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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

Commonwealth Secretary-General Agrees to Support Papua New Guinea’s Defence Review

7 November 2000

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr Don McKinnon, announced today that he has established an Eminent Persons Group, in response to a request from the Hon Sir Mekere Morauta Kt MP, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, to undertake a review of the defence and security needs of Papua New Guinea. The Group will consist of the following persons: 

Mr Gerald Hensley (Convenor) -           New Zealand

Mr Charles Lepani                 -           Papua New Guinea

Major General Philip Jeffery    -           Australia

Mr Hugh Small QC                 -           Jamaica 

The Group will be supported by two officials from the Commonwealth Secretariat, Special Advisor Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy and Mr Jeremy Clarke-Watson of the Political Affairs Division. 

Mr McKinnon said, "This is a new area of work for the Commonwealth Secretariat and I am pleased to be able to support the request from the Government of Papua New Guinea. I hope to have the Group in Papua New Guineaby mid-November with a view to completing the review by the end of the year, to meet the time-frame set by the Hon Sir Mekere Morauta".  

The review is expected to make recommendations on the future roles and tasks, structure, size, capabilities and financial requirements of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, within the framework of an appropriate national security strategy for Papua New Guinea.

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