Embarrassment for Australian PM as he leaves Papua New Guinea without signing defence treaty

On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchAustralian prime minister Anthony Albanese has failed to seal an ambitious defence treaty with Papua New Guinea during his visit to the island nation.Instead of a treaty, Canberra and Port Moresby resorted to signing a communique in the second major setback in the Pacific region for Mr Albanese.The prime minister had announced that a bilateral treaty with Papua New Guinea would be signed during his three-day visit to the nation that ended on Wednesday. But a Papua New Guinea cabinet meeting scheduled for Monday to approve the treaty never took place.The diplomatic setback comes ahead of Mr Albanese’s likely first meeting with US president Donald Trump next week where regional security will be on the agenda. The proposed treaty is a mutual defence alliance that recognises an armed attack on Australia or Papua New Guinea as a danger to the peace and security of both nations, according to a statement from Mr Albanese’s office.In the communique issued on Wednesday, Mr Albanese and his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape said the text of the defence treaty had been agreed and that it would be signed “following cabinet processes in both countries”.Mr Marape told reporters that it was in the mutual interest of the two countries to work side by side on defence. “I made a conscious choice that Australia remains our security partner of choice,” Mr Marape said, adding that his country could not defend its land and ocean space alone and the deal was in the national interest.James Marape and Anthony Albanese sign a communique in Port Moresby on 17 September 2025 (AFP via Getty Images)Mr Albanese said the text of the agreement had been confirmed but both governments had more work to do. “We will go through our respective cabinet processes and expect to finalise the signing of the treaty, the words of which have been agreed, in coming weeks,” he said. “This is very positive, very positive. There is no downside in this whatsoever. This is all upside for Australia and upside for Papua New Guinea.”The Australian prime minister had pushed Papua New Guinea to enter the National Rugby League as part of a $600m (£439m) agreement to lure the country away from China’s influence.This is the second such setback for Australia in the Pacific Islands region this month. Mr Albanese had travelled to Vanuatu last week, but was unable to sign an A$500m (£239.5m) security partnership because a coalition partner in the government there called for further scrutiny.Australia has sought to use security deals to counter Chinese influence in the region after Beijing struck a security pact with the Solomon Islands.Mr Marape told reporters that China, a major trading partner for Papua New Guinea, had no hand in stalling the treaty. “In the next two days or so, I’ll dispatch our defence minister to go first to China, and elsewhere in all of our security nations, USA, France, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, to inform them all exactly what this is all about,” he said.”It’s got nothing against our relationship with them, we asked them too…that they do respect PNG government’s choice of security partners. It is our choice.”China is hosting an annual security forum on Thursday, drawing military officials from 100 countries.



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