Ten attend leaders dialogue

Youth & Careers

TEN young Papua New Guineans joined 10 of their Australian counterparts to participate in the 2016 GE Australia-Papua New Guinea Emerging Leaders Dialogue last month.
The dialogue held in Brisbane, Australia, was an annual flagship event of the Lowy Institute’s Australia-Papua New Guinea Network.
It aims to enhance people-to-people links between the two countries, supported by the Australian government.
The 20 young leaders who were professionals from different sectors in both countries shared their ideas and experiences in building linkages between Australia and PNG.
They discussed the role of young people in leadership, alternate routes to economic empowerment, and art and advocacy and contemporary Papua New Guinea-Australia relationship.
The dialogue was held in partnership with the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art to coincide with the No.1 Neighbour exhibition, a spectacular collection of contemporary work by Papua New Guinean artists from the mid-1960s until today.
The exhibition provided a visual springboard for the conversation, demonstrating shared history and the importance of the relationship between both countries, with art works profiling creative relationships between communities and individuals.
In preparation, the Australian High Commission hosted an informal roundtable discussion for the Papua New Guinea participants with a group of young High Commission staff.
Australian High Commissioner to PNG Bruce Davis opened the roundtable discussion about the Australia-Papua New Guinea relationship and what participants hoped to get from the dialogue.
“Our bilateral relationship has matured. Australia and Papua New Guinea are no longer donor and recipient, but economic and strategic partners in the 21st century.”
He said it was a partnership defined by many things about shared opportunities and challenges.
The young leaders produced a series of recommendations from the dialogue on ways to enhance the partnership, for the consideration of the governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea.