Visa restrictions for Australians to PNG won't affect business
The Australian Papua New Guinea Business Council says a reciprocal visa arrangement would make it easier for the two countries to do business together.
Transcript
The Australian Papua New Guinea Business Council says a reciprocal visa arrangement would make it easier for the two countries to do business together.
The Papua New Guinea government says it will ban the issuing of visas on arrival for Australians, unless Australia agrees to allow Papua New Guinea citizens a similar arrangement when travelling there.
It has said the ban will not include tourists.
The council's president, Peter Taylor, says it is unlikely such a ban would affect business people from Australia travelling to PNG, because many travel on multi-entry business visas which run for a year.
But he told Mary Baines that having a reciprocal agreement between the two countries would be a positive step.
PETER TAYLOR: Well, from a business perspective I don't think it will make a huge difference. There are a couple of reasons for saying that. One is if you're a regular business visitor, you're far better off having a multi-entry business visa which runs for a year, or if you're eligible to have an APEC card. The visa on arrival is a rather expensive way of entering the country if you're going to visit regularly on a business basis.
MARY BAINES: So, it doesn't include tourists, it's based at business people. But you're saying business people won't be affected necessarily?
PT: Well there will be those occasions when somebody has to visit Papua New Guinea for business on short notice and in that case it would be convenient to be able to get a visa on arrival.
MB: And looking at this from the reverse, do you think that Australia should have a visa on arrival system for those Papua New Guineans doing business in Australia? Because that's really what this is about - the PNG government wanting that.
PT: There's no doubt there's a reciprocity element to this, and Papua New Guinea is not alone in doing this. As far as PNG is concerned, it is consistent with Australia's policy. Australia doesn't allow any citizen of any country to enter and get a visa on arrival. I mean there are different systems in obtaining a visa. Last year about June I think it was, Australia introduced online visa applications for Papua New Guineans and it's possible to get a visa that will last for three years anyway, and I believe it's even possible to get a five year visa for entry. So the system has definitely improved a lot. But as a business council, our view is that the easier it is for citizens of both Australia and Papua New Guinea to move between the two countries the better. I mean we would like to see all barriers broken down, so there's free movement between the two countries. But we also respect both Australia and PNG's right to regulate entry and border control and security and set the regulations. And I mean there are some issues about passports that are issued illegally so there are some issues that need to be addressed. And I think they will be addressed. I mean Papua New Guinea is looking at biometric facilities for its elections. And if they were, for example, extended to the issue of passports, that would make the situation a lot better. And the other element of it is sharing of data. If Papua New Guinea has a good database of its passport holders, and that's shared with Australia, and of course that would need to be reciprocal, it would make the whole process a lot simpler. And this whole question of visas on arrival would simply disappear because the passports themselves would facilitate the entry.
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