The leader of Papua New Guinea's New Generation Party says the country will continue to languish in social outcomes without comprehensive national planning.
Bart Philemon, who is the Minister of Public Service, says no PNG government has ever established an effective national plan for infrastructure, education and health services.
These areas have deterioriated badly despite PNG enjoying very large increases in the national budget over the past nine years.
Mr Philemon says his party believes responsible management of government finances requires extensive planning.
"We need to get down to the basics of obtaining facts on the ground. Statistics are a very important base on which we mount our plan. Governments after governments since independence (1975) have not been able to develop credible sets of statistics in health and education. So we need to go back and see how many aid posts are still operating since independence."
Bart Philemon says the New Generation Party will field about 40 candidates in next month's election.