PNG Prime Minister James Marape and Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese announcing the PNG NRL team … as Peter V’landys waits in the wings.Credit:Kate Geraghty
“This isn’t about sport;this is about safety and security,” Pacific Minister Pat Conroy told talkback radio in Perth,where listener anger was apparently running hot against the deal.
The strategic rationale for the deal is clear. PNG is easily the biggest nation in the Pacific and Australia’s closest neighbour. It’s in our national interest to stop it from falling under China’s spell,as the Solomon Islands did just two years ago.
In the days leading up to the announcement,the foreign policy community was abuzz about whether PNG’s entry to the competition would be paired with a promise not to enter into any security or policing pacts with nations such as China. Australian government sources insisted there were “explicit” security measures attached to the league announcement. By contrast,PNG’s Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko said that “China has nothing to do with this at all” and Marape claimed the “rugby league team comes on its own”.
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Now we know how the real story. Sort of. As well as the NRL franchise agreement,Albanese and Marape have signed a separate “shared strategic trust” document. Reflecting the sensitive nature of the pact,its precise terms are confidential and there are no plans to make the document public. Hardly a triumph of transparency.
PNG’s leaders are understandably not enthused about highlighting the security side of the league deal. They are seeking deeper economic ties with China as a way to lift their citizens out of poverty and don’t want to offend Beijing.
Senior Australian government sources,however,say the document contains a clear assurance that PNG will only partner with Australia and other Pacific nations on security matters. A policing deal between PNG and Beijing – likeone Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pushed for during an April visit to Port Moresby – would be out of bounds,they say. So would a Chinese military presence in PNG.