Albanese and Marape discussed PNG’s NRL bid at length during the trek, in which they slept in tents and went without flushing toilets. Albanese returned home determined to get it over the line. It helped that he is close to NRL chairman Peter V’landys, who has been eager to extend rugby league’s reach beyond the east coast.
Less visible at the time were Beijing’s relentless efforts to deepen its presence in PNG. On the eve of Albanese’s Kokoda expedition, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi used a visit to Port Moresby to press Marape’s government to sign up to a bilateral policing deal. Alarmed Australian officials, a senior source later told me, “pulled out all the stops” to stop the deal from going ahead. It was shelved.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and PNG counterpart James Marape discussed PNG’s NRL bid while walking the Kokoda Track in April.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Labor insiders have noted that while media coverage of PNG’s NRL bid has been mostly positive – even on talkback radio and in News Corp tabloids – it has not necessarily been so in the reader comment sections on major news websites. There, it’s common to find complaints from voters about why the government is paying for a Pacific rugby league team when many Australians are struggling to cope with the high cost of living. A typical example, from reader Brian on an article in this masthead this week: “$600 million for a PNG rugby team for 10 years? Meanwhile, Australians can’t afford to keep the lights on and are wondering where the lower energy bills they were promised are. Time to go, Albo.”
That’s why the government wants to frame the deal as an investment, not a handout. While $600 million sounds like a lot of money, the 10-year sum is less imposing when you remember the government spends about $2 billion on Pacific aid annually. Marape believes the rugby league team will deliver a significant economic boost to his nation, helping to make it less reliant on overseas assistance. Government insiders also compare the figure with the vast amounts spent on defence equipment. How much, they ask, would it cost Australia to fortify its defences if Beijing were to set up a military base in PNG?
Loading
For months there has been swirling speculation about whether the NRL announcement will be accompanied by an explicit pledge from PNG not to allow Chinese police or military forces to be based in the country.
PNG Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko delivered a forceful denial this week, telling my colleague Chris Barrett that the NRL announcement has “nothing to do with China”. Marape made a similar point, telling reporters: “The rugby league team comes on its own, and we look forward to pushing that thing through.”
Australian government officials, by contrast, insist there is a very much a security component to the rugby league agreement. We will see next week how the two sides square that circle.
Amid the excitement of the announcement, it is worth remembering that bold initiatives carry risk as well as opportunity. If the PNG team fails to perform on the field (despite being able to lure star players with tax-free salaries) or struggles financially, it would strain rather than enhance the bilateral relationship.
In a big week for Pacific diplomacy, the government is also set to announce that it has struck a landmark economic and security deal with Nauru and another Pacific country. Again, the clear intention is to limit China’s influence. Nauru alarmed Australian officials by switching diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing earlier this year.
Loading
Albanese has faced harsh criticism for going too soft on China in his public statements. “Meek and weak” is how former Japanese ambassador Shingo Yamagami characterises Albanese’s approach to Beijing. The prime minister counters that he has restored normal trading ties with China without making concessions on Australia’s core interests. And that he has done so while pursuing an energetic effort to ensure that Australia remains the security partner of choice in the Pacific. Next week’s PNG and Nauru announcements come after Albanese secured support in August for a Pacific-wide policing pact designed to sideline Beijing.
Indeed, the ultimate point of foreign policy is to expand Australia’s influence, not to grandstand. When it comes to competing with China in our region, kicking goals is more important than kicking up a stink.
Matthew Knott is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source link
