Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

New PNG political party to focus on strengthening family unit

Posted at 07:21 on 24 January, 2012 UTC

Papua New Guinea’s Treasurer, Don Polye, says his newly launched political party will focus on policies that further human development because it’s an area in which the country is lagging.

The Triumph Heritage Empowerment party has 22 MPs and nine ministers in the O’Neill government, after splitting off from the National Alliance Party of which Mr Polye has been the most recent leader.

As its Parliamentary Leader, Mr Polye says the new party’s policies will look to strengthen the family unit, because it’s the ideal platform for Papua New Guineans to improve their personal accountability and skillsets.

“We’d like to see the skills of Papua New Guineans improve: multi-skilled, professionally skilled and any other skill that would make Papua New Guineans have the competitive edge and make them confident to survive in the modern era.”

Don Polye says he is de-registering the National Alliance because its name has become synonymous with dishonesty and corruption as the former leadership started making decisions outside the party’s processes and contrary to its principles.