Australian closing in on multi-million-dollar NRL expansion deal with Papua New Guinea

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Australia is closing in on a multi-million-dollar deal that would see Papua New Guinea join the NRL. And the ABC can reveal a major security agreement is at the heart of the negotiations.

Transcript

00:00On the rugby field, it's a game of sport, but off the pitch, the contest is one of geostrategic

00:10influence.

00:11Australia is negotiating a deal that could see it provide up to $600 million in funding

00:16over 10 years to help PNG get a team in the NRL.

00:21In return, Australia wants a promise that PNG won't sign a security patch with China

00:27that would allow it to base police or military troops in the Pacific country.

00:32Australia's Minister for the Pacific, Pat Conroy, didn't give details about the security

00:36element but says the deal will help bring the two nations closer together.

00:40Only four kilometres separates the two countries.

00:43You could swim between the two countries if you weren't worried about crocodiles, and

00:47you should be.

00:48And rugby league is one element of our soft diplomacy.

00:52It comes at a time of intense geopolitical competition in the region after Solomon Islands

00:58signed a wide-ranging security patch with China in 2022.

01:02Minister Conroy met PNG's Prime Minister James Marape and NRL Chief Andrew Abdo on

01:08the sidelines of the Prime Minister's 13 rugby league games in Port Moresby yesterday.

01:13It's unclear exactly when the final deal will be announced, with negotiations ongoing, but

01:19all parties say they're feeling optimistic.

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