21 Jun 2023

Academic looks at what US security deals might mean for PNG

From , 6:02 am on 21 June 2023
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and PNG Defence Minister, Win Barki Daki, sign a new bilateral defense cooperation agreement.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and PNG Defence Minister, Win Barki Daki, sign a new bilateral defense cooperation agreement. Photo: RNZ Pacific/Lydia Lewis

A new security deal the United States has signed with Papua New Guinea will inevitably make the country more militarised.

Last week the PNG parliament was called on to ratify the Shiprider Agreement and the Defence Co-operation Agreement, signed last month in Port Moresby by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and PNG Defence Minister Win Daki.

RNZ Pacific's Don Wiseman spoke with a University of PNG political scientist, currently studying at the Australian National University, Michael Kabuni, and began by asking him if the deal is good for Papua New Guineans.