Papua New Guinea will boot 15 Australian public servants from the country over fears they are spies and making local workers lazy.
In a big blow to diplomatic relations between Australia and its former colony, PNG has gone ahead with a threat to end public service contracts for foreigners.
There had been 33 Australians seconded to PNG departments, including officials from the Australian Taxation Office, Customs, the Auditor-General, the Ombudsman, Treasury and Finance.
They were in a long-term program aimed to improve public administration in PNG - Australia's biggest aid recipient - which has struggled since its independence in the 1970s.
Many employed under the "Strongim Gavman Program" were staff in key PNG justice areas, including its Attorney-General Department, the Office of the Public Prosecutor and the Office of the Solicitor-General.
But mid-last year PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill stunned onlookers when he said the Strongim Gavman Program would end this year.
The Australian advisers, he claimed, made local workers "lazy" and some decisions were not in the interest of PNG, suggesting PNG internal affairs were being relayed to Canberra.
In   September, Mr O'Neill played down the threat when he said "nobody is being thrown out on the street" while arguing he wanted people posted to PNG to show loyalty to the Government.
But The Weekend West  can reveal the deployment of 15 Australian advisers from Finance, Treasury, Transport and Justice ended on Thursday.
A "small number" of new liaison roles are to be established to maintain relationships between PNG and Australian departments but it is understood they will not be as fully embedded as the former staff.
Australian officials fear the move to oust the advisers will undermine years of work and risk the struggling nation's financial sustainability.
PNG faces a massive financial challenge after agreeing to host the 2018 Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders' meeting. 
There are signs the logistics of hosting leaders from the US, China, Indonesia, Australia, Japan and Canada may overwhelm its security forces.
Mr O'Neill used his new year message to focus on how his Government was improving conditions in PNG, with a heavy focus on ridding the national police force of corruption and making PNG "a better place". 
This year, Australia will deliver almost $480 million in aid to PNG but relations between the countries are strained over the Manus Island  detention centre.