2008, we had 13.5 per cent inflation but in the last five years, Mr Speaker, we’ve been able to maintain it at relatively between four and six per cent.
It is aimed that at the end of this year, it will remain at about 6.1 per cent inflation so it is quite stable as well.

In 2000 we had 17.5 per cent interest rate which was brought down to 15.5.

In 2001, it depreciated all the way down so of course now, we are experiencing an average of 8.7 per cent in 2017 and 8.3 per cent outcome that we are expecting so in fact, interest rate has stabilize across our financial sector as well.

Mr Speaker, many a times we argue about debt to GDP Numbers.
We went back and studied some numbers over the past years from 2000 all the way to 2018, some interesting numbers popped out where we can see debt percentage of GDP in 2000 was 62.3 per cent.

In 2001 was 71.

3 per cent, in 2002 was 70.5, 2003 was 59.8, 2004 was 56.4, 2005 was 48., and it kept on coming down and of course in 2011 when we took government was 15.5 and last year was 32.6 and we are projecting and now we are tracking on 29.5 as we speak for this year.
21 So Mr Speaker, we are within the fiscal responsibility numbers of 35 per cent and that is a commendable Act that was introduce by Hon.

Batt Philemon and as long as we maintain the numbers - but at the same time our GDP numbers have almost double as I said yesterday.

So Mr Speaker, our economy is growing, at an average of at about 3 per cent average over the last few years but before that, at the average of close to 8 per cent even in the past decade.
So Mr Speaker, I think, compared to many countries around the world, our country is performing quite well.

Mr Speaker, we will continue to maintain the policies so that this positive economic growth can continue over the next few years.

But there are certainly serious challenges ahead of us.
We have faced some serious challenges in the past as well like the global decline of the global commodity prices, long and expended drought in our country and of course the recent earthquakes as well as the elections that we have just concluded.

Those are challenges to the economy itself.

During the elections the economy slowed down and nobody did business well over three months.
We cannot afford those kind of long extended period of elections where everybody’s just puts everything on hold until the elections results come so Mr Speaker I think it’s important that we continue to manage these challenges in the years ahead so that we can maintain that growth.

Maintaining growth in our economy is very important because in the Alotau accord we set out a very clear policies guidelines that we wanted to archive.
That include increasing the revenue by at least 15 per cent in the years ahead and trying to restrict our public expenditure by 16 percent of the GDP.

Again maintaining the debts level down 35 percent of GDP and of course advancing some of the key economic activities that we wanted.

Mr Speaker, over the next few years we will be advancing some key projects.

That includes the future of our expansions of our current LNG.
15/07 LNG and P’nyang has indicated there is increased levels of reserves in the wells that they have explored.

The LNG partners are now looking at developing that and we are at the final stages of agreeing to fiscal terms that is going to be given to these companies to try develop this particular resource.

The second issue we are now well advance with the discussions around Papua LNG Project.

That again, we want to conclude the fiscal terms before November this year.

22 So that we have clear direction.


There is a good opportunity to do that because most of the global financial banks and financiers are going to be attending the CEOs summit in November and we are trying to take advantage of that, whilst making sure that as we did with the first LNG, where we had to go and raise close to US$19 Billion to fund these project.

It is important that when the bankers are present in our country, we expose the opportunities in the second LNG.

And the expansion of the first LNG.


We are also making very good progress in terms of our discussions for the Wafi-Golpu mining project.

Mr Speaker, Newcrest and our government officials have been meeting on few occasions and that is to advance this project so that we can be able to continue and maintain the growth.

I know that unlike the first LNG, there will be a sudden growth in our rate of growth.

That is what we are trying to avoid.

We want to do an extended level of steady growth.


So many of these projects will be staggered out over the years so that we are not lumping everything in one year and we have a huge spike.

And all of a sudden the economy collapses and everybody is finding it hard to maintain jobs and their small businesses.
We are also making good progress in terms of building infrastructure in other areas like power generation, as we speak are now building a high voltage grid from Tari to Hides all the way to Mount Hagen to connect to the Ramu grid.

As we speak discussions are taking place to expand the Hides power generation plant by at least another 20 megawatts, which will connect to this high voltage grid.
And we are closely with the landowners and oil search to build another gas fired power generation capacity in Kutubu.

This is so that the landowners can also participate meaningfully in the development of the gas fields in their areas.

Mr Speaker, those discussions are well advanced and what it means is that we get a cleaner energy because we are using gas fired and the energy process are much cheaper than heavy diesel that we are using today.
The prices that we are paying today for heavy diesel is about 14 cents per kilowatt hour on average.

And I think the price that we are looking to attain through the gas fired energy is anyway between 7-9 cents per kilowatt hour.

That will be a huge reduction in the cost of the generation of power in our country.

Meaning that we want to pass that onto our consumers.

That is why it is important that we produce cleaner energy and of course continue to reduce the prices.
Mr Speaker, diesel cost is one of the highest cost in the country and we are spending so much on companies like Puma, Esso Highlands and other importers of fuel in the country.

23 And we need to make sure that we are self-sufficient energy wise in the country.

We are now in the process of building 54 megawatt power down at the plant site and that will be extended by another 40 megawatt by the MRDC and the landowner groups who are building the power plant down there.
In total there will be a capacity of 100 megawatt power stations in Port Moresby.

We will shut down Kanudi where we are depending on fuel generation.

We will generate power in Port Moresby from gas and hydro up in Rouna.

This is due to the good work that the KCH and the ministry of State Enterprises are doing is commendable.
16/07 Mr Speaker, we want to continue to build hydros and gas-fired power generation in the country and they are solutions that we are developing for Lae, Madang and other parts of the country.

In the past, World Bank have built some hydro stations around the country so the Government is trying to rebuild them again because for many years it has been neglected and the turbines have stopped generating power.
The Government is trying to fix each and every one of them to make sure that power is generated sufficiently for the consumption of all our people.

Our aim is that by 2030, we want to put 70 per cent of our population on the power grid and that is the target that the Government has set and I think it is achievable; 2030 is not so far away but we can be able to do that.
If we continue at the pace we are going I think the next generation of our country is will be something that generates and delivers reliable and less costly power to our people.

Mr Speaker, we are also rebuilding the Telecommunication Industry and again the Minister and his team are doing a great job and of course we have just signed the undersea cable from Australia to Port Moresby and Port Moresby to Honiara with the Australian Government who is mostly funding the project.
It is already in design stage and I am being told that the ships are already working on the survey on where they are going to lay the cables on the seabeds ad work has commenced.

With our own initiative we have got the telecommunication undersea cable for network market and we are talking to the Chinese about that but also with the Australians so that we can consider which deal can be the best our country making sure that the deal is less costly to our country for us to explore.
By building these capacity and infrastructure in telecommunication, I believe that the cost of telecommunication will be lowered and we do 24 not want to create a private sector company monopoly in the country but there must be sufficient competition so that we can drive the cost down for an average costumer in the country.
Mr Speaker, in terms of our economy we need to broaden the base of our economy and we cannot continue to ride the commodity cycle that goes from boom to bust which we have had that experience over the last 43 years.

We cannot continue to subject our economy to such a cycle that we have no control over that is why investment in SME’s, Agriculture, Tourism are part of the initiatives that Government are now putting in place.
We are investing substantial amounts of resource by partnering with individual companies who are investing substantial amount of money in agriculture.

We are putting more money into SMEs and many of you might now know that there is a few pilot projects going on in the country, one of them visible I sup at six mile, when you drive past you will see a SME Centre, a model that we want to create around the country.
This model will enable individual small business and people who go fresh produce at the market, instead of carrying their produce back and forth from their homes to the markets on a daily basis, especially for the mothers who struggle to do that, we want them to have a spot where they can be able to keep their produce there overnight and then when they go back they make the sales, go home and look after their families.
Mr Speaker, these concepts have been develop by our Government and I am happy to say that the uptake of some of these schemes like that and the housing scheme we have initiated, the Government has invested close to K400 million in Housing Loans that are being made available through BSP Mr Speaker, I can say that many of the housing constructions that are taking place around the country when there is a proper title that can be mortgaged to the bank at 4 per cent over a forty year loan is driving our individual Papua New Guineans to own a home.
So, that is a growing industry and you must make sure that we invest heavily into the constructions of homes because it not only provides better standards of living but it creates employment, who can be carpenters, electricians, plumbers and of course labourers in the construction industry.
17/07 Mr Speaker, we are also seeing greater returns on some of our natural resources as many of you will understand we now have a policy in place to put a stop in timber permits for round log exports starting 2020, a complete ban so that we keep the jobs in our country and 25 we want the timber company to carry out the downstream processing in our country so that the finished product can be exported.
Mr Speaker, this is well in line and there is a good understanding between the industry and the Government about how we develop our forestry industry in the country.

