Anthony Albanese pleased Biden has taken up invitation, an honour also afforded to Barack Obama in 2014
Joe Biden will address the Australian parliament next week, the first US president in nearly 10 years to speak to a joint session of MPs and senators in Canberra.
Officials have confirmed that Biden will make the speech on Tuesday 23 May, the day before he attends the Quad summit in Sydney with the prime ministers of Australia, Japan and India.
Continue reading...The pair agreed to ‘step up’ dialogue to resolve outstanding trade issues and confirmed the review of China’s tariffs on Australian barley was ‘on track’
The Australian trade minister, Don Farrell, has invited the Chinese commerce minister to visit his family’s vineyard in South Australia after the pair met in Beijing on Friday night.
Speaking after the talks with Wang Wentao in Beijing, Farrell said he was “very pleased to confirm that we agreed to step up dialogue under our free trade agreement and other platforms to resolve our outstanding issues”.
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Continue reading...Exclusive: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is chasing hundreds of overdue fines amid repeated requests to respect the law
Russian diplomats have refused to pay hundreds of overdue speeding, parking and traffic fines dating back more than 15 years, frustrating Australian officials who can only politely ask that they respect local laws.
Freedom of information documents obtained by Guardian Australia indicate the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) is chasing almost $90,000 from the Russian embassy for fines dating back to 2007, despite repeated requests for diplomats to respect the law.
Continue reading...‘We want everything back to the way it was’, says Don Farrell but cautions that problems won’t be fixed overnight
Australian exporters are starting to see benefits from the “de-escalation” of tensions with China, the trade minister, Don Farrell, said on the eve of crucial talks in Beijing.
Farrell will arrive on Thursday to press for an end to restrictions on a range of Australian exports – including lobster, red meat and wine – in the latest step to “stabilise” the relationship with Australia’s biggest trading partner.
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Continue reading...After big-spending Aukus and defence announcements, Labor switches focus to diplomacy
The military and police will expand links with Pacific Island countries as part of a nearly $2bn budget package aimed at boosting Australia’s influence across the region.
After two months of rolling out big-spending defence announcements – including the Aukus nuclear-powered submarines – the Albanese government used Tuesday night’s budget to signal renewed interest in diplomacy and regional engagement.
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Continue reading...Beijing says US, Australia and New Zealand have ‘a cold war mentality’ and are driving up geopolitical tensions
China has accused Australia of attempting to sabotage its relationships in the Pacific, saying Australia has a “cold war mentality” and is blinded by “ideological prejudice”.
Senior Chinese diplomats said Australia has undermined Beijing’s security and law enforcement cooperation with Fiji, alleging its relations with Fiji are being “targeted” by Australia, the US and New Zealand.
Continue reading...Department of Foreign Affairs introduces new measures including asking former detainees to provide views on media tactics and support after their release
The Australian government is rethinking how to help citizens embroiled in “hostage diplomacy” as it marks the 1,000th day of the journalist Cheng Lei’s detention in China.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, called for Cheng to be reunited with her children, saying the government shared “the deep concerns of her family and friends about the ongoing delays in her case”.
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Albanese added he is concerned about Assange’s mental health.
There was a court decision here in the United Kingdom that was then overturned on appeal that went to Mr Assange’s health, as well, and I am concerned for him.
It’s frustrating. I share the frustration. I can’t do more than make very clear what my position is.
… I think that the Assange case needs to be looked at in terms of what occurred, what the allegations are, and whether the time effectively that has been served already is in excess of what would be reasonable if it were proved that this had occurred.
Continue reading...Research says mining boom to support renewable energy risks ‘significant social and environmental damage’
In the high-stakes quest to break China’s grip over minerals crucial to clean energy technology, Australia risks over-mining while ignoring alternatives such as improved battery recycling, according to a new report.
The release of the Jubilee Australia research, which questions mineral demand assumptions and warns against causing unnecessary environmental harm, comes as the federal government prepares a strategy to address China’s dominance of minerals seen as critical to a nation.
Continue reading...South-east Asia must not become ‘an arena for proxy wars’, the nation state’s foreign minister said
Singapore has strongly backed the Aukus defence pact, with ministers saying they trust Australia to play a bigger role in regional security and don’t want south-east Asia to become “an arena for proxy wars”.
After talks with Australian counterparts in Canberra on Monday, Singaporean ministers reaffirmed Australia’s nuclear-powered submarines would be welcome to visit once in service.
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Marles on Australians caught in Sudan conflict
Asked about Australians caught in Sudan and the conflict there, Richard Marles says “there are still options out of Port Sudan which is on the Red Sea, which is, I think it’s about 800km out of Khartoum” to leave “what is obviously a deteriorating situation”:
There are ferries there and there may be other options coming out of that. I mean, the important thing is this – Australians in Sudan, and there do remain a number of Australians in Sudan, really need to make sure that they register.
We will continue to work with friends and allies and do everything that we can within our power to provide options for Australians who want to leave. Because we understand how difficult this situation is now.
