The Papua New Guinean economy is dominated by the informal sector. (Getty)

Paying it forward: PNG’s taxpayers need a voice

A new professional workforce association could be the platform the country needs to boost civic engagement.

22 December 20257 min read

Papua New Guinea’s economy is at the threshold of another period of uplift, with a forecast budget surplus in 2027 and a pipeline of extractive industry projects on the horizon. Sadly, almost none of this macroeconomic momentum translates into improving the lives of ordinary Papua New Guineans. This disconnect isn’t so much intentional as it is structural. Unless taxpayers can engage effectively with their government, this gap will only widen and lead to longer periods of frustration and resentment.

PNG’s fiftieth year of independence is the perfect moment to demand not just a voice but a platform to deliver the change taxpayers are already funding.

PNG’s 2025 census estimates its population at approximately 10.1 million. Less than 4 per cent of this population is formally employed. Yet this small group of workers contributes to the biggest line-item in the 2026 budget – personal income tax valued at PGK4.9 billion (AU$1.7 billion).

While this dynamic reflects the country’s unequal access to formal employment, it also illustrates how the burden of funding service delivery falls to so few. This responsibility is compounded by a lack of collective voice for this community.

The burden comes with both a right and a responsibility. These workers deserve a meaningful say in how their taxes are spent, while the broader population deserves better economic governance. Those within the formal employment sector are the ones who have been able to survive PNG’s challenging education system, have the entrepreneurial potential to extend economic impact through small to medium enterprises, and have the closest proximity to the political class.

This demographic is also among PNG’s wealthier citizens. But this isn’t about protecting privilege – it’s about leveraging it for broader accountability. When professionals demand smart expenditure of tax money, they’re advocating for systems that serve everyone. Unlike wealthy elites who can afford to opt of public services, this group shares the same public infrastructure as the rest of the population. Their proximity to power, combined with their dependence on public services, positions them uniquely to push for improvements that benefit all Papua New Guineans.

Prime Minister James Marape paints PNG as the best investment destination in the Indo-Pacific. During his keynote address at the PNG Investment Week Leaders’ Summit in Sydney, the PM pledged to drop corporate tax once PNG’s GDP grows to PGK200 billion (AU$70 billion) – though he didn’t specify a timeline. This is great for investors but almost certainly means the tax burden will shift further onto salary and wage earners and small to medium enterprises.

A fair question is whether professionals, who already enjoy disproportionate access to power compared to ordinary citizens, need more.

This is where a taxpayer voice becomes critical. If PNG’s formal workforce lacks mechanisms to influence how their taxes are spent, they’ll watch government revenue grow while service delivery continues to stagnate. The question isn’t whether to empower this group, it’s whether PNG can afford not to, given what’s at stake for the broader population.

Historically, levels of civic engagement in PNG have been variable – not from a lack of desire, but because the system has never provided adequate vehicles for civic participation. Existing institutions don’t create space for the kind of cross-sectoral, solution-oriented engagement that PNG’s development challenges require.

The current union landscape is comprised of groups organised by sector, primarily focused on advocating for wages and workers’ rights, most recently seeing success in increasing PNG’s minimum wage from PGK3.50 (AU$1.25) to PGK5.00 (AU$1.80) after nearly a decade. PNG’s National Trade Union Congress is an umbrella body that coordinates these sector groups. Still, there are limited points of political leverage in the current system. A nurse or teacher is only able to advocate to their respective minister to make a change within their portfolio.

There are, however, many cross-cutting issues that affect working professionals and all Papua New Guineans: safety on public transport; medicines in health clinics; reliable electricity; and, as a source of frustration during this festive period, domestic flight reliability, which affects business and family connections across provinces. The difference is that professionals have the expertise, resources, and proximity to advocate effectively. When they demand better public services, they’re not seeking special treatment – it’s a push for systems that serve the entire population.

The solution is a new professional workforce association with membership from employees across all sectors to address these cross-cutting issues. The purposes of this association would be to lobby for the change it wishes to see, leverage the expertise of its members, and co-create solutions with the government.

This engagement would operate on two tracks. Initially, the association would offer expertise and capacity to ministers – drafting policy proposals, reviewing legislation, and providing technical analysis on cross-cutting issues. This is low-risk collaboration that doesn’t touch budgets but demonstrates capability. As trust builds, MPs would become natural partners through the District Service Improvement Program (DSIP) and Provincial Services Improvement Program (PSIP) funds – constituency development budgets they directly control. The association could help MPs prioritise projects, provide technical design and oversight, and ensure accountability in implementation. Politicians would retain oversight and credit, and professionals would gain agency. Instead of waiting on bureaucracy, they could engage government with concrete propositions – whether offering policy expertise to ministers or partnering with MPs on constituency development projects.

As one local example, I grew up in a suburb of Port Moresby named Malolo Estate. Over the years, I have seen the roads into and within the estate deteriorate to the point that they resemble riverbeds during periods of prolonged rainfall. The irony is that the estate houses career professionals from government and the private sector, with expertise in engineering, construction, finance, and procurement. They have practical knowledge that could have been leveraged to resolve these issues long ago.

But this isn’t just about fixing infrastructure in middle-class suburbs. When professionals in places like Malolo Estate mobilise around infrastructure failures they experience firsthand, they are building the model of civic accountability that can extend to rural roads, provincial health facilities, and district schools – projects where community engagement is even more critical but currently even more absent. Expertise exists across the country; what’s needed is the organisational framework to deploy it systematically.

For MPs, this model offers a clear political upside: tangible service delivery in their constituencies delivered efficiently by the very professionals whose votes they need. It’s collaboration that produces results, not just promises.

Until PNG invests in empowering its own working class, this economic growth will remain what it has always been: hollow numbers disconnected from lived reality.

A fair question is whether professionals, who already enjoy disproportionate access to power compared to ordinary citizens, need more. Currently, that access operates informally, benefiting connected individuals rather than driving systematic improvement. Formalising it through an association creates transparency, accountability, and a replicable model. More importantly, it doesn’t diminish others’ voices – it amplifies a group with unique capacity to push for the functioning institutions and service delivery everyone depends on. PNG’s democratic deficit won’t be solved by keeping professionals disengaged; it requires them to use their advantages responsibly.

This isn’t theoretical. Across PNG, professionals already quietly contribute expertise – accountants review budget proposals, engineers advise on project feasibility, lawyers review draft policy responses. But these contributions happen invisibly, as personal favours or from a desire to see their country work better, rather than as systemic civic engagement. What’s missing is an organised platform that makes this capacity visible, accountable, and scalable.

PNG’s fiftieth year of independence is the perfect moment to demand not just a voice but a platform to deliver the change taxpayers are already funding. Individual professionals –engineers, accountants, lawyers, healthcare workers, and others across PNG’s formal workforce – should convene in early 2026 to establish this workforce association as concerned citizens, not just members of their industries.

For Australia and development partners investing billions in PNG, this matters deeply. Empowering PNG’s taxpaying workforce isn't just about equity – it’s about ensuring development aid complements, rather than substitutes for, domestic capacity. PNG is indeed a good destination for external investors. But until PNG invests in empowering its own working class, this economic growth will remain what it has always been: hollow numbers disconnected from lived reality.

About the author

Oliver Nobetau

Oliver (Oli) Nobetau is Pacific Islands Program Director at the Lowy Institute.

Paying it forward: PNG’s taxpayers need a voice

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