More than 10,000 Papua New Guineans will get Aussie citizenship by serving in the Australian Defence Force as part of a new defence treaty between the two countries.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and PNG PM James Marape will sign off on the plan on September 15, which will also include a bilateral defence pact and is aimed to counter China’s ambitions in the region.
PNG initially raised concerns about the requirement under Australian law that any non-citizen serving in the ADF applies for citizenship within 90 days, fearing it would lose its best recruits, but Australia argued its sovereignty required all who serve are citizens.
PNG Defence Minister Billy Joseph told The Australian that PNG could supply more than 10,000 recruits to the ADF.
“You know that 58% of the population of PNG is below the age of 25, so you are looking at a very big pool, and Australia can have as many as they want,” he said.
“The idea is that PNG and Australia are like two houses, and the treaty will create a big fence so that those two houses are inside one fence. We want to be seen as a partner who can be trusted in good times and in bad times.”
Dr Joseph said potential recruits would be signed up in Port Moresby and regional centres and would have to meet “stringent requirements”.
The PNG recruits are likely to go into support roles, such as drivers, logistics and trades, as ADF frontline infantry roles are already oversubscribed, but the far higher salaries in Australia are expected to make the positions highly sought after.
Fiji is also expected to be added to the ADF’s overseas recruitment scheme, which aims to make up a personnel shortfall.
Retention bonuses and relaxed entry requirements have resulted in a slight easing of the ADF’s recruitment crisis over the past year, but there are still 2,500 positions that need to be filled to meet pre-Budget targets.
Header image: Mr Albanese and Mr Marape meet in Canberra last year (Facebook).
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