Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks with media after Parliamentary church service in Canberra on July 26, 2022. (STR / AFP)

SYDNEY - Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will urge Papua New Guinea to deepen defense ties in an address to its parliament on Thursday highlighting Australian investment.

Albanese will be the first foreign leader to address the PNG parliament on a two-day visit to Australia's closest northern neighbor, focused on advancing talks on a security treaty.

PNG, which gained independence from Australia in 1975, is resource-rich but largely undeveloped and Prime Minister James Marape has pledged to double gross domestic product by 2029 through five new gas and mining projects

Australia wants to strike a pact that would see navy, air force and army personnel from each nation working alongside each other more often, Defense Minister Richard Marles said in October. 

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Albanese will say Australia and PNG are two big Pacific Ocean states and must work as equals to build a more secure region, according to a copy of his speech provided to Reuters.

"Australia and Papua New Guinea have a chance to honor our shared history of service in the cause of peace – by adding to it: deepening our defence ties and enhancing our national security co-operation and achieving a swift conclusion to negotiations on a Bilateral Security Treaty," he is expected to say.

A security treaty would be based on "deep trust" and address PNG's priorities of "law and order challenges, strengthening the justice system and rule of law", Albanese will say.

The PNG Post Courier newspaper reported on Wednesday a treaty framework was being negotiated by the two nations that went beyond traditional military security to cover maritime security and climate change.

PNG, which gained independence from Australia in 1975, is resource-rich but largely undeveloped and Prime Minister James Marape has pledged to double gross domestic product by 2029 through five new gas and mining projects. Australia remains PNG's biggest aid donor.

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Albanese in his speech will say Australian companies have invested A$24 billion ($16.60 billion) in PNG, and that Australia would work to boost its agriculture exports and deliver "nation-building projects" including port upgrades and roads.

Australia signed a security pact in December with the Pacific islands nation of Vanuatu covering policing and defense.