In terms of fisheries, we have now introduced a rebate system because of the Long Lines and the Persian Fishing companies especially in the tuna industry have taken all the catches overseas and not either coming on shore to either get supplies or offload the fish on our ports.
And that resulted in many of our fish end up in Thailand or Philippines so what we have done is introduce a rebate system, before we use to allow a vessels discount system which means we allow discounts on the number of days they are fishing out at open sea.

But now informing every fishing company and every boat to pay full price and when you come on board and unload your fish in PNG waters and factories we will give you a rebate.
Mr Speaker, despite some initial doubts about that program the fishing companies have now realised that it’s beneficial to them as well but more so for our factories because many of the factories were operating at 20 to 30 percent capacity and not at 100 percent.

Its only RD Tuna in Madang was the one who was fully operating at full capacity but the rest where not.
Mr Speaker, this has now increased production in canned tuna and canned products of fish in our country and as a result we can export to the European Markets on favourable terms that we have with European Union.

So initiatives like this are starting to produce positive results and also we are making some headway in terms of our negotiation with the resource companies.
They are starting to come on board where we give concessions about parking export revenues in overseas accounts in the previous agreements that we have signed with them with the mining companies and oil and gas companies.

Although we have got a fairly healthy current account balance our foreign exchanges are facing some challenges because all our moneys are parked overseas and nobody is bringing them back into the country, because of the agreements that we have signed.
So we are revisiting these agreements through the good work of our Treasurer and his team and now some of these companies are responding positively and we are getting on top of these issues.
Mr Speaker, future project agreements will be subject to a very stringent review of that arrangement and we will not allow our moneys to be parked elsewhere and we are facing 26 the consequences of some of our actions and our people and business suffer because of lack of availability of foreign currencies so I can assure you that we are doing our best to do that.
Mr Speaker, also I want to say that in terms of our delivery for education and health in our country we are continuously investing more money in this sector.

In the last five years, on average we spent over K1.5 billion in education and health and now we are fully funding almost K1.2 billion in the health programs that we have in the country.
In law and justice sector, again almost K1 billion on average over the last five years, and of course infrastructure we are close to about K1.5 billion as well per annum.

Mr Speaker, programs like the free education, not many countries around the world introduce free education, only few and I think one of the main ones was the program the India Government introduced when it got Independence in 1948.
18/07 Mr Speaker, we introduced free education because almost over a million kids were not in primary schools right throughout the country.

If they do not have a basic education then what future do they have?

They have no future and most of their frustrations in some of our youths is because they have missed out on this opportunities.

For example, if you go to Bougainville you will find that for almost 20 years many did not attend schools.
Mr Speaker, it is our duty to our nation and our future generations that we must continue to fund Free Education.

I see a lot of complaints and recently someone was complaining about K5 million TFF not reaching them.

But not reaching them is not only because of Government cash flow availability but sometimes because of the records that they submit to the Education Department.

For example, total number of students or schools changing accounts or board of directors or signatories and many more.
It is to do with the difficulty of such and the connection from there with the Education Department for the funds to flow freely.

This year we have already spent over K300 million on TFF alone.

However, every time there is a glitch of K1 million or K5 million, everybody wants to jump up and down and making a very big issue out of it.

They forget that over the last 5 years, an average of K600 million a year and when you multiply that by 6 years, it amounts to over K3.
6 billion that we have spent on school fees right throughout the country.

And that has enable another 1.2 million kids going to school from elementary to year 12.

27 Mr Speaker, half of the population of kids in schools are girls so for the first time we have giving an opportunity to the female population.

This is something that we should be proud of because the girls will make the better choices in life about their families and careers.

They are sometimes better financial managers than we are.
We are making a generational change in our country.

We only started in the last few years so the results will only be evident the many years to come.

The change will come when these kids go to universities, get a job and educate their families and that is when change will come.

Mr Speaker, it is important that it does not matter which side of the Parliament we sit but we must continue to maintain this kind of positivity and level of funding.
When we resort back to the User Pay Policy then only the privileged kids will benefit.

This country is for every one despite whichever the background.

Everybody has the equal right to being educated and that is why we have to support the Free Education.

Mr Speaker, I think many of us are concerned about the quality of education.

Many parents were happy with the Free Education but were concerned about the quality of it.
But when we look at the quality again then we are looking at the training of teachers.

It is an issue that needs to progress.

We need to make sure the curriculum is good for our kids and the country.

A few years ago some of our people in the Education Department decided to throw out the Standard Based Education and bring in a new system about teaching elementary at a young age.
However, experts now are telling us that at the age of 5 to 8 is the best years in which you accumulate the knowledge that will guide you through the rest of your life.

There is a generation of kids that missed out on this opportunity and are falling behind.

Mr Speaker, the Government’s policy now is to resort back to Standard Based Education and everybody from grade 1 must be taught in English.
19/07 As parents, it is our responsibility to maintain the knowledge that we can pass on to our children about our customs, our languages and others.

That is our responsibility as parents but as government, we must make sure that we give that child an opportunity under the new Standard Based Education.

Health, Mr Speaker we are doing the same thing.

We are building more hospitals right throughout the country than even before.
Earlier, as was alluded to in Question Time about district hospitals, we are now investing into district hospitals.

28 I can’t give you a better story than that about a few years ago I visited Telefomin.

Telefomin never saw any government for many, many years.

They thought they were part of Irian Jaya or Indonesia on the other side because no Papua New Guinean government official or government people have ever visited that place.
I was fortunate enough to accompany the Member in our term to his electorate to see the new district office and the new hospital that we have built because of the funding that our government has provided.

This has to continue and this must be replicated all throughout the remote districts because our district hospital funding initiative is something that is commendable.

And I appeal to all honourable Members, although it is K50 million, let’s start with the remotest districts first.
Some of us will give it a miss and we’ll wait for the years ahead of us but immediately for this year let’s start building the hospitals, equipping them and making sure that the staff houses are okay so that the health care that we will provide to our people right across those remotest areas of the country is something that we can all continue to build on.

As we speak today Mr Speaker, we will be opening the Goroka Hospital, which is probably one of the most modern hospitals in the country, in September.
Tenders have gone out for Angau Hospital, a contractor has been appointed and they will start commencing the rebuilding of Angau Hospital.

As many of you know, in the last five or six years we have been building the Port Moresby General Hospital.

Although there are still many issues ahead, services in that hospital has improved, it is much cleaner than when we took over in 2011.
And Mr Speaker the funding for the cancer unit has already been released to the Port Moresby General Hospital and they are going to build that cancer unit and we will deliver a specialised cancer facility at that hospital.

And of course, the heart facilities that are we are continuing to build.

Across the country same thing.

Angau, we are going to build a specialised cancer unit there.

When you go to Popondetta Hospital you will see that there can be keyhole surgeries in Popondetta Hospital.
But we need to get our people to get the doctors and everybody down there because the equipment are there, hospitals have been rebuilt and politics has to stop in this hospital.

They are just serving our people.

It’s not about playing politics in the hospitals and in the schools, let’s play politics here in Parliament or elsewhere but please let our services continue to flow and our people can enjoy the services that they rightfully deserve.
29 And of course, in the next few weeks we are going to go to Wewak and launch the much needed Boram Hospital.

That is again going to be a world class level of hospital.

We are building a new big hospital in Enga that is going to serve close to half a million people in that province and of course the neighbouring two provinces of Western Highlands and Southern Highlands.

