WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A minister in Papua New Guinea government who was accused of an alleged domestic assault in Australia will step down while legal proceedings against him unfold, the country’s prime minister said.
Police in the Australian state of New South Wales said in a statement Saturday that a 58-year-old man was arrested and charged following a domestic dispute in Sydney. A 31-year-old woman known to him suffered injuries to her face after the fight, the statement said.
Australian authorities did not name Petroleum Minister Jimmy Maladina as an accused, but his identity was widely reported by the media in Papua New Guinea and Australia.
Maladina “offered to step aside” as Petroleum Minister “while attending to the complaint being heard in court in Australia”, said the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. James Marape said in a written statement on Sunday.
Marape would appoint an interim minister, he added. He did not confirm any details of the arrest or alleged assault.
Maladina is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday on a charge of assault resulting in bodily harm. He is currently out on bail, police said.
He did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press. In comments attributed to him by the Papua New Guinea media, Maladina said he was aware of reports of his detention and was “cooperating fully with the authorities”. He did not say whether he would defend the charge.
On Tuesday, Papua New Guinea’s opposition leader Douglas Tomuriesa urged the prime minister to fire Maladina or request her resignation altogether, rather than allow him to step aside temporarily.
“Although Maladina will not perform his ministerial duties, he will still be paid as such,” Tomuriesa said in a written statement.
Maladina, a former lawyer and member of Marape’s Pangu Party, became a legislator in 2022 and was appointed minister in January. Marape directed him to boost the developing country’s efforts to profit from its natural gas resources.
He has been a key ally of Marape, who faced political turmoil in May when 18 members of his party defected to the parliamentary opposition in an attempt to force a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister.
The attempt to bring the vote was considered illegitimate. The next session of Parliament will be in September.
