PNG’s Tkatchenko ‘stands aside’ after ‘primitive animals’ comment

The government is under fire over coronation-related spending on the London delegation as well as a ceremony at home [File: Andrew Kutan/AFP]

Papua New Guinea’s under fire Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko has said he will “step aside” after apologising for calling people who criticised his eldest daughter’s lavish trip to London “primitive animals”.

Tkatchenko made the comment to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) amid outrage over a TikTok video his daughter Savannah released earlier this week of her taxpayer-funded trip to King Charles’s coronation.