15 Dec 2014

Bougainville included in Bishop's PNG visit

11:04 am on 15 December 2014

Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is in Papua New Guinea this week and will make the first visit by an Australian Foreign Minister to Bougainville in 14 years.

Ms Bishop will meet political and community leaders in the autonomous PNG region to discuss the implementation of the Bougainville Peace Agreement.

She will also visit Australia-funded aid projects in Buka and Arawa.

Her visit to mainland PNG includes discussions on defence and police co-operation, the regional asylum-seeker resettlement programme and help for PNG's hosting of APEC in 2018.

The Minister will also look at family and sexual violence in the Highlands region.