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This Week in AsiaOpinion
Ian Kemish
Ian Kemish

Opinion | Australia should look beyond China factor in boosting ties with Papua New Guinea

  • The PNG-Australia relationship should not just be seen as important because of China, but because of its own intrinsic challenges and opportunities
  • It is high time Australia moved on from the dominant narrative about PNG as a needy recipient of Australian aid – and little else

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, left, and Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape shake hands outside the parliament in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on January 12, 2023. Photo: via AP
Ian Kemish

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit to Papua New Guinea last week put the media spotlight on one of Canberra’s most important international relationships.

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Much of the coverage focused on the plans, confirmed by Albanese and his PNG counterpart, James Marape, for a defence treaty between the two countries – and the role this might play in warding off China’s growing engagement in the region.
But PNG should not just be seen as important because of China, or the prospect that Australia’s position may be subject to challenge. The relationship deserves focus because of its own intrinsic challenges and opportunities.
Albanese called for a “swift” new security deal with Papua New Guinea, as his government seeks to parry China’s expanding influence in the Pacific. Photo: AFP
Albanese called for a “swift” new security deal with Papua New Guinea, as his government seeks to parry China’s expanding influence in the Pacific. Photo: AFP

A land of opportunity

PNG is not just Australia’s nearest neighbour – its coastline is a scant four kilometres from the nearest Queensland island. It is also the largest Pacific country by far. The official census figure of more than 9 million people is almost double the size of New Zealand, and if the true figure is closer to 17 million as the UN has recently estimated, PNG’s population appears set to outgrow Australia within the next decade or so.

PNG is already an influential partner for Australia when it comes to Pacific affairs, and its size and growing confidence will see it exert a stronger regional leadership role in the future.

PNG is also a land of considerable economic opportunity. While foreign investment flows are still directed mainly to petroleum, gold and copper, the country may also be an important source of iron, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements required to drive the post-carbon global economy.

Australia’s aid dollars remain important as PNG struggles with major development challenges across health, education, governance and law and order. But Canberra’s assistance programme is not really that large relative to the size of PNG’s national budget. Photo: AFP
Australia’s aid dollars remain important as PNG struggles with major development challenges across health, education, governance and law and order. But Canberra’s assistance programme is not really that large relative to the size of PNG’s national budget. Photo: AFP

It is also attracting strong interest as a potential source of renewable energy for both domestic and export purposes. PNG’s fisheries wealth is extraordinary, as is its agricultural potential.

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