Setback for PM as landmark PNG defence pact delayed
Jacob Shteyman and Lloyd Jones |
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will leave Papua New Guinea without a hoped-for defence pact between the two nations, after PNG’s cabinet couldn’t sign off on the landmark agreement in time.
Mr Albanese and his PNG counterpart James Marape were expected to ratify a treaty deepening military co-operation on Wednesday, but only managed to sign a communique laying out the wording of the pact.
It’s an embarrassing setback in Australia’s mission to win friends and influence in the Pacific, and marks the second time in as many weeks the prime minister has failed to wrap up a security deal with a Pacific nation amid geostrategic competition with China in the region.
If the treaty is signed next week, the Pukpuk Treaty, named after the pidgin word for crocodile, would elevate the two nations’ relationship to the status of an alliance – the first new alliance for Australia in more than 70 years.
“Importantly as Prime Minister Marape has said, this was initiated by Papua New Guinea,” – Mr Albanese told reporters in Port Moresby.
“It was a request to Australia and it was a request which we readily agreed to. So it’s a request that’s in the interests of building the sovereignty of both of our nations.”
The agreement would enable PNG nationals to serve in Australia’s defence force with the same pay as other members and start a pathway to citizenship.
It would also lead to the close integration of the two nations’ defence forces and trigger mutual support obligations if either country comes under attack.
The treaty would also limit agreements with third parties, potentially curtailing PNG’s ability to deepen co-operation with China.
While Australia maintains the agreement will be signed following cabinet processes, uncertainty remains over whether Mr Marape will be able to wrangle agreement among his splintered governing coalition, amid concerns over what the deal would mean for PNG’s sovereignty.
Mr Albanese has been in the PNG capital this week for golden jubilee celebrations marking 50 years since the Pacific nation gained independence from Australia in a peaceful handover of power.
He told reporters on Tuesday that the signing had been delayed because PNG’s cabinet fell short of a quorum, with some ministers back in their constituencies for independence celebrations.
Celebrations to mark PNG’s independence from Australia wrapped up on Tuesday night with a mass gathering at Port Moresby’s Sir John Guise Stadium.
Mr Marape said it was in both countries’ mutual interest to have a defence strategy working side by side.
It is likely the deal would have been seen with a more cynical eye across the Pacific, with many nations not well disposed to the militarisation of the region.
Mr Albanese’s deal-making in the Pacific has been a central tenet of his government’s foreign policy, including a landmark climate pact with Tuvalu and a migrant-dumping agreement with Nauru.
He is also pursuing a security treaty with Fiji, one-of-just-three Pacific nations to have a defence force, along with PNG and Tonga.
In recent years, Australia has struggled to carve out security pacts with two other Melanesian nations – the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu – which maintain warmer ties with China.
Mr Albanese returned empty-handed from a visit to Vanuatu last week, after a $500 million deal that would have given Australia veto power over Chinese investment in critical infrastructure fell over.
At the same time as Mr Albanese was taking part in independence commemorations, Beijing and Port Moresby signed a memorandum of understanding over environmental co-operation.
As a gift to mark their golden jubilee, Australia will help PNG build a new ministerial wing at its parliament.
The cost of the project has not yet been disclosed by the government, which says it must first consult with PNG on its scope and design.
AAP