And we are looking at rebuilding a new hospital in Hela Province as well, Mr Speaker.
So, Mr Speaker, step by step we are rebuilding these hospitals and we are working closely with the Mount Hagen General Hospital people to rebuild that hospital.

There has been competing proposals coming through but we are making an assessment on which is the best way to go so we can complete this in a time frame that is going to deliver quality services for our people.
Mr Speaker, also in terms of infrastructure, I know some of our critics continue to say that we are building Port Moresby only and we are not building the rest of the country, Mr Speaker, initially in the last term of Parliament I said that we have to build major service centres around the country.

Port Moresby, Lae, Mount Hagen and Kokopo, and that includes level seven hospitals in those cities.

20/07 We create infrastructure like major airports, major road infrastructure and businesses can boom.
This is where people are gathering to do business and receive services.

From there we can build upwards because there is no pint spreading the limited resources we have so thinly.

We cannot go and build major hospitals in every district right throughout the country, even though I know in my own district in Ialibu Pangia, I want to have a big hospital and I want a big airport but I know there is limited population there.

So you have to build to deserve the population that we have in each of our district.
In major cities like Mt Hagan, when you go to Mt Hagen, every day the population that shift into Mt Hagen triples compared to the people living in the city.

And in the evening everybody returns to their village and you will think Mt Hagen is empty.

It is not, the next day it is very vibrant.

So we need to build infrastructure like the roads and power and the airport that can serve that population that is migrating in and out on a daily basis.

I think the same happens in Lae city.


We have been building all the roads in Lae city.

Lae Port as I mentioned yesterday, and we are now extending the road network all the way to Angau and rebuilding Nadzab Airport.

Our priority is to rebuild the Wau-Bulolo Highway.

And I just receive a pleasant text 30 from a former Member of Parliament, Member for Sumkar, Ken Fairweather just drove from Madang to Wata Rais and said the road is not bad.
I give credit to Works Department team for continuously maintain that road.

That portion of the road is not an easy one to maintain, there’s lots of landslips and movements on the road but they are able to maintain that infrastructure.

I also want to announce that over the course of next few weeks ADB is now assessing the reports from our technical assessment team from the Highlands Highway.
There are three contracts form Mt Hagen all the way down to Nadzab will be handed down over the course of next month.

We are hoping that ADB will come back to us.

We want them to start the construction this year.

We don’t want to wait.

Our people have waited long enough.

Once we get that road out of the way, we can focus on the other roads around the country.

Mr Speaker, which is going to serve over six million people from Morobe all the way to Hela province.
I think these infrastructures need to be built to the highest standard, making sure that the competent contractors are building that road.

We don’t want contractors building it halfway and walking away, waiting for money to be paid.

We want them to finish the road so that our people can enjoy those infrastructure.

We are also building some of the missing links in the country.

We have just recently opened up the road between Kokopo and Kimbe, the New Britain Highway.
The link is open but we need to upgrade it, build the bridges that are needed around there.

We are now working on the Highway between Baiyer and Madang.

That is an ongoing project and also the road from Middle Ramu and Madang.

Middle Ramu is the missing link.

We need to connect these people into the major urban centres so they can get the services that the rest of us take for granted.

We are now almost 10 kilometres away from linking Kikori and Gulf to the Southern Highlands.
For Tabubil and OK Tedi, the good Minister for Defence has done a great job, with the support of the tax credit scheme, we are for the first time linking Teleformin.

We are trying to build a road from Tabubil to Teleformin and that is progressing well.

We are also happy with the work that is going on in Milne Bay and the work on the feeder roads funded by ADB that is taking place in the Highlands.

The standard has continuously improved.


Over the next few years, infrastructure is trying to open up opportunities for our people.

We are sick of going back and doing these maintenance.

Every year we roll out close to K250 million to K300 million in maintenance programs for all our roads right throughout the country.
In the future when the capacities and the districts grow, give the districts the 31 works maintenance money and they can maintain the district roads and the provinces can maintain the provincial roads and the National Government can focus on the national roads.

21/07 We do not go around trying to micro-manage some of these issues where when there is a bridge collapsing in one of our districts we all run to the Secretary for Works and his Department.
That should not be the case, we should take responsibility, in the districts and under the new plan we are going to revive the district works and provincial works program.

This is where we are going to build capacities in the districts.

The DDAs can take charge of the work that is going to take place.

Unfortunately, my good friend the former Prime Minister, Honourable Mekere Morauta saw it in his wisdom to cut down all these programs during his time in government.
Mr Speaker, that was because he was listening to the IMF and World Bank’s structural program where they cut everything down including the Public Servants.

They sack the retrench all the Defence Force.

This kind of policy are being forced down to us by international organisation.

But we should do away with such policy.

We have to make a stand when that is not acceptable to us.

We are displacing Papua New Guineans from a job where they are feeding four to five extended families from a salary.
They are not cutting down the staff but also the services in the department.

When you have a skeleton staff in the department, they are not functioning well and the whole country suffers.

So Mr Speaker, what we need to do is, rebuild some of these institutions again.

We are rebuilding the defence force, the works department and making sure we fund the health and education programs well right throughout the country.

I think we can build on this going forward.


Mr Speaker, I spoke about Agriculture earlier, but I also want to say that we are making some good progress around Tourism.

Over the next few weeks I will be announcing a major intervention in East New Britain Tourism.

I think, that’s our best tourism destination that can ensure that tourism flows onto other parts of the country.

So we need to create an harb like Fiji where they create Nandi as a tourism harb and in Indonesia, Bali was created as an harb.
So thousand and millions of people go to this destinations and from there they go to other parts of the country.

32 When you talk about Bali, many people who run the world are quiet ignorant and don’t believe that Bali is located in Indonesia.

So we need to set up an harb like that in Kokopo.

We need to sell Kokopo as a product.

We are now putting in a master plan together where we can be able to make sure that we build tourism centre around Kokopo, rebuild the airport, and extend it.
We need to build four lane road in Kokopo as well as Tokua area.

We are now talking to the provincial government and the landowners as well as the lease holders around the area to see how we can encourage them to participate in this tourism program.

Again, places like Madang and Milne Bay have huge tourism potential.

So we need to link all this.

Our aim is to station one of our airlines in Kokopo like Airlink.
In order to provide fly direct every morning or afternoon from Tokua to Milne Bay, Madang, Wewak or Manus rather than transit through Port Moresby to connect to other centres.

I think, there is a good opportunities.

Experts have done some analysis and they the advice they give us is that, it looks very positive.
So, I have instructed our team to visit East New Britain Provincial Government and talk to the lease holders and the government about how we can participate in developing tourism industry in our country.

Finally, our government is also working closely with the provincial governments’ right across the country.

Our aim is to decentralise most of the national government functions back to the provinces.

We should not decentralise them for the sake of giving them powers.
We have to also give them resources as well.

We have learnt from the experience in the past that we introduce the provincial government system.

22/07 Provincial Governments but we did not give him the money to run these governments properly.

As a result most of them are not functioning as well.

It is not only just about giving them decentralisation powers for us it is about resourcing them well and making sure that we continue to ensure that they deliver services to our people.
And they are the government that is closest to the people.

From the districts, the provincial governments and by empowering these two institutions I think we will be able to ensure that services flow in a much better and coordinated approach.

So we are working closely and we are doing a trial run with three provinces.

But as I have told the Governors on that occasion, we will certainly be expanding that right across the country.

Let’s make these three or four provinces work.


It is not necessarily autonomy, it is 33 about decentralising the functions of our government down to the governments that are closest to our people.

By doing that we will make sure to secure our national interests and stability of our country.

Our people want to make their own decisions about their own affairs.

We must empower them as well as resource them.


Mr Speaker, the agenda that has been set by the Governor-General during his address to our nation during the Opening of this term of Parliament, I can assure you that we have captured this in the Alotau Accord, the policies that we have and we will continue to drive them so that we can maintain the growth and give opportunities and better living standards for our people.
Sir PUKA TEMU (Abau-Minister for Health) – Mr Speaker, I move that the Parliament take note of the Prime Minister’s statement and I wish to debate on it.

