Papua New Guinea to recruit Australia police in security deal

5/12/2023 12:48

        Papua New Guinea will recruit Australian police officers for key positions in its national police force under a wide-ranging security deal to be signed this week that also covers defence and biosecurity, Papua New Guinea's minister of state said.
        
        Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape will travel to Canberra to sign the security agreement on Thursday, Minister of State Justin Tkatchenko told Reuters, after having also won commitments from Australia on biosecurity that would boost his nation's agricultural exports.
        
        "This shows our commitment to Australia as one of our traditional security partners now and into the future," Tkatchenko told Reuters in a telephone interview.
        The Australian security agreement was delayed after backlash from some opposition PNG politicians to a defence deal with the United States in May that they said infringed on PNG sovereignty by giving access to ports and airports, and could embroil the Pacific Islands' largest nation in strategic competition between the U.S. and China.