A third of PNG govt budget stolen each year

More than a third of the Papua New Guinea government's budget is stolen each year by corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, the country's corruption watchdog says.

Transparency International PNG chairman Mike Manning told an anti-corruption conference in Port Moresby today that an estimated 2.5 billion of the six billion kina budget was pilfered.

But none of the major perpetrators were jailed and were often promoted or reelected, he said.

"Think of how we treat people who are corrupt, we elect them to parliament," he said.

"Until we impose on people a sense of shame for doing wrong, we are never going to stop corruption."

Manning said PNG's systems of government had gradually broken down since independence in 1975 to the point where "grand corruption" was now rife.

Despite inquiries into various large-scale corruption cases, no big player had been jailed, he said.

A recent inquiry into corruption within the finance department was shut down when it started making progress, Manning said.

Corrupt diversion of funds to private pockets meant medicines did not get to health posts, schools went without desks and books, and roads became impassable, he said.

PNG's Chief Ombudsman Ila Geno said corruption led to an increase in poverty and denied support to those who needed it most.