Aust aid to PNG continues

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Monday 22nd April 2013

 By MALUM NALU

AUSTRALIA looks forward to the day when it no longer needs to be a donor partner to Papua New Guinea, AusAID deputy director-general James Batley says.

He said the anticipated revenue from the PNG LNG project did not necessarily mean that Australian aid would cease.

“I guess we look forward to the day when AusAID doesn’t need a programme in Papua New Guinea because PNG is a prosperous country in its own right,” Batley told The National last week.

“Until that time, we want to make a contribution, we want to help PNG develop economically where we can, where we can make a difference, and where we can get good value for money.

“We do think that over the past couple of years, while focusing on a smaller group of areas, we’re making more of an impact.

“We think that it’s a more accountable way, where we’re reporting back to Australian taxpayers to let them know how their money has been spent, and what’s been absent with their contribution to PNG’s development.

“For as long as we’re welcome here, we would see ourselves as having a role to play.”

Asked if the PNG LNG project would impact on the AusAID concept, Batley said: “Not necessarily.

“I suppose it’s not really a question of how much money, it a question of how effectively funds are spent.

“And is that really achieving success in improving lifestyles of ordinary Papua New Guineans, so we can review the very basic statistics like how many women are dying in childbirth, how many children are getting vaccinated, how many children are going to school, what level of literacy are they achieving, can they read and write when they finish primary school?

“It’s these very basic indicators.

“That’s how we’ll know if PNG is achieving development.

“That’s what counts in the end.

“It’s not necessarily just the amount of money that’s available.

“Of course, we think that if PNG gets more revenue through the LNG project, that that’ll give it the opportunity to address some of these very basic issues, whether it’s infrastructure if the form of roads, schools, hospitals or so on, or it’s in the form of providing training for nurses, teachers, public servants, police officers and so on,” Batley said.

Head of AusAID in PNG Stuart Schaefer said the programme had been steadily increasing over the years to the current A$490 million (K1.1 billion) annual 

package.

“We can’t predict exactly how much the budget will look in future,” he said.

“We would anticipate that the budget would be maintained at that level for some years.”