"Blessed Easter to all Papua New Guineans." Easter is a time for all Christians to remember our Lord Jesus Christ who was crucified and died on the cross for the gift of salvation to all mankind. It is a time to reflect on ourselves in our life’s journey and appreciate our existence here on earth. Fellow Papua New Guineans, while most are used to the meaning of Easter as the death, resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ and the gift of salvation for all people, there is another message we as the people of a Christian Nation can take from the events of Easter. Like every bible story, tumbuna story or Brother’s Grim Tales that we have heard growing up, those stories have a moral message behind them. The Easter Story of Our Lord Jesus Christ not only brings a message of hope but also brings an underlying message of staying steadfast to your faith and principles despite everything that is going wrong around you. To look at the bigger picture or the long term gain. In the case of our country, we want to “Take Back PNG” from complacency and corruption and to improve our country’s economic outlook. When my Government came into Office in 2019, our vision was to Take Back PNG; getting more from our resources for our people; reforming laws and policies to prevent wastage of our limited financial resources; encouraging our people to aim to become financially independent by going into SMEs and creating cheap financial facilities to help them achieve that goal and working towards reducing debt and eventually becoming debt free so we could have surplus in our national budget. However, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in the works when it arrived after the 2019 National Budget was passed. This was a situation that we did not expect to hit us this early so we put our limited resources into growing the economy. On that note, I would like to take this time to thank our people for respecting and tolerating the Government’s decision to do a hard lockdown while systems were put in place to help us mitigate and reduce the spread and impacts of COVID-19. And by the grace of the Good Lord, the impacts of the pandemic on the health and wellbeing of our citizens were less than predicted by the health experts around the world and in the region. As of 12th March, 2022, we have reported a cumulative total of 43,615 cases, including 89 news cases out of 249, 149 people tested. Active cases are 60 while 42, 906 people have recovered. Total number of people vaccinated is 348, 938. To those who have lost a loved one to the pandemic, our prayers and thoughts are with you during this time. The current challenging economic conditions facing the country today are a direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. When my Government came into Office, economic conditions were relatively good. Economic conditions have changed since, particularly in light of recent challenges such as COVID-19 and COVID-19 restrictions that impacted international trade movements for almost a year in 2019 – 2020. When my Government took Office, the pandemic had just hit our shores and there were no funding contingencies in the 2019 O’Neill Government passed National Budget to support the economy should there be a global pandemic or any other form of crisis that may affect our economy. Since then, to keep the economy running despite the global market being impacted by COVID-19, my Government successfully secured at concessional rates around K6.3 billion (USD$1.9 Billion) from multilateral and bilateral partners, which were invested in the Government’s wealth creation and sustainable development agenda under the ‘Take Back PNG’ slogan. Significant examples of investing in wealth creation and sustainable development agenda is the K200 million parked in the Bank South Pacific (BSP) and the National Development Bank (NDB) through the Sector Lending Programs for SME support and stimulus packages. The Government has further invested K50 million in commodity price support and agriculture intervention for major agricultural commodities such as coffee, copra, cocoa and vanilla. In terms of price support, Government has allocated funding from the K50 million to increase the price of cash crops so that farmers can get a reasonable income for the work they put in to help grow our economy. The Marape-Basil Government has also allocated K20 billion in the 2021 National Budget for infrastructure development projects like major roads, airports, seaports upgrading & development and Connect PNG. The Connect PNG Program has seen new roads, which are the missing links that can connect more rural areas to districts and provincial centres, cut through some of the most rugged terrains. Two of those missing links recently cut are the Enga to Sepik Highway and the Erave to Kikori Road. The Enga to Sepik highway has reached Maramuni at the border of Enga and Sepik Province. Two of those missing links recently cut are the Enga to Sepik Highway and the Erave to Kikori Road. The Enga to Sepik highway has reached Maramuni at the border of Enga and Sepik Provinces. The Wabag to Maramuni stretch of Road is about 52 kilometers and was built at the cost of K15 million, which according to the engineers who worked on the road is less than what is would have cost if the people (landowners) in the area did not work with the Government to make the road become a reality. As a result of working together with the people, the first vehicles to reach Maramuni, arrived on the 16th of September, 2020. The emotion on the faces of the