Australia–Papua New Guinea Relations

Foreign relations exist between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea is Australia's closest neighbour (roughly 3.75 km separates the two countries at Saibai Island in the Torres Strait) and a former colony of Australia. Both nations share the same continent in the Oceania region. Papua New Guinea has developed much closer relations with Australia than with Indonesia, the only country which it shares a land border with. The two countries are Commonwealth realms. In contemporary times, Papua New Guinea is one of the largest recipients of Australian aid. Some critics have pointed to instances where this has led to an outsized Australian influence on Papua New Guinea politics.

History

19th and 20th century history

The southern half of eastern New Guinea (the Territory of Papua) was annexed by the Colony of Queensland in 1883, on behalf of the British Empire. This annexation however, would not be ratified by the United Kingdom, and the land was placed as a protectorate. After federation, the land would soon come under Australian administration in 1902, following a formal annexation by the United Kingdom. In 1920, Australia was given a League of Nations mandate to rule German New Guinea, and in 1945, Papua and New Guinea were combined in an administrative union. The Papua and New Guinea territories consisted of more than 800 different tribes.

Papua New Guinea remained an external territory of Australia up until 1975, where under Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, parliament passed the Papua New Guinea Independence Act 1975, withdrawing Australian power over the territory. Papua New Guinea became an independent Commonwealth nation on 16 September 1975. The two countries retained close relations, with Australia supplying development aid. Papua New Guinea's political institutions are modelled on the Westminster system, the same system that is used by Australia.

In February 1977, Australia and Papua New Guinea signed the "Agreement on Trade and Commercial Relations between the Government of Australia and the Government of Papua New Guinea (PATCRA)", establishing a free trade area between the two nations.

In 1987, the two nations signed the Joint Deceleration of Principles Guiding Relations Between Australia and Papua New Guinea.

In September 1991, Australia and Papua New Guinea signed the "Agreement on Trade and Commercial Relations between the Government of Australia and the Government of Papua New Guinea (PATCRA II)", expanding upon the previous agreement from 1977.

21st century history

Relations between Prime Minister Michael Somare (PNG) and Prime Minister John Howard (Australia) were often strained, a strain which culminated in Somare being barred from entering Australia.

In 2001, relations were very good. A detention centre was built on Manus Island, in Papua New Guinea, as part of Australia's "Pacific Solution". Refugee claimants seeking asylum in Australia were sent to Manus Island (or Nauru), and Australia paid for the costs of their detention, providing Papua New Guinea with economic aid. The last inmate was Aladdin Sisalem, who was kept in solitary confinement from July 2003 until he was finally granted asylum in Australia in June 2004. Australia continued to pay for the upkeep of the empty detention centre until late 2007.

In March 2005, Somare was required by security officers at Brisbane Airport, Australia, to remove his shoes during a routine departure security check. He took strong exception to what he considered a humiliation, leading to a diplomatic contretemps and a significant cooling of relations between the two countries. A protest march in Port Moresby saw hundreds march on the Australian High Commission, demanding an apology.

In 2006, tensions between Papua New Guinea and Australia worsened due to the "Julian Moti affair". Moti, a close associate of Manasseh Sogavare, the then Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, was arrested in Port Moresby on 29 September 2006 under an Australian extradition request to face child sex charges in relation to events in Vanuatu in 1997. After breaking bail conditions and taking sanctuary in the Solomon Islands High Commission, he was flown to the Solomon Islands on a clandestine PNG Defence Force flight on the night of 10 October, causing outrage on the part of the Australian government. Australia then cancelled ministerial-level talks in December and banned senior Papua New Guinea ministers from entering Australia.

In 2007, both prime ministers faced elections. Somare was re-elected, but Howard was defeated and succeeded by Kevin Rudd. Rudd soon set out to mend Australian-PNG relations. He met his Papua New Guinean counterpart in Bali in December 2007 to resume normal diplomatic relations. In March 2008, Rudd visited Papua New Guinea."Papua New Guinea and Australia"
, ''The National'', 7 March 2008

In 2013, under Prime Ministers Julia Gillard (Australia) and Peter O'Neill (PNG), the two nations signed the Joint Declaration for a New Papua New Guinea-Australia Partnership. This was an evolution of the previous agreement, the 1987 Joint Deceleration of Principles Guiding Relations Between Australia and Papua New Guinea.

It was reported in November 2019 that Australia would directly loan Papua New Guinea $US300 million, via Export Finance Australia.

In August 2020, Prime Ministers Scott Morrison (Australia) and James Marape (PNG) signed the Papua New Guinea-Australia Comprehensive Strategic and Economic Partnership, to expand further upon ties existing between the two nations. Upon announcing that Australia would support Papua New Guinea's efforts in the COVID-19 pandemic, then-Prime Minister Morrison described the nation as "family". Morrison stated that the public health assistance was "in Australia's interests," adding it was "equally oour PNG family who are so dear to us".

In 2023, prime ministers Anthony Albanese (Australia) and James Marape (PNG) signed a security agreement, with Marape touting the deal as showing the two are "brother and sister nations". Albanese added that "For our interests going forward, we have no closer friends than Papua New Guinea".

In December 2024, PNG reached an agreement to join Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL), securing a landmark deal worth A$600 million over ten years to establish a team in Port Moresby by 2028. In return, PNG committed to prioritising Australia as its primary security partner and refraining from forming security ties with China. This agreement, while shrouded in confidentiality, stipulated that Australia could withdraw funding and the NRL team if PNG entered a security pact with any nation outside the "Pacific family," excluding China. The agreement also highlighted Australia’s increasing influence in the Pacific, countering China’s growing presence in the region, while raising questions about PNG’s sovereignty and its future security partnerships.

In February 2025, Australia & Papua New Guinea announced talks on a full defence treaty. Both countries already had a defence cooperation deal, and the goal of the full defence was to enhance military cooperation & interoperability, as per Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles. The treaty planned to deepen integration between the two nations' defence forces. Papua New Guinea Defence Minister Billy Joseph stressed close ties with Australia, calling them "tied to the hips".

Polls

In a 1997 poll of students at the University of Papua New Guinea, nearly three-quarters of respondents had favourable feelings about Australia, with Australians being seen by respondents as friendly and hard-working with a love of sport.

In a 2022 poll by Australian research group the Lowy Institute, 61% of respondents had a favourable view of Papua New Guinea. The only other countries from Oceania included in the poll were Tonga, which had a 67% rating, and New Zealand, which was the most favorably viewed country by Australians with a 86% rating.

See also

*Commonwealth of Nations
*Colonialism
*Politics of Papua New Guinea
*Politics of Australia

External links

Australian High Commission in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinean High Commission in Australia

References

Further reading

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Australia-Papua New Guinea Relations

Papua New Guinea
Bilateral relations of Papua New Guinea
Relations of colonizer and former colony