00:00The next step, there is another step in this process before it comes into force, that being
00:08that the Prime Ministers of both Australia and Papua New Guinea need to formally sign
00:14this.
00:15It will become, once signed, Australia's first formal treaty in more than 70 years.
00:22And what it will mean is that both Australia and Papua New Guinea agree to defend each
00:29other's countries in the event of a military attack.
00:33Under the deal, some 10,000 PNG citizens will be able to sign up for the Australian Defence
00:41Force, and there will also be a number of other strategic agreements entered into.
00:48Under that, Australia, in return, will also lift its contributions in terms of financial
00:55assistance to PNG's military as well.
00:59This comes, as you said, two weeks after a diplomatic hiccup where the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese,
01:06was in Port Moresby expecting to sign this agreement back then.
01:11But the PNG cabinet was unable to reach quorum required in order to sign this.
01:18There were other concerns as well about whether they were going to come on board at all.
01:23But now we've seen that agreement from them.
01:26And the next step is for both leaders to sign.
01:29So just take us through, Nicole, what the strategic benefit of this deal is.
01:34This all comes amid China's increasing presence and military buildup in the wider Pacific region.
01:43They're seeking to flex their muscle in the region and increase their presence, as well
01:51as their contributions to Pacific nations in buildup of various infrastructure and in some ways, security
01:59agreements as well.
02:00So this is a strategic win for the Albanese government in really embedding Australia's
02:08links with PNG even further.
02:11Those links go back many, many years and back into the war as well, World War II.
02:18But they're now claiming this is a further strengthening of that relationship.
02:23Take a listen to the Defence Minister, Richard Miles.
02:27What the treaty reflects is that Australia and PNG see their security lying in each other.
02:36And that from PNG's point of view, Australia is the natural security partner of choice.
02:41And, you know, like history, geography, affinity all makes that manifestly plain.
02:51As a demonstration of China's comments around this deal, we did see when the initial plan
02:59to sign this document some two weeks ago didn't come off a statement, a social media post made
03:05by China's embassy in PNG, urging Papua New Guinea to seriously consider what it could mean
03:12for PNG's sovereignty and saying that this should be an agreement that's not entered into
03:19without a serious focus on that.
03:22As for their response following this, we're yet to see a great detail on that.
03:27But that social media post gives a good indication of how they'll be feeling as a result of this
03:32agreement, Mo.
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