Prime Minister congratulations on your leadership and articulating in a very profound and detailed statement since the inauguration of the Tenth Parliament by His Excellency, the Governor – General of Papua New Guinea, I have not had many Prime Ministers who articulate in this detail, under your leadership what the government is doing.
And I congratulate you for a very clear statement to our nation.

It reminds me of one of my favourite sayings.

I think it is from China, which goes like this; “the bird sings not because it knows the answer, but the bird sings because it has a song”.

Prime Minister, we admit that under your leadership we have not solved all the problems in the nation but the story that you told is a very good story, it is a very good song and I want to join in singing that song with you.
After the Election in 2017, while the Opposition was camping its self in Kokopo and Goroka, and Members of Parliament were coming into Alotau.

The instruction given by the Prime minister was gather a team together and design a programme of delivery once the Parliament is inaugurated.

And so the Alotau Accord was a contribution of all the leaders coming in; particularly from 60 per cent of the new leaders of the Tenth Parliament.
Who sat together in Alotau and articulated the Alotau Accord II, under the umbrella of the former Alotau Accord I. Mr Speaker, once upon a time many leaders blamed our country for being over politicised, over legitimise and over planned.
So many plans by sectors were made since independence but one thing that has come out clearly since 2012 is the Government under the leadership of the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill who has a very clear direction for our nation’s development, particularly, in clarifying the top priorities for the Government to follow.
34 Many governments announced their plans and priorities too but the biggest difference between those former governments and the government under Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill’s leadership was aligning the national Budget to those priorities.
23/07 In 2017, under the Leadership of the Treasurer that has been clearly done and the details the Prime minister articulated to in all the sectors is the result of the alignment of the government priorities, Alotau Accord II to the Budget and no other government has ever done that before.
Once upon a time, while I was the Deputy Prime Minister, the Opposition accused us of throwing away the Treasury Key because while we had windfalls we as the Prime Minister once said as Opposition Leader, “opportunities were lost”.
Basically that comes down to aligning the Budget to the priorities and this is why we have achieved so much, after the Organic Law in 1977 was passed there was no movement because the nation after 1975 was trying to find its way both on how to direct development into the country and much politics was played, also how to establish its position into the global arena as a Sovereign Nation.
So, from 1977 the Organic Law was passed up to 1995 when it was reviewed which is a total of 27 years we were finding our way and we fell with our human development indicators which is a global indicator of development for every developing country.

After 1995 when the Organic Law including the Local-Level Governments were formed, up to the year 2011, that baby was felt without appropriate funding and Budget.
In my own experience the reason was that we bureaucrats were designing the Budget and giving it to the politicians to present in the overall Budget but that has changed completely.

Now it is the Government through the Ministers Leadership leading together to form the structure of the Budget which was never done before.

So, we are able to say that DSIP, PSIP, Education; the first priority and the Health Infrastructure must always be there must always be funded.
The Budget is aligned and lead by us the leaders and not by bureaucrats, this is the biggest change that has come since 2012.

Mr Speaker, our country has had the privilege unlike our other neighbouring countries in the Pacific of Political and Policy Stability; 2002-2007, 2007-2012 National Alliance led the country and there was stability, 2012 up until present Peoples National Congress Party led and is leading.
35 We have one Prime Minister for the second term and the nation has never experienced one Prime Ministers relationship for two terms of Parliament and I believe that this is the biggest difference therefore the policy that is articular by the Prime Minister in Alotau Accord I and Alotau Accord II has delivered.
Some of us who are little bit more consecutive have advised the Prime Minister that the economy is down so let us cut down to K2million or K5million but the Prime Minister has insisted and now we realise but some of us who came in when DSIP K10 was not until 2012, we know that must have been achieved.

If you look at 1995 when the Organic Law came in to the year 2012 nothing was achieved but in only 5 years there has been a lot of changes.
The story goes as the Prime Minister has articulated to the reality and the achievements which we have achieve.

Mr Speaker, the important point that I want to support is the Stability of Leadership and Stability of Policy.

24/07 We are all leaders standing in this Parliament and we want to be a governor or member of an electorate for more than two to three terms.

What will you achieve in the first term only and same applies to the nation as well, one term government is not enough.
But now PNG is showing the nations in the Pacific Region that with stability and prudent management of the economy and articulating of clear priorities I believe we are in the right development direction.

Mr Speaker I spent a lot of time trying to articulate vision 2050 which I received a lot of criticism but we leaders must set the long term goal post.

Every five years, the executive government of the day must bring five years closer to vision 2050.
When I was articulating 2050 I thought of decreasing it to 2025 but because of some issues I put 2015.

If I had put 2025 then on the 16 September 2025 at 5 a.m. on the Independence Hill my Prime Minister would have presented a low development score.

We still have seven years to go before we celebrate our 50th anniversary and within those five years we have articulated and fully supported in finance and the programs that we now are delivering.
In the next seven years in the 10th and 11th term of Parliament if we maintain political stability then I can guarantee you Mr Speaker, the achievement that we will reach will be enormous and it will be recorded in history as one of the fastest phase of development in PNGs development history.

36 When I was asked to chair the Alotau I Accord, I was going to put the head in that this would be the government that would have brought in the fastest phase of development for PNG.
When I was asked to chair the Alotau II Accord, one of the biggest issue that we recognised was the issue of population in the country, which was articulated by the Governor Generals speech.

When you look at Alotau II Accord, it is the population is the overall acting umbrella policy is the five priorities.
When I was appointed the Minister for Health and HIV/AIDS I am now articulating how I can also contribute with the assistance from the Minister for National Planning and Monitoring, who is the administering ministry for the population planning policy.

Under the budget and priorities health has maintained its top five priorities which Prime Minister has clearly articulated some of the programs.
But one major areas, which I want to congratulate the Prime Minister, the Ministers for Treasury and the National Planning and Monitoring for supporting health is the issue of population policy in planning and control.

As for me is family planning and I will present a strategy over the period of time.

A strategy that will lead to the reduction of the much talked about high maternal mortality in PNG.
Mr Speaker, during this tem of Parliament we must clearly articulate on reducing the maternal mortality, which includes family planning in making sure that immunisation programs are carried out to ensure that the first born child lives up five years old and he or she is healthy all the way through and is big enough to go to school and work.

Therefore the economic benefit of investing in immunisation and family planning are highly cost effective.
One of the highly cost effective expenditure in health is family planning and immunisation.

With that I thank the Government for supporting the Health sector in a huge way.

25/07 As you would realise there is less talk on the shortage of medical supplies in the country.

This is because the big allocation that we got from the 2017 Budget has made it possible to deliver the supplies in the country and on a timely manner.

We also have a management system in place to ensure drugs are delivered.
We are responding to a report that was from the chief secretary’s office.

With that Budget we are able to do so many things, for 37 example, building new hospitals and with the new district hospitals, the National Planning with their Minister have already released funds.

Mr Speaker, I will be bringing a list to the Government Caucus for the first number of districts to given some support for their district hospitals under this new programme.
We will send the funds directly to the DDAs for them to take charge taking into account the standards of the Government.

The departments of National Planning and Monitoring with Health will be monitoring the roll out of that programme throughout the country.

Mr Speaker, we could not do those things with the support of the Government.

For example, if the Minister for Planning or the Prime Minister disagreed with the amount of K50 million then these projects would not have been possible.
Mr Speaker, this is the kind of leadership that I am talking about.

This is the kind of leadership that will lead this country forward.

Those of us who are privileged to be in Cabinet can attest to the confirmation and approval of the Budget by the Prime Minister, Honourable Peter O’Neill when it was brought in by the Treasurer.

There was a strong support and focus that the Prime Minister gave.
Mr Speaker, I commend the Prime Minister’s leadership and I believe that as a nation we now have the privilege to move forward.

We have the honour of the leadership with a group of clearly articulated polices to be delivered over two terms of government.

Why not three terms?

I think this nation deserves that much because we are running a catch-up race.

Our standing in many of our global indicators are very low and many times shameful but now we have an opportunity.
Mr Speaker, in the last five years the pace of development at the district level or provincial level has been faster than those periods that I articulated.

From 1977 to 1995 and 1995 to 2012, we did not see much.

