Television Interview, Nine - Today Show

SUBJECT/S: Australia-PNG Defence Treaty

JAYNE AZZOOPARDI, HOST: Well, Australia and Papua New Guinea have finally put pen to paper, signing an historic defence treaty. It commits both countries to helping each other in the event of an armed attack, and it is the first such agreement in more than 70 years, and only the third in Australia’s history. To discuss, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles joins me now from Canberra. Good morning to you, Deputy PM.

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Morning, Jayne.

AZZOOPARDI: The treaty has been broadly welcomed. What does Australia gain from it?

MARLES: Well, it is a very historic agreement, as you rightly said, but it’s actually a really natural agreement. I mean, what this makes clear is that if there was ever an armed attack on Papua New Guinea, that would engage Australia’s interests. Now, in fact, it would. And the one time where that’s occurred in our history, during the Second World War, it very much engaged our interests. In answer to your question, really importantly, this is Papua New Guinea saying the same in reverse. And Papua New Guinea is very clearly making its decision that Australia is its partner of choice. And Prime Minister Marape could not have been more clear about that yesterday. And that our nearest neighbour is making that statement about Australia is profoundly important for our national security.

AZZOOPARDI: So really, it’s about China?

MARLES: Well, it’s about our two countries and the natural expression of the fact that we are a family. You can look at that in terms of our history, our affinity with each other, but our geography — I mean, PNG’s geography is profoundly strategic for Australia. And so being able to have that country make absolutely clear, through a binding treaty, that it sees an attack on Australia as engaging its interests is profoundly important.

AZZOOPARDI: Is it enough, though, to counter the influence of China in the region? We know that the country already has ties with Vanuatu and Solomon Islands. Is PNG our only real friend?

MARLES: No, I wouldn’t say that at all. I mean, if you look across the Pacific, I think Australia is the natural partner of choice for the countries of the Pacific, and I’ve long held that view. And it’s really important, though, that we don’t see that as something which happens by right. That is a position that we need to earn, and we need to earn that by engaging with these countries and playing our role — not just in terms of security, but very much in terms of the human development of the countries of the Pacific. Now, I actually feel pretty confident about where things are heading in respect to Vanuatu as well. I mean, we are working on a transformative agreement between our two countries there, and that will elevate the relationship to a different level. It’s a significant step to take, it’s going to take some time, but I feel really confident that’s going to happen as well. And what this reflects — be it PNG, Vanuatu, be it Nauru, be it Tuvalu, where we’ve signed very historic agreements, be it Solomon Islands — this is Australia now playing its role in the Pacific, as we always should have done. Given how important this region is, given that it is part of the region in which we live, it’s fundamentally important to our national security.

AZZOOPARDI: We know that China has a lot of money to spend in the Pacific, though. They’ve made a lot of investments in some of those countries. Do you have any concerns about how China might respond to this agreement with PNG?

MARLES: Well, come back to the fact that this is fundamentally about our relationship with PNG, and our relationships with the other countries in the Pacific are about that. It is the case that there is more geostrategic contest in the Pacific than we have seen before. But I’m really confident that if we step up, which we have been doing — if we play our part in the lives of the countries of the Pacific, if we focus on their human development, if we focus on the affinity which exists between our countries — well then, you know, the geostrategic elements will take care of themselves. And I think that’s what we are now seeing. We are very much there for PNG, and this is a very important statement that PNG is making. But, as I say, it’s actually a really natural statement.

AZZOOPARDI: Well, with that in mind, we know that PNG’s border with Indonesia can be very volatile. Do you have any clarification whether Australian Defence Force troops could be sent to that border?

MARLES: Well, look, in terms of the border with Indonesia, we’ve engaged very significantly with Indonesia about this treaty. What this treaty provides is for both Australia and PNG to recognise the territorial sovereignty of the neighbours around us. That’s actually a very important statement for Indonesia itself. Indonesia are very comfortable with this agreement; they welcome it. And so, you know, we’re really confident that this, which is, as Prime Minister Marape said, is fundamentally a treaty for peace, is a treaty that will be welcomed by the region.

AZZOOPARDI: So they would be OK if Australian soldiers went to that border?

MARLES: This is about Australia coming to the aid of PNG and PNG coming to the aid of Australia in the event that countries are attacked. Now, that is just not what we’re talking about in the context of that border.

AZZOOPARDI: Okay. All right, Deputy Prime Minister, thank you for your time this morning.

MARLES: Thank you.

ENDS