VZCZCXRO5669
PP RUEHPB
DE RUEHPB #0226/01 1770648
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 260648Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4948
INFO RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 2459
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1092
RUEHSV/AMEMBASSY SUVA 0214

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT MORESBY 000226 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  6/25/2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PP
SUBJECT: MCGANN MAKES WAVES IN PORT MORESBY 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Thomas Weinz, Charge, Executive, Department of 
State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Thomas Weinz, Charge, Executive, Department of 
State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary: EAP/ANP Office Director Steven McGann met with 
PNG Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Permanent 
Secretary Lucy Bogari, heads of diplomatic missions, Australian 
 
SIPDIS 
High Commission officers, and several other government 
officials.  He also attended a reception with government and 
civil society leaders, gave media interviews, and spoke at the 
University of Papua New Guinea.  The visit received prominent 
positive coverage in local print and broadcast media.  End 
Summary 
 
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Director McGann Meeting with PNG Foreign Affairs PermSec Bogari 
 
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¶2.  (U) U.S. - PNG BILATERAL RELATIONS:  On June 20, Director 
McGann met with the embassy country team before calling on PNG 
DFAT PermSec Bogari with the Ambassador.  Bogari expressed 
appreciation for McGann's follow-up on the Pacific Islands 
Conference of Leaders (PICL). She stated that "all is well" with 
the U.S.-PNG bilateral relationship, and that the Year of the 
Pacific initiatives auger well, especially on the bilateral 
level. 
 
¶3.  (C REL AUS & NZ) U.S. - PACIFIC REGIONAL RELATIONS; FOCUS ON 
FIJI:  Director McGann stated that the U.S. strongly supports 
the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and wants to increase 
coordination on regional issues.  McGann stressed the need to 
work together and to not let the Melanesian Spearhead Group 
(MSG) get in front of the PIF on Fiji issues.  Bogari agreed 
that the MSG must play a complementary role to the PIF, 
especially in Fiji.  McGann expressed appreciation for 
Ambassador Paki's statement at the PICL [PNG Ambassador to the 
U.S. Paki was PNG's head of delegation to the PICL] that PNG 
will be part of the PIF Eminent Persons' Group (EPG) process 
regarding Fiji. 
 
¶4.  (C REL AUS & NZ) U.S. ASSISTANCE TO PNG:  McGann described 
the U.S. approach to providing assistance, emphasizing that the 
U.S. would focus on creating sustainable individuals, and shared 
the possible opportunities in Guam for Pacific Island labor. 
McGann stated that the U.S. supports sustainable assistance from 
China and Taiwan, but that does not support aid which undermines 
good governance and rule of law.  He also pointed to the USTR 
Trade Seminar as evidence of U.S. commitment in promoting trade 
with PNG.  Bogari stated that PNG is developing a national 
strategy to deal with donors internally, multilaterally, and to 
facilitate coordination between donors.  Bogari requested U.S. 
financial support, through the International Tropical Timber 
Organization, for a PNG forest inventory project. 
 
¶5.  (C REL AUS) PNG - AUSTRALIA BILATERAL RELATIONS:  McGann and 
Bogari discussed PNG-Australia bilateral relations.  McGann 
stated that while the U.S. and Australia communicate regularly 
on regional issues, the U.S. pursues a balanced approach in the 
region.  Bogari stated appreciation for the U.S. willingness to 
hear Pacific views, and appeared tense in describing current 
relations with Australia.  Bogari mentioned Australian denial of 
a request for helicopter support during the elections.  Bogari 
avoided commenting directly on the Moti affair, but stated that 
PNG was trying to talk to the Australian government about issues 
that are larger than Moti. 
 
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Meetings with Heads of Diplomatic Missions and Australian High 
Commission Staff 
 
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¶6.  (U) MEETING WITH HEADS OF MISSION:  Director McGann, the 
Ambassador, and DCM met with heads of mission from Australia, 
the UK, New Zealand, France, the EU, and Solomon Islands. 
Conversation focused on the results of the PICL and core 
partners meeting, Fiji, and Guam's future development. 
 
PORT MORES 00000226  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7.  (C REL AUS) MEETING WITH AUSTRALIAN DEPUTY HIGH COMMISSIONER 
AND STAFF: Director McGann and the Ambassador spent nearly two 
hours at the Australian High Commission meeting with the 
Australian Deputy and several political, economic, and AusAID 
officers.  Discussions focused on the upcoming elections, PNG 
economic development, and the role of U.S. assistance.  The 
Australians believe that Prime Minister Somare and his National 
Alliance Party are best-placed to form the next government.  One 
Australian analyst described generational change as a "false 
hope," while other Australian officers described the PNG public 
service as a "totally dysfunctional blob" that is great at 
planning but appalling at implementation.  On the topic of 
economic development assistance, the AusAID officer present 
agreed that the PNG government is making a greater effort to 
coordinate donor assistance, and stated that Australia is 
working to link aid more deeply to policy dialogue.  He also 
stated that AusAID will continue to invest more in developing 
PNG leaders, with a priority on scholarships. 
 
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Other Meetings and Public Diplomacy Events 
 
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¶8.  (U) MEETINGS WITH PNG DEFENCE FORCE COMMANDER AND ASSISTANT 
POLICE COMMISSIONER:  Director McGann met separately with the 
commander of the PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) and the Assistant 
Commissioner (Operations) of the Royal PNG Constabulary (RPNGC). 
 These meetings focused on current and future U.S. support for 
the military and police forces and on regional, local, and 
election security.  McGann suggested the embassy and the RPNGC 
explore training programs available to international students 
through the National Sheriff's Association 
 
¶9.  (U) CIVIL SOCIETY AND CHIEF OMBUDSMAN MEETING:  Director 
McGann and the Ambassador met with the Chief Ombudsman, the 
director of the PNG Institute of National Affairs (INA) [a 
privately-funded public policy think tank], and representatives 
of Transparency International-PNG to discuss the current state 
of governance and anti-corruption efforts in PNG.  Participants 
discussed the structural and social impediments to good 
governance, with a focus on the upcoming elections. 
Participants in the discussion stressed the impact of corrupt 
practices on the electoral process; the buying of votes through 
direct payments to individuals and through the donation of 
money/services to local churches, schools, and clinics is 
commonplace. 
 
 
 
¶10.  (U) HIV/AIDS BRIEFING:  Director McGann was briefed on the 
current state of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in PNG by PNG health 
department officials, WHO officers, and the director of Family 
Health International (FHI), the organization which implements 
the USAID-funded AIDS program.  In a separate meeting, FHI staff 
briefed McGann on the progress of the USAID program. 
 
¶11.  (U) PUBLIC DIPLOMACY EVENTS & FINAL RECEPTION:  Director 
McGann spoke and answered questions for over one hour as part of 
the UPNG Vice Chancellor's Lecture Series.  The acting Vice 
Chancellor hosted the lecture, which was attended by over 100 
faculty, students, members of the diplomatic community, and 
interested citizens. McGann's remarks on U.S. investment in the 
people of the Pacific and bilateral relations with PNG were 
well-received.  McGann also visited the National Broadcasting 
Corporation (NBC) offices for a taped radio interview, which 
focused on PICL results and Fiji.  Excerpts of this interview 
aired nationwide.  The Ambassador hosted a final reception in 
honor of Director McGann, which was attended by representatives 
of the government, the media, the diplomatic community, and 
civil society.  Director McGann's visit had a very positive 
impact on embassy relations with the government and people of 
Papua New Guinea. 
WEINZ