The $600 million 'clause' in PNG's new rugby league deal
Rugby league is at the face of Australia's $600 million deal to back a new NRL team in Papua New Guinea, but another game is being played on a far larger arena than a footy field.
"We have an interest, obviously, in the Pacific," Anthony Albanese said at his press conference this morning.
"We do live in a region where there is strategic competition, that is well-known."
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Australia's $600 million deal for a new NRL team in Papua New Guinea is about far more than just rugby league. AAP Image/Darren England
The prime minister didn't mention China by name when announcing the NRL deal – which coincided with a bilateral security agreement with PNG coming into effect – but he didn't have to.
Regional influence in the Pacific has been a key focus for Australia in recent years, brought into stark focus by the Solomon Islands' security pact with Beijing, signed in early 2022.
The exact details of the Australia-PNG agreement will remain secret.
But according to the Sydney Morning Herald, it includes a critical non-compete clause: Australia can immediately back out if Papua New Guinea inks a defence or policing deal with China.
"Creating the team is a rare foreign policy opportunity for public and political diplomacy, as well as improved national stability... this ensures that Australia won't be blindsided, as it was by the Solomon Islands-China security agreement," the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Henry Campbell wrote following the deal.
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The deal reportedly allows Australia to back out if PNG enters into a security deal with China. AP Photo/Mark Baker
In essence, for the price of $600 million over 10 years – or $60 million a year, a mere 0.008 per cent of the annual federal budget – Australia is keeping China out of its closest neighbour for a decade.
Albanese didn't confirm the opt-out clause when asked this morning, nor did he deny it.
"Australia is PNG's security partner of choice and today, coming into effect is our bilateral security agreement," he said.
"That agreement is certainly public but it is certainly not a secret that our relationship is so strong, that we work together... our agreements go to the full range of relationships between two nations."
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Papua New Guinea is the only country on the planet where rugby league is the national sport. Getty
Albanese's PNG counterpart, James Marape, made it clear ties between Port Moresby and Beijing aren't going to stop because of the new rugby league team.
"Australia is our security partner of choice in the first instance," he said.
"That doesn't stop us from relating with any nation, especially our Asian neighbours.
"We relate with China, for instance, a great trading partner, a great bilateral partner.
"But in security closer to home, we have this synergy (with Australia)."
According to Campbell, Beijing is likely to respond to the new NRL team.
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James Marape said PNG will continue to have strong relations with China. AP
"For this policy to succeed, Australia needs to carefully manage security risks," he said.
"The team is a unique initiative and will face high levels of media scrutiny, with stories on team performance or player misconduct potentially loaded with political criticism and geopolitical commentary.
"Chinese interference presents the highest-profile risk. The team will be an important part of Australia's bilateral engagement with PNG and will block a China-PNG security relationship.
"China cannot directly replicate this type of sports diplomacy, but capital, industry and regional banking presence offer it ways to influence or interfere."
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