Australia was expected to sign a landmark security deal with Papua New Guinea (PNG) that could have paved the way for closer integration between their militaries. However, both nations failed to sign any pact.
The deal was part of a wider Australian effort to placate the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and keep them from forging closer ties with China.
The Pukpuk Treaty, a mutual defense pact between Australia and Papua New Guinea, was designed to commit both nations to protecting each other from armed attacks amid “emerging security threats,” according to a draft obtained by AFP.
The agreement was anticipated to be formalized by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape during a Wednesday meeting in Port Moresby.
However, both parties announced that the signing would be deferred until “Cabinet processes in both countries” are completed.
No specific reason for the postponement was provided in the joint statement, though Albanese had previously noted that Papua New Guinea’s cabinet approval, initially scheduled for Monday, was delayed due to the nation’s independence celebrations.
The two countries committed to “deepening and broadening defense cooperation through improved capabilities, interoperability, and integration,” according to the statement.
The treaty includes provisions to ensure that “any engagements, agreements, or arrangements with third parties will not undermine the ability of either Party to fulfill the Treaty’s obligations,” a reference to China’s expanding presence in the Pacific.
Papua New Guinea’s Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko described the treaty as “still in progress” during an interview with Australia’s ABC broadcaster.
The agreement, which also allows citizens of both nations to serve in each other’s armed forces, marks a significant milestone 50 years after Papua New Guinea’s independence from Australia.
This delay marks the second time this month that Albanese has departed a Pacific nation without securing a key bilateral agreement. Earlier, negotiations in Vanuatu with Prime Minister Jotham Napat failed to produce a deal aimed at strengthening ties, with Napat expressing concerns that the agreement’s terms could restrict Vanuatu’s ability to secure funding for “critical infrastructure” from other countries.
PNG is very strategically located between Taiwan and Australia. In scenarios like a conflict between China and the US over a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, the South Pacific Island state could serve as a critical logistics hub, staging area, and buffer zone for US and Australian forces.
This would, of course, be contingent on Australia’s independent decision to get involved in the war and PNG’s decision to assist the Australian and US forces.
Due to its location and its role in the WW2, PNG is seen as a part of the “second island chain” in US strategic thinking. The PNG could offer dispersal sites for forces from vulnerable bases like Guam, preventing Chinese anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) strategies.
However, the scope of the agreement between Australia and PNG currently does not include any provisions that call for PNG’s participation in a potential Indo-Pacific. On the contrary, people in PNG have been very vocal about preserving their sovereignty and independence, as demonstrated by protests in the country over a similar defence agreement with the US.
Australia considers the wider South Pacific and PICs as its strategic backyard and remains wary of China’s expansion into the region. Currently, it is looking to secure one security deal at a time to prevent the Pacific Island states from falling into the Chinese camp.
Countering China In The Pacific
The Australian government received its first rude shock in 2022 when the Solomon Islands and China inked a security agreement, triggering fears of a Chinese naval base coming up just 2,000 kilometers away from Canberra.
This was followed by China pursuing a sweeping Pacific-wide deal covering policing, security, and communications with over 10 Pacific Island countries. Incidentally, the talks failed, and a consensus could not be reached over the comprehensive regional agreement.
However, proved that Beijing wanted to radically increase its involvement in the security, economy, and politics of the South Pacific.
Later, China opened more talks and signed additional deals with other Pacific Island countries, including PNG, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, the Cook Islands, and Vanuatu. It has been relentlessly trying to expand its military presence, in line with goals set by President Xi Jinping since he took office in 2013.
Simply put, China’s military presence in the Pacific threatens Australia’s security. As the Lowy Institute previously noted: “Distance is the country’s single biggest defense asset. Australia is hard to attack because it is far away from potential adversaries. Anything which reduces that distance – and a Pacific base could bring Chinese military power to within 2000 kilometers of Australia’s east coast – is bad news.”
Moreover, since Australia is a close US ally expected to aid US forces in a potential conflict scenario between the US and China in the Indo-Pacific, a Chinese military presence near Australia is further non-negotiable.
This is why the Australian government has launched a well-coordinated effort to woo the Pacific Island Countries to its camp.
For instance, the Albanese government has been in talks with Vanuatu to sign a landmark security and development agreement. However, the signing of such a deal has been delayed amid concerns about how it may affect its capacity to obtain infrastructure funding from China. Vanuatu subscribes to the Belt and Road Initiative and is a beneficiary of Chinese “grant-plus-loan” financing for infrastructure.
