Category Archives: Penny Wong

Labor pledges extra $200m in Australian aid for Ukraine and $500m for veterans in budget

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Albanese government unveils big boost to Pacific aid partly offset by axing Coalition’s agriculture visa while sparing defence from major cuts

The Albanese government has earmarked more than $200m for additional help for Ukraine and $500m to support Australian veterans and their families, while largely sparing defence from major funding cuts.

But a massive boost in aid to the Pacific and the expansion of Pacific worker schemes announced in Tuesday’s budget will be partly offset by a $213m cut to the previous Morrison government’s programs in the foreign affairs portfolio.

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Albanese government to give $900m budget boost to Pacific countries

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Funding will help tackle poverty and shore up security in the region and make Australia ‘more influential in the world’, Penny Wong says

The Albanese government will increase aid to Pacific countries by $900m as it declares next week’s budget will deliver the biggest rise in Australia’s official development assistance in more than a decade.

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, will announce the extra funding during a speech in French Polynesia on Friday, arguing the budget will be “a major step toward the goal of making Australia stronger and more influential in the world”.

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Penny Wong says timing of Australia’s reversal on West Jerusalem ‘regrettable’

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Foreign affairs minister admits poor timing of announcement on Jewish holiday and promises never to play politics on the issue

Penny Wong says she deeply regrets the timing of the government’s announcement that it was reversing recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a decision that coincided with a Jewish holiday.

In the wake of criticism from several prominent Jewish community leaders and a rebuke from the Israeli prime minister, the foreign affairs minister has written an article for Australian Jewish News promising never to play politics on the issue.

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Jewish groups blindsided by Labor’s reversal of recognition of West Jerusalem as Israeli capital

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Prominent Jewish community leaders in Australia say Albanese government’s withdrawal of recognition ‘a gratuitous insult’ – but criticism is not universal

Several Jewish community leaders say they were blindsided by the Albanese government’s decision to reverse recognition of West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, describing the handling of the issue as “shoddy” and “a gratuitous insult”.

A Labor parliamentarian has also privately said the government “mishandled” the sensitive issue and should not be “making foreign policy on the fly” after Israel’s foreign ministry summoned the Australian ambassador to demand an explanation.

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Israel criticises Labor’s decision to drop recognition of West Jerusalem as capital

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PM Yair Lapid says he’s ‘deeply disappointed’ in the ‘hasty’ foreign policy shift and has summoned Australia’s ambassador to explain

Israeli prime minister, Yair Lapid, has criticised Labor’s decision to drop the recognition of West Jerusalem as that country’s capital and Australia’s ambassador has been summoned to explain.

Lapid has accused the Australian government of a “hasty” foreign policy shift, after it reversed the previous government’s decision.

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Stephen Smith named UK high commissioner as government flags fewer political appointments

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Penny Wong defends appointing former Labor minister as a sign of the ‘eminence of Australia’s relationship with the UK’

The former Labor minister Stephen Smith has been named as Australia’s next high commissioner to the UK – but the Albanese government has yet to reveal who it will send to Washington.

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, defended the political appointment, noting that the London post had long been held by senior former ministers as a sign of the “eminence of Australia’s relationship with the United Kingdom”.

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Turtle concern: Australian businessman denies threatening to sell Conflict Islands to China

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Ian Gowrie-Smith says he was frustrated the Australian government did not respond to urgent funding request for turtle conservation

The owner of 21 tropical islands off the coast of Papua New Guinea says he never threatened to sell them to China and his main aim is to save the turtles that nest there.

Ian Gowrie-Smith, an Australian businessman and investor, bought the Conflict Islands, which lie less than 1,000km from the Australian coast, almost two decades ago.

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Australia news live: China meeting ‘constructive’, Penny Wong says; up to 9.8m Optus customers affected by data breach

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The foreign minister is in New York City for the UN general assembly. Follow the day’s news live

In New South Wales politics this has just happened:

The Senate is also up and about with a condolence motion being held in the upper house as well.

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Australia may expel Russian ambassador after Putin’s nuclear aggression, Penny Wong says

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Foreign minister condemns Russia’s heightened military response in Ukraine as opposition calls for further sanctions

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, says the federal government is considering expelling the Russian ambassador as a result of President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear aggression towards Ukraine, as the Coalition opposition steps up calls for further sanctions over the invasion.

Wong said Australia is considering sending further military assistance to Kyiv in the face of Russia’s escalating rhetoric but security and logistical issues were complicating factors.

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Solomon Islands refuses Australia’s offer to help fund election as ‘foreign interference’

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Manasseh Sogavare calls Australia’s offer ‘an assault on our parliamentary democracy’ after saying his country had to delay elections because of cost

The prime minister of Solomon Islands has responded furiously to an offer from the Australian government to assist with funding for the national election, calling it “foreign interference”.

Manasseh Sogavare’s government added that the timing of the offer from Australia was “inappropriate” coming “at a time when a bill to defer the elections … is now before the National Parliament of Solomon Islands for deliberations”.

