Liberal’s NRL promise

AN Australian Liberal National coalition government would, as a matter of policy, work towards having a Papua New Guinea team in the National Rugby League competition.
The opposition’s shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, Julie Bishop, said in a radio interview yesterday that PNG should be Australia’s top foreign policy priority.
The coalition sport diplomacy policy would include sporting initiatives for girls and women, along with the men and boys.
“I have been working with my coalition colleagues to develop a sport and diplomacy policy for the next (Australian) election,” Bishop, who visited PNG last month, said.
“In the case of PNG, there is huge interest there in the NRL, in rugby league generally and I believe there are opportunities for us to engage more deeply through sport.
“I  have had discussion recently with (chief executive) David Gallop of the NRL here
in Australia.
“We believe there are some opportunities to get PNG players more involved with the NRL in Australia and hopefully one day a team from PNG playing, perhaps in the Queensland Cup first, but the Holy Grail would have to be a team in the NRL.”
Bishop, who is attending the Australia Papua New Guinea Business Forum which got underway in Brisbane on Sunday, said Papua New Guinea and the Pacific were to be at the centre of a new sport diplomacy policy being developed by the Liberal National coalition.