PM Transcripts

PRIME MINISTER
FOR MEDIA 29 AUGUST 1985
At the invitation of Prime Minister Somare I will be
visiting Port Moresby on 15 and 16 September to attend
Papua New Guinea's Tenth Anniversary of Independence
celebrations. The Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Mr
Clyde Holding, will accompany me.
The Tenth Anniversary celebrations will be a special
event for both Papua New Guinea and Australia. It will
be an occasion to celebrate Papua New Guinea's record of
great national achievement since attaining independence
ten years ago. Our two countries can take satisfaction
in having put the colonial past behind us and developing
a relationship of friendship, equality and good
neighbourliness. Australia and Papua New Guinea enjoy close and
constructive relations in the region, with shared
interests in the activities of bodies such as the South
Pacific Forum. We also co-operate in wider
international bodies such as the Commonwealth and the
United Nations.
I look forward during my visit to signing, together with
Prime Minister Somare, a Memorandum of Understanding
setting out the basis of our bilateral aid arrangements*
for the next five years. Consultations on this matter
have been successfully concluded between the Foreign
Minister, Mr Hayden, and his Papua New Guinea
counterpart, Mr Giheno.
In conjunction with my forthcoming visit to Papua New
Guinea I also intend to visit the Torres Strait Islands,
where I will be having discussions with community
leaders, on 15 September.