24 Jun 2014

PNG's Koim to meet Aust Foreign Minister

3:33 pm on 24 June 2014

The investigator who has accused the Papua New Guinea prime minister of corruption will brief Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop about the allegations.

An arrest warrant was issued against Peter O'Neill last week amid accusations he authorised millions of dollars in corrupt payments to a PNG law firm.

Ms Bishop is to meet investigator Sam Koim in Canberra today.

He has flagged new evidence linking Mr O'Neill to an ongoing corruption saga.

Ms Bishop is quoted on Sky News saying this kind of political volatility does not assist PNG in advancing the interests of its citizens.

Mr O'Neill has denied the allegations and dismissed them as politically motivated.

He sacked the attorney-general Kerenga Kua and deputy police commissioner Simon Kauba and moved to disband the anti-corruption investigator, Taskforce Sweep, which is headed by Mr Koim.

Ms Bishop has also spoken to her PNG counterpart to register Canberra's concerns.

Australia provides nearly 500 million US dollars in aid to PNG each year.