China’s BRI and security deals are seen by Australia as efforts to expand its geopolitical reach. In fact, concerns have been raised that China could potentially use ‘debt trap’ to militarise these countries and pose a threat to Australia and the US. Notably, if China establishes a military base in Vanuatu, it could use the base as a deployment and refueling hub to deny US forces the ability to project power by threatening their supply lines.
This explains the urgency to bring Vanuatu into the Australian fold.
Australia is also currently holding discussions with Fiji for a new bilateral security treaty. Anthony Albanese said Australia is open to expanding defense ties, which “could range from increased interoperability, the sort of training that we are seeing with the Pacific Policing Initiative, being expanded to increased engagement between our defence forces.”
The new deal would be an upgrade of the Vuvale Partnership signed in 2023, which called for a broad bilateral framework elevating economic, people-to-people, and security ties. The ongoing talks aim to deepen defense, policing, and maritime cooperation amid regional geopolitical tensions, particularly China’s expanding influence in the Pacific.
Australia has positioned itself as Fiji’s preferred partner through transparent, “no-strings” aid, focusing on sovereignty-respecting initiatives.
Australia has recently signed a climate and defense agreement with Tuvalu, another Pacific Island State. Under the agreement, Australia has promised to bolster Tuvalu’s coastal defences and extend a security guarantee to Tuvalu, promising to come to its aid if it faces military aggression, a humanitarian disaster, or a global pandemic.
The agreement with Tuvalu states that the Australian government would have to “mutually agree” to any security arrangements that Tuvalu wants to strike with other countries.
Even though most countries in the region have been reluctant to choose a side in the strategic competition between Australia and China, the Albanese government is lobbying with those who wouldn’t mind pursuing closer ties with Canberra instead of Beijing. The PNG deal would come as a massive impetus to that effort.
Australia Is Ramping Up Its Military Power
Australia and China have a unique love-hate relationship, which is characterized by trade cooperation and military tensions.
The tensions between the two sides started in earnest in 2020 when China placed several trade barriers on a wide range of imports from Canberra as ‘punishment’ for the then Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s calls for an independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 in China. While several of those restrictions have now been lifted, tensions persist, fuelled by China’s expansionist tendencies, especially in Australia’s backyard.
The tensions between them peaked in February 2025 when a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) task group conducted two live-fire drills near Australia and New Zealand in February this year without providing adequate notice, further peaking tensions.
Naming China as its biggest security threat, Australia has undertaken its most significant military modernisation since World War II. The biggest embodiment of this effort is the 2021 AUKUS pact with Britain and the United States. Under the agreement, Australia will acquire at least three US Virginia-class submarines within 15 years and will eventually manufacture its own subs. Additionally, it will spend an initial US$8 billion to upgrade shipyard facilities for a future fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.
Separately, Australia announced in August that it would acquire 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It will pay Aus$10 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the stealth frigates as it aims to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade.
Last week, the Australian government said it would deploy an Aus$1.7 billion fleet of “Ghost Shark” underwater attack drones, with the first one expected to enter service in January. As per the government, it will provide the Royal Australian Navy with a “cost-effective, stealthy, long-range, trusted undersea capability that can conduct persistent and disruptive intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike” operations.
Australia has also made some very big-ticket purchases of US weapons like the HIMARS, Abrams Main Battle Tanks, and F-35 Lightning II aircraft from the US. Earlier this year, it obtained an authorisation from the US State Department to acquire new AIM-120C and AIM-120D Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) for Australia under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. This is aimed at boosting its air-based firepower.
In addition to these missiles, Australia is also buying over 200 Block IV and Block V Tomahawk cruise missiles. Not just that, it is acquiring and manufacturing the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) to replace its aging Harpoon missile, enhancing its anti-ship and land attack capabilities.
It has also initiated the acquisition of hundreds of SM-2 IC and SM-6 long-range weapons for the Navy, which can be launched from both land and sea.
Earlier this year, Australia signed an agreement with the US to co-produce the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), a next-generation, long-range precision strike missile that is launched from HIMARS. Australia also has a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program with the US to acquire the AGM-158C LRASM (Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile).
More importantly, though, both countries are also developing a hypersonic missile—in a bid to challenge China, a leader in the hypersonic missile race. This hypersonic munition is designed to target high-value, time-sensitive objectives.
This is a detailed but incomplete list of Australian military modernization, which seeks to retain military dominance and deter China in the Indo-Pacific.
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