Twenty young and emerging leaders from Papua New Guinea and Australia gathered in Port Moresby from 26–30 May for the 2025 Australia–Papua New Guinea Network Emerging Leaders Dialogue. This report outlines the outcomes of the Dialogue. Themes explored included security, trade and investment, culture, development, education, health and diaspora.

Participants agreed that the bilateral relationship stands at a moment of renewal. The Pukpuk Treaty, deepening trade ties, and growing people-to-people connections all signal an opportunity to move beyond a framework of bilateral aid to one of genuine collaboration. The Dialogue’s central insight was that history must inform but not constrain the relationship’s future.

The report is accompanied by an audio option.

Key recommendations of the emerging leaders

1. Ratify and implement the PNG–Australia Mutual Defence Treaty with equal emphasis on internal security and community security.
2. Shift the focus of the relationship from aid to trade by further supporting small-to-medium enterprise growth, diaspora investment and agricultural exports.
3. Embed Papua New Guinean content into the Australian school curriculum and deepen tertiary education partnerships.
4. Strengthen PNG’s primary healthcare system by further investing in local workforce training and rural service delivery.
5. Create a formal PNG-Australia Diaspora Engagement Strategy to harness the skills, networks and capital of PNG communities in Australia.