Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Johnn Natapt is scheduled to visit Canberra next week to formalize a new bilateral security agreement with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, concluding years of negotiations marked by repeated delays and setbacks. The accord, known as the Nakamal agreement, is expected to fall short of Australia’s initial proposal to include a veto over Chinese-funded infrastructure projects in Vanuatu, which Port Vila resisted on grounds of protecting its sovereignty.
Natapt will arrive in Australia on Sunday and participate in a signing ceremony at Parliament House on Monday, followed by bilateral discussions with Albanese. This development comes amid a complex diplomatic environment, as Vanuatu concurrently advances a separate pact with China. Vanuatu’s government has characterized that arrangement as a “comprehensive economic co-operation agreement,” rejecting characterizations of it as a security treaty.
The Nakamal agreement, named after a traditional Ni-Vanuatu meeting place, represents a strategic effort by Australia to strengthen its engagement in the Pacific region amid growing competition with China. Australia’s move to exclude Vanuatu from the 2026-27 Pacific Engagement Visa quota—which grants permanent residence opportunities to citizens of select Pacific Island countries—has been perceived as a signal to underscore the value of Canberra’s partnership.
Observers note that the signing of the Nakamal agreement is likely to usher in a series of similar security pacts across the Pacific. Agreements with Fiji are anticipated in the near term, and talks continue with the Solomon Islands following the election of Prime Minister Matthew Wale, a former critic of Beijing.
Former diplomat James Batley, who has extensive experience in Port Vila, described Australia’s persistence in securing the agreement as “strategic,” though he questioned the tangible benefits of the deal given Vanuatu’s ongoing engagement with China. “Are they going to go and then sign one with China a few days later which would diminish the significance of this one?” Batley remarked.
The announcement has sparked debate within Australia, with opposition figures criticizing the government’s Pacific diplomacy. Coalition foreign affairs spokesman Ted O’Brien called for greater ambition and a more assertive regional security agenda, signaling intentions to pursue a comprehensive security arrangement encompassing Pacific Island Forum nations if elected. He also voiced concerns about the government’s climate policy, warning against what he termed “strategic weakness” linked to Australia’s net-zero emissions commitment by 2050—a stance he said risks alienating Pacific partners.
In response, Foreign Minister Penny Wong dismissed the opposition’s rhetoric as reminiscent of the previous government’s approach, emphasizing the need for a renewed and constructive partnership in the Pacific.
The forthcoming deal concludes a period of uncertainty after Vanuatu canceled a prior security arrangement with Australia in 2022 and delayed finalizing the Nakamal agreement in 2025. The new pact signals Canberra’s intensified efforts to counterbalance China’s expanding influence in the Pacific, even as the geopolitics of the region remain deeply contested.