New minister for petroleum
Copyright 2000 Post-Courier (PNG)
December 20, 2000
THE Petroleum and Energy industry got yet another new minister in Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta’s latest reshuffle yesterday.
Gulf MP and former Housing Minister Chris Haiveta was yesterday appointed Petroleum and Energy Minister, the fourth minister to hold the portfolio since this government took office more than a year ago.
Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta said yesterday that the latest changes were small but necessary.
“Any Prime Minister must have confidence in his Ministers. Confidence leads to political stability, which I have repeatedly said is essential for the future of Papua New Guinea,” he said.
“While these changes are small in number, they will have very large impacts on the continuation of good governance.
“Opposition to the political stability and integrity bill was tantamount to a vote of no confidence in my Government. Any Minister who did not support the bill in effect expressed no confidence in the Government.
“That explains the changes.
“It is also important to put the right people in the right places to reflect their skills and their capacity to serve PNG.
“ I am now very happy with the team I have.”
The recently sacked Tommy Tomscoll was the first minister when Sir Mekere and John Pundari announced the new government in July last year.
He was then replaced by Fabian Pok, only to be recalled when Dr Pok was sacked along with former Deputy Prime Minister Mao Zeming and others.
Mr Tomscoll was sacked last week after being in the job for only three weeks, including addressing the recent PNG mining and petroleum investment conference in Sydney, Australia.
He even joked about being minister for eight months and then being in the wilderness for a further eight months, adding he needed to watch his back.
Many speakers at the conference spoke about the need for continuity, with one doing a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation lining all the ministers they have had to deal with during the life of the PNG Gas project.
However, the speakers were also quick to point out that despite the numerous changes, there were no major policy changes and there had only been one departmental head serving the different ministers.
“There have been many calls from the industry for continuity in government, and I’m glad to be saying that I’m speaking to you as Minister for Petroleum and Energy for the second year in a row,’’ Mr Tomscoll said at the Sydney conference earlier this month.
This was prior to him being “decommissioned’’.
“Those of you with a closer working knowledge of PNG politics will remind me that between the last occasion and this one, I ceased to be your minister and only got the job back,” he said.
“In fact, the record shows that I was minister for eight months, and then on the backbench for eight months.
“If history goes in cycles, you can be sure that I will be watching my back fairly closely about eight months from today (December 5).’’