greatreporter.com, December 31st, 2006
Area: 462,840 sq km (178,704 sq mi)
Population (2006 est.): 6,001,000
Capital:
Port Moresby
Chief of state: Queen Elizabeth II
, represented by
Governor-General Sir Paulias
Matane
Head of government:
Prime Minister Sir Michael
Somare
Papua New Guinea
's relationship with its most important neighbour,
Australia
, was rocky in 2006.
Prime Minister Sir Michael
Somare
responded to
Australia
's wish to process asylum seekers offshore by suggesting that he would not allow
Papua New Guinea
's Manus Island to be used as a detention centre.
Somare
also took strong exception to the Australian government's bleak assessment of
Papua New Guinea
's future and to Australian
Prime Minister
John
Howard
's citing of the situation in
Papua New Guinea
as one reason for increasing the size of the Australian army.
The serious rift between the two countries continued over plans to explore for gold near the Kokoda Trail.
Howard
declared that he would try to halt the project because he believed that it would damage an iconic area where Australians had fought and defeated the Japanese during World War II. The Papua New Guinean government accused the Australian government of having done little over the years to help the locals who had carried wounded Australian soldiers to safety during the war years and pointed out that the proposed gold mine, if it went ahead, would provide jobs and income for the poor landholders in the Kokoda district.
Former prime minister Sir William
Skate
, who was credited with the resolution of the war with the secessionist island of Bougainville, died in January. (See
Obituaries.)
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