In the wake of Queensland legend Cameron Smith's decision to step down from his role as an assistant with the Maroons, head coach Billy Slater has paid tribute to what he believes is an unmatched contribution to the Origin side. After playing a record 42 games for the state representative side between 2003-17, Smith helped mastermind Queensland's back-to-back series victories over the past two years as Slater's right-hand man. Across 48 games as both a player and assistant coach, Smith enjoyed a remarkable 62.5 percent winning rate over New South Wales, experiencing victory in 13 of the 17 series he was involved in. Slater said Smith has created an unparalleled legacy with the Maroons. “I don’t know if there’s anyone who has contributed more to the Queensland Origin team than Cam Smith,” Slater said. “I’m extremely grateful for his contribution over the last two series. He’s done an incredible job which I’ve seen first hand inside the camp with all the players and coaching staff.” Smith, who is departing in order to focus on a new grassroots coaching role with Queensland club side the Currumbin Eagles, said he was grateful to have had the opportunity to experience the Origin arena as both a player and coach. “I was lucky enough to represent the jersey many times, but to experience it from a different lens as a coach, and being able to watch this new generation play the way they did and represent the state in the manner in which they did, was highly rewarding," Smith said. “It’s been a fantastic two series working with quality players. They’re quality people to work with and they’ve certainly helped me as a rookie assistant coach." Former Maroons representative Matt Ballin will assume Smith's role for the 2024 Ampol State of Origin Series, having previously worked with the side on game days and coached the Queensland U-19 team. Source: NRL Com

The Health Minister Dr. Lino Tom recently announced the government’s commitment to co-host the Asia Pacific Leaders’ Summit on Malaria Elimination with the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance- APLMA on 6-7th of June in Port Moresby city. “Hosting the Leaders’ Summit will be a timely opportunity for countries in the Asia Pacific Region to share its achievements, renew political will and address challenges to achieving elimination by 2030,” said Dr. Tom. This high-level forum will be aligned under Papua New Guinea’s (PNG’s) Vision 2050 as well as the theme for the National Health Plan 2021-2030: Leaving no-one behind is everybody’s business. Happening for the first time in Melanesia, the upcoming Leaders’ Summit expects Heads of States, Ministers of Health form PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji, and global partners, private sector and local leaders to participate in Port Moresby to ensure leadership commitment, sustainable investment and community empowerment towards malaria elimination. The Leaders' Summit will be held over 2 days, with the first day focused on high-level political commitments to malaria elimination followed by a second day of partner meetings and technical discussions. Dr. Sarthak Das, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance said that this high-level forum marks PNG's commitment to saving lives by eliminating malaria as well as taking a leadership role in supporting local communities and forging regional health partnerships. Despite huge progress over the last two decades, the Asia Pacific region continues to report millions of malaria cases. In 2022, PNG reported 899, 510 malaria cases — a 38% increase from 651, 963 cases reported in 2021. With just 7 years remaining to achieve the global goal of ending malaria, the Leaders’ Summit will be a key milestone for leaders within PNG and the Asia Pacific region to unite and make plans towards a malaria-free future. The Health Minister further stated that, the National Department of Health is committed in providing full cooperation to ensure the success of this important gathering.

The Broncos NRL squad’s meeting with Tom Brady and an all-time touchdown clutch catch from the NFL legend to Broncos sensation Reece Walsh has gone viral, a month out from the NRL’s historic season opener in Vegas. The full squad, NRLW stars and key football and club personnel met and were photographed with Brady before his speaking event in Brisbane, as part of an exclusive brand promotional partnership, on the eve of the club’s US trip. 21 year old Walsh, who was born the same year Brady won his first Super Bowl with the Patriots, took part in a one-on-one interview with host JT Foxx as the curtain-raiser to Brady’s appearance. “I’m a bit nervous being up here right before Tom Brady,” Walsh told the 2000-strong audience at the Royal International Convention Centre in Brisbane. “I just want to play my part in the team and bring success to the Broncos, helping everyone around me be great. It’s all about helping each other and having the people around you that will help you get to your best. Reece Walsh Brady took to the stage minutes after Walsh, with several references to the Broncos squad in the crowd, parallels to his sport and the upcoming clash in Vegas. The 46 year old delivered key messages around his philosophies around life as a professional athlete, father and businessman, with a focus on ‘controlling what you can control.’ “What I learned over the course of my time at college, I wasn’t the most physically gifted but emotionally in terms of my competitiveness, my work ethic, and my discipline, I was way ahead of everyone else,” Brady said. “Those were the things that were going to allow me to be successful. In my second year, I was ready to compete and in the second game of the year Drew Bledsoe got hurt and I ran onto that field, and I said, ‘if they ever put me in, they’re never going to take me out’ and 22 years later they never took me off that field. Tom Brady “Now, this is a new chapter in my life when I go into broadcasting and as I continue to meet people and learn from them, I’m going to surround myself with people that bring out the best in me. “When people bet on me, I’ll make sure I do everything I can to live up to their expectation of me. “I aim to do that the same way I always have. I’m going to work really hard, I’m going to be really committed and I’m going to be really open to learning.” Before the evening drew a close, Walsh’s speed and precision was put to the test, as he iced a now-infamous spiral touchdown pass from Brady under pressure, to the applause of the crowd. “I just didn’t want to drop the ball, the nerves were through the roof,” Walsh reflected. It was a pretty surreal experience, it’s not every day you get to catch a ball from Tom Brady. Reece Walsh “That was a moment that I’m going to look back on and cherish for a long time. “I’m very grateful for the experience and hearing him chat. I got to shake hands with the best NFL player.” One lucky Broncos member won a club-run competition to meet Brady and their favourite Bronco, Robert Ing and his family were pictured with Pat Carrigan and the NFL star as part of the meet and greet opportunity. Read more here. The ‘Evening With Tom Brady’ event was presented by Sports Tech World Series. Source: NRL.com

