PNG cabinet quorum delay threatens Australia PNG defence pact

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese travelled to Port Moresby this week to sign a long-awaited and legally binding defence treaty with Papua New Guinea, but officials said the pact may not be concluded during his visit after PNG's cabinet failed to reach a quorum amid 50th independence anniversary celebrations. The agreement, which Canberra and Port Moresby have been negotiating for years, was expected to be sealed on Wednesday following Tuesday's anniversary events, and would commit each country to act if the other is attacked.

The draft treaty, officials said, contains a mutual defence clause declaring that an armed attack on either party within the Pacific would be dangerous to the other's peace and security and that both would act to meet the common danger in accordance with their constitutional processes. The text also envisages closer military interoperability, reciprocal service arrangements allowing Papua New Guineans and Australians to serve in each other's forces, and provisions described by advisors as granting the Australian Defence Force access to designated facilities in PNG. One provision in the draft would enable Papua New Guineans to gain Australian...