CANBERRA, 20 June 2025
PNG ICT Minister Hon. Timothy Masiu presents a Frames Lagatoi gift to the Australian Minister for Communications and Sports, Hon. Anika Wells after their official meeting in the Australian Parliament House, Canberra.
Minister for Information and Communications Technology, Hon. Timothy Masiu, has announced progress on a proposed memorandum of understanding with Australia aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation across cloud adoption, regulatory reform, and infrastructure rollout.
The announcement follows a high-level ministerial engagement held in Canberra and Sydney from 15 to 20 June, focused on advancing strategic investments in sovereign cloud infrastructure, robust cybersecurity frameworks, and regional digital connectivity.
The PNG delegation included three Members of Parliament—Hon. Tony Wouwou (Governor for Sandaun), Hon. Keith Iduhu (Hiri Koiari), and Hon. Kansol Kamdaru (Middle Ramu)—alongside senior officials from the Department of ICT, NICTA, and NBC.
DICT Secretary Mr Steven Matainaho with Australia’s Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology, Mr Brendan Dowling, accompanied by senior officials from the Government of Australia – Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Canberra, Australia
“Among other things, we discussed structured collaboration on cloud migration, cybersecurity operations, and investment in regulatory frameworks to enable safe and scalable digital growth,” said Minister Masiu.
During the visit, the delegation met with Australia’s Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology, Mr Brendan Dowling, to explore cyber-readiness and rapid deployment mechanisms across the Pacific.
Mr Dowling reaffirmed Australia’s support for PNG’s cyber resilience, stating, “The Cyber Rapid Response Team will be ready to deploy whenever PNG needs it. We will work to build preparedness across government and critical infrastructure systems.”
Discussions also covered support for digital public infrastructure (DPI), with global providers such as Amazon Web Services and Oracle sharing insights into sovereign-compliant cloud solutions to power AI-driven citizen services and e-government platforms.
The delegation further engaged with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP) on funding pathways for three undersea cable projects to improve redundancy, expand capacity, and foster regional digital inclusion.
“These connections are critical for enhancing internet reliability and driving inclusive economic growth across the region,” Minister Masiu said.
He commended the Australian Government for its continued partnership, affirming that digital infrastructure remains central to PNG’s vision of a secure, sovereign, and regionally integrated digital future.
“We are building a nation ready to embrace opportunity in the digital era.”