Visa changes to facilitate increased travel between Australia and PNG, strengthening ties and partnerships.

Australian businesses that seek to gain multiple entry visas for Papua New Guinea (PNG) will soon be able to do so, following talks between Australian and PNG officials on how to streamline immigration. This follows a visit to PNG in January by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who became the first foreign leader to address the country’s parliament. Albanese’s visit was to demonstrate Australia’s commitment to supporting liberal democratic values in the Indo-Pacific.

At the 29th Australia–Papua New Guinea Ministerial Forum in Canberra on Feb. 17, ministers from both nations discussed security and economic cooperation. A draft security agreement was exchanged, with a deal expected to be signed by April 2023. PNG Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko said that this would allow Papua New Guineans to have direct access to apply for a visa to Australia.

Pending changes in visa processing include the ability to complete Australia visa application and paperwork in Port Moresby, PNG, as a step to improve people-to-people relationships by providing direct access. Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea John Rosso said that visa approvals and processes is significant, with 75 percent of visas being able to be approved within 14 days. There are currently no multiple entry visas for Australian businesses but the new visa changes to short term visas will make business easier for Australian citizens.

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong said the two countries noted their commitment to supporting regional peace, security, economic resilience, and Pacific unity. Wong will visit Fiji for the Pacific Islands Forum retreat next week, and make a visit to Kiribati to the northeast as well.

At the forum, ministers renewed their commitment to the Comprehensive Strategic and Economic Partnership (CSEP) to guide the partnership between Australia and PNG with coordinated engagements. PNG’s vice-trade minister, Kessy Sawang, said the two nations need to re-evaluate their relationships that are based on the colonial past and to now focus on personal relationships.

The January visit by Albanese had sought to ensure that the PNG government does not follow the Solomon Islands in signing a security pact with Beijing. However, Tkatchenko said the signed security pact between the Solomon Islands and China was “irrelevant” to the Papua New Guinea government. During the forum, Wong said it was important to focus on PNG’s autonomy and independence as “economic security ensures national security, ensures regional security.” Tkatchenko agreed with Wong that PNG needed to remain politically and economically independent.

Australia and PNG signed a new strategic cooperation through the development of the Bilateral Security Treaty (BST) on Jan. 12, with a commitment to conclude negotiations within four months. The BST will provide an enabling framework for current and future traditional and non-traditional security cooperation. The BST would facilitate the practical broadening and deepening of our security cooperation while sitting above existing arrangements, programs, and activities.