Australian Minister Pat Conroy and Papua New Guinea Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso used their addresses at the 41st Australia Papua New Guinea Business Forum & Trade Expo in Brisbane to stress the growing depth of the bilateral relationship, with digital connectivity, security, sport, labour mobility and investment at the centre of their remarks.
Conroy said the Australia-Papua New Guinea relationship had entered a new phase, strengthened by alliance, geography and shared history. He said the partnership was now “about real opportunities for us both”, not only in defence and strategy, but also “in trade, investment, and the relationships between our people”.
Much of his address focused on telecommunications. Conroy said affordable internet was “no longer a luxury for countries, but a necessity for development and growth”. He noted that Papua New Guinea’s low internet penetration and high costs were holding back business, education, healthcare and financial inclusion.
Announcing work on a telecommunications blueprint for PNG, he said it would “set out the plan for a connected digital ready nation” and help increase access, bring down prices and strengthen cyber resilience. He also pointed to the potential of low-earth orbit satellites and new submarine cables under the Pukpuk Digital Connectivity Initiative.
Rosso, in a wide-ranging and personal address, urged delegates to understand Papua New Guinea on its own terms. He said PNG was “a nation of over a thousand tribes” with “800 different languages”, making governance and development far more complex than many outsiders understood.
He challenged conventional descriptions of PNG as poor, saying village life could not be judged only through Western measures. “I don’t think my grandparents living in the village are poor,” he said. “I think they’re blessed with a lot of abundance.”
Rosso said Australia and Papua New Guinea were now moving from talk to action across law and order, infrastructure, land reform, digital systems, labour mobility and sport. He said the relationship was no longer one-sided: “When PNG grows, Australia benefits.”
He also praised Australia’s willingness to listen and work as a partner. “We talk, they listen, they talk, we listen,” he said.
Closing in Tok Pisin, Rosso summed up the relationship as family, partnership and shared destiny.
Main photo: Dev Nadkarni
