Bishop issues warning over corruption with aid

By CHARLES MOI
AUSTRALIA’S Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop says her government has zero tolerance when it comes to corruption in its aid programme to countries such as Papua New Guinea.
Bishop, who visited Kavieng in New Ireland, yesterday said Australia ensured that every cent of its aid assistance was directed to outcomes which benefited the people of PNG.
She was in Kavieng to inspect an Australian Government-funded National Fisheries Authority marine hatchery and training facility worth K4.3 million (A$1.7 million) at Nago Island.
“We work very closely with partner nations to ensure Australian aid is delivered as efficiently and as effectively as possible,” Bishop said.
Bishop said her government wanted to see good governance, accountability and transparency in its relationship with PNG.
“It’s about working in partnership, respecting the needs of the recipient nations and ensuring we give value for the Australian taxpayer dollar,” she said.
“We have focused on most of our development assistance in the Pacific. We have ensured that we work in partnership so that the expectations of the receiving nation (and) the expectations of Australia as the donor nation are taken into account.”
The Nagor Island marine hatchery and training facility is about a 10-minute ride by dinghy from Kavieng.
The Prior Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research assessed the mariculture potential of three commodities in PNG and made advances towards their objectives.
The three are sea cucumbers, edible oysters and marine ornamentals.
The facility now supports routine hatchery production of sea cucumbers, and the breeding of marine ornamental fish.