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Australia calls for ‘return to calm’ amid Taiwan drills as Beijing demands Canberra ‘respect China’s core interests’

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China’s foreign ministry said Australia should ‘respect China’s core interests’ and ‘avoid creating new obstacles for China-Australia ties’

Australia has again called for an end to China’s military drills near Taiwan, and a “return to calm”, as China has demanded that Australia stop interfering in its affairs.

China has been conducting live-fire drills near Taiwan in the wake of a visit from the US house speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Australia does not recognise Taiwan as a country under the One China policy, but maintains unofficial ties. The US recognises the One China policy without agreeing with it.

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Opposition calls for Australia to develop missiles, warning ‘lucky country’ era is over

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Shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie warns of ‘bleak’ outlook in region as Chinese embassy condemns Australia’s ‘finger-pointing’

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The shadow defence minister, Andrew Hastie, has called for Australia to develop and operate its own missiles, warning the era of the “lucky country” is over.

On Sunday, Hastie argued Australia needs greater deterrents given the “very bleak” strategic outlook, with a “rising China” displaying “revisionist and expansionist ambitions”.

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Julian Assange’s family urge Australian PM Anthony Albanese to intervene before US extradition

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John and Gabriel Shipton say they’re frustrated at Australian PM for lack of progress in WikiLeaks founder’s case since Labor was elected

Julian Assange’s family have said the Albanese government needs to intervene in the case before he is extradited to the US, saying it would effectively be a “death sentence” for the WikiLeaks founder if there was no intervention.

The plight of Assange, who is being held in UK’s Belmarsh prison pending an appeal against his extradition to the US, has been raised with the new US ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, by Assange’s Australian solicitor, Stephen Kenny.

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Dfat concerned about ability to help Australians overseas amid international crises, documents show

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Department’s incoming brief to Penny Wong warns of consular and passport issues as well as citizens detained in Syria

The incoming brief for the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong contained the stark admission that cascading international crises including Afghanistan and Ukraine “have strained our ability to provide a high-level consular service to Australians overseas”.

The heavily redacted document, given to the incoming minister as part of a briefing to help them get across Australia’s foreign affairs portfolio and obtained by Guardian Australia under FOI laws, warned the “need for global collaboration and solutions is more acute than ever”.

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Smiles and unity at the Pacific Islands Forum mask tough questions shelved for another day

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While leaders presented a picture of harmony, more vexing topics like Australia’s fossil fuel ambitions and China were kicked down the road

At the close of the Pacific Islands Forum the leaders emerged from their retreat smiling, cut a giant cake with a sword and then, in an impromptu moment of diplomatic bonhomie, posed for a selfie after Anthony Albanese whipped out his phone, Ellen DeGeneres style.

It was, quite literally, a picture of harmony.

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End of rapid Covid test and telehealth subsidies criticised – as it happened

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Payments extended to eight more local government areas and sped up to prioritise victims over auditing; free Covid rapid tests for concession card holders to end this month. This blog is now closed

A new campaign has launched today to tackle racism by the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Chin Tan, the race discrimination commissioner, was on ABC Radio this morning discussing the campaign he says calls on all Australians to reflect on the causes and impacts of racism, not only on its victims but Australia’s collective wellbeing as a society.

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Australia ‘doesn’t respond to demands’, Anthony Albanese tells China

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PM reacts to Beijing’s four-point advice on improving relations following high-level G20 meeting between the two countries

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Anthony Albanese has said Australia “doesn’t respond to demands”, after China listed four ways the relationship between the two countries could be improved.

“We respond to our own national interest,” Australia’s prime minister said on Monday.

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China’s foreign minister says Coalition government was ‘root cause’ of hostility to Australia

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In meeting with Penny Wong after G20 summit, Wang Yi urged Australia to treat China as a partner, not a threat

The Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, has urged his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, to treat China as a partner, accusing previous governments of treating it as an opponent or threat.

On the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali on Friday, Wang expressed hope that Australia could “seize the opportunity, take concrete actions and come to a correct understanding of China” and accumulate “positive energy” towards it, according to a summary published late on Saturday by China’s foreign ministry.

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At least 77 Covid deaths; Albanese pays tribute to Abe; NSW counts cost of floods – as it happened

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Foreign minister Penny Wong meets her Chinese counterpart in Bali, breaking three years of diplomatic hostility. This blog is now closed

Collaery case: ‘only stress if you’re being shot at’

One of the biggest stories of the week was the announcement from the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, that the government would drop its long-running case against lawyer Bernard Collaery.

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Penny Wong: China and Australia take ‘first steps towards stabilising relationship’

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Foreign affairs minister meets Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at G20 in Bali to push for end to ‘coercive’ sanctions

Penny Wong, Australia’s foreign affairs minister, says Canberra and Beijing have taken the “first step towards stabilising the relationship” after the first face-to-face meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers since 2019.

After a meeting with Wang Yi, her Chinese counterpart, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali on Friday, Wong told reporters Australia would continue to push for an end to Beijing’s “coercive” trade sanctions against a range of exports, and would also not recoil from any domestic policy decisions taken “on the basis of our national interest, our security and our sovereignty”.

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