Australian police return from PNG after court ruling

CANBERRA - Australia's police mission to restore law and order in Papua New Guinea came to an abrupt end yesterday, six months into a four-year deployment, after a PNG court said the terms of their deployment were illegal.

A chartered plane brought 115 police back to Australia as the Australian and PNG governments scrambled to find a solution to a Supreme Court decision that laws granting them immunity from prosecution were unconstitutional.

Australia demanded immunity before it agreed six months ago to send the first police to PNG, a nation of almost six million people riddled with crime and where armed gangs called "raskols" rule parts of the capital Port Moresby.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said it was crucial for Canberra to continue its $A800 million ($NZ865.42 million) plan to fight corruption and restore law and order in PNG.

"If we are to have a long term improvement in the governance situation in Papua New Guinea, this kind of long term assistance from Australia is essential," Howard told reporters.

"We can't go back to business as usual and assume that the situation in PNG will repair itself in some other way."

Australia adopted an interventionist policy in the South Pacific after the September 11 attacks on the United States, fearing instability in its small island neighbours could create havens for drug traffickers, people smugglers and terror groups.

Australian police and troops have been sent to the Solomon Islands and police to Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and PNG.

But PNG's Foreign Minister Rabbie Namaliu urged Australia to consider a compromise.

"It's very difficult to get the ideal package that you want from your own perspective, and in order to move things forward, you've always got to look at ways to compromise on issues," Namaliu told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

The Supreme Court decision appeared to take Australian policy makers by surprise. Six of the 115 police officers to return to Canberra on Tuesday only arrived in PNG last Thursday, one day before the court ruling which forced them to stand down.

The police in PNG were working alongside local officers on general patrols, internal affairs, criminal investigation and forensic examination. Australia had planned to send 250 police to the country when the programme was fully operational.

Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer earlier said he was confident a new agreement could be worked out to ensure the police returned to Papua New Guinea.

"I do expect them to (return to) PNG, but I can't say how soon," Downer told Australian radio.

- REUTERS