Prime Minister Hon. James Marape has dismissed recent remarks by Ialibu-Pangia MP Peter O’Neill as misleading, hypocritical, and unworthy of someone who presided over the worst era of economic mismanagement in Papua New Guinea’s history.
“It baffles me that Mr O’Neill can talk about transparency and accountability when his own record speaks volumes of the opposite,” Prime Minister Marape said. “As an accountant and self-styled economic manager, he should recall the disastrous state in which he left this country when his government collapsed in 2019.”
The Prime Minister highlighted several key failures of the O’Neill era:
• Recession Under O’Neill: His final budget outcome in 2018 showed a negative 3% recession, with mounting deficits and unsustainable debt.
• Debt Concealment: Creative accounting was used to hide borrowings, including the notorious UBS loan, for which the Commission of Inquiry established he lied under oath.
• Forex Crisis: O’Neill’s decision to peg the kina in 2015 triggered a backlog of foreign exchange stress, which the Marape government has since cleared.
• Corruption and Political Interference: Under O’Neill, corruption flourished unchecked and institutions were compromised.
“In contrast, my government has stabilised the economy over the last six years, averaging 4% growth, with the non-resource sector also posting record growth,” Prime Minister Marape said. “The size of the economy has grown from K79 billion when I took office in 2019 to K133 billion today — an increase of over K50 billion. By comparison, O’Neill’s eight years in power did not even deliver a K40 billion expansion.”
The Prime Minister further noted that O’Neill himself has “dirty hands” in the very institutions he is now trying to defend.
“Mr O’Neill had the audacity to attack government actions regarding Kumul Petroleum when he himself meddled in that company’s operations during his time in office. He tolerated and enabled corruption, while today we are acting to clean up and strengthen governance. Wrong is wrong and right Is right — no leader should excuse allegations of corruption,” Prime Minister Marape said.
He added that O’Neill has no credibility to lecture on governance, having faked his resignation in 2019, withdrawn in shame when outnumbered on the floor of Parliament, and since then dedicated his time to destabilising politics for his own ambition.
“Papua New Guineans know the truth: Peter O’Neill destroyed confidence in our economy, undermined our institutions, and weakened our country. He should show humility, accept his failures, and let credible opposition leaders articulate alternative policy ideas instead of trying to rewrite history.”