PNG on the verge of collapse, says academic

ELEANOR HALL: There are warnings today that our nearest neighbour, Papua New Guinea, could be on the verge of collapse.

A long time observer and resident of PNG, political scientist Allan Patience, is today calling on the Australian Government to lead a multinational intervention into the country.

Professor Patience says the situation in PNG is worse than in the Solomon Islands and action is required urgently.

This report from Toni Hassan.

TONI HASSAN: When Papua New Guinea acquired its independence in 1975 it was a time of great optimism.

Allan Patience, who's currently Professor of Political Science at the University of Papua New guinea, says that feeling is all but gone.

ALLAN PATIENCE: It's been a steady and serious decline, particularly in the last 10 years. And things are now very bad I think, certainly getting worse.

TONI HASSAN: As if to illustrate just how bad, a UN report out this week shows Papua New Guinea's HIV-AIDS epidemic is spreading at an alarming rate. It's another contrast, Professor Patience says, to last year's self-congratulatory celebrations marking Papua New Guinea's 30 years of independence.

ALLAN PATIENCE: Look, at the time of that celebration the Human Rights Watch International Report came out about the PNG police force, for example, noting the appalling record of torture, bashing and rape of children for example.

At the very same time, the United Nations came out with its Human Development Index Report, downgrading PNG ...
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"The failed Enhanced Co-operation Program was a calamity waiting to happen. Even though many Papua New Guineans supported Australian police and bureaucrats coming to help deal with mounting law and order and governance problems, the scheme was ham-fisted from the outset. It placed well-paid, well-fed, well-uniformed, well-housed, well-equipped Australian police on duty alongside woefully paid, hungry, shabbily dressed, disastrously accommodated, hopelessly equipped PNG counterparts."
The other disaster on our doorstep

Papua New Guinea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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