Violence, looting in Papua New Guinea over police pay

There's been violence and looting in Papua New Guinea (PNG), after security forces stormed parliament over not being paid for working at the APEC conference.

It comes three days after the Prime Minister visited and New Zealand contributed $12 million in funding - part of which was for APEC security.

"Members of the armed forces including the CIS (Correctional Services) and police stormed parliament over grievances over their allowances regarding APEC," says Opposition MP Bryan Kramer.

"Numerous staff of parliament were assaulted during this confrontation."

Furious over not being paid, police smashed windows and ripped down artwork. The government, however, insists they will get their wages.

It all came just days after the country's Prime Minister opened APEC, boasting of "continuous economic growth and stable political leadership".

But the scenes were hardly a good indicator of stability. Around 40 percent of the country lives in poverty and the questions of no pay for security forces come on top of fury over the government's decision to buy for a fleet of 40 luxury Maserati for APEC guests.

New Zealand contributed around $12 million during APEC, although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes this as "in kind" assistance.

It went towards training PNG police, military and diplomats.

"We're very cautious in the way we facilitated that support, and a lot of it was direct in terms of the provision of NZ Defence Force and NZ personal," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.

Cautious perhaps because of the scandal over money spent on Maseratis - most of which now sit idle and unused in a warehouse.

There's talk the Government will sell them off to recover costs - not that an Italian sports car is much use in a country well known for poor roads.

Newshub.