Balanced News: Australia, Papua New Guinea hope to conclude security treaty negotiations in April

The leaders of Papua New Guinea and Australia say they want negotiations for a wide-ranging security treaty between the two countries to be completed by the end of April. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and PNG’s Prime Minister James Marape held talks in Port Moresby Thursday and both addressed the Pacific island country’s parliament. Papua New Guinea, which gained independence from Australia in 1975, is the most populous Pacific island nation but also among the poorest.