By ABC PNG correspondent Natalie Whiting and foreign affairs reporter Stephen Dziedzic
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has flown to Papua New Guinea today Photo: AFP
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will touch down in Papua New Guinea's capital today; the first Australian leader to visit the country in more than four years.
Australian flags have been hoisted across Port Moresby, and Albanese's face has been put up on billboards, alongside PNG Prime Minister James Marape's.
At a time when Australia is keen to strengthen ties and push the two nations' "special relationship", Covid-19 and elections in both countries have delayed a top-level visit until now.
Albanese has a busy two-day schedule, which will include giving an address to PNG's parliament - the first foreign leader to ever do so.
"That is an extraordinary honour for Australia and one I regard as … one of the great honours of my life," Albanese told journalists yesterday.
The prime minister will use the speech to reflect on PNG's journey of independence from Australian colonial rule, saying independence "was not Australia's gift to give" but "the people of Papua New Guinea's right to assert".
"Australia and Papua New Guinea are bound not just by a shared past and a shared border but by a common determination to shape our own futures," Albanese will say.
"As two big Pacific Ocean states, Australia and PNG must work as equals with our fellow Pacific states to build a stronger, safer, more secure region."
It will also be Marape's first time hosting an Australian leader since he took on the top job in 2019.
PNG Foreign Affairs Minister Justin Tkatchenko said that with the new Australian government, PNG sees a "brighter light" and expects "more partnership", which he believes will make the relationship "bigger and better than it has been before".
"The prime minister [James Marape] is keen to improve and enhance the relationship with Australia under the leadership of the [new] prime minister of Australia," he said.
"So, it's all about strengthening ties, building independent economic capacity for Papua New Guinea [and] strengthening our security in the region."
Regional security in focus
Security is set to be a key talking point during the visit, with the two leaders expected to progress a defence treaty between the countries - although it is not yet clear if they will sign an interim document or the final agreement.
Australia and PNG have long shared a close defence relationship, and that was elevated in 2018 when Australia and the US committed to fund the redevelopment of the strategically positioned Lombrum Naval Base in Manus, in a move largely seen as designed to block any potential Chinese interest.
Both Albanese and Defence Minister Richard Marles have made it clear that they would like to expand Australia's training programs for PNG troops.
Australia has also been exploring ways it can help PNG develop its fledgling air force.
While discussions around defence and security often focus on the broader Pacific, PNG also faces some severe domestic security challenges.
The country has extensive land and maritime borders and large fishing territories which it does not have the capacity to properly patrol.
PNG has also been plagued by significant law and order problems, an issue highlighted during the recent election period when political and tribal violence was estimated to have displaced 89,000 people.
In his speech to parliament, Albanese will declare that the treaty will be "based on deep trust" and "build on the family-first approach to regional security".
He will also say it will "underpin our work together to address PNG's priority needs including law and order challenges, strengthening the justice system and rule of law".
- ABC