Australia-PNG defence treaty: Doubts raised over rushed timeline and transparency

To misquote Oscar Wilde: to fall short on one Pacific treaty may look like misfortune, but to fall short on two looks like carelessness.

Last week, Anthony Albanese left Vanuatu without finalising a landmark security pact; this week, he departed PNG without inking a sweeping defence treaty. The plan was for both to be finalised during Albanese’s visits, but neither Vanuatu nor PNG were able to close out deals that had been framed as faits accomplis .

Despite the government’s bullish rhetoric, something has clearly gone wrong behind the scenes on planning and communications for Albanese’s latest Pacific trips, allowing expectations of grand foreign policy triumphs to race ahead of reality.

It’s a sobering – indeed embarrassing – reality check for Australia on the difficulties of Pacifi