Below are two reports from the ABC about the appalling state of Papua New Guinea's public finances

Finances a 'profound national shame

By Liam Fox

A report has described the state of Papua New Guinea's public finances as a "profound national embarrassment" that has robbed people of basic services.



The Public Accounts Committee has only recently been able to hand down a report into the 2007 financial year.



Committee chairman Martin Aini told parliament the record keeping was so bad they could not confirm the balance of public accounts. 

He said money had been spent in breach of the constitution and other laws, and bureaucrats had given themselves huge and illegal cash advances with many departmental heads untrained and ignorant of their duties. 

"Those failures have resulted in a failed system of delivering development to our citizens," he said.



In response, the treasurer Peter O'Neil agreed the committee's findings were embarrassing.



Emeritus fellow of the Australian National University, Dr Ron May, told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific program that although the treasurer promised to act on the findings, he was not confident there would be any immediate policy changes.



"We do have alot of mechanisms in the Papua New Guinea system, designed to enforce compliance and to check on people who aren't behaving properly, but the record of following up on prosecutions has been rather weak," he said.


Poor training

Mr May supported the committee's claims there is poor training in government departments, saying training had been declining for a number of years.

"The University of Papua New Guinea and what used to be the Administrative College, are both now, I think shadows of their former selves," he said. 

"There are a lot of good, younger people and good middle level people in a number of departments, who try hard to operate effectively under difficult conditions. 

"But nonetheless, there is a rather poor level of enforcement of the regulations that exist."

Demand for reform

Mr May said there was demand for reform but usually it pertained of people demanding other people be brought to account.

"I think there's the will in a lot of circles to do this, but we exist in a situation at the moment, where a number of members of parliament, including ministers have been appearing before leadership tribunals themselves," he said.

"These aren't the people who are likely to champion measures to get rid of people who've been offending against the laws."

PNG's finance accountability shame

PNG's public finances are so badly recorded that only now has the Public Accounts Committee been able to hand down a report into the 2007 financial year. 

Committee chairman Martin Aini told parliament money had been spent in breach of the constitution and other laws, and bureaucrats had given themselves huge and illegal cash advances.

So quite how sincere was PNG Treasurer Peter O'Neill when he spoke of acting on the committee's findings?

Dr Ron May is emeritus fellow of the Australian National University, attached to the States, Society and Governance in Melanesia programme. 

MAY: I'm sure he feel sincere at the moment, but I think we have to say that the record of successive treasurers and indeed, the record of Peter O'Neil in the past, have left a bit to be desired, so I wouldn't be entirely confident that we're going to see immediate changes in policy on this.

LAM: Well, you only have to talk to anyone who's ever lived in PNG, and most people will point to the rampant corruption that's there, not just in government but also in levels of society. Why is it such a hard problem to fix? Do you think it's partly to do with an entrenched culture of corruption?

MAY: I think it is. I mean, when we talk about an entrenched culture, it's certainly there, it's something that's emerged in comparatively recent times. And I think it's still not on the scale that it is in a lot of other developing countries, but it is a growing problem, both at minor levels and at fairly senior levels. The Public Accounts Committee of course is one of the mechanisms that should be overseeing this. We do have alot of mechanisms in the Papua New Guinea system, designed to enforce compliance and to check on people who aren't behaving properly, but the record of following up on prosecutions has been rather weak.

LAM: And the Chair of the Committee, Mr Aini, he spoke of poor training in various government departments. Is that largely due to lack of training, or a lack of talent in the country?

MAY: The level of training has been declining over a number of years now, I think that has to be said. The University of Papua New Guinea and what used to be the Administrative College, are both now, I think shadows of their former selves. There are, nonetheless, still alot of training programmes go on, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and AusAid have all been supporting training programmes and I think it also has to be said that there are a lot of good, younger people and good middle level people in a number of departments, who try hard to operate effectively under difficult conditions. But nonetheless, there is a rather poor level of enforcement of the regulations that exist.

LAM: And you speak of the young people in government departments wanting to do something. Do you think also, that as a new generation of younger voters come on, they might demand more transparency and greater things from their leaders?

MAY: I'd like to think that, and certainly in the last couple of elections, corruption has been a major issue. I think every candidate who stood in the last two or three elections, has stood on the basis that they would fight corruption, and deliver services to people. The truth is, when they get elected, they've got other things to do. They've mainly got into, or look into the return of services to the people who voted for them. The intention and the delivery don't always correspond very closely.

LAM: And what is your assessment of the current government's performance? Do you think there is the political will there, to do something about corruption and the lack of financial accountability?

MAY: Well, I think it's very patchy. There are certainly some people who do want to pursue this, but on the other hand, it's not always the way to either stay in office or to gain votes. I can think of one department, for example, the Department of Defence, that was subject to a Defence Board of Enquiry, after the so-called Moti affair, which pointed to rampant corruption within the department and poor management. It also pointed to very high levels of nepotism, the secretary of that department has been in that position for a long time. No government has made any move to remove him from that position. The Defence Board of Enquiry pointed to the fact that most of the department is filled with members of his clan and of his own family, in some cases. Nothing is being done there, and one does have to wonder why is it that there isn't more follow up on this.

Certainly, there's a lot of demand for reform, but when it comes to the crunch, it's mostly people demanding that other people be brought to account. It's not easy to reverse corruption, I think more has to be done. I think there's the will in a lot of circles to do this, but we exist in a situation at the moment, where a number of members of parliament, including ministers have been appearing before leadership tribunals themselves. These aren't the people who are likely to champion measures to get rid of people who've been offending against the laws.