- Visit to Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea
- The following Committee Members, Mr Josh Burns MP, Ms Kate Thwaites MP, and Hon Andrew Wallace MP travelled to the Solomon Islands from the 12-15 July 2023 and Papua New Guinea from 15-19 July 2023, as part of its inquiry into how Australia can partner with countries in our region to promote democracy and the international rules-based order.
- During the Committee’s visit to the Solomon Islands from the 12-15 July 2023, the Committee met with the Solomon Islands Electoral Office staff and Commissioner, to discuss and learn about the Solomon Islands electoral process. The Committee gained insights into the challenges of holding elections in a country that has limited funding and resources for elections.
- The Committee met with parliamentarian counterparts and parliamentary officers, and learned about the Solomon Islands political and legislative contexts and the differences and similarities between the two parliamentary systems.
- The delegation met with the Governor of the Central Bank and the Auditor General and other integrity agencies to learn about the local democratic institutions. Importantly, the Committee met with civil society representatives including advocates for women and youth in leadership as well as disability advocates. The Committee was interested to hear about the challenges and perspectives of these civil society groups. Some reoccurring themes that were raised included challenges with daily scheduled power outages in Honiara, work force shortages and limited funding and resources in both the private and public sector. The main request for assistance from Australia was by way of facilitating secondments and attachments between agencies to build partnerships and shared learnings.
- Faith based groups deliver many of the development programs in Solomon Islands and the Committee met with the Archbishop Christopher Cardone OP, Archbishop Leonard Dawea and Bishop Eric Maefonea, during their stay in Honiara. Archbishop Cardone OP and his colleagues shared insights into many of the development programs the church is facilitating including education and health related programs.
- The Committee met with local journalists from the Solomon Islands Broadcasting corporation (SIBC). They had a tour of the facilities and discussions in relation to the media environment including challenges for independent journalism in the Solomon Islands.
- The Committee was grateful to be warmly welcomed by the Solomon Islands people and enjoyed the fruitful discussions that were had with all stakeholders. This visit highlighted the strong and enduring partnership that Australia has with the Solomon Islands and it was clear during the visit that both parties would ensure the relationship continued in the future.
- From the 15-19 July 2023, the Committee visited Papua New Guinea (PNG) and were fortunate to travel to Lae to meet with staff from the Morobe Province electoral management body. They were met by Member of Parliament, Hon Jason Peter MP, who accompanied the Committee to his local community of Salamaua. The Committee was privileged to be given a ‘sing sing’ welcome and met with the District Administrator and community leaders including women and youth leaders.
- The community from Salamaua shared their concern for climate change having severe impacts on their community and the Committee agreed to share these concerns with the Australian Government. The Committee saw firsthand the damage to houses along the shoreline, caused by rising sea levels and high seas. There was evidence of flooding throughout the village of Salamaua when the Committee was visiting. The local community focused its discussions on climate change, education and health services, safe communities, and the need to encourage tourism to the region and requested building stronger and ongoing partnerships with Australia.
- The Committee spoke with several women who were unsuccessful candidates in the 2022 election for Morobe province. The Committee acknowledged the challenges that these women faced, including corruption and violence and encouraged them to keep working on supporting democracy in their region. The Committee met with the PNG Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai and held discussions with several Papua New Guinean parliamentarians including the Acting Speaker Koni Iguan.
- As a result of its visit to PNG, the Committee urges the Australian Government to consider longer-term 3-year funding for the PNG Electoral Commission, in order to prepare for the next election due in 2027, including updating the electoral roll.
- Discussions were held with integrity commissions and civil society groups, including Transparency International and The Voice, in Port Moresby about continuing efforts to build partnerships and provide training and support to women in leadership. The Media Council of PNG gave the Committee a tour of its facilities and discussed the challenges facing media in PNG.
- The Committee would like to express its gratitude to all the stakeholders it met with during its visit to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. The Committee thanks the staff from posts with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Honiara and Port Moresby and Lae for its support in organising full and interesting programs.
Mr Josh BurnsMP
Chair
Foreign Affairs and Aid Subcommittee
13 November 2023
Hon Shayne NeumannMP
Chair
Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
13 November 2023