Our leaders did deliver somethings but not that much however, the pace slowed down again.

Now that we have resources like gas and others, the pace has again quickened up.

I think that the crop of leaders that are sitting in here in Parliament today will be witnesses to so many changes.
We will be able to deliver the much needed services to our people.

As the Health Minister, I will request that over the next 5 years, under your PSIPs and DSIPs please top priority to family planning and immunisation.

I will do a letter to all of you that you need to take charge of immunising our children.

I want to make sure that every facility that you build has family planning services so that young mothers can be able to plan 38 their families.
For example, a young girl who is at the university does not have to get pregnant and her opportunities are lost forever.

A young working mother does not have to have a child every 18 months but spread out over 18 years so that she can be fit to contribute to economic development of this country.

I distributed all your district health profiles in the last Parliament Meeting.

I want you to go through them and find the problems.

If there are aid posts close then please reopen them again.
Vaccinate children that have not had the opportunity in your area.

I am now working with the chief executive officer of the global alliance on vaccine throughout the country.

He visited us this week and is leaving this afternoon.

He paid a courtesy visit to the Prime Minister and also had a detailed meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister.
26/07 We now have the global focus on us but with the polio outbreak we are able to relook at the systems that have failed and led us to low immunisation rates around the country.

And so with the leadership of our Prime Minister with strong support to the health sector I am very privileged that during this term I am the Minister for Health with enormous resources accorded to my ministry in order to address many, many of the health issues in the country.
So I commend the Prime Minister’s statement, I commend the Prime Minister’s leadership and I commend everyone.

Let us not waste time character assassinating each other on Facebook for example.

I recommend to the Member for Madang, please, stop doing this.

Don’t do it.

We are all respected leaders.

When our people elect us, our people must be respected and when you demean a leader you also demean the people who elect the.

Let us focus on the good programmes and opportunities.
You were not there when we came in first and there was no money.

We were mere leader.

You crop of leaders are very, very happy, very, very privileged and very lucky that another the leadership of our Prime Minister funds are being disbursed to DSIP and PSIP.

A lot of money, K10 million is a lot of money and in five years, K50 million is a windfall.

So, we need to work together.

The vision is very clear.

Prime Minister, all of us are very passionate about getting the country moving.
I think if this crop of leaders can make a commitment to work together politically and in programmes to bring back stability, teach the other neighbouring countries what political stability is, but teach ourselves the result that we can achieve with policy and political stability.

39 Mr PAIAS WINGTI (Western Highlands) – I think, Mr Speaker, opportunity comes once, either you seize the moment or you lose it.

Our country has been independent now for 42 years.


At that time the resource was only Bougainville.

It was the mine that kept this country going.

Now before that it was coffee, cocoa and copra, let’s not forget that.

That’s where the bulk of the population is.

They were keeping this country going and then came Bougainville.

When Bougainville emerged it carried this country going.

Bougainville was able to do that.

Today, Mr Speaker the country has changed.

The resource base is much bigger now.


The exportable resource base is much, much bigger and the budget is much, much bigger.

But the critical this is this, stability in government.

Without stability you can really not plan ahead.

But somehow, we all have a responsibility to our nation.
Sometimes I am here in Parliament and I think sometimes we become very parochial about our little province or our little district, but at the end of the day you must realise that this is the Parliament of Papua New Guinea and we must think about the boundaries of this country.

What is the big picture for this country?

So that in future the country is stable.


Number one is the education of our people the next is health, the next and the most important one, Prime Minister is the transportation infrastructure in this country.

Now when these opportunities are emerging, what can you do with that windfall of money?

You see the system of bureaucracy is one but when the money comes in the system is somehow removed and you don’t see the effect of that major opportunity resource that come in.
27/07 When the Chief was Prime Minister, you and this golden opportunity of huge money, but I was wondering why they didn’t’ try that when the resources was going back in Kutubu, should have insisted of a good highway from Lae to Komo must be built before I sign that agreement.

We missed that opportunity of the Americans building us a super highway.

We missed that opportunity.

Today, Prime Minister, fear itself will make you not to take the risk.

You must take calculated risk.


If you don’t take that risk you will never change this country because risk itself you fear.

Those days there were not many resources.

40 Today, the tax regime in Papua New Guinea is the best tax regime and the investors are making a lot of money.

Too good for them.

You compare that with Norway, Denmark, and Indonesia.

Those train of resources, Prime Minister you have the opportunity of negotiating, I ask you and the Government, get the best deal for Papua New Guinea.
I suggest that certain percentage of the royalty, five or six per cent tie them outside of the Budget without going through this, because everybody is looking at the State to receive 35 per cent GDP.

Look many countries in the world are over there, why is this going to restrict you, Prime Minister and Government.

Remove the law.

The net resources, five or ten per cent tied straight to opening up our country on the road system.

The road from West Sepik to Western province has to be built.
The road from Sandaun to East Sepik, Madang and Lae has to be built.

The road from Trans Highway has to be built.

The road from Madang to Hagen, Kikori has to be built.

We have to build that but how can we do that.

It is very simple, the global empires always rise and fall.

The empire in Arabic Empire, them the Roman Empire’s rise and fall, then the British Empire’s rise and fall and now the American Empire is all the way declined and Chinese is going to take the lead.

That is a fact of life.


You can’t speak China, they have to come on your terms but deal with China using ‘One Belt Policy’ of the present President its tracing Europe, it will come this way.

Seize the moment and tie up with them.

When they come for the APEC Meeting just do a deal with them.
Give five or 10 per cent of the mining resources that are going to come to you, give it to them and tell them to open up this country because if you don’t do that this, you don’t try, we are going to sit down here and nothing will happen.

I know you can do it, the Government can do it.

Well the Prime Minister did it.

When people thought that he would not shift the money from the public service to the districts, he has done it.
Against all bureaucratic advice, this Prime Minister’s put his foot down and gave directions for the money to reach the district.

And we also give him credit where credit is due, otherwise, we wouldn’t have those monies.

Port Moresby was nothing five years ago, this is the nation’s capital.

This is not this governor’s home or my home.

Every Papua New Guineans come here.

It is there place.

Now they are proud of this city.


You have built Kokopo like what is going on here today because that is going to be the centre for the New Guinea Islands and for our country.

You have to get Lae, Madang and Mount Hagen going.

Don’t have this idea that, this is what they are getting and I’m not getting it.

Look, that kind of thinking is not right for the country.

41 28/07 So, Prime Minister and the Government – the Deputy Prime Minister is leaving today, sometimes I go outside the normal way.
Let me say this, tight some of these with the oil money outside of the buyer and give it to the Chinese, lock it in and say open my country.

I do not want to tell you about the Australian but they always create fear in the minds of Papua New Guinea bureaucracy and the PNG government.

They are all players now but they are not the big players.

The big player in the world would be China and Indonesia.

Indonesia will be one of the top five economist in the world and they are our neighbours.
Australians are in great fear but they would have to live with China because they cannot do without China.

May be in the next Parliament meeting, I will come and move a motion to bring in a private member’s Bill.

I will ask the government to put aside some of these money for the roads that I am going to link.

That is the only way.

Being in power and being a Member of Parliament and Governor you get certain trace and see what is happening in your country.

That is what keep us going.


If you do not see good things happening how do you assist?

We are all part of a team that is going to make things happen.

Member for Chuave, you have to join us.

The stability is going to be here.

I made a statement before I came here when I got elected.

I said stability is very important for a country.

Governments are not perfect.

Nobody is perfect even the priest are not perfect.


(Laughter in the Chamber) Mr PAIAS WINGTI – I thank all you Members and the people that supported this government.

It is only through stability that have freed our Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister to go and conquer and develop this beautiful country of ours.

That is our commitment.

Thank you Mr Speaker, and thank you Prime Minister, you have done a good job.

We will all support you.

Just keep on going.


Don’t fear because fear itself will let you down.

You’ve got the number and you’ve got the Floor.

The country is with you and we will support you.

Thank you.

Mr SAM BASIL (Bulolo – Minister for Communication, Information Technology and Energy.
42 Mr Speaker, I join my colleagues to stand before you and before the Honourable Members of this Tenth National Parliament to thank and commend the Prime Minister Honourable Peter O’Neill on his State of the Nation Address.