The people of Tuonumbu village will soon have their very own school after the Education Department gave the approval. Tuonumbu Village is one of the biggest villages in the Yangoru-Saussia District of East Sepik Province situated along the Sepik Highway. Minister for International Trade and Investment & Yangoru-Saussia MP, Richard Maru said, many kids who travel to the nearby school take up t 6hours to a day to reach the school and is an exhausting journey for the kids. “The distance exhausts the kids, and their academic performance are not as good as it used to be in the old days.” “Also given the population growth I fully see the need of Tuonumbu village to have their own primary school.” The people of Tuonumbu requested their local MP, Minister Maru to support the funding of their new primary school through the Yangoru-Saussia District Development Authority (DDA). However, Minister Maru said he was very much aware of the issues over the land that they had allocated for the school. “While I am committed to build all the classrooms and staff houses next year I will not assist with funding until the land issue is sorted out and properly acquired and surveyed to guarantee the Government that there is no dispute over the land before it invests in the facilities of the new school.” “All facilities of the school including the classrooms, staff houses, and a library will cost over K1.5 million and it will be irresponsible for the Government to invest in this school when the issue of land ownership is not being cleared.” “I am committed to have the facilities of the school built next year only on the understanding that all land issues will be addressed this year.” Minister Maru challenged the school chairman and the leaders of Tuonumbu village to get their act together and sort the land issues and have the land mobilized for the State to legally acquire the land in the next few months. “I am ready to build a very outstanding and well-designed school in Tuonombu. It is going to be a significant investment.” “It will be an investment that will anchor the future of this village and the generations to come. I am making a commitment to start building the facilities next year, so you have to sort out the land issues this year,” said Minister Maru.

As the 2024 academic year commenced on Monday, Vunakanau Primary School in the East New Britain province experienced a slow start of enrolments for the first day of school. Head Teacher Mr. Steven Taharin told PNG HAUSBUNG there was a good turn up for continuing students but with the new enrolments, they only saw less than 100 students register. “Today, we just enrolled the new intakes and the continuing students and about 80+ students came in.” He added, they are expecting more students to enrol during the week especially, the inclusion of grade 1 students and grade 3 students to enrol. He further stated that, due to the delay of GTFS payments, parents have agreed to pay a component fee of K100 for the past 2 years to help the school stay afloat. “Though the government mentioned that there is free education for everyone across the board, but since last year during the PNC meeting, all the parents have agreed to pay something to the school.” “This is because the funding from the national government does not arrive to quickly, therefore, parents agreed to pay the K100 fee.”

Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Rabbitohs recruit Jack Wighton have been cleared to make early returns from suspension but the pair will still miss the historic opening round in Las Vegas. Waerea-Hargreaves, Wighton and Raiders centre Sebastian Kris successfully applied to have representative fixtures they were expected to be selected for included as part of bans imposed before the end of the 2023 season. However, Waerea-Hargreaves will be unavailable for the Roosters' historic opening round match against the Broncos at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, while Wighton will be a spectator when South Sydney play Manly. Kris and Waerea-Hargreaves will return in Round 2, while Wighton will have to wait an extra week to make his debut for the Rabbitohs in their Round 3 clash with the Roosters at Allianz Stadium on March 22. Wighton, who announced his retirement from representative football before last year’s State of Origin series, was able to include the upcoming NRL Harvey Norman All Stars fixture in the three-match suspension for dangerous contact in Canberra’s elimination final loss to Newcastle. [caption id="attachment_49376" align="aligncenter" width="794"] New Rabbitohs recruit Jack Wighton at pre-season training©Grant Trouville/NRL Photos[/caption] Waerea-Hargreaves and Kris have been able to include three matches from the end-of-season Pacific Championships as it is considered they would have been selected in New Zealand’s tournament winning squad. The pair played for the Kiwis at the World Cup in England in 2022, while Wighton has been a regular member of the Indigenous All Stars team since 2013, making seven appearances in the annual fixture, which will be played in Townsville on February 16. Waerea-Hargreaves was suspended for a total of seven matches for two different offences (Dangerous Contact – 4 games), Striking – 3 games) in the Round 26 match against Wests Tigers. The Kiwis veteran missed the Round 27 clash with Souths and the Roosters' finals matches against Cronulla and Melbourne. He is now set to make his 300th NRL appearance in the Round 3 clash with the Rabbitohs. Kris received a five-match ban after being sent off for a dangerous throw in the Raiders’ Round 27 loss to Cronulla and missed the elimination final against the Knights, as well as the Pacific Championships. He will return in the Round 2 match against Wests Tigers at GIO Stadium on March 16. The Raiders will also be without Queensland Origin forward Corey Horsburgh for the opening two rounds after he received a four-match ban for a shoulder charge in the Round 26 loss to the Broncos. Sea Eagles speedster Toluta'u Koula, Wests Tigers recruit Latu Fainu and Rabbitohs hooker Siliva Havili were each suspended for one match following incidents in Tonga's third Test loss England in November last year. As the trio were charged by an International Rugby League match review committee, and not the NRL, they are therefore able to serve their suspensions in the 2024 NRL Pre-Season Challenge in February. Source: NRL.com

The Port Moresby General Hospital have hired 98 nurses on Short-Term Contract through the Office of the Director Nursing Services to assist with the shortage of manpower in the nursing division and contribute towards quality patient care. According to CEO, Dr Paki Molumi, currently the nursing manpower is at 800 and PMGH requires 3,000 nurses to effectively provide quality patient care. “We cannot provide quality patient care with this number. Patient care is compromised. Hence the recruitment of STC to fill the gaps. The contract is for 6 months only. We will be working with the Department of Personnel Management to create permanent positions,” he said. He also added that PMGH is looking at recruiting 200 nurses per year for the next 6 years up to 2030 to bring the nursing manpower to 2,000. Dr Molumi congratulated the ninety-eight nurses saying it was a privilege for them to be in the institution and encouraged them to perform well during these six months. He said that the hospital is developing curriculums for nursing such as the cardiac, cancer, kidney and others that will have to be delivered before 2025. “We want to create a career pathway so that you become specialist nurses in those areas. So, your career pathway is there, and it depends on how you perform at the hospital,” Dr Molumi said. Deputy Director Nursing Administration, Mr Vetari was grateful for the support from the management and spoke of more engagements between the staff and the management being the way forward. Following the recruitment of the nurses, an orientation program was held on Monday, 23rd January with an overview presentation of PMGH, the Human Resource function, the Infection Prevention Control functions, roles and responsibilities, occupational health, and safety functions.

The Port Moresby General Hospital board, management and staff kick started the year with a dedication service and the distribution of its Annual Implementation Plan (AIP). The AIP is a compilation of all key action plans and initiatives that are planned for implementation in 2024 by all work unit of PMGH in order to achieve the Corporate Plan 2022-2024. This momentous occasion was held on Friday in the presence of distinguished guests from the National Department of Health, NCDPHA, Central PHA, the School of Medicine and Health Sciences and others. Deputy Secretary, Public Health Division Mr. Ken Wai, highlighted the importance of partnerships and expanded on the National Health Plan. “You and I are the physicians and nurses to deliver services to the mankind.” “I want to thank everyone for this great occasion, I see we have about 19 partners who support PMGH.” “That’s why deliberately in the Health Plan, we put KRA 2 to get that support to solicitate support from all our partners to support us.” He emphasized on the vision in the National Health Plan that every Papua New Guinean is to be healthy, wealthy, and wise. He also commended the PMGH board and management for developing the Corporate Plan to implement higher policies. Reflecting on the achievements of PMGH as well as services that will be delivered soon, CEO Dr Paki Molumi spoke of the strengthening of the corporate governance, clinical governance and the cancer and renal services. “Ultimately the successful achievements of the plans, the goals, the completion and running of the projects in PMGH will depend on the Government, the Board, management, the staff, the funding agencies, the community, and organizations all working conjointly for a common goal.” Dr Molumi also thanked the staff of PMGH especially those who have continued to provide service over the festive season. He said that 2023 was a year full of challenges but through perseverance and commitment to work we have triumphs that we should all celebrate and be proud of. The program had the dedication of the Annual Implementation Plan and its distribution to the Director Medical Service, Director Nursing Service and Director Corporate Service.

