AUSTRALIA PULLS POLICE FROM PNG: ECP IN DANGER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CANBERRA 000865

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/19/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV EAID AS PP
SUBJECT: AUSTRALIA PULLS POLICE FROM PNG: ECP IN DANGER

REF: A. PORT MORESBY 217


B. PORT MORESBY 219

C. PORT MORESBY 167

D. USDAO CANBERRA 190042Z MAY 05

Classified By: Political Counselor Woo Lee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: On May 16 the GOA decided to withdraw
Australian Federal Police (AFP) forces deployed in Papua New
Guinea (PNG) as a result of the May 13 ruling by PNG's
Supreme Court which overruled the legal immunity given to
Australian police and bureaucrats under the Enhanced
Cooperation Program (ECP) (ref A). Australia remains
committed to finding a resolution to the impasse but will not
return the AFP to PNG without legal immunity assurances. The
process of resolving these legal issues, which could require
the GPNG to enact legislation or change the constitution, is
likely to be a lengthy one. End Summary.


2. (C) According to Australian Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade (DFAT) officials, who briefed us on May 18, the PNG
Supreme Court ruling basically meant that the AFP had no
legal right to exercise police authority in PNG. The court
had decreed that the ECP command structure making AFP forces
ultimately responsible to the Australian AFP Commissioner in
Canberra contravened the PNG Police Commissioner's powers,
and was thus unconstitutional. The ruling also stated that
it was unconstitutional for the AFP to be outside the PNG
Government's jurisdiction, and thus AFP legal immunity was
overruled. All but ten of the AFP were withdrawn on May 17;
the ten remaining on the ground in Port Moresby were handling
final arrangements. The GOA had deployed 154 of the 210
planned police to PNG under the five-year, A$1.1 billion
(US$880 million) ECP. Forty-three of the 64 planned
Australian civilian bureaucrats serving in PNG government
departments will remain in place despite their new exposure
to PNG's legal jurisdiction, said DFAT officials (ref B).
The GOA instructed those bureaucrats in decision-making
positions to change their actions to reflect an advisory
rather than a functional role in order to protect themselves
from criminal prosecution.


3. (U) In a May 16 interview with the press, Foreign
Minister Downer stated, "The risks involved for (the AFP),
being on the ground without the appropriate legal cover, are
such that we'd rather have them back in Australia, and there
be no risks." Downer had said previously in another
interview on May 13, the day of the ruling, that the GOA had
to stand down the AFP contingent in PNG and that the ruling
was a setback for the ECP, although Australia would remain
committed to the program.


4. (C) The PNG Cabinet was to meet May 18 to discuss the
ruling and how to proceed. FM Downer has invited the PNG FM
to Australia to discuss a resolution but no date has been
set. DFAT officials added that the GOA will not back down on
the immunity issue and will only reengage when such
assurances are offered. Otherwise, the level of exposure to
criminal prosecution in PNG would be too great. Remaining
Australian bureaucrats are subject to such prosecution
currently and retroactively, based on the Court ruling. DFAT
officials told us that PNG wanted the AFP to remain in
Bougainville to help with the upcoming election. However,
only three AFP officers remain in Bougainville in an advisory
role as part of a separate community policing program.
Australian press reports indicate that PNG may ask New
Zealand to send some of its police forces to assist with the
election.

A Bad Season for Australian-PNG Ties
--------------

5. (U) The court decision stating that the ECP command
structure and jurisdiction arrangements violated the PNG's
constitution comes on the tail of other setbacks in the
Australian-PNG bilateral relationship. According to
Australian press reports, in Port Moresby at a May 4 police
union meeting, 300 PNG police demanded that the AFP return to
Australia. The police claimed that crime had risen since
Australian forces arrived, but Commander Barry Turner, head
of the Australian police contingent in PNG, told the press
that crime figures had only gone up because more offenses had
been reported by members of the public who now had greater
confidence that action would be taken. There was also a
diplomatic storm in March involving Australian Customs
officers in Brisbane airport who infuriated PNG PM Michael
Somare when they asked him to remove his shoes as part of a
routine security inspection (ref C). The PNG PM demanded an
apology and suggested that the future of the ECP was
threatened if he did not receive one. (NOTE: We are not
aware of any allegations that Somare influenced the Supreme
Court ruling. End Note.)


6. (C) DFAT officials did not want to speculate about the
long-term effects of the ruling, but Australian Defence
officials were pessimistic about the survival of the ECP (ref
D). Both departments, however, emphasized that the GOA has
too much of a stake in PNG to let the ECP fail completely.
First Assistant Secretary for the South Pacific David Ritchie
told visiting EAP Assistant Secretary Hill on May 17 that
Australia had no choice but to continue to engage with Port
Moresby and could not let the country "go down the gurgler"
given PNG's proximity and 5.5 million population (septel).


7. (C) COMMENT: The withdrawal of AFP forces from PNG marks
a dramatic downturn in the bilateral relationship and is a
potentially fatal setback for the ECP, especially if new
legal assurances cannot be negotiated quickly. The GOA has
stated their police will not return unless legal immunity is
restored. The constitutional and legal changes required of
the PNG government to achieve that end could take a year or
more to come to fruition. If an agreement cannot be reached
and the ECP erodes further, it could have far-ranging effects
for Australia's other aid programs in the region, such as the
Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI).
Australian press speculation indicated that unsavory
political elements in some Pacific nations, who are hampered
by the accountability Australian aid mandates, might follow
the lead of PNG and rebel in their own way against
Australia's presence in their respective countries. End
Comment.

STANTON