Mr Speaker, before I go on, I would like to remind the Opposition that attending Parliament is not only question time in front of the Camera’s.
We get criticism on everything we do, but it is best that when the Prime Minister addresses the State of Nation, we need contribution and of course give credit where it dues.

Thankyou Mr Speaker.

It is common knowledge that when her majesty’s representative our Governor General Sir Bob Dadae, first delivered this inaugural address on the 22 August 2017 to open the 10th Parliament my 14 members Pangu Party was on the Opposition side of the House.
We voted against the O’Neill/Abel coalition choice of Speaker and Prime Minister.

We did this based on principle and campaigned against PNC in the 2017 national elections.

We attempted to mobilise MPs to form government but PNC had the numbers to be invited to form the government Wednesday 2 of August 2017.
29/07 And Members numbers from its coalition partners provided the extra numbers necessary to vote you - Honorable Job Pomat, Member for Manus Open - to be Speaker of this Honorable House, and Honorable Peter O'Neill, Member for Ialibu-Pangia as Prime Minister.

Mr Speaker, following the formation of the O'Neill-led Coalition Government, we in Pangu Pati did some soul-searching.

A key question we had to answer was: Why were we elected as Members of Parliament?
Where can we most effectively represent the interest of our voters?

The answer was obvious: None of our voters elected us to be in the Opposition.

The voters mandated us as MPs to deliver much needed goods and services to the needy - and deserving - from our various electorates.

For Pangu, these include regional seats and open seats in Morobe and Central provinces; and open seats in Sohe, Oro province, Sumkar and Rai Coast in Madang province and Lufa in Eastern Highlands.
43 Mr Speaker, concerns about needed goods and services for the provinces and districts we represent, is why we humbled ourselves in October last year, and I led my 14 Pangu Pati MPs to cross the Floor to join Government ranks.

We caught the proverbial "late bus" to an already formed coalition Government.

That is why we kept a tight lid on any expectations we may have.

Our focus was on securing "provincial and district developments" by being part of Prime Minister O'Neill's PNC led Coalition Government.
Mr Speaker, I want to place on record - my thank you to Prime Minister O'Neill - for the two ministries and up to ten Chairmanships of Parliamentary Committees given to Members of Pangu Pati.

I want to assure Prime Minister O'Neill, his coalition government, members of this honorable House and the people of Papua New Guinea that we will strive to provide excellence in leadership in all leadership responsibilities entrusted to us.
Mr Speaker, as a new coalition partner, revisiting the Governor-General's opening address of the Tenth Parliament, and Prime Minister O'Neill's subsequent remarks in August last year, we embrace and holistically support the focus on: (1) Good transparent, honest and accountable leadership to implement policies; (2) Proactive engagement with the business sector and community and provide enabling policies to successfully deal with the challenges they are currently encountering; (3) Expanding revenue base beyond traditional sources as part of economic reforms to increase revenue; (4) Promoting, supporting and expanding of SMEs or Small Medium Entrepreneurs to balance the Foreign Direct Investments through large companies including multinational corporations; (5) Increasing local and landowner participation in in major project ventures; (6) Promoting downstream processing rather than exports of raw materials; (7) Environmental concerns including climate change and in project ventures and development generally; and (8) Traditional government priorities that includes health, education, transport law and order, and economic infrastructure, trade promotions, climate change and the environment.
Mr Speaker, Prime Minister O'Neill has stated emphatically in his response to the Governor-General's address as follows: 44 And I quote: The economy of any nation can only move forward if we have the right infrastructures in place.

Mr Speaker, over the recent decades, infrastructure have been left to ruin and has not kept pace with the growing demand of a growing population.
Through the Alotau Accord, we have committed to opening up missing links especially roads and bridge links between many of our isolated communities throughout the country.

Mr Speaker, we are determined to bring other infrastructure such as power and telecommunication cheaper to those remote communities right throughout the country.
The Prime Minister’s State of the Economy address today affirms and updates that the policy initiatives in the second Alotau Accord with the theme’ Strongim Wok na Sindaun bilong pipol” has Member for Bulolo and State Minister, I am pleased that the multi-billion Wafi Golpu project would contribute to our national economy, aside from direct benefit to landowners local level governments and districts of Morobe province and the country.
30/07 Mr Speaker, both the ICT Sector and the Energy Sector are crucial for expanding revenue generation at the industrial level, downstream processing rather than exports of raw materials, local and landowner participation in small and medium enterprises; and the social services like health, education, transport and management of law and order.

The rationale is quite simple, all those require energy for electricity and telecommunications facilities for business.
Mr Speaker, many of these are key focus of my own ministry, which is responsible for Communications and Information Technology Sector and Energy Sector.

So, let me express some comments.

Mr Speaker, I thank the Prime Minister for his vision and recognition of the ICT Sector as a key driver of development and his confidence in appointing me to be Minister responsible for this ICT Sector.
This sector as we all know is on the spotlight of the APEC 2018 Leaders’ Summit with the theme: “Embracing the digital economic future”.

There is no doubt that ICT has transformed communication in our globalized world today.

The opportunities in ICT in Papua New Guinea are yet to be tapped fully for revenue raising and for development of SMEs putting money into our people's pockets.

45 ICT Sector Roadmap & National Task Force.


1 will soon be bringing an NEC submission on the ICT Sector Roadmap which is based on an intense exercise conducted by a reputable London-based firm, Analysis Mason.

This 1CT Sector Roadmap has also been informed review of the National Information and Communication Policy 2008 and extensive consultations towards a new proposed policy.

One of the key factors emerging from this is a need and therefore a proposal for a national ICT taskforce.
This taskforce will ensure an inclusive, all of Government approach in the ICT Sector in PNG and propel ICT as a cross-cutting agenda - into mainstream governance.

Integrated Government Information Services.

At this junction, I wish to advise the honorable house, that there has been a recent review of the Integrated Government Information Services (IGIS) to ascertain hardware and a way forward on usage and upgrade of IGIS.

I will advise NEC and Parliament on progress on this matter.
The National ICT Sector Roadmap will help generate discussions and ascertain the need for standardized and compatibility in ICT hardware - especially in the public sector.

Cybersecurity Mr Speaker, I consider cybersecurity to be one of my top priorities in ICT in Papua New Guinea.

This is the fuel behind my drive for legal compliance in SIM Card Registration by all telecommunications service providers.

It is also behind the drive to review access and use of social media platforms including Facebook.
The issue of cybersecurity, goes beyond the issue of access, to criminal acts and acts of terrorism which not only poses threats to international leaders attending the APEC 2018 series of meeting, but lives, character and properties of ordinary PNG citizens and residents.

As Minister responsible for ICT, I want the best possible advice on cybersecurity, which I can pass on to the National Government to inform counteraction against any cybersecurity threats.
SIM Card registration deadline is fixed for 31st July 2018.

Any unregistered SIM Card not disconnected by telecommunication service provider’s face a fine of K50, 000 per SIM Card from midnight of 31st July 2018.

46 Universal Access Services Tower Roll-out Program Mr Speaker, using a World Bank loan facility, NICTA has engaged telecommunications service providers to build 59 towers in areas which are economically not viable.
I have directed NICTA to provide a report on where these 59 towers are located and how they are being used.

NICTA will also be advising where there are vacuums and blind spots and the possibilities and challenges of SMEs involving tower building and ownership by DDAs, LLGs and even landowners.

Australia - PNG Coral Sea Submarine Cable Mr Speaker, the Australia-PNG Coral Sea Submarine Cable promises to enhance communication up to 1000 gigabits.
With the DataCo work on onshore cables, ICT will see the most significant work on telecommunications infrastructure in the country for a long time.

The Energy Sector Mr Speaker, after 50 years, Papua New Guinea finally has a National Executive Council endorsed Energy Policy.

The National Energy Policy 2018-2028 Harnessing Energy for Life.

