Australia and Papua New Guinea defence ministers meet for treaty
A key wargame will be held outside Australia for the first time, as the Federal Government moves towards a major defence agreement with a close ally, dealing a major blow to China.
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A key war game will be held outside of Australia for the first time, as the Federal Government moves towards a major defence agreement with a close ally, dealing a major blow to China.
A part of this year’s Operation Talisman Sabre military exercise will be held in Papua New Guinea – marking the first time the military operation has been held outside of Australia.
It comes after the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles, and Papua New Guinea Minister of Defence, Billy Joseph, met for the 2025 Australia-Papua New Guinea Defence Ministers’ Meeting at Gallipoli Barracks, Enoggera, on Thursday morning – where they formally commenced negotiations to form a defence treaty between the two Pacific nations.
A potential defence treaty between the two nations follows a key defence agreement signed by the two Pacific nations in 2023 and would solidify Australia’s position as PNG’s major defence partner.
It is also a strategic move to ward off Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region and deals a major blow to Beijing, which approached PNG with its own security deal in 2023.
Mr Marles described the move to host a part of Talisman Sabre in PNG as a “significant step forward”.
“This will be the first time that we are taking Talisman Sabre to Papua New Guinea, to another country, and it will see Australian and Papua New Guinean servicemen and women operating next to each other in this exercise,” he said.
“It will see our assets being engaged with each other.
“This will be an element of Talisman Sabre which actually happens in Papua New Guinea and so in the history of that exercise, which we principally do with the United States, but does involve now a number of other countries, this is a very significant step forward.
“Talisman Sabre is the most significant exercise that the Australian Defence Force engages in every second year.
“This is a Talisman Sabre year and it is shaping up to be as big a Talisman Sabre as we have ever conducted.”
The meeting in Brisbane on Thursday took place amid heightened tensions between Australia and China, with the Australian Defence Force monitoring three Chinese naval vessels off the Australian coastline.
Deputy Prime Minister Marles said Australia is “monitoring very closely” the movements of the Chinese naval vessels.
“This task group is acting in accordance with international law, they’re entitled to be where they are – Australia is also entitled to be prudent and we are monitoring very closely what the activities of the task group are,” he said.
“Both naval and air force assets have been deployed to make sure that we are monitoring exactly what is occurring here.”
The Chinese naval excursion follows a skirmish in the skies above the South China Sea, where a Chinese fighter deployed flares in close proximity to a RAAF jet.
Originally published as Australia and Papua New Guinea defence ministers meet for treaty
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