Australia, PNG announce ADF recruitment and $150M aid

Australia will let Papua New Guineans with Australian permanent residency join the Australian Defence Force from Jan. 1, 2027, Defence Minister Richard Marles said Oct. 20 at the Australia-Papua New Guinea Ministerial Forum, the first since the two countries’ Pukpuk Treaty alliance.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the forum also produced an education and skills package worth over $150 million and a $25 million humanitarian and disaster relief package, according to the joint press conference transcript published on her ministry’s website.

The treaty is Papua New Guinea’s first alliance with another country and Australia’s first new alliance in more than 70 years, the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) reported Oct. 20, citing PACNEWS. Marles said the meeting came two weeks to the day after the two countries signed an alliance. PINA and Defence Connect, in an Aug. 17 report, say the treaty entered into force on July 8. The sources do not explain the difference.

“The Pukpuk Treaty reflects the next phase of a relationship built over generations and demonstrates our shared commitment to strengthening security cooperation between our two nations,” Marles said, as quoted by PINA. Wong said in the same coverage: “In a more contested region, strong relationships matter more than ever.”

At the press conference, Marles announced a taskforce on recruiting PNG citizens directly into the Australian Defence Force, with a first meeting this year. He also announced $7.7 million for a 200-bed facility at Goldie River Barracks in Papua New Guinea to train an additional 200 soldiers a year for the PNG Defence Force, and $2.2 million to design barracks in Hela for the PNG Army’s 3rd Brigade.

Australia will train six PNG pilots a year from next year, along with engineers and other aircrew for PNG’s air wing, Marles said. He also announced 3,500 rifles for the PNG Defence Force over four years, which he called a $35 million commitment once armouries and related work are counted.

Pat Conroy, Australia’s minister for Pacific Island affairs, said the disaster package includes new humanitarian warehouses and a partnership between Australia’s National Emergency Management Agency and the PNG National Disaster Centre. He also announced 4,500 uniforms for the PNG Defence Force. The transcript does not state the currency of most dollar figures. Wong specified Australian dollars for the education package, and the others are presumed to be Australian dollars.

PNG ministers stressed sovereignty. Dr. Billy Joseph said the country plans a defence force of up to 10,000, made up of 7,000 active soldiers and 3,000 reservists, and that recruits to the Australian force “will never be part of PNGDF.” He said the PNG force keeps its “sovereignty and constitutional obligations under section 202 of our Constitution.” Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso said the treaty does not undermine PNG’s sovereignty.

Asked about budget support, Marles said, “We’re not making an announcement now in respect of that.” A journalist at the event said Australia has provided about 1.5 billion kina a year for five years. Neither minister confirmed that figure.

The aid announcements come as Papua New Guinea deals with an El Niño drought. Xinhua reported Oct. 8 that the National Disaster Centre had found 20 of the country’s 22 provincial-level divisions in extreme or severe drought, with about 5.5 million people affected, exposed or at high risk. Joseph was quoted as saying: “This is no longer just a prolonged dry season.” The Australian transcript does not link the $25 million package to the drought.

No Canadian government statement on the treaty or the forum was found. Canadians travelling to Papua New Guinea can check Global Affairs Canada’s travel advice.

The forum continued in the afternoon with talks on budget support, and Marles was due to travel to Timor-Leste on Oct. 21 for defence cooperation talks, PINA reported.

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Via the Pacific Islands News Association and the Australian Foreign Minister’s office. Reporting also drew on Defence Connect and Xinhua.