SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a defence communique with his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape in Port Moresby on Wednesday (Sep 17) after plans to sign a defence treaty stalled – the second Pacific setback for Australia this month.
Marape told reporters that it was in the two countries’ mutual interest to work side by side on defence.
“I made a conscious choice that Australia remains our security partner of choice,” Marape said, adding that Papua New Guinea could not defend its land and ocean space alone, and the deal was in the national interest.
The text of the communique, released by Albanese’s office, said Papua New Guinea and Australia had agreed on the text of a landmark mutual defence treaty, which will be signed following cabinet processes in both countries.
A meeting of the Papua New Guinea’s Cabinet on Sunday did not have enough members to reach a quorum required to endorse the treaty, and there was a “process to run”, Marape said.
It is the second setback to defence ties for Australia in the Pacific Islands this month, after Albanese travelled to Vanuatu last week but was unable to sign an A$500 million (US$326.5 million) security partnership because a coalition partner in the Vanuatu government called for further scrutiny.
Australia has sought to use the security deals to block Chinese influence in the region, after China struck a security pact with the Solomon Islands.
Marape told reporters that China, a major trading partner for PNG, had no hand in stalling the treaty.
“In the next two days or so, I will dispatch our defence minister to go first to China, and elsewhere in all of our security nations, USA, France, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, to inform them all exactly what this is all about,” he said.
“It’s got nothing against our relationship with them, we asked them too … that they do respect PNG government’s choice of security partners. It is our choice,” he added.
China hosts an annual security forum on Thursday in Beijing, drawing military officials from 100 countries.
PNG’s embassy in Beijing did not respond to a request for comment on whether Defence Minister Billy Joseph will attend the Xiangshan Forum.
Arriving in Papua New Guinea on Monday for the 50th anniversary of independence celebrations, Albanese had said the mutual defence treaty with Australia’s closest Pacific neighbour would lift security ties to a level equivalent to its alliance with the United States.
The Papua New Guinea treaty is a mutual defence alliance that recognises an armed attack on Australia or Papua New Guinea would be a danger to the peace and security of both countries, the statement from Albanese’s office said.
Albanese said PNG had requested the treaty and he was confident it would be signed in the future. “It will be Australia’s first new alliance in more than 70 years,” he said.
Oliver Nobetau, project director of the Australia–Papua New Guinea Network at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, said the failure to sign the deal during Albanese’s visit places pressure on the Australian leader and raises questions about whether Marape has won enough support within his cabinet.
“Has he really convinced them enough to get it over the line?” Nobetau said.
