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PNG's back.

Brian potter

Brian potter

First Grade
Messages
5,308
Perth Red said:
If they do get in I hope the money is locked away safely somewhere!


The Department of Home Affairs is still unable to assure federal parliament the reported $80 million paid to Papua New Guinea for the welfare and support of people formerly held in offshore detention is being properly spent and has not been siphoned off in corrupt or fraudulent payments.
Departmental secretary Stephanie Foster has told a Senate estimates committee hearing she cannot guarantee the money paid as part of a 2021 agreement between the then Morrison government and the government of PNG was reaching the refugees and asylum seekers it was meant to help.
“The way in which the arrangement was constructed gave that responsibility to the PNG government and I’m afraid I am not able to give you that assurance,” Foster told independent senator David Pocock under questioning on Monday night.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au

Money for PNG asylum seekers vanishes amid corruption scandal

The government has not been able to account for $80 million paid to support asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea, as advocates reveal financial assistance stopped months ago.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
Click to expand...
Why so racist?

😉
 
V

Vee

First Grade
Messages
5,595
www.abc.net.au

Queensland Rugby League to review PNG home Queensland Cup games after unrest

Player safety will be paramount in deciding if PNG Hunters can host Queensland Cup games following deadly unrest in the nation, the state's governing body says.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au

Queensland Rugby League to make decision over location of PNG Hunters home Queensland Cup games​

  • In short: The Queensland Rugby League (QRL) says player safety will be paramount in its decision on whether PNG Hunters can play home Queensland Cup games in Port Moresby.
  • At least 49 people have been killed in tribal violence in PNG's remote highlands this week.
  • What's next? A QRL meeting with relevant stakeholders is scheduled for Friday.
The Queensland Rugby League (QRL) aims to make a decision by the end of the week over whether to play early round games of its statewide competition in Papua New Guinea after the killing of at least 49 men in civil unrest.

The PNG Hunters are due to host Wynnum-Manly in Port Moresby on March 9 in the opening round of the Queensland Cup.

QRL chairman Bruce Hatcher said player safety would be "paramount" in the decision-making process. Players not required for NRL duty often turn out for cup sides.

The eruption of tribal violence in PNG's remote highlands on Monday led to Prime Minister James Marape handing arrest powers to the military.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-19/at-least-49-killed-in-massacre-in-png-highlands/103482982
The unrest followed chaotic scenes of rioting and looting in the capital Port Moresby and the nation's second-largest city Lae in January, when at least 15 people were killed.

The QRL is understood to be monitoring the outcome of the opposition party's no-confidence vote in Marape, which is slated to be considered by the powerful private business committee on Wednesday. A QRL meeting with relevant stakeholders is scheduled for Friday.

Hatcher said QRL would continue to liaise with the PNG Hunters over the developing situation.
"We are doing a fair bit of work with all of our connections on the ground in PNG, because player safety is absolutely paramount," Hatcher said. "We are also getting independent advice."

"We have to be absolutely responsible and make sure any danger is minimal. We won't be going there if the risk is greater than normal. Rugby league is their national sport, but the reality is that there are risks in playing there."

"We will make a final decision later this week based on the advice we get from the security organisations we deal with up there and the Australian High Commission."

The NRL has plans to bring a PNG side into an expanded competition. Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys said at the North Queensland Cowboys season launch last week that the organisation was "starting to lean towards basing it in Papua New Guinea" after it was earlier mooted the side could be headquartered in Cairns. The guaranteed safety of players would be vital for that to occur.

The Hunters played Queensland Cup games in Australia for the best part of two seasons during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PNG's bid to become the 18th team in the NRL​

Rugby league is widely loved in Papua New Guinea — it's even the national sport. And if their bid to become the 18th team in the NRL is successful, there could be benefits for Australia beyond the field.

Hatcher said there were parallels to be drawn with the current situation and a scenario that unfolded at the end of 2022. "When they had the elections, and COVID was rife, the PNG Hunters requested they play their last five games in Port Moresby," Hatcher said. "Because the election hadn't been declared we had to wait, as there was a fair bit of civil unrest."

"We ended up cancelling four games and then cancelled the fifth against Mackay. I was in the QRL office on the Wednesday morning and I got a call from the (PNG) prime minister who said he wanted the game to go on. He promised to ensure high safety protection for all the players and officials. We ended up flying the teams up there on the morning of the game."
 
Get Rid of The Donkeys

Get Rid of The Donkeys

Coach
Messages
14,822
M

Maximus

Coach
Messages
13,669
Hopefully all the PNG fans are reading all of this and understanding why people don't think it will work.

It's not negativity, or racism, or being an afl/union troll. It's knowing that they are a 3rd world country that lacks basic services. It's knowing that they've had security issues forever. It's knowing that the country needs billions of dollars and decades of work.
 
MugaB

MugaB

Coach
Messages
15,005
Maximus said:
Hopefully all the PNG fans are reading all of this and understanding why people don't think it will work.

It's not negativity, or racism, or being an afl/union troll. It's knowing that they are a 3rd world country that lacks basic services. It's knowing that they've had security issues forever. It's knowing that the country needs billions of dollars and decades of work.
Click to expand...
To play rugby league?? Apparently you must think that these government’s and the NRL are looking to fund the whole country, and solve ALL its 3rd world issues...
Or maybe they are just trying to give them a sporting chance, a hope, a team they can huddle together around a tv and watch and be proud of...
But i reckon you think the mountain men who hacked up a tribe of men, 6 hours away by car,(if there's even a road that leads there) will come to Port Moresby or Lae and start hacking up manly players when they visit for and away game...
manly warringah!.jpg
You know coz nobody likes manly
 
M

Maximus

Coach
Messages
13,669
MugaB said:
To play rugby league?? Apparently you must think that these government’s and the NRL are looking to fund the whole country, and solve ALL its 3rd world issues...
Or maybe they are just trying to give them a sporting chance, a hope, a team they can huddle together around a tv and watch and be proud of...
But i reckon you think the mountain men who hacked up a tribe of men, 6 hours away by car,(if there's even a road that leads there) will come to Port Moresby or Lae and start hacking up manly players when they visit for and away game...
View attachment 84373
You know coz nobody likes manly
Click to expand...

The entire country is completely relevant since you can't have a successful professional sporting team without the infrastructure to support it.
 
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