Australia's recently agreed treaty with Vanuatu will step up policing partnerships but not stop foreign military from setting up shop as domestic law already forbids it.
The Nakamal Agreement, signed by leaders Anthony Albanese and Jotham Napat in Port Vila in June, was probed by senators on Monday.
The treaty includes a clause which explicitly states Vanuatu should not allow foreign powers to use its territory for defence bases or infrastructure.
Australian leaders, including Pacific Minister Pat Conroy, have trumpeted that the Nakamal Agreement acts as a bulwark against a possible foreign miliary foothold in one of Australia's closest neighbours.
On Monday, Jan Hutton, a foreign affairs department executive, told the Senate that this clause simply reflected Vanuatu law.
"This article and that particular commitment, it's a reflection of Vanuatu's own stated - not just policy - but legislative requirements," she said.
"Vanuatu passed its own national legislation that committed to ensure that its territory didn't host foreign military bases and security ... it's not the case now and not the case in the future."
Policing is another matter, with Australia increasing its efforts in the Melanesian nation.
Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner David McLean said the agreement would see the number of Australian police stationed in Vanuatu rise in coming years.
"There's eight AFP serving currently in Vanuatu (and) as a consequence of the treaty, and the existing bilateral program that we're now better resourced to deliver, I expect that number could nearly double in size," he said.
Mr McLean said Australian assistance could be granted on everything from administration, general policing, forensics and training, to infrastructure including new police stations, headquarters and stores.
"The full suite of police capabilities, services, and internal organisation relative to their their needs," he said.
Last year, Vanuatu's parliament passed an amendment to its national security act which confirms the Melanesian nation is a "non-militarised state".
Vanuatu is also a proudly non-aligned nation, with infrastructure and policing deals with other nations including China.
Since coming to office in 2022, Mr Albanese's government has pursued bilateral deal-making across the Pacific to solidify Australia's position as the partner of choice for Pacific nations.
This has proved harder to achieve in Port Vila than other Pacific nations such as Papua New Guinea and Fiji, which agreed to defence treaties, and minnows Nauru and Tuvalu, which signed deeper pacts.
The Nakamal Agreement was first agreed in 2022 but never ratified in Vanuatu, until it was picked back up in 2025 under the newly-elected Mr Napat.