Prime Minister James Marape has assured Australia that despite the challenges posed by the falling kina value against the US Dollar, his government has tailored the 2024 budget as responsibly as they could, to minimise the need for additional support. This is the assurance PM Marape gave when he met with the Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers in Canberra. During this meeting, PM Marape also conveyed his heartfelt appreciation to the people and government of Australia, for their continued budget support to Papua New Guinea. Marape clarified to the Treasurer Chalmers that going forward, any requests for budget support or loans will be communicated through his PNG Counterpart, Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey. He added the enduring relationship between PNG & Australia that predates PNG’s Independence, making note of the people-to-people relations exemplified by the return of the recent Prime Minister’s XIII rugby league match and the significant presence of over 5000 Australian companies in Papua New Guinea. Marape further said he was grateful to Australia for continuing to support and contributions to fostering good governance, economic resilience and law and order in PNG. He also praised the Australia’s initiatives with study opportunities and labour mobility programmes, as the key to promoting people-to-people relations and strengthening bilateral ties between the two nations.