Australia is expanding its network of defence and security agreements across the Pacific Islands as Canberra seeks to strengthen its regional position amid growing strategic competition with China, according to a report published on Monday 9 November.

The effort has gained momentum through a series of new arrangements with Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Vanuatu. Australia signed a mutual defence treaty with Papua New Guinea in October 2025, followed by defence agreements with Fiji in July 2026. Canberra also concluded the Nakamal Agreement with Vanuatu in June, covering security, development and critical infrastructure.

Fiji's parliament ratified the Fiji-Australia agreements on 6 November, with 27 members voting in favour and seven against. The package includes the Vuvale Union and the Ocean of Peace Alliance, under which an armed attack against either country in the Pacific would be regarded as a danger to both. The government in Suva said the deal also brings a financial package worth more than FJ$1.5 billion over ten years.

Different deals, one direction

The agreements differ in scope, ranging from mutual defence commitments to arrangements requiring consultation over security cooperation with third countries. Vanuatu, for example, agreed to consult Australia on third-party involvement in critical infrastructure and not to permit its territory to be used for a foreign military base.

China has expanded its own regional presence through policing partnerships, infrastructure projects and economic engagement, including a security agreement with the Solomon Islands. Australia's treaties are designed to keep Canberra as the Pacific's principal security partner as that competition intensifies.