{"id":827168,"date":"2026-07-27T15:17:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T15:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/827168\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T15:17:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T15:17:51","slug":"chiefs-nrl-funding-touted-as-nation-building-for-png-illawarra-mercury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/827168\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs NRL funding touted as nation building for PNG | Illawarra Mercury"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AnthonyAnthony Albanese has promised $600 million to help establish the PNG Chiefs NRL side. Photo: Mick Tsikas\/AAP PHOTOS<\/p>\n

The PNG Chiefs’ arrival in the NRL is only one part of a broader, longer-term plan to transform the social outcomes within Papua New Guinea, a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission says. <\/p>\n

The Chiefs will make their much-anticipated entrance into Australia’s premier rugby league competition in 2028 and have been significantly backed by the federal government, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese allocating $600 million across 10 years to the club. <\/p>\n

The funding has brought criticism, after tweaks were made to Australia’s tax laws in May’s federal budget, meaning players and staff do not pay tax on their salaries. <\/p>\n

However, the Australian Rugby League Commission and PNG Chiefs Pacific strategy general manager Anthony Trimachi says that only $190 million will go to the club’s establishment, with a significant portion instead going into grassroots initiatives. <\/p>\n

\"PNG'sPNG’s James Marape and Anthony Albanese previously signed a bilateral security agreement. (Mick Tsikas\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

“He (PNG Prime Minister James Marape) said, if you want to wear a Chiefs jersey, you need to stay in school,” Mr Trimachi said at the Economics Legislation Committee hearing on Monday. <\/p>\n

“Most people may not be athletic enough or talented enough. However, if along the way we can drive positive behaviours, structure, role models, and increase the likelihood that kids stay in schools, that is a fantastic outcome, which will benefit (the nation) overall long term.”<\/p>\n

The 10-year funding to the franchise does come with strings, with an unwritten understanding that if Papua New Guinea signs a security pact with China, the club will be scrapped, according to the ABC. <\/p>\n

The agreement adds to the increasing battle for influence in the Pacific between China and Australia, which Mr Albanese has made a priority by recently upgrading defence agreements with Fiji and Vanuatu. <\/p>\n

Australia also has a bilateral security pact with Papua New Guinea. <\/p>\n

\"PNGPNG PM James Marape has made it clear: stay in school if you want to play for the Chiefs. (Con Chronis\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Charlotte Blundell from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the funding would help open up economic opportunities by creating about 5000 new jobs, while establishing social impact programs on gender equality, violence and health.<\/p>\n

“Employment is not as strong as the PNG government would like it to be. So, youth engagement is a huge focus for them,” Ms Blundell said. <\/p>\n

“It will give young Papua New Guinean boys and girls something invaluable, which is a pathway, a goal, and a reason to believe that their futures can be bigger.”<\/p>\n

Ms Blundell also said that a $120 million pathway development program will be established to help strengthen the grassroots talent pipeline and the growth of rugby league across the Pacific. <\/p>\n

Australian Associated Press<\/p>\n

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Loading…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anthony Albanese has promised $600 million to help establish the PNG Chiefs NRL side. Photo: Mick Tsikas\/AAP PHOTOS…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":827169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-827168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827168","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=827168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/827169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=827168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=827168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}