Manus base could pull PNG into conflict, forme prime minister Rabbie Namaliu warns
A joint Manus Island naval base with Australia and the US may be inconsistent with Papua New Guinea’s foreign policy, former prime minister Sir Rabbie Namaliu has warned.
Former Papua New Guinea prime minister Sir Rabbie Namaliu has warned plans for a joint Manus Island naval base with Australia and the US may be inconsistent with the country’s “friend to all, enemy to none” foreign policy.
In comments which will alarm the Morrison government, as it faces protests by local landowners over the redevelopment of the Lombrum Naval Base, Sir Rabbie said he was concerned PNG could be drawn into a regional conflict under its deal to transform the base into a joint facility.
The plan was aimed at denying China a strategic foothold in PNG, and providing Australia with a forward operating base with a commanding view of maritime approaches from Asia.
But Sir Rabbie said the parties needed to address whether, in a major conflict, the agreement “will involve Papua New Guinea automatically supporting the party or parties involved in setting up that base”.
“So that’s a serious question that I personally don’t think has been addressed adequately enough, because we are not covered by the ANZUS treaty, for instance, or any treaties with China either,” he told an Australian Strategic Policy Institute webinar on Thursday.
“It’s for a simple reason: we have always espoused a ‘friend to all, enemy to none’ foreign policy.
“Establishing a regional base on Manus for instance can — and hopefully it will not — put Papua New Guinea in a difficult position where it becomes involved in something that it was never intended for Papua New Guinea to be involved in the first place.”
Australia and PNG Defence officials signed a March 2019 memorandum of understanding to redevelop the base as a joint facility, formalising an earlier agreement between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his former PNG counterpart Peter O’Neill.
Former PNG foreign minister Patrick Pruaitch announced in June that PNG would review the Lombrum MOU with Australia, but has since lost his job. Mr Marape’s office declined to confirm whether the review would go ahead.
The traditional owners of the site have accused Australia of acting in bad faith by failing to consult them on the development, or the opportunities it will provide for local businesses.
The province’s Limondorol Clan, backed by Manus Governor Charlie Benjamin, have declared they will prevent Australian-appointed contractors from entering the base, which they say was never signed over to the PNG government and remains customary land.
The impasse threatens plans by Australia and the US to establish an ongoing presence at the base, and could open the way for China to negotiate access to the site.
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