This week in Australian foreign affairs: Australia advanced its undersea warfare capabilities through AUKUS, held the first ministerial forum with Papua New Guinea since the Pukpuk Treaty entered into force, opened a new defence recruitment pathway for Papua New Guineans, strengthened engagement with Indonesia and Timor-Leste, and more.
On 19 October, the Australian Government announced a major milestone in its undersea warfare capabilities at Exercise Maritime Big Play Pacific, an AUKUS Pillar II exercise held in San Diego. For the first time, Australia unveiled new payloads developed for and integrated into its Ghost Shark, Speartooth and BlueBottle uncrewed maritime platforms. The systems are designed to strengthen Australia’s capabilities in seabed operations and sea denial, and to protect critical undersea infrastructure.
The following day, on 20 October, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles travelled to Port Moresby for the 32nd Papua New Guinea–Australia Ministerial Forum. It was the first forum since the Pukpuk Treaty entered into force in July, establishing Papua New Guinea’s first formal defence alliance and Australia’s first new alliance in more than 70 years. Ministers discussed strengthening cooperation across defence, security, economic development and critical infrastructure, and welcomed progress towards implementing the treaty. During the Forum, the two countries signed a new Memorandum of Understanding on telecommunications, digital connectivity, cyber security and emerging technologies. Australia also committed $7 million to help Papua New Guinea respond to this year’s El Niño season, which has brought severe drought and threatened water security across the region.
The same day, the Government announced that eligible Papua New Guineans will be able to apply to join the Australian Defence Force from 16 November 2026. Recruitment will begin on a small scale in 2027 before expanding. Defence Minister Richard Marles described it as an important moment for both countries, reflecting their deepening defence relationship under the Pukpuk Treaty.
On 21 October, the Foreign Minister announced a visit to Jakarta to meet Indonesia’s newly appointed Foreign Minister, Arrmanatha Nasir. Talks were set to focus on implementing the Jakarta Treaty, signed earlier this year by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Prabowo Subianto. Wong also outlined plans to launch the next ten-year phase of the Australia–Indonesia Partnership for Economic Development (Prospera), which supports Indonesia’s economic development priorities.
Closing out the week, on 22 October, the Government announced more than $60 million in new investments to strengthen security and regional cooperation with Timor-Leste over the next five years. The package supports cyber security, maritime policing, digital forensics and disaster response, and expands the Timor-Leste Police Development Program. It builds on the Parseria Foun ba Era Foun (New Partnership for a New Era) Joint Declaration signed by Prime Ministers Albanese and Xanana Gusmão in January 2026, and will support Timor-Leste’s growing regional engagement as ASEAN’s newest member.
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