Why Papua New Guineans enjoy a level of familiarity with Australia no other partner can match
Our relationship with our closest neighbour reaches into our national story in ways we often overlook. Papua New Guineans will look back and celebrate how the Australian flag was peacefully lowered after seven decades of colonial rule. That moment reflected the trust built between Michael Somare and Gough Whitlam, who believed PNG’s independence had to be genuine and unqualified.
It remains a powerful reminder of the goodwill that, despite occasional setbacks, has underpinned the relationship.
PNG’s path since independence has not followed a straight line. The country has weathered dramatic episodes, including the Bougainville war of the 1990s, which would have tested any young state. These experiences shaped a political culture that is noisy and often untidy but also resilient and capable of course correction. PNG consistently has defied predictions of state failure.
Australians like me, who lived in PNG before independence or in the years immediately afterwards, remember a dense web of personal relationships – in classrooms and clinics, in provincial administrations, on patrol posts and project sites – that gave substance to the broader national relationship. Rebuilding those connections remains one of our most important tasks. Today’s PNG leadership came of age in an independent country. They take each external relationship on its merits, which means PNG will sometimes choose differently to Canberra.
There is justifiable concern on both sides of the Torres Strait about the extension of Chinese influence, which has implications beyond Australia’s own strategic position. Civil society leaders have warned of the impact on governance, values and freedom of expression from China’s opaque approach to elite capture. But PNG is not an easy prize and Beijing’s efforts to extend its influence in the largest Pacific Islands country often have met frustration.
Australians should take confidence from the ballast in our own relationship. Education, trade, cultural exchange and sport, especially rugby league, give Papua New Guineans a level of comfort and familiarity with Australia that no other partner can match. Yet while they know a great deal about us, we know little about them. Visitors from PNG often remark on this gap. It is time to change that. PNG’s success is not a favour we do our neighbour. It is central to our own security and prosperity, and the simplest step is to know PNG better and act consistently like the neighbour we claim to be.
Australia, to its credit, has found creative ways to rebuild bonds: from the PNG NRL partnership to Australia Awards scholarships and unofficial linkages such as the Lowy Emerging Leaders Dialogue and the Kokoda Track Foundation’s leaders’ scholarships. These initiatives form new connective tissue after the decline of older personal links.
In recent years Port Moresby has hosted a stream of high-level visitors, signed agreements with a range of partners and demonstrated its ability to engage extra-regional powers on its own terms.
The 50th anniversary celebrations will again underscore PNG’s ability to command attention.
Coming just after the Pacific Islands Forum, the anniversary will be a major regional gathering, drawing leaders from across the Indo-Pacific, including Anthony Albanese and several other senior representatives. The Prime Minister’s visit is expected to result in a significant step forward on the security relationship. A formal defence treaty, along the lines outlined by the PNG Defence Minister, will underline a simple truth: when Papua New Guineans look for a trusted security partner, they still look first to Australia.
That trust carries obligations. We should be hard-nosed about outcomes but never transactional.
In 1975 PNG’s population was three million. It is expected to pass 20 million by mid-century and PNG could even be larger than Australia in another 50 years.
That demographic story explains much of the country’s postcolonial struggles and it frames the challenges and opportunities of the next half-century.
Law and order, service delivery and economic inclusion are challenges only Papua New Guineans themselves can resolve. Australia can be the best kind of partner, but we cannot substitute for national leadership. Our aid program is substantial – and a generous contribution from Australian taxpayers – yet still modest beside PNG’s own budget. We should not fall into the trap of judging ourselves against PNG’s development outcomes. The development challenge facing PNG’s leadership is immense. It highlights the importance of leadership, consensus-building and governance. That is also why representation matters. The entry of more women into PNG’s parliament and leadership ranks is not just overdue, it has the potential to be catalytic.
Meanwhile, Bougainville is a pressing security issue that deserves much more attention. After the 2019 referendum delivered an overwhelming vote for independence, Port Moresby and Buka face decisions that will shape PNG’s next 50 years. A unilateral break would be destabilising; a pathway that improves governance and services – whatever the constitutional destination – is in the interests of regional stability.
None of this ignores PNG’s realities: an economy too dependent on a few big projects; uneven governance; election violence; and the corrosion of public trust. But PNG also has deep strengths: a vibrant civil society, a tradition of negotiation that has averted more conflict than it has caused, and a stubborn instinct for community over division.
Anniversaries invite sentiment. This one should invite clarity. PNG will keep making its own choices about partners and priorities – as it should. Others will come and go. Australia’s job is to be the partner that shows up, stays steady and delivers.
Ian Kemish served as Australian high commissioner to PNG from 2010 to 2013.
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