Richard Jones with AAP

The Papua New Guinea Government wants to bolster Australian police numbers in some of the country's toughest spots, Prime Minister Michael Somare has said in Wabag after the PNG Cabinet discussed the need for more Aussie police to help local forces.

Last year 11 Australian police members were deployed in advisory roles in the capital Port Moresby following the expensive failure of a previous detachment sent to PNG in late 2003.

In 2005, there was a highly politicised withdrawal of 150 Australian police in the Enhance Cooperation Project (or ECP), a number of them from the Federal force. The withdrawal followed a PNG court ruling which stated the legal immunity of the Australian police officers conflicted with the PNG constitution.