Australia has handed over a dozen armoured troop carriers to Papua New Guinea as the nations finalise a bilateral defence treaty.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles was in Port Moresby for the handover of the 12 armoured personnel carriers, which he said were constructed specifically for the PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) in a $3 million commitment.
"The defence-to-defence relationship is at the heart of what is, for Australia, one of the most significant relationships that we have on the planet, and that is our relationship with Papua New Guinea, which is going to be framed significantly in five weeks' time as we approach the 50th anniversary of the independence of PNG," Mr Marles said.
PNG Defence Minister Billy Joseph said the vehicles would go a long way to rebuilding the country's defence capability and capacity.
He said the two nations' relationship had "gone from leaps to bounds".
"We are really going to celebrate that on the 50th anniversary we will be signing our PNGDF and ADF Defence Treaty," he said.
During his visit, Mr Marles is due to meet PNG Prime Minister James Marape and his deputy John Rosso.
They will discuss the growing integration between both nations' defence forces and progress towards the bilateral defence treaty, which was announced in February.
He will then join Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Pacific Island Affairs Minister Pat Conroy in Vanuatu, where all three will hold a meeting with Prime Minister Jotham Napat and other senior ministers before heading to Mr Napat's home island Tanna to continue talks about the Nakamal Agreement.
The development pact has been in the works for some months and will take in infrastructure planning, economic development and climate planning.
Meanwhile, Senator Wong will travel to Fiji on Thursday to attend a meeting of foreign ministers at the Pacific Islands Forum, where she is expected to champion strengthened regional unity.
The Pacific has become increasingly important as tensions simmer between China - Australia's biggest trading partner - and the US, one of the nation's most important allies.
US official Elbridge Colby had been pushing Australia to clarify whether it would commit troops to potential conflict with China over Taiwan, while he leads a review into the trilateral AUKUS nuclear submarine deal between the US, Australia and the UK.
At a conference in March, Mr Marles said Australia could not rely solely on the US to counter China's military strength in the Indo-Pacific.
