Marape travels to Australia to sign Security Treaty”

Prime Minister James Marape and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sign the defence treaty communique in Port Moresby on September 17 (Image: PM’s Media)

Papua New Guinea is preparing to sign a landmark security treaty with Australia, marking a new chapter in defence and regional cooperation.

Prime Minister James Marape is currently in Australia for the official signing, while Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso is Acting Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Marape said the treaty would open new doors for cooperation across multiple sectors, not just defence.

“As I indicated previously in my speech about the Security Treaty, this agreement opens many doors for us and fine tunes our relationship with Australia going forward into the next 50 years,” Marape said.

He added that the treaty would strengthen defence and security collaboration while also creating opportunities in clean energy, policing, education, and employment for Papua New Guineans.

“The Treaty reflects the deep friendship and mutual trust that our two nations share,” he said. “It is about growing together in peace, prosperity, and mutual respect as we chart the next 50 years of partnership.”

The Papua New Guinea-Australia Defence Treaty, known as the Pukpuk Treaty, is expected to elevate the defence relationship between the two countries to an alliance. Under the treaty, an armed attack on either country would be considered a threat to both, and it includes plans for PNG citizens to have a pathway to serve in the Australian Defence Force.

Retired Major General Jerry Singirok has raised concerns over the proposed Papua New Guinea–Australia security treaty, warning it could affect national sovereignty (Image: Supplied)

However, the proposed treaty has raised strong concerns among senior PNG leaders and defence experts. Retired Major General Jerry Singirok, former commander of the PNG Defence Force, warned that the treaty could undermine PNG’s sovereignty and potentially breach the Constitution.

“If the constitution is not amended it violates our constitution. Australia’s threat is not ours,” Singirok told Guardian Australia. “Why can’t they recruit their own? If Papua New Guineans want to join ADF, they should give up PNG citizenship and become Australian.”

Speaking on NBC National Radio recently, Singirok stressed that while strengthening PNG’s defence capabilities is welcome, the treaty could also draw the country into Australia’s strategic interests without a clear understanding of the risks.

“It is a very good opportunity for the PNGDF to join the Australian Government, but there is a catch where they cannot wear the Kumul bird on one side and the Kangaroo on the other side and say they are super soldiers representing two countries,” he said.

A Papua New Guinea Defence Force soldier and an Australian Defence Force soldier during joint training exercises (Image: Supplied)

Singirok also questioned why Australia is investing in PNG’s Defence Force now, rather than decades ago, and called for any constitutional implications to be openly discussed in Parliament.

Prime Minister Marape defended the treaty, describing it as PNG’s initiative aimed at strengthening shared security while respecting sovereignty. “A security treaty for Papua New Guinea would be the highest level of secure relations we have given to any country,” he said.

The Pukpuk Treaty forms part of broader regional cooperation, while also maintaining PNG’s foreign policy principle of being “friends to all, enemies to none.”