With the commitment to provide quality and accessible education to ensure that all children go to school and no child is left behind, no school fees or project fees are to be charged in the national education system in 2024.  Under the Government Tuition Fee Subsidy (GTFS) Policy in 2024, the Marape/Rosso Government has allocated K850.935 million to pay for School Fees and Project Fees. This is from Education Secretary Dr. Uke Kombra who said, NO school administration or governing board is to refuse any child from enrolling in school or attend classes for non-payment of any form of fees. “Parents and stakeholders are also encouraged to cooperate and support in ways other than tuition fees to ensure that school remain operational throughout the year in 2024.” Any school found to be denying students their right to education upon enrolment will be dealt with including suspension of heads of schools from duties without pay. Heads of schools will be held accountable. “The full support of Provincial inspectors, Provincial Education Advisors and the Provincial Education Boards is required to ensure that the Government’s Tuition Fee Subsidy Policy is implemented successfully.” He further stated that, the public can report on a school that does not comply with directions to the local school inspector, Provincial Education Division, or the Education Department.

As of midnight, PNG Air scheduled flights are subject to late boarding and slight delays due to the implementation of the restrictions by the jet aviation fuel supplier across the country. The disruption of flights will be ongoing until the supply restrictions on jet aviation fuel are uplifted. At this juncture, upon evaluation of available fuel reserves, PNG Air will still maintain its current flight schedule and will update this in due course if deemed necessary. The PNG Air Call Centre team will make its best efforts to be in contact with customers who have purchased tickets for onward travel who could be affected by these delays. The Airlines Company sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciates your understanding during this time as the situation is outside of the airline's control. For more information, please contact our Call Centre on 16111 (Digicel toll free) or 7411 2644 (BeMobile and Telikom).

Prime Minister and Treasurer James Marape emphasised the importance of preventing the national fuel security issue involving Puma Energy from escalating into a national security concern. The Prime Minister expressed these sentiments during a crucial meeting held on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, with Bank South Pacific (BSP) Chief Executive Officer Mark Robinson. BSP has issued a notice to Puma Energy, directing the closure of its accounts by March 8, 2024. “The Puma Energy issue should not be allowed to become a national security issue,” stated Prime Minister Marape. “We have seen what happened on Wednesday, January 10, 2024, and we do not want a repetition.” Prime Minister Marape disclosed that the Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG) is actively investigating the Puma Energy issue and collaborating with all relevant stakeholders to ensure the most favourable resolution. During the meeting with Mr. Robinson, PM Marape underscored his primary concern for the country's economy. He conveyed that the government is exploring alternative fuel suppliers and implementing strategies to strengthen foreign exchange reserves in light of the challenges posed by the Puma Energy issue. “Last year, we produced over K60 billion worth of exports, but we were only able to bring back K18 billion into the country,” MP Marape said. “If I can bring back at least half of export revenue into the country – and keep it at the Central Bank, BSP, or Kina Bank – that will help to beef up our foreign exchange.” The Government remains committed to addressing the national fuel security issue promptly and ensuring the stability of the country's economic landscape.

The State of Emergency (SOE) in the Nation’s Capital will come to an end by 11:59pm tonight after the SOE Controller Acting Police Commissioner Donald Yamasombi & Acting PNGDF Chief Commodore Philip Polewara declared the end of the 14-day SOE in NCD. He said, the objective of the SOE is to bring back normalcy and confidence to the people and the business community in NCD from the events that occurred on Wednesday 10th January. “I am glad that we have archived the objective of the SOE." "Life is now back to normal.” He said, security forces, Police and PNGDF will maintain some visibility for confidence in the city as students return to school. “The presence of our security personnel will still continue to give that comfort to everyone in our city.” “As we enter into the 2024 academic year." "Students are coming in from around the country and we would like to give them that confidence and comfort as they settle into the various institutions they’ll be attending.” Yamasombi also stated that, investigations into Black Wednesday are ongoing. “From the events that transpired, we have investigations on foot." "Various actions have been taken and those investigations will still continue.” He said, going into the future, they don’t want to see this events being repeated. And through this SOE, further recommendations will be made to prevent such events from happening in the future. Meanwhile, Acting PNGDF Chief Commodore Philip Polewara said, they will continue to support the Police and they will not allow such events to happen again. “This is the heart beat of our country." "We destroyed it and we will rebuild it." "We have come to realize that economy and security co-exist.” He is also thanking those who have stepped out during the civil unrest and helped the security forces maintain normalcy and peace within NCD. Yamasombi further stated that, the call center is still operational and the number is 1800 500.