Key Developments
On 19 October 2026, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said Australia and Papua New Guinea were convening a ministerial forum in Port Moresby to advance practical work under the Pukpuk Treaty, with defence, security and economic development listed as shared priorities.
Key Statistics
- 6 ministers were attending the Australia-Papua New Guinea Ministerial Forum, according to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
- More than 70 years had passed since Australia last formed a new alliance, according to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Main Body
On 19 October 2026, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said Australia and Papua New Guinea were convening the Australia-Papua New Guinea Ministerial Forum in Port Moresby to move the recently established Pukpuk Treaty toward implementation. The Minister for Foreign Affairs described the meeting as focused on shared priorities after the two countries established a new alliance framework.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs said the forum was intended to convert the treaty into practical outcomes across defence, security and economic development. The meeting brought Australian and Papua New Guinean ministers together in Port Moresby, according to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, placing implementation work at ministerial level rather than leaving the alliance as a declaratory agreement.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs said the Pukpuk Treaty was Papua New Guinea’s first alliance with any country and Australia’s first new alliance in more than 70 years. That framing linked the forum to a major shift in bilateral ties, with the current meeting presented by the Minister for Foreign Affairs as the next step after the treaty’s establishment.
The development mattered for regional security because the South Pacific was already seeing a denser network of defence and policing arrangements, as CSIS analysis noted in external framing of the regional environment. By using a ministerial forum to define defence, security and economic work, Australia and Papua New Guinea were setting a mechanism for alliance delivery, according to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
