Getty Images
A PNG team during a test match in Sydney in 2013
Papua New Guinea (PNG) will join Australia's national rugby league, after signing a deal that requires it to abandon security ties with China.
The Pacific nation has produced many of Australia's National Rugby League (NRL) stars and has long lobbied to join the franchise.
Australia will provide A$600 million (£301 million, $384 million) over ten years to set up the team – which will be based in Port Moresby and compete from 2028 – and help develop the game at the local level in the Pacific region.
In return, PNG signed a separate pact which it says reaffirms its commitment to Australia as its principal security partner.
The precise terms of the two agreements are confidential, but the BBC understands that they allow Australia to withdraw its funding if PNG enters into a security agreement with a country outside the so-called “Pacific family”. This term is widely accepted to exclude China, despite Beijing's efforts to gain a foothold in the region.
If Canberra withdraws, then the NRL is forced to abandon the PNG team.
Announcing the deal in Sydney on Thursday, PNG Prime Minister James Marape said it was a “monumental” opportunity for his country, and was aimed at fostering “unity” – no only between PNG's 830 language groups, but also between the nation at large and its nearest neighbor.
“For us it's not just about sport and sports business, it's about uniting the most diverse nation on planet Earth and uniting PNG and Australia in the way that matters more, from people to people,” he said. told reporters.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was a “big day” for both countries and said PNG – the only country in the world where rugby is the national sport – “deserves” a place in the league.
“The new team will belong to the people of Papua New Guinea… And I know it will have millions of proud supporters who will champion it from day one,” Albanese said.
This is also a significant milestone for the NRL. This is the first time that the competition, which attempts to attract international audiences, has extended abroad. The only other foreign team, the New Zealand Warriors, have been part of the competition since its inception almost thirty years ago.
NRL boss Peter V'landys defended PNG's bid, saying it was a huge opportunity for the league as well as PNG's economic development.
The name and uniform of the new team will be decided later.
“Unprecedented” victory for sports diplomacy
Stuart Murray, associate professor of international relations, told the BBC that while Australia's use of sport as a diplomatic strategy is nothing new, the deal is unprecedented.
Over the past decade, the country has “thought innovatively about how we can combine sport with policy to counter traditional security threats”, said Dr Murray, of Bond University.
In this case, he added, “the scale, the size, the scope and the funding, and the fact that the project is endorsed at such a high level by the two prime ministers – that has never been done before.”
“Basically, through this one channel, we will open 20 or 30 other channels – for business, commerce, policing, educational exchanges, work on gender equality, climate change… I think that It’s fantastic.”
Australia and China have each competed for greater influence in the Pacific in recent years. After Beijing signed a major policing deal with the Solomon Islands in 2022, Australia has spent years trying to secure exclusive security deals with regional countries – including a policing deal with Tuvalu last year and a treaty with Nauru unveiled earlier this week.
Some hailed the agreement with PNG – which declared independence from Australia in 1975 – as another major strategic victory for Australia.
“Over the past two years, with increased geopolitical interest and engagement in the Pacific, what many other middle and major powers have struggled to do is bring PNG to a peace agreement. “exclusivity for security partnerships,” said Oliver Nobetau. , a PNG government lawyer turned policy analyst at the Lowy Institute think tank.
Both prime ministers have sought to downplay the security aspect of the agreements, presenting them instead as a boon for what Mr. Nobetau considers a “diminishing” relationship between the two countries.
Marape made it clear that the agreement “does not prevent us from maintaining relations with any nation, in particular our Asian neighbors.”
“For example, we have relations with China, a major trading partner, a major bilateral partner,” he said. “But safely, closer to home… our common territory must be protected, defended, monitored… together.”
Government sources say the agreements do not give Australia a veto over PNG security arrangements. But their wording has the effect of eliminating almost all other potential partners – and Mr Nobetau said the announcement could be seen by some in PNG as “an exercise of Australian power over PNG sovereignty”.
However, he and Dr Murray also note that the dual agreements speak to an emerging “transactional” dynamic in relations in the Pacific.
“People talking about goodwill and saying sports and politics don't mix is the 20th century view,” Dr Murray said. “For us, there is no question of giving away one of our most precious cultural assets for free. This does not happen in diplomacy.”
Dr Murray and Mr Nobetau also agree that the agreements mark an important moment in bilateral relations between the two countries – and are a likely indicator of how Australia will continue to pursue its agenda in the region.
“China is investing a lot of money in sports infrastructure… and that's sort of what they're good at… (but) China won't offer any alternatives in this area,” Nobetau said.
“This is something other countries cannot do,” added Dr Murray. “We need to use it, especially in a very, very contested region like the Pacific.”
