{"id":768371,"date":"2026-06-29T19:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/768371\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T19:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:22:15","slug":"nakamal-agreement-australia-signs-new-agreement-with-vanuatu-in-blow-to-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/768371\/","title":{"rendered":"Nakamal Agreement: Australia signs new agreement with Vanuatu in blow to China"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia<\/a> has signed a long-awaited security agreement with Vanuatu in its fight against China\u2019s influence in the Indo-Pacific. <\/p>\n

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese<\/a> and his Vanuatu counterpart Jotham Napat inked the Nakamal Agreement in Canberra on Monday, almost 10 months after it was halted due to sovereignty concerns from the Pacific island nation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Vanuatu counterpart Jotham Napat have inked the long-awaited Nakamal Agreement.\u00a0Anthony Albanese<\/p>\n

Vanuatu has agreed not to allow any foreign military bases or infrastructure on its territory and to consult Australia on a country\u2019s proposed involvement in critical infrastructure. <\/p>\n

In exchange, Australia will provide funding and support to remain Vanuatu\u2019s primary policing and security partner.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur agreement reflects and confirms Australia\u2019s role as Vanuatu\u2019s largest and most comprehensive economic security and development partner,\u201d Albanese told reporters on Monday. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve concluded a balanced agreement that will protect our collective and individual security and our sovereignty, and it will support our interest in a stable, prosperous and secure region that we both call home.\u201d <\/p>\n

Napat said Vanuatu shares the same vision for a peaceful and secure Pacific. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith the signing of the long-awaited national agreement, Australia and Vanuatu are close neighbours, trusted partners and enduring friends,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Australia has been concerned about China\u2019s presence in the Indo-Pacific region. <\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s agreement prevents Beijing from establishing a military base in Port Vila. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Australia has been concerned about China’s rising influence in the Pacific. \u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Australia also won treaty talks with the Solomon Islands<\/a> to become its security partner of choice as both countries look to improve relations following Honiara\u2019s 2022 pact with Beijing. <\/p>\n

Vanuatu had refused to sign the Nakamal Agreement last year over concerns it would prevent it from receiving infrastructure funding from other countries. <\/p>\n

Initially costing Australia $500 million over 10 years, Albanese would not confirm whether the revised agreement will carry the same price tag. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be transparent, as we are, in these matters. They\u2019ll be available as part of MYEFO at the end of this year,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are providing support for economic development in Vanuatu. That is in the interest of the people of Vanuatu, but also in Australia\u2019s national interests to have economic development in our region.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia has signed a long-awaited security agreement with Vanuatu in its fight against China\u2019s influence in the Indo-Pacific.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-768371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}