Aust minister visiting PNG this week

AUSTRALIA’S Minister for International Development and the Pacific, senator Zed Seselja, will be in Papua New Guinea this week to meet with representatives of the Government, church and the business community.
He will also travel to the Philippines to meet with government leaders and key development assistance partners delivering Australia’s Covid-19 support programmes.
In a statement on Sunday, Seselja said: “I will make my first visit to the region as Minister for International Development and the Pacific this week, travelling to PNG and the Philippines from July 4 to 9.”
Seselja said Australia placed the highest priority on working with its neighbours and friends.
“The choice of these two nations for my first trip to the region in this role reflects the importance of these relationships,” he said.
He said he would meet senior ministers in the Government as well as businesses and church representatives with the aim to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two countries with particular emphasis on health, security and infrastructure.
Seselja said he would open parts of the Australian-funded Angau Memorial Hospital redevelopment in Lae, Morobe.
He will also visit the site of the trans-national highway, which Australia is helping to build and the site of the proposed Wafi-Golpu mine, a critical private sector investment in PNG’s economic growth.