David Manning | |
---|---|
Controller of COVID-19 pandemic, Papua New Guinea | |
Assumed office 2020 | |
Papua New Guinean Commissioner of Police | |
Assumed office 2019 | |
Deputy Police Commissioner | |
In office 2019–2019 | |
David Manning MBE is the Commissioner of Police in Papua New Guinea (PNG). From early 2020 he was also designated as the country's Pandemic Controller in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
David Manning is the son of Michael J. Manning,an economist and anti-corruption campaigner who was born in Australia and became a naturalized citizen of PNG,and Relly Manning,from East New Britain in PNG. His grandfather,Alan Manning,was one of the founders of the Democratic Labor Party in Australia. [1] Between 1988 and 1993,Manning was educated at Canberra Grammar School. He then studied for a year at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology. His lack of tertiary qualifications was later to cause him difficulties. [2] [3]
Manning rose rapidly through the ranks of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC). In 2008 he was appointed as director of the Special Services Division,a unit within the force that has responsibility throughout the country,unlike other police units,which are restricted to certain areas of operation. From 2013 to 2015,he served as security coordinator for the 2015 Pacific Games,which were held in PNG's capital,Port Moresby in July of that year. After that,he was made assistant commissioner of operations,being promoted to deputy commissioner in 2019. In December 2019,seven months after being made a deputy commissioner he was appointed as Commissioner of Police. [2]
Manning's appointment to the top position was challenged in the courts by two of the candidates who had failed to be selected for the post. They argued that the post of commissioner required a university degree and that Manning lacked this. Their initial challenge,in January 2021,was successful and Manning was ordered by the judge to vacate the post. He was subsequently allowed to stay in post pending a Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea review of the decision by the lower court judge. In December 2021,the Supreme Court found in Manning's favour. The issue revolved around the fact that two posts had been advertised together,that of Police Commissioner,for which tertiary qualifications were not a requirement,and that of Secretary of State for the Police,for which they were. The expectation of PNG's Public Service Commission was that one person would fill both posts. However,the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea found that the position of head or secretary of the department of police had no constitutional and statutory foundation in law and thus Manning's appointment as commissioner was legal. [3] [4] [5]
In 2020,Manning was also appointed as controller of the COVID-19 pandemic,first with the title of emergency controller and then as the designated pandemic controller. This effectively gave him the power to issue all regulations necessary to try to control the pandemic within the country,including immigration controls,burial arrangements,movement controls,and other social restrictions. Controls on the sale of alcohol led to the death of a senior police officer in May 2020 when he intervened in a dispute between off-duty soldiers and a beer-shop owner. This event seemed likely to lead to a confrontation between the police and the military and was only avoided by a joint intervention by Manning and Brigadier General Gilbert Toropo,head of the Royal Papua New Guinean armed forces. Following the unrest in 2021 in neighbouring Solomon Islands,a contingent of PNG police was sent to the country as part of a Commonwealth peacekeeping force. In February 2022,Manning was forced to refute allegations that PNG police officers had behaved inappropriately. [6] [7] [8] [9]
Papua New Guinea is a country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia. Officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea,it shares its only land border with Indonesia to the west and it is directly adjacent to Australia to the south and the Solomon Islands to the east. Its capital,located along its southeastern coast,is Port Moresby. The country is the world's third largest island country,with an area of 462,840 km2 (178,700 sq mi).
The politics of Papua New Guinea takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic multi-party system,whereby the prime minister is the head of government. Papua New Guinea is an independent Commonwealth realm,with the monarch serving as head of state and a governor-general,nominated by the National Parliament,serving as their representative. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament.
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea,with an area of 2,100 km2 (810 sq mi),measuring around 100 km × 30 km. Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles which can be broadly described as lowland tropical rain forest. The highest point on Manus Island is Mt. Dremsel,718 metres (2,356 ft) above sea level at the centre of the south coast. Manus Island is volcanic in origin and probably broke through the ocean's surface in the late Miocene,8 to 10 million years ago. The substrate of the island is either directly volcanic or from uplifted coral limestone.
Sir Mekere Morauta was a Papua New Guinean politician and economist who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1999 to 2002. Inheriting a depressed economy and a fractious legislature,he embarked on fundamental reforms of the country's economy and political system.
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Don Pomb Polye is a Papua New Guinean politician from Enga Province. He has been a Cabinet Minister under two Prime Ministers,and was briefly Deputy Prime Minister from July to December 2010. He has held Foreign Affairs,Immigration,Transport,Civil Aviation,Finance and Treasury portfolios.
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The monarchy of Papua New Guinea is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Papua New Guinea. The current Papua New Guinean monarch and head of state,since 8 September 2022,is King Charles III. As sovereign,he is the personal embodiment of the Papua New Guinean Crown. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations,each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result,the current monarch is officially titled King of Papua New Guinea and,in this capacity,he and other members of the royal family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of Papua New Guinea. However,the King is the only member of the royal family with any constitutional role.
The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) is a national police force with jurisdiction throughout Papua New Guinea.
Sir Salamo Injia is a retired Judge and former Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea. Injia was knighted in 2006 and appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea in 2008,succeeding Mari Kapi. In 2018,Sir Gibbs Salika replaced him as the Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea. In August 2019,Injia was appointed chair of a commission of inquiry into a controversial state loan of US$1,200,000,000 from the Swiss bank UBS used by the PNG government to buy a stake in the resource company Oil Search.
Peter Charles Paire O'Neill is a Papua New Guinean politician who served as the seventh Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 2011 to 2019. He has been a Member of Parliament for Ialibu-Pangia since 2002. He was a former cabinet minister and the leader of the People's National Congress between 2006 and 2022. He resigned his position as prime minister to avoid a vote of no confidence,and he was succeeded by James Marape. O'Neill won re-election to the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea in 2022 in the first round with a large majority,which is unusual in the country.
Belden Namah is a Papua New Guinean politician. Namah is a member of the National Parliament for the Papua New Guinea Party,and has represented Vanimo-Green River District since 2007. He served in the Cabinet from 2007 to 2010,and as Deputy Prime Minister from 2011 to 2012. In 2012,Namah became a member of the opposition. After retaining his seat in the 2022 election,he said that he would not rejoin the opposition.
2011–2012 Papua New Guinean constitutional crisis was a dispute between Sir Michael Somare and Peter O'Neill. Both claimed to be Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.
Corruption is rife in Papua New Guinea (PNG). According to The Economist,"PNG's governments are notorious for corruption,and ever run the risk of turning the state into a fully-fledged kleptocracy".
Ezekiel Anisi was a Papua New Guinean politician. He was a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from August until October 2012,when he was unseated by the National Court,and from a December 2013 by-election until his death,representing the electorate of Ambunti-Dreikikir Open in East Sepik Province. He was the youngest MP in Papua New Guinea.
Moses Maladina is a former Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. He is a qualified lawyer,agriculturalist and businessman with investments in PNG and various parts of the Asia Pacific region. He is also a published author which includes his fiction novel Tabu. His present residence is in Baiyer River,Western Highlands Province,in PNG where he has a coffee plantation.
Samuel H. Basil was a Papua New Guinean politician. He was a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 2007,representing the electorate of Bulolo Open,until his death in 2022. From 8 June 2019,to August 2019 Basil served as the Treasurer of Papua New Guinea.
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