Sir Maori's
p. 17 · Read in the full issue
Diplomatic
Confession
The young nation of Papua New Guinea had made mistakes in its diplomatic service, Foreign Minister Sir Maori Kiki conceded in November.
Procedures, arrangements and the responsibilities of diplomats abroad would be examined and where necessary amended, Sir Maori said.
He said that some key postings Australia is one would have am bassadors or High Commissioners with wider responsibilities.
Sir Maori was commenting on criticism voiced earlier by Mr Oala Oala-Rarua who had just returned home after resigning as the PNG High Commissioner to Australia.
Mr Oala-Rarua claimed that there was no proper flow of information from PNG to its overseas offices. The result was that in an important posting such as Australia he had been unable to act properly, and often did not know what was going on between the two countries.
Sir Maori said he admired Mr Oala-Rarua and accepted his criticism, which would be fully ex amined.
It was probably not surprising that a new country had made mistakes, Sir Maori said, but the main thing now was “For all of us to get together in the good name of Papua New Guinea and amend the system”.