Vanuatu Australia treaty based on ‘mutual respect, trust and understanding’

Prime Minister Albanese is celebrating an agreement signed with Vanuatu this morning, the Nakamal treaty, which has been ten months in the making.

Critically, the agreement states Vanuatu’s critical infrastructure will remain free from militarisation and the Pacific nation should not be used as a foreign military base. The underlying reason is about ensuring China does not set up a military base in the region.

Speaking in Parliament House, Albanese said this treaty is the bed rock of the relationship between the two nations, and of this agreement, mutual respect, trust and understanding. “We’ve concluded a balanced agreement that will protect our collective and individual security and our sovereignty. And it will support our interest in a stable, prosperous and secure region that we both call home. Importantly, this agreement advances the consensus that security is a shared responsibility of the Pacific family – the members of the Pacific Islands Forum – and encapsulates Vanuatu’s decision not to be used as a foreign military base and that Vanuatu’s critical infrastructure remains free from militarisation.”

Under Nakamal, Vanuatu has continued to look at Pacific Island Forum members to support its policing needs, including Australia as Vanuatu’s longstanding primary policing partner. However, when asked to spell out exactly why the agreement states Vanuatu’s critical infrastructure should be free from militarisation and why there should be no foreign military base, Albanese kept his language broad, and said it’s about the sovereignty of Vanuatu.

The Vanuatu prime minister, Jotham Napat, is also asked where the Namele agreement between Vanuatu and China is up to. Napat says that agreement is yet to be signed, and his nation is waiting to “get the clearance from Beijing”.