The National Government targets 70 0/0 household electrification coverage by 2030 and 100 per cent renewable energy coverage by 2050.
What is desperately needed now is legislation to establish the National Energy Authority to begin implementation and regulation on power generation, transmission, distribution, retail as well as safety standards on electrical equipment and applian ces.
The NEC Submission on the National Energy Authority bill is ready to be submitted for deliberation - subject to clearances by relevant Government Agencies: Office of State Solicitor for Certificate of Necessity; Department of Treasury for revenue-raising clearances and Department of Finance for financial accountability issues.
The expedited establishment of NEA is vital - because while Energy Wing politically comes under the Energy Portfolio of my ministry, it is still part of the Department of Petroleum in financial administration.

It is always hard to serve two masters.

Mr Speaker, development of Sub-Energy Policies to cover PNG's other energy sources including biomass, solar energy, geothermal energy, wind energy and tidal energy 47 are in various stages of progress.
Mr Speaker, Energy presents the least unexplored revenue-raising opportunity in generation, transmission, distribution and retail.

And the more access to power through these, the bigger the opportunity for further industrial revenue raising as well as SMEs through cottage industries.

Clean energy, in turn, contributes to better environment.

In solar energy, membership and opportunities arising from membership of International Solar Alliance is at an advanced state.
These membership will provide: - Learning from and sharing of technical expertise, - accessing international financiers My colleague Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the PNG High Commission in New Delhi have worked very hard in relation to the ISA membership.

The new PNG High Commissioner to New Delhi, Mr Paulias Korni, as outgoing acting Secretary of Department of Communications and Information will continue and consolidate this work when he assumes the diplomatic post.
And then we can draw down benefits.

31/07 National Electricity Roll-Out Program (NEROP) & Rural Electrification Program This is not a ministerial statement but it’s part of the support statement on what I can contribute in my ministry to support the government policy.

Mr Speaker, the energy wing will soon be rolling out the national electricity roll-out program on-grid and off-grid.
Thanks to Prime Minister O'Neill's support, the energy wing will soon begin an on-grid aspect of this through K5 million rural electrification program to power up and light up 1000 households in the four regions.

I am advised that the Department of National Planning and Monitoring is in the process of releasing K2 million this month - and an additional K3 million next month.
My energy team is working on securing these funds and a mechanism to identify which households in which regions or provinces that are on-grid will be selected.

48 Mr Speaker according to our plans as mentioned by the Prime Minister we have to light up houses along the grids.

We have a lot of grids criss-crossing this country and there are a lot of people sitting down looking at the power lines and asking where is our power.
So in order to make this possible my department with the little funding will be identifying with the help of DDA chairman’s, which are members of Parliament including the provincial governors to identify certain villages along the route of the grid.

We may not have enough to power a lot of houses but we will select few and we will pass the blue print to the DDA and the provincial governors to adopt this concept.
Meaning that from the main line we go to the step down transformer into a village no more than 300 or 400 metres away from the line and connect powers into the houses and into MSK box.

We will advise you where you can order your minimum supply kits boxes which can fit into traditional houses, semi-permanent houses and permanent houses along the route of the line.
Whilst I have this opportunity I urge any members that are willing to participate its better also support core funding so that we can double the size and the number of houses we want to supply power.
So we will leave the blue print with the members to continue the programs so that we help the government meets its obligation with our plans of energising many houses by 2050, A key component in the selection criteria is that the households must be easily accessible as they are meant to be blue print exhibitions using minimum supply kits for authorities from provinces and districts to see - and adopt for their communities.
Mr Speaker, in summary, within both the Communications and Information Technology sector - and the energy sector, work is progressively underway to contribute to the O'Neill-Abel Government's policy initiatives through these two vital sectors.

As Minister responsible, I am happy to contribute towards Papua New Guinea's Vision 2050 of being a smart, wise, fair, healthy and happy society - as part of the O'Neill-Abel Government.

Thankyou Mr Speaker.


49 Mr JOE SUNGI (Nuku) – Thankyou Mr Speaker, I also stand here to congratulate the Prime Minister for his response to His Excellency, our Governor General starting from 10 th Parliament.

I also want to congratulate you Speaker, for taking up this office as the Speaker of this National Parliament.

As a former Inter-Government Relations Minister and also vast experience from the province and government as well so I thank you for that.
I also want to congratulate the O’Neill-Abel Government.

Let me start by sharing this story from the Bible; when Jesus healed the 10 men who had leprosy, only one returned to thank Jesus and the other 9 never came back.

So I want to be that one who came back to say thank you.

32/07 I would also like to thank the team that formed the Government in 2012 and that day is a memorable one for me because that is the connection that I still have.
Despite whatever I am, I still have the connection and appreciation of all things.

I believe that our former Prime Minister, honourable Pais Wingti with other senior Members of Parliament who have already spoken that the great job of fixing this country started in 2012.

I think those of us that came in 2012 came in the right time where this changes are happening.

Mr Speaker, I believe that everything falls and rises and also revolves around the CEO of the country.
One can be a very good candidate for a ministry or chairmanship but the buck stops with the Prime Minister.

No matter which side of the House I am on, I am concerned and like talking about what concerns and is of the best interest for this country.

Our people have mandated us here to represent them because they believe and trust in us that we are going help contribute to a better world for them and their generations to come.
It does not matter what happens at the top but what matters the most is what happens in the rural areas where our people are.

Mr Speaker, as you all know, we are all village men who grew up in our own villages.

At the end of the day, everything must go back to our people and our villages.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank and commend the Prime Minister and the Government and especially the team that he had with him in the last five years.
I am also proud as a member of the Alotau Accord Team who formed the last Government.

I believe 50 that many things I campaigned for did actually happen.

It does not matter where I am but the most important one is our policies and our lines of thought are the same.

Mr Speaker, I also concerned that too many of us take too serious our alignment into political parties and our associations.

I think we should be free in terms of how we support the Government and the Parliament.
We are supposed to be supporting the policies that matter the most and are of the best interest for our people.

Mr Speaker, for me I campaigned for very simple things during the elections.

I campaigned for things like getting village court officials onto the payroll, ward members to be on payroll and free education.

I basically campaigned with things aligned with the Government’s interest.

I am now glad to see my district beefing up with all these things.
I can now drive to my village therefore I would like to pay respect, thank and commend the O’Neill-Dion Government and the current O’Neill-Abel Government.

I say thank you because of money sifting to the rural areas according to our policies.

Mr Prime Minister, I think you are doing a very good job so keeping going on the same track.

It does not matter where we are because we will always support the policies and the drive of the Government to achieve the best for our country.
Mr Speaker, in relation to the District Development Authority, it was started a long time ago but the formalities were done recently.

33/07 We understand where the governors are coming from but I think this is the major shift of the government that has now given the powers to the districts.

I explain to my people in the district that this is an ‘half-caste’ system, half-caste meaning that t is half government and half private.
So, it is not really a government system, the real government system is the district government, the local level government, the provincial government and the national government.

The district development authority is a half-caste only, half-caste to make sure that work is being done.

I want to say thank you for the policy that allowed us to have DDAs which are now in place but the onus is on us to make it work.
But, on record, Mr Speaker you know that we have well over 56 Members at that time who did not come back in the last election even though there was K45 million going down to the district.

But still over 50 Members of Parliament did not return.

51 So, it is not about the government putting money down there, it about ourselves, individual Members of Parliament to be able to use that money to achieve what we were supposed to be achieving.
I want to say thank you for this because DSIP has made a big impact along with PSIP.

I am not going to dwell a lot of PSIP because many times we hardly see where it goes.

We only support the governor in whatever his agenda is.

How he spends it is only known to him but sometimes those PSIP are used to embark on fact finding trips all over the place.
When issues arise in the district people don’t seek the governor, they seek the open member so what matters most, Mr Speaker is basically the DSIP and I’d like to commend this government for continuing to support DSIP.

I think at one stage I made some remarks in the last Parliament that the idea that the Prime Minister endorsed in the Alotau Accord in 2012 is akin to us putting ourselves into a point of no return.
I mean that this is the policy that will make sure that you have the number with you in government to support and to be able to deliver that policy because of you remove DSIP then you are sacking members.

As I said already, that basic amount of money is the guarantee for us to deliver services to the district level.

