Deputy Speaker,

I welcome the guest of government visit by Prime Minister James Marape this weekend.

Papua New Guinea is one of Australia’s most important partners.

Australia is proud to be an economic, security, and defence partner of choice for PNG.

Our strong people-to-people links with PNG were in part forged by a brave group of forgotten Australians called the Kiaps.

Kiaps were Commonwealth patrol officers who helped administer Papua and New Guinea on behalf of first Great Britain, and later the League of Nations and the UN from 1878 to 1978.

The Kiaps’ mortality rate was as high as 4.25 per cent, compared to 1.04 per cent for Australians in the Vietnam War.

Of the 2,000 Kiaps who served, 88 died from violence, disease, drowning, and executions by the Japanese during WWII.

Their remains were not repatriated by the Australian government.

PNG leaders including former prime ministers Sir Julius Chan and Sir Michael Somare have recognised the Kiaps’ contribution to nation-building.

It’s time that Australia did the same

The kiaps deserve recognition for their work, such as through a national monument on Lake Burley Griffin, which Kiaps support.

Thanks Deputy Speaker.