Poor turnout but Treasurer happy Opposition MPs turned up to meeting

DEPUTY Prime Minister and Treasurer Charles Abel has welcomed the participation of MPs and governors from the opposition in the formulation of national budgets.
Yesterday, he met seven of the 22 governors invited to make suggestions on what should be included in the 2017 supplementary budget to be tabled in Parliament next week.
Abel said the two governors from the opposition who attended were Alan Bird (East Sepik) and Gary Juffa (Northern).
He said it showed that the Government was willing to listen to facts and figures on the ground.
“We are not scared of criticisms. We are here to try and bring solutions and respond to issues going on and face these things head on,” he said.
He said yesterday’s meeting with the governors on the supplementary budget was positive despite the poor turnout.
Abel said he would give everyone the opportunity to make their input but he could not force people.
He said the suggestion for the meeting came from governors Sir Peter Ipatas (Enga) and Chris Haiveta (Gulf).
“It was very positive. I think the governors who were present were happy that we had created the opportunity because I don’t think it had happened before,” Abel said.
“We will try and have a meeting with the governors before every budget, a couple of months out and involve them to try to be as transparent as possible,” Abel said.