Violence in Papua New Guinea gets wide international coverage but, closer to home, Australian media focuses on some good news stories.

The murder of four Chinese nationals in Port Moresby last week has not only shocked Shanghai but has also made the news as far away as the United States.

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If the wider world’s perception of PNG continues to be shaped almost entirely by reports of grisly crimes, those keeping a closer eye on PNG will nonetheless appreciate that a lot of positive developments are also taking place.

For instance, the Melbourne Age’s Editor-at-large Mark Baker declared:

‘Here is a good news story from Papua New Guinea: Australia’s nearest neighbour has dodged the bullet of what the World Health Organisation feared could become an AIDS pandemic.’

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Mr Baker is certainly one step ahead of Australia”s Foreign Minister Bob Carr, who was taken to task by Kokoda expert Patrick Lindsay on Twitter last week after stating that Indonesia was Australia’s nearest neighbour on ABC’s Lateline program.

Elsewhere, the ABC reported on the announcement that the Queensland Government would partner with the PNG Government to build a hospital in Daru in Western Province.

Gavin King, head of Queensland’s PNG task force explained:

‘The PNG Government has a lot of resources, a lot of funding available but they don’t quite have the capacity and the expertise to deliver on those projects and that’s the whole reason they have come to the Queensland Government.’

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Finally, Radio Australia interviewed Christopher Edmonds, Senior Economist for the Asian Development Bank, on his organisation’s latest forecast growth outlook report for the Pacific region.