Australia and Vanuatu signed a security and economic treaty in Canberra on Monday under which Vanuatu agreed to keep foreign military bases off its territory, in exchange for Australian funding the government has declined to put a figure on.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hosted Vanuatu's Prime Minister Jotham Napat at Parliament House to sign what the two governments are calling the Nakamal Agreement, after the traditional Vanuatu meeting place used for consultation and decision-making. Foreign Minister Penny Wong, whose office issued the formal release, described it as one of the most comprehensive bilateral agreements Australia has reached with a Pacific Island nation.
Under the treaty, Vanuatu will not permit any foreign military base or infrastructure for military purposes, and committed to keeping critical infrastructure free from militarisation, foreign interference or unauthorised access. Vanuatu will consult Australia on proposed third-party involvement in that infrastructure.
It will consult, but it will not need Australia's permission. An earlier draft gave Canberra an effective veto over such deals. That provision was removed after Napat objected that it cut across Vanuatu's sovereignty. He had walked away from a planned signing in Port Vila late last year over wording he said undermined the country's independence, and the final text softened it to consultation.
The cost to Australian taxpayers was not released. Reporting before the signing, including by RNZ and the Lowy Institute, put the package at up to 500 million dollars over about a decade for climate resilience, economic development and infrastructure. Albanese declined to confirm that figure at the press conference, saying the spending would be set out in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook at the end of the year. The Lowy Institute characterised the deal as Australia paying a premium price for Pacific partnership.
The agreement was negotiated against competition with China for security influence in the region. Napat said a separate agreement with China, which he referred to as the Namele Agreement, remained unsigned while it awaited clearance from Beijing, and he offered to share its terms with Australia. Vanuatu, which carries existing Chinese infrastructure investment, has kept both doors open.
Australia did not give Vanuatu everything it sought. Napat had pressed for visa-free travel for ni-Vanuatu as a condition of signing. The treaty instead commits the two governments to review current visa arrangements and sets up greater mobility and a traineeship program. Vanuatu was left out of the 2026-27 Pacific Engagement Visa ballot, which opens on July 1 with up to 3,000 permanent-residency places a year, an omission that drew criticism in Vanuatu and which both sides say remains under negotiation.
Other terms recognise Australia as Vanuatu's primary policing partner, with additional training and equipment, and commit Vanuatu to approach Australia, New Zealand and France first for disaster assistance. Vanuatu also agreed to develop mechanisms to separate its citizenship-by-investment scheme, the source of Australian concern over so-called golden passports, from ordinary citizenship.
The treaty is signed but not yet in force. It takes effect once both countries complete their domestic ratification processes. Until the December budget update, the price Australia has agreed to pay for it stays off the public record.
