PNG-Australia security deal nears completion

Australia and Papua New Guinea are closing in on striking their security deal, which officials say will be inked by the end of the month.

TOPSHOT - This handout photo released by the Government of Papua New Guinea on May 22, 2023 shows Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape speaking during the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation at APEC Haus in Port Moresby. (Photo by Roan PAUL / Government of Papua New Guinea / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Government of Papua New Guinea" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS -

Australia and Papua New Guinea are closing in on striking their security deal, which officials say will be inked by the end of the month.

It follows Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles meeting with PNG Prime Minister James Marape in Seoul this week and speaking about the deal, which was expected to be finalised in April.

A statement from Mr Marape’s office said the PNG prime minister had “conveyed his apologies to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for the delay in formalising this proposed treaty with Australia”. However, the PNG prime minister still needed to consult “domestic processes and sovereign laws” before signing off on the deal.

Department of Foreign Affairs Pacific head of the office of the ­Pacific Ewen McDonald said the security pact was almost finished.

“I hope we will only need one or two more sessions to conclude the agreement,” he told senate ­estimates on Thursday.

“Both parties are taking the ­negotiations very seriously and approaching those in good faith.”

The US signed its security pact with PNG last month, which the state department said would increase regional security.

China’s influence in the region has been a concern for countries such as the US and Australia, particularly after the Solomon Islands signed its own security pact with Beijing last year and prompting alarm across the Pacific.

On the Vanuatu security pact, DFAT Pacific Melanesia Division first assistant secretary Danielle Heinecke said Australia was waiting for Vanuatu on “when the treaty can be implemented”.