Australia says Papua New Guinea needs to respond to legitimate international requests to strengthen its governance.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, says Australia is resolved to adopt a new approach to its aid to PNG, which is worth $A300 million ($US192 million) a year.
The Somare Government has postponed a scheduled visit to Port Moresby next week by the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, saying it is not ready to talk about changes to aid policy.
Mr Howard says he wants to see that aid to PNG is wisely used and the Australian people get a proper return on their money.
"It's no secret that we have adopted a firmer policy in relation to requiring high standards of governance and an absence of corruption in return for maintenance of our aid. We 're being quite up front about that," he said.
Meanwhile, Australia's Labor Opposition Party says it believes the Government may have acted too soon to try to reform PNG's aid program.
Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, says he shares Mr Downer's concerns about the effectiveness of the aid program, but disagrees with the way Mr Downer has handled it.
"We've just commissioned a military intervention and a police intervention in the Solomons," he said.
"My judgement would have been it may have been worthwhile pausing for a bit until that exercise is consolidated before embarking upon a broader campaign elsewhere in the southwest Pacific which is going to bring about friction with local governments."
04/09/2003 12:00:31 | ABC Radio Australia News
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