Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I absolutely reject Senator Wong's question, and I absolutely reject the proposition that is apparently put by Senator Fierravanti-Wells, which I have not actually heard.

As I said in response to the previous question from Senator Scarr, who has a deep and abiding interest in these issues, we have been working very closely in particular with Papua New Guinea. Let me repeat, for the benefit of the chamber, that working in partnership with another government involves recognising their sovereignty, their leadership and their systems to address some of the most significant challenges that they are dealing with in the context of a global pandemic.

There is no doubt whatsoever that, for Papua New Guinea, for Timor-Leste, for Fiji, for a number of countries that have dealt with significant surges of COVID-19 in the region, this has been a very difficult period, and each government has dealt with it in their own way. I acknowledge particularly the efforts that the government of Fiji has made to reach such high vaccination levels amongst its population. I acknowledge the work that Papua New Guinea is doing, and has been doing for a very long time in extremely difficult circumstances, across perhaps the most complex geography you can possibly imagine, to try to address the challenges of COVID-19.

I mentioned in my remarks in response to the previous question the personal protective equipment and testing equipment and supplies we've delivered—the oxygen concentrators, the pressurised air masks, the genomic tests, our support with provincial health service delivery—and the closeness with which we are working with the government of Papua New Guinea on addressing the very difficult issue of vaccine hesitancy. I don't think we should underestimate those. That's why we're working with churches, non-government organisations and the government itself in many of those places. In Timor-Leste, I'm pleased to say— (Time expired.)