Australia-Papua New Guinea defence pact: A new treaty for an old strategy

In January this year, I travelled through Papua New Guinea — from the bustling sprawl of Port Moresby to the misty, jungle-clad slopes of the Kokoda Trail. The landscape is stunning and solemn in equal measure. Every curve of the trail whispers of 1942, when young Australian soldiers fought desperately to stop the Japanese advance.

At the Bomana War Cemetery on the outskirts of Port Moresby, I stood among neat rows of white headstones — more than 3,800 graves of Commonwealth soldiers, including Australians, Indians, and others who died defending this island. Their names, etched in stone, are reminders of a time when Papua New Guinea was not just a battleground, but the shield of Australia.

Eighty years later, that shield has been raised again.

A Treaty Born of Old Fears

When Australia