PNG cabinet approves 'Pukpuk' defence treaty with Australia

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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, and 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 as their

01:52contributions to Pacific nations in buildup of various infrastructure and, in some ways, security

01:59agreements as well. So this is a strategic win for the Albanese government in really embedding

02:08Australia's links with PNG even further. Those links go back many, many years and back into the war

02:16as well as World War II. But 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 to sign

02:59this document some two weeks ago didn't come off a statement, a social media post made by China's

03:06embassy in PNG, urging Papua New Guinea to seriously consider what it could mean for PNG's sovereignty,

03:15and saying that this should be an agreement that's not entered into without a serious focus on that.

03:22As for their response following this, we're yet to see a great detail on that. But that social media post

03:29gives a good indication of how they'll be feeling as a result of this agreement, Mel.