Ultimately, our ambition is to establish a production line with companies in this country which would provide for the manufacture of those long-range strike missiles and doing as much of that as possible in the next couple of years. We hope that we can begin with the assembly of the strike missiles that go in the Himars system. But we want to build on that so that we’re actually manufacturing the full suite of these weapons in Australia.
Continue reading...Revealed: documents prompt fresh calls for Pether’s release, amid separate claims that a biased translator was used in court case
A cache of documents has undermined key evidence that was relied upon by Iraqi authorities to jail the Australian engineer Robert Pether, prompting renewed calls for his release.
Pether, a father of three, has meanwhile made allegations that a “confession” statement used against him was mistranslated by a biased employee of Iraq’s central bank before being handed to court.
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Continue reading...Coast guard say passenger went overboard 500 nautical miles (926 kilometres) from Hawaii’s Big Island. Follow live
The US coast guard has confirmed that an Australian man fell overboard on the Quantum of the Seas cruise ship, which was travelling from Brisbane to Hawaii.
The coast guard said the passenger went overboard 500 nautical miles (926 kilometres) from Hawaii’s Big Island.
500 nautical miles south of Hawaii’s Big Island a man fell overboard on Quantum of the Seas cruise ship. He is an Australian national.
A Hercules airplane is on scene conducting a search. At the moment it is the only asset that’s on scene searching.
We’ve been on scene since 9am. And with the crew’s endurance and the fuel constraints of the vessel they should be there for about six hours since arriving on scene.
What I can confirm is the budget will have a cost of living package that is targeted to the most vulnerable. We’ve been clear about that. Obviously some of that is the assistance and support on energy relief. We’ve had the announcements around medicines in the last day.
We are focused on making sure we can do the right thing for those that are doing it tough, but within an environment where there are a lot of demands on the budget in a lot of areas.
Continue reading...Meeting will bring together leaders of the US, India, Japan and Australia at the Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House will be the focus of a major security operation when the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, welcomes the US president, Joe Biden and the prime ministers of India and Japan for a key diplomatic event.
Albanese said on Wednesday that “Australia’s most recognisable building” would be the venue for the Quad leaders’ summit on 24 May.
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Continue reading...Call comes after Australia’s defence review says activities in South China Sea ‘threaten rules-based order’
The Chinese government has urged countries not to “hype up the so-called China threat narrative” after a major Australian defence review criticised its activities in the South China Sea.
The Australian government’s defence strategic review, released on Monday, labelled the intense competition between China and the United States as “the defining feature of our region and our time”.
Continue reading...Cyber-warfare and the ‘missile age’ have radically reduced Australia’s geographical defensive benefits, report argues
Australia’s defence strategic review paints an alarming picture of the “radically different” security outlook in the Indo-Pacific, including the risk of “major conflict in the region that directly threatens our national interest”.
But it is important to be very clear about what Monday’s document does and doesn’t say about the threats Australia faces.
Continue reading...Review calls for ADF to develop ability to precisely strike targets at longer range and to develop stronger network. Follow the day’s news live
Plibersek v Joyce on Newspoll
In their regular spot on Sunrise, environment minister Tanya Plibersek and Coalition frontbencher Barnaby Joyce weighed in on those Newspoll results.
They’re very strong support numbers, and I tell you the reason is not based on polling but what people tell me when I’m out around the country.
People tell me that they’re pleased to see a government that is just getting on with the job, doing what we promised and they’re impressed that the prime minister is just sticking with what he said he’d do.
We don’t have an election tomorrow and that’s a good thing.
A lot of people are starting to focus now on issues such as the voice and saying, “I don’t feel comfortable with this.”
Continue reading...Experts say Australia should look beyond criticism that is largely for domestic Chinese consumption and engage on a broader level
Australia’s strategic defence review, to be made public on Monday, is likely to spark a hostile response from China and set off a new round of claim and counterclaim about the precarious relationship between the two countries.
Sir Angus Houston, the former head of the Australian military who led the review with the former defence minister Stephen Smith, said when it was launched last year the strategic circumstances were “the worst I have ever seen in my career and lifetime”.
Continue reading...Lowy Institute poll indicates one in five Chinese-Australians were called offensive names in 2022, down 10 points from 31% in 2020
Chinese-Australians have continued to experience racist insults but at a lower rate than when diplomatic tensions between Canberra and Beijing erupted in 2020, a new study has found.
Polling commissioned by the Lowy Institute indicates one in five Chinese-Australians said they were called offensive names because of their heritage in 2022.
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Continue reading...Wong also hits back at former prime minister saying his comments diminish ‘his legacy and the subject matter’
Penny Wong has warned politicians and media against playing “the most dangerous of parlour games” by adding to “frenzied” speculation about a war over Taiwan.
The Australian foreign affairs minister said on Monday that such a conflict would be “catastrophic for all” and there would be “no real winners” – but the warning was quickly overshadowed by a fresh war of words with Paul Keating.
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