Armed forces from 10 countries, including New Zealand, will be heading to Papua New Guinea next month for the country’s 50th independence anniversary celebrations.
New Zealand Army Colonel Duncan George grew up in PNG and his father served in New Zealand’s Airforce. He was now based in Port Moresby himself, and embedded in the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF).
“So many of those contacts remain and it’s really important to have those contacts in PNG,” he told 1News.
George was commander of JTF50 — a joint taskforce coordinating aircraft, naval vessels and other support for the anniversary next month.
“It’s a huge effort, the PNG defence force is small and we don’t have a huge amount of staff officers so we’re very lucky the Australian Defence Force, the New Zealand Defence Force and the French Armed Forces have helped us with the planning,” he said.
“Getting all those ships to arrive in PNG at the one time and getting all of those aircraft here is a logistical challenge. PNG is a challenging place to do logistics because of lack of roading and stuff but yeah, we think it will be a fantastic event.”
There is also a joint operation planned for early next month which will use available military aircraft to fly humanitarian aid around the country.
George was one of 20 Defence Force personnel, including Defence Attachés, posted around the Pacific to Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Timor-Leste.
New Zealand Army Colonel Duncan George was part of the joint taskforce planning the event. (Source: 1News)
Warrant Officer Class One Pani Houia also worked with PNGDF as a training advisor and leadership mentor.
He said the partnership with his Papua New Guinea counterparts was important, and New Zealand’s multi-cultural makeup was a positive factor.
“It’s great you can see it in the eyes… we break those barriers almost instantly,” he said.
Houia’s leadership training with PNG soldiers focused on teamwork and being mission-focused with strong core values.
“Initially they are very stoic people… quiet… they do more listening than they’ll do talking,” he said.
“Once you have that key and it turns and they realise what they have to say matters, what they have to say means something, it opens up these doors.”
Lieutenant Colonel John Banuk from PNGDF said the partnership with New Zealand was “the way forward for PNGDF”.
“New Zealand, in terms of assisting us in that space [has] added a lot of value,” he said.
George agreed, saying it was a reflection of the importance that New Zealand places on partnership with the Pacific and seeing itself as a Pacific nation first and foremost.
