By GEORGINA MICHAEL
AUSTRALIA’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense, Richard Marles, opened the new-look Sergeants’ Mess at Murray Barracks after presenting 12 armored vehicles to the PNG Defence Force.
The Sergeants’ Mess was renovated under the Australian Defence Cooperation program.
“It is great to be here to be participating in the ribbon cutting of the re-opening of the Sergeants’ Mess.
“This is a really excellent facility, which now takes forward, the Defense cooperation program that we have between our two countries.
“In combination with the announcement of the handing over of the 12 vehicles and of course the opening of the Lombrum Naval Base, this is another step forward in significant Defense relationship our nations have,” Mr Marles said.
PNG Defence Minister Billy Joseph said: “Today we are also in recipient of another new facility, however it is not the only one, most of the military facilities around the country had been gifted to us during independence in 1975,”
“We have been working very closely, however many of our people have not seen the closeness of our Defence to Defence closeness but government to government closeness. However, it is becoming more clearer on the eve of our 50th Independence Anniversary.
“Therefore, PNGDF wants to be an important partner with Australia, especially the Australian Defence Force. We don’t want to be a Defence Force that receives all the time, we also want to give back and participate.
“We want to be that partner that Australia can depend on, and building capacity and the capability of PNGDF is an important critical step to put us in a place where we can be an important partner.
“A partner that Australia can depend on in your times of need as well, and we thank you on the eve of our 50th anniversary you have given us this a lot of infrastructure and the capability,” Dr Joseph said.
The building that houses the Sergeants’ Mess was built in 1964 and contains 82 bedrooms, four bathrooms, transit change rooms and office space. It has been upgraded to be more resilient and appropriate for the accommodation of the senior non-commissioned officers of PNGDF in Port Moresby.
“In the next 50 years as we sign our Defence to Defence Treaty, we do believe that we will build more Defense capabilities for PNGDF and the capacity of our people so that PNG and Australia will stand tall in the face of many challenges in the region, especially the evolving complex geo-security environment that we have,” Dr Joseph concluded.