people, as seen on a documentary put together by Scott Waide of Lekmak for the Minister for Fisheries and the Member for Wabag Dr. Lino Tom, it was a dream come true for them. One man cried and said to Dr. Lino; “I have always wanted to see a vehicle arrive in my village but I never dream that I would actually see it happen my lifetime. Now that I have seen it happen, I can died a happy man.” The current Government has also successfully negotiated mining and petroleum projects for Porgera, P’nyang and Papua LNG projects, with greater benefits for the people. My Government has also embarked on the Public Sector Reforms such as the Cost Rationalization in key government agencies & provinces and City Authorities established. According to the World Bank overview of the PNG Economy, as a result of the pandemic, the real GDP of PNG decreased by 3.8 percent in 2020. This was due to the fact that not only was the global commodities prices affected but also due to hard lock-downs of countries that PNG trades with. There was also the foreign currency exchange as well which is also affecting the cost of goods and services too. The World Bank forecasts that the country’s economy is expected to grow by 3.5 percent in the period of 2021 – 2022 but it will be less than 9 percent of what was predicted before the pandemic. At this stage of the pandemic with new strains of the various being identified, the health, recovery and resiliency of the economy is largely dependent on the Health Sector’s response to the pandemic; therefore, we have invested K600 million into the Health Sector in the 2022 National Budget. Over the years, we have lost some great minds and even young people to cancer, who could have contributed so much to Papua New Guinea. We were also unable to maintain the existing facilities we had because we did not foresee that 911 would happen, making the world put restrictions on the import of cobalt that we desperately needed for our existing cancer facilities. I humbly seek your understanding and tolerance over this matter and I pray for peace in the hearts of those who have lost a loved one during the time we tried to get legislations in place to meet international requirements for importing cobalt. Now that we have the Radiation Safety and Control Act 2019, the Government has now embarked on building a world-class Cancer treatment facility at the Port Moresby General Hospital under the Government’s Public Investment Program (PIP). The first phase of the project, which are cancer treatment bunkers, has already been completed and there are three more phases to go before completion. Once completed, people to seek treatment here and not overseas thereby reducing the stress on their finances. The Government has also funded the building of a fully equipped Catheterization Laboratory for Heart Surgeries on the second floor of the Port Moresby General Hospital. This was opened in 2019 and Surgeries have been conducted here at a lesser cost for the people. Another world-class facility is the Enga Provincial Hospital that will soon be completed. This facility will also have a Cancer and Heart conditions treatment facilities and can be accessed by all Papua New Guineans. I know a lot of our people are now feeling the pinch of the contracted economy of our country with an inflation of more than 6 percent on basic goods. This was forecasted in the money plan for 2022 and we are keeping an eye on the situation to manage it better so no serious adverse effect is felt by the people. In doing our bit to reduce the financial burdens put on our people, my Government is covering the cost for Education for children from Elementary to Grade 12, making Education Free for this year. In terms of your children who are or will be taking places in Tertiary Institutions, we have introduced the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP). Through this program, we are making available funding that can be borrowed by students, not their parents, and successfully students who get the loan will repay it back to the government for others to access when they start working. This program was put in place to assist those who have secured places in tertiary institutions but due to their families financial constraints, may choose to withdraw. My Government does not want students to drop out from constraints, may choose to withdraw. My Government does not want students to drop out from school. We want to see all Papua New Guineans get an education so that you can also contribute towards taking back our country. On this note, the main Easter message that I would like to get to you is that you, the people are the Government. We, your elected leaders, are the people you trusted to better manage the systems in place to support you. Therefore, we cannot bring change and prosperity to our country on our own without your contributions as well. The Government’s plan to take back PNG will not yield results quickly. We will see results in the next 10 to 20 years. I now ask you all to be steadfast in your belief that your Government has your best interest at heart and will do everything it can to improve your wellbeing and livelihood. Here I leave you with bible verses with a message of hope after all obstacles are faced to reach our goal. “1 Peter 1:3: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” “1 Corinthians 15:21: "For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man." “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising” (Isaiah 60:1–3). Blessed Easter to you, my people of Papua New Guinea.