Turnbull’s visit hailed in lead-up to Apec meet

NATIONAL Events Minister Justin Tkatchenko says the visit by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was a good preparation for next year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit.
Turnbull left the country yesterday after a three-day visit to Papua New Guinea.
“Australia’s and Papua New Guinea’s relationship is very strong and only will get bigger and better,” Tkatchenko said.
“What you’ve proven here for the last three days is something that we are showing the rest of the world – what we are doing for Apec in 2018.
“We’ve done this for the last five years and I want to congratulate you all – the military, police, traffic, protocol, Foreign Affairs, National Events and all departments, the National Capital District Commission, NCD Governor Powes Parkop, National Airports Corporation, security and the media.”
Tkatchenko said he heard that PNG journalists had a bit of a “rough time”, referring to an incident at Bomana War Cemetery on Saturday where local journalists were not allowed to an open-air press conference which only Australian media attended.
“But we’ll learn from our experiences,” he said.
Australian Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove is expected in the country for Anzac Day commemorations this month.
“This was like a practice run for the governor-general of Australia’s visit on Anzac Day,” he said.