Australia to Fund PNG Rugby League Club and Pacific Development with $600 Million Over 10 Years

The PNG Chiefs will enter the NRL in early 2029, with Jarome Luai expected to lead the side in its first match, Abc reported. The Australian government is directing just over half of a $600 million, 10-year package toward the new club, with the remainder allocated to rugby league development in Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Samoa and Fiji.

Leaders of Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga gathered in Australia this week to detail the spending after watching the State of Origin decider in Brisbane.

The PNG Hunters have competed in the Queensland Cup since 2014 and won that competition's premiership in 2017. Ambitions for a top-grade PNG side date to late 2008, when then-prime minister Sir Michael Somare first spoke publicly about an NRL entry by 2020, and the then-Rudd government later pledged support.

Pat Conroy, now Minister for Pacific Island Affairs, said the outlay was unusual but reflected a broader strategy.

"Part of the case for the funding was a strong recognition within Australia that we needed to move closer to the Pacific Island region, that we need to work closer with the Pacific family, and use every avenue of statecraft to do that," he said. Conroy added that the money was understood as an instrument of relationships and influence rather than sport alone.

Rugby league is described as the official religion of Papua New Guinea and a unifying force across more than 1,000 tribes and 800 languages.

The club has already signed Jarome Luai, Alex Johnston and Connor Watson. Bond University sports diplomacy expert Stuart Murray noted Australia's strength in sport as a tradable asset, while University of Technology Sydney economist Tim Harcourt said the PNG expansion differed from typical domestic market pushes because of its diplomatic framing.