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Telecommunications, Technology and Industry

PNG – Aust Gas Pipeline Project

The Papua New Guinea to Australia gas pipeline is very important to our economy as, if the revenue is wisely managed, it will assist the country to overcome the loss of revenue from other areas.

We urge Australian Governments (Commonwealth and State) to do all possible to ensure the Project proceeds and are thankful for the ongoing strong support of the Queensland and Papua New Guinea Governments.

A comprehensive portfolio of agreements and licence approvals is required to bring this project to the point of sanction.

These include:

• new production and pipeline licences in PNG and Australia
• environmental approvals (likely to standards embodied in the Equator Principles)
• landowner benefits
• socio economic reviews
• business development arrangements
• a range of complex commercial and financing agreements involving Developers, the PNG Government, landowner groups and other stakeholders.

We are concerned that a number of important PNG Government Departments are substantially under-resourced, in both numbers and skills, and will find it difficult to address the review requirements and approvals appropriate for the Pipeline Project.

We, therefore, urge the Australia and Papua New Guinea governments to review support for key Departments, such as:

• Petroleum and Energy
• Finance and Treasury
• Environment and Conservation.

This support, we believe, is urgently needed if the Project is to proceed in a way that delivers gas to customers efficiently under present supply agreements.

Agriculture

Agriculture is a key driver of employment and economic growth and the distribution of wealth to the wider population. We are pleased at the Government’s intention to focus greater resources on this important sector.

We do, however, believe that even greater resources must be devoted to land administration, including the introduction of an appropriate system of customary land registration.

We encourage the Government to work with the private sector to identify opportunities for new crops and more effective means of producing, and marketing, agricultural outputs.

Organisations in the resources sector who have invested in PNG in recent years are to be commended. The inflow of new investment and expertise is crucial to the country’s ongoing economic growth.

We are actively committed to working with the PNG Government and peak industry associations on developing both major agricultural projects and smaller scale agriculture, and actively pursuing investment in agriculture.

Shipping

There is considerable evidence from BCPNG members in the logistics industry that, although Papua New Guinea Ports has been certified as compliant with the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code, many security deficiencies in Papua New Guinea ports remain.

These deficiencies raise concerns relevant to strategic security, as well as to business arising from poor security for consignments shipped either from or to these ports.

We have requested that relevant Australian agencies engage with their PNG counterparts to bring about an improvement in this situation. We have also raised our concerns with PNG Harbours Limited.

Committees

Through the Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council (CIMC), we are also involved in several Committees whose object is to work towards telecommunications, technology and industry.

These are the:

• Transport and Infrastructure Sectoral Committee
• Agriculture Sectoral Committee

For more information about these Committees, click here.