Training Papua New Guinea diplomats: Peter Nichols and Peter Kennedy report on the NZIIA's involvement in the second foreign service training course in Port Moresby in November 2012.

• Author: Nichols, Peter

In November 2012 a team from the NZIIA went to Port Moresby at the invitation of the Papua New Guinea Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide diplomatic training to 30 new foreign service officers. This followed an earlier course in March, which was reported on in the July/August 2012 issue of the NZIR (vol 37, no 4). Those involved were the NZIIA director, Peter Kennedy, Lance Beath, a senior lecturer in Victoria University of Wellington's School of Government, and Peter Nichols, the NZIIA Wellington branch chair.

The second training course was fortunate in that the New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hon Murray McCully, was in Papua New Guinea and took time out from his busy schedule to address the course and to give the participants the benefit of his perspective on what he expects from diplomats. McCully emphasised that ministers are very busy and managing time is challenging. Accordingly, policy advice from advisers needs to be concise, coherent and well argued. Lengthy papers that repeat points can be frustrating and waste time. Additionally, he said, the real foreign minister is the prime minister, and he, or she, will undoubtedly be even busier. The quality of foreign policy advice must be sound and if there are errors, then the prime minister will have a poor image of his minister and the department.

In response to a question...