PNG outraged over rape of Aussie woman

Papua New Guinean officials have expressed outrage at the "appalling" and "heinous"
rape of an Australian woman on a surfing trip.
PNG's Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Abal and Deputy Prime Minister Don Polye on
Friday both condemned the attack on four Australians last Saturday and urged
villagers to hand over the culprits.
"A crime so heinous should not go unpunished," Mr Abal said.
Mr Polye said it was a national disgrace.
"While I do not consider the death penalty as an acceptable sentence for crimes in a
modern world, such heinous crimes seriously test my resistance to pursue its active
enforcement," he said.
Meanwhile, Madang police told AAP on Friday that two men had been arrested and were
in custody over the attack, and AAP understands that one of them has been charged
with armed robbery.
Police Commander Giosi Labi said the case was complicated by the fact that all the
victims had left PNG.
The PNG Tourism Promotion Authority has gone into damage control, trying to repair
the harm to the tourist town of Madang where the incident happened. The authority is
concerned that Madang is becoming a no-go zone for travellers.
The authority's acting CEO, William Bando, said in a statement on Friday that PNG's
gains were derailed, with its reputation ruined by the actions of a minority.
"The fact that it has happened in Madang, one of the tourism model provinces and
undoubtedly the tourist hot spot in the country, has turned the province's prestige
into despair," Mr Bando said.
Madang is a popular tourist location and hub for NGOs and aid workers, and is
considered far less dangerous than the capital Port Moresby, which this year was
rated in the top five worst cities to live in by The Economist magazine.
Madang's increasing population and growing problems with illegal settlers, lack of
work and alcohol and drug abuse have led to a steady rise in violent crime.
The Australian woman was raped after five men carjacked a vehicle she, another woman
and two male Australian youth ambassadors were travelling in on a surf holiday in
Madang province, on PNG's northwest coast.
A spokesman for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the
victims had all left the country after the "appalling" attack.
The Australian government's aid agency, AusAid, has said it was reviewing security
arrangements for youth ambassadors in PNG and elsewhere.
Youth Ambassadors are 18- to 30-year-old skilled volunteers deployed in Asia, the
Pacific and Africa under a development program run by AusAID.
The four were robbed of all possessions and taken to a secluded spot where they were
bound to trees and the young woman, the girlfriend of one of the volunteers, was
raped.
Sam Newbury, 23, returned to his family in Albany, in Western Australia's south, on
Tuesday after his trip as an ambassador for cricket development in PNG.
Another man, from Lismore on the NSW north coast, confirmed to his local newspaper
the Northern Rivers Echo that he was also a victim of the traumatic attack.