As I said yesterday if there is extra then you must apply another formula.

For example Sumkar, it is an electorate that has a population that is well over that of Manus.
Mr Speaker, as you know Manus is a district and a province at the same time but the population of Sumkar in itself is more than that of Manus even though it is not a province.

So, there may be another formula that we can use for those big electorates and also 6those that are split by oceans and mountains.

These are my thoughts on DSIP but as it is now it remains our base.
I want to thank the Prime Minister for personally supporting the idea of wards because West Sepik has a policy call ‘Ward Development Policy through the former governor Carlos Yuni.

When he was there I was the provincial administrator and when I went to contest in 2012 I made sure that this also became my policy in the district.

At that time I thought it would not work out but when we went to form the government in Alotau in 2012 the Prime Minister took it on board as his business to support the wards.
And in 2017, last year he parked the K10 000.00 in each of the wards in the country, for the record this has never happened in the history of this country.

52 I need to acknowledge this because it was actually my personal desire to see that our wards are properly assisted, supported and empowered so that they can take on board many of the development agenda.
Prime Minister I want to say thank you because the ward members have borne the brunt of our burdens in the villages, they are magistrates, and they are everything.

They are all there for us.

Their name has changed.

They are not councillors anymore, they are called ward members, exactly like us.

We are open members and they are ward members.


I call the presidents off-cuts, your names are a bit out of place, your titles as president as no significance but the ward members are relevant because they are ward members and I am the open member.

34/07 When I arrived in my district, I was worried that I would not receive support, but I thank the Prime Minister for supporting my ward and not only in policy but at the same time, they started depositing K10 000 in each ward.
In my district, I have been giving them K20 000 in each ward since 2013.

All my wards received K20 000 into their accounts.

All 84 wards have Bank South Pacific accounts and they are operating down there.

I am also thankful for the program that is supported by World Bank through the Planning Minister and those that responsible for selecting my LLG to be supported by World Bank.

For this Ward programs, I want to inform us that Indonesia is directly funding the villages.
They are not funding the wards, they are funding their villages directly because they know that they have tried all kinds of systems and it doesn’t work so they are now touching the villages.

So we are beginning with the wards but we are most likely to get to the village.

When you start these programs, you will be satisfied because everything will be done for you.

I have a massive road program in my district.


We had to relocate three villages with their gardens and cocoa farms and there was no compensation for the road construction.

I negotiated with them for the road, I told them that if they wanted the road, they will receive no compensation for the relocation, if you don’t want the road them you can keep your gardens and homes.

Mr Speaker, this is because, I have allowed the ward Members to be in charge of the wards.

When I am not present, they are there.


I am happy that the Prime Minister is supporting this idea.

It was funded but taken out in the revised Budget but this year, we believe it is happening and all the wards members are on pay so I thank the Prime Minister for his response to the Governor of Enga in regard to the 53 allowances for ward members.

This will go a long way.

We are paying public servants that don’t work.

That is one issue I would like to speak on.


The other issue I would like to discuss is free education.

I also campaigned on that and it is now being implemented and I am happy.

I would like to see our teachers receive more training.

We have a teachers college in Kaindi which is now under Divine Word University, which initially charged K3000 school fee when it was under the government administration, and today the fees have increased to K12 000 per year.
So can there be some sort of control measures in place.

Do we leave this issue of teacher’s shortage to the Higher Education Ministry or the Department can intervene?

Currently individual Members of Parliament are paying for the fees, can we have it centralised, where the Department of education can pay for the school fees and the tuition fees of all our teachers, train them and they can go back and fill all the vacant positions in all our schools.

Currently the parents are paying.


Can we look at that option as well because, although we are implementing the free education policy, we lack the teachers?

We will never fill up the position vacancies for teachers.

Likewise for health, if we are able to put up the nursing college, identify the ceiling for them as per the vacancies and train them and bring them back.

We expect them to be trained at their own cost.


Can the department take that on board and centralise it so that we can train the teachers like what is being done with the Police Force and Defence?

If we set the ceiling for the teachers and health workers, we train them and send them back.

We will be having district hospitals in rural areas and we will require doctors.

Do we have the doctors?


Who is paying for their school fees, can we be able to subsidize or pay for it and have them tied in agreements so that when they graduate, they go back to rural hospitals and rural schools to serve.

This is an option we can take to address man power issues affecting the teachers and the health services.

Most of the provincial administration staff and departmental staff are basically doing only 20 per cent of the work.

About 80 per cent of the time they are doing nothing.
They are in the gambling houses and everywhere.

35/07 We should concentrate only on teachers, health workers and policemen and women.

Let us station both policemen and women in each districts.

Policewomen can deal with women folks coming to lodge in their complaints.

That’s my suggestion in line with free education and health.

54 I was the Deputy Chairman in the last parliament’s bi-partisan committee for five years.
It is very important for us and I believe the Prime Minister is also taking this very seriously because the Bougainville referendum will take place in the next nine months.

And whatever decision transpires, this Parliament regardless of where you are seated we are all part of the tenth parliament and we will be responsible.

But I do not want to be responsible like the government at that time in 1989 did not handle the issue properly and parliament had to face the consequences.
I am not saying this because I have connection with Bougainvillians.

I am talking as a Member of Parliament.

I want us to understand that whatever decision that comes out of the referendum, and if it is going to be held as it is, we are all part of that decision making because whatever the outcome of the referendum will return to Parliament for ratification.

It means that all the Members will vote to either support or not to support it.
Mr Speaker, whatever the outcome, we as the members of the 10th Parliament will be responsible because of our vote.

You cannot shift the blame to the Prime Minister or the Ministers.

I suggest that while we are busy doing other things can we look at Bougainville right now because will at this term of Parliament.
Mr Speaker, this decision will implicate all of us in the 10th Parliament and that is the issue so while the Prime Minister is allocating funds to improve services, the Bougainville referendum is also critical.

As individual Members of Parliament make it our business to take an interest in there because we only have eight months to go.

I do not want Bougainville to secede and likewise the Prime Minister does not want too.
Why should we have an independent state of Papua New Guinea having another independent state of Bougainville at this modern age?

If this was done in 1940, 50 or 60, would have been better but for the referendum to take place in 2018 and having another independent state out of Papua New Guinea is not right.

Prime Minister does not want that too.


What I am saying here is that we are all responsible, and we have eight months to change the mindset of the people of Bougainville so that they can think right and vote correctly.

Mr Speaker, we don’t have much time but if we can have the concurrence of the Prime Minister and the ABG President to agree on deferring the referendum, would be great.

So that we have enough time to address Bougainville issues especially the sealing of road to Kokopau to Arawa.
55 My last point is very sensitive and we should discuss this issue openly and support the Prime Minister and his Ministers.

Let us convince them to remain with us.

36/07 I think that is the bottom line for all of us.

Thank you Mr Speaker for giving me the opportunity and again I thank the Prime Minister for all your support and for the leadership that you are providing to the country.

And the Ministers that are supporting the government.

Motion – That the question be now put – agreed to.


Motion – That the Parliament take of the paper – agreed to.

MOTION BY LEAVE Mr JAMES MARAPE (Tari-Pori – Minister for Finance) – I ask leave of the Parliament to move a motion without notice.

Leave granted.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS- REARRANGEMENT OF BUSINESS Motion (by Mr James Marape) agreed to – That so much of the Standing Orders be suspended as would prevent Notice No.

66 of Government Business this day being called on forthwith.
56 TREATY DOCUMENT – DECLARATION OF ASIA PACIFIC MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON CIVIL AVIATION – PAPER AND STATEMENT – MOTION TO TAKE NOTE OF PAPER Debate resumed from 24 July 2018 (See page …).
Motion (by Mr Alfred Manase) agreed to – That in accordance with Section 175 (a) of the Constitution, this Parliament waived Section 117 (3) of the Constitution which requires a treaty document to be presented to Parliament for at least ten sitting days insofar as the provision applies to the ratification of the Declaration of the Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation.

ADJOURNMENT Motion (by Mr James Marape) agreed to – That the Parliament do now adjourn.
The Parliament adjourned at 2:10 p.m.. 57