Namorong to Meet Bishop

BY Mangi Tari 

AUSTRALIA'S FOREIGN MINISTER AND deputy Liberal Party leader, Julie Bishop, is to meet Martyn Namorong as part of his Australian tour

Martyn will arrived in Sydney on Sunday and, after will be meeting at Jackson Wells Monday morning, will immediately move into a flurry of media interviews, seminars, political meetings and informal events in which he will meet and speak with many Australians interested in PNG affairs.
On Monday afternoon, he hopefully will host a public forum at Jackson Wells, which will be filmed for a documentary, and later attend a reception at the Kokoda Track Foundation in the Sydney CBD.

On Tuesday he will visit the headquarters of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Ultimo before a private engagement with a PNG interest group. In the evening he is expected to feature on Phillip Adams’ nationally-syndicated radio show, Late Night Live together with commentator Alex Rheeney.


On Wednesday, Martyn flies to Melbourne where the tour will be managed by Linda Koerner. Here he will visit Jo Chandler at The Age newspaper and be interviewed by Rowan Callick, Asia Pacific Editor of The Australian newspaper.
He will be a guest of John Faine on his Conversation Hour on the ABC and also be interviewed for Radio Australia.
While in Melbourne, Martyn will talk with university students and members of the PNG Wantoks Group.
On the Sunday, Martyn will drive with Linda from Melbourne to Canberra to prepare for a busy two days in the national capital.
First thing on Monday 28th he will visit the new Rabaul and Montevideo Maru Memorial at the Australian War Memorial before being interviewed by Alex Sloane on ABC Canberra’s morning program.
Later in the afternoon Martyn will lead a seminar for the State, Society & Governance in Melanesia Program at the Australian National University. During the evening he will meet with Senator Bob Brown, who stepped down recently as leader of the Australian Greens.
On Tuesday 29th Martyn will meet Ms Bishop and former Labor ministers Laurie Ferguson MP and Alan Griffin MP as well as Senator Anne McEwen, who has a long-standing association with PNG. In the afternoon he will meet with PNG and other residents of Canberra at the historic Hotel Kurrajong.
We're still awaiting confirmation for a meeting with foreign minister Bob Carr.
In Brisbane, where Martyn will be from Wednesday 30th, Murray Bladwell is managing a series of public appearances, media interviews and informal social events.
Martyn will be guest speaker at a function for Rotary members responsible for PNG clubs, he will meet Rotary peace scholars and journalism students at the University of Queensland and also PNG post-graduate students from Queensland University of Technology.
By the time the tour concludes on Sunday fortnight, Martyn and Australia will have a much better knowledge of each other: the trip will be a sound model, perhaps, for reinforcing bonds between the two countries in the future.


Story was edited from Keith Jackson & Friends: PNG ATTITUDE