end to corruption scandals. He

has also curtailed overseas junkets by ministers and MPs.

In his deputy and finance minis ter, Sir Julius, he has a like minded ally who in his former days in power was renowned for running a very tight opera tion and having his finger on the government’s pulse.

He had Bouraga’s budget thrown out and announced he would be bringing down his own next March when the

government would confront the mas sive public debt.

He wants over seas loans re- ™

scheduled. Soon after being confirmed in his new post Sir Julius foreshadowed a new government-business era, saying he wanted dialogue with the private sector.

Multi-national corporations, or small businesses, he wanted to hear from them all. "Formu late your ideas, attitudes and proposals and come and see me. I promise my door will always be open,” he said.

His words were im mediately welcomed by the Port Moresby Mk Chamber of Commerce.

New presi dent, Mr Lawrie Cre 'C min. said: "It is a healthy s 'S n Sir Julius has come out so early and so positively on the sub ject. We would like

to touch base soon on how he would like to go about getting closer cooperation and impro ving the economy.”

But, Mr Cremin said, one of the major problems as it had been for the past decade was getting plans put into action.

“There has always been a lot of discussion, but very little im plementation. ”

Indeed, what was likely now to happen to all of the Somare measures that were going to free private enterprise? As a previous Chamber president, Mr Brian Roper, said on the day he stood down, whenever there was a change of government there was, inevitably it seemed, a slow-down in business activ ity. But the slow-down at this time was not due to apprehension over the new government, he said. Sir Julius was well-liked and admired for introducing the country’s hard kina policy after independence.

All the previous govern ment’s measures planned to

come into effect at the begin ning of this year (1986) were to be reviewed by the new ministers and new department heads, and faced being changed or scrapped.

Ominously, the new Trade and Industry minister, Mr Gale va Kwarara, said that he in tended to streamline the Na tional Investment and Deve lopment Authority (which Somare’s government was going to axe), so foreigners would not be able to carry on taking advantage of the not so well-off Papua New Guineans.

And the Land Department planned changes were put back into the melting pot when the new Lands minister, Paul Tora to, sacked the chairman of the Land Board. Mr Torato wanted to withdraw the board from the "brink of disrepute and deca dence. ” There has been gloom as Wingti and his team began to examine the books. "What I have seen so far is not a pretty picture,” the prime minister

said.

Tim Sinclair.