Australia to recruit Papua New Guineans into defence force

Under the terms of the Pukpuk Treaty, Papua New Guineans will begin enlisting in the Australian Defence Force within the next year. Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles announced that while recruitment will start with small numbers, the goal is to scale up to thousands of personnel over the next decade.

Speaking in Port Moresby alongside Papua New Guinean Deputy Prime Minister Elias Kapavore, Marles noted that the recruitment initiative is the first project implemented under the trans-Torres defence pact. The treaty, which entered into force in July, marks Papua New Guinea’s first formal defence treaty and establishes it as a third defence ally for Australia alongside the United States and New Zealand.

In addition to personnel enlistment, the treaty encompasses infrastructure investment, collaborative military exercises, increased interoperability, and provisions allowing forces to operate within each other's territories. Specific recruitment process decisions are expected to be finalized within the next two months ahead of a ministerial forum scheduled for October.