Kenny | Anthony Albanese's Pacific defence challenges

To mislay one defence pact may be regarded as misfortune, but to fumble two within a fortnight looks like carelessness. Incompetence, even.

Such is the 'earnest" view of Sussan Ley's bedraggled opposition, albeit from its supine position on the political canvas.

Anthony Albanese's last-minute failure to finalise two purportedly locked-in defence pacts with his counterparts in Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea, however, was not merely the usual triumph of ambition over preparation.

Rather, it again suggested that affluent Australia has yet to fully imbibe the breadth of views among smaller countries constituting its "near abroad".

Inconvenient as these hold-ups are, they might have been years in the making.

Since coming to office in 2022, Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong have notice