Category Archives: Australian foreign policy

Australia news live: household assistance on energy bills to be detailed in budget, Chalmers says

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Treasurer says volatility in the global economy to have ‘flow-on effect on budget’. Follow the day’s news live

The shadow minister for foreign affairs, Simon Birmingham, is chastising the PM for letting there be any doubt whether he will be attending the Nato security summit.

Bangarra Dance Theatre supports voting ‘Yes’ in voice referendum

For over three decades, Bangarra Dance Theatre has been privileged to be entrusted with sharing the powerful voices of the world’s oldest living cultures – the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures of this nation.

The stories we tell have awakened a national consciousness to the deep scars of our colonial history, and the legacy of unseen trauma left in its wake. We attend to this knowing that by carrying Story, we also carry a responsibility to give insight into our experiences, promote understanding, and effect change. But is this enough?

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Penny Wong dismisses Paul Keating’s claim that the military has taken over Australian foreign policy

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Minister says foreign and defence policies are both essential for making the country stronger and more influential

Penny Wong will dismiss Paul Keating’s claim that the military has taken over foreign policy in Australia, as she insists the defence department and diplomats are working together to “keep the peace”.

In a speech on Monday, the foreign affairs minister will say countries across the Indo-Pacific region want to “choose their own destiny” and not have the rules “dictated by a single major power to suit its own interests”.

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TikTok can still access data from Australian government devices via app on personal phones, academic warns

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Data sharing between platforms could limit effectiveness of social media app’s ban from government devices

TikTok could still access information held on Australian government devices if public servants and politicians continue to use the app on their personal mobile devices, according to a legal academic from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Katharine Kemp, who focuses on consumer law and has researched a wide variety of privacy policies for digital apps, said the loophole could limit the effectiveness of the ban on TikTok from government devices.

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Australia’s trade minister hopeful China bans will end but warns against putting ‘all our eggs in one basket’

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Don Farrell has dismissed talk of any Australian policy shift after breakthrough reached on barley exports

The Australian trade minister says he wants a quick return to normal trade with China but has warned exporters not to put “all of our eggs in one basket”.

In an interview with Guardian Australia, Don Farrell was bullish about the prospect of Australia succeeding in its international challenge against Beijing’s tariffs on Australian barley, saying he thought “we would ultimately win that”.

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Australian winemakers hopeful of breakthrough on $1.2bn China trade but still plan to diversify markets

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After government announced deal with China that could end tariffs on barley, wine producers now cautiously optimistic

Australian wine producers hope Beijing could soon remove tariffs that slashed the $1.2bn trade by 99% – but say they are wary about relying too heavily on the Chinese market.

After the Australian government announced a deal with China that could lead to the scrapping of tariffs on barley within months, wine producers also expressed cautious optimism.

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Australia strikes deal with China over barley trade dispute

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In ‘sign of goodwill’, federal government temporarily suspends WTO challenge as China agrees to review its tariffs

The Australian government has reached a deal with China that may lead to the removal of tariffs on Australian barley that were introduced at the height of diplomatic tensions in 2020.

While the axing of the tariffs is not guaranteed, the Australian government presented the snap review as an important “pathway” to resolve one of the most complex trade disputes between the two countries.

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Penny Wong condemns escalating violence and calls for calm in Middle East

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Foreign minister’s comments follow rocket attacks fired into Israel, and police raids on a Jerusalem mosque

Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, has condemned escalating violence and terror attacks in the Middle East.

Her comments follow rocket attacks fired into Israel from Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

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Australia must rescue citizens from ‘dire’ Syrian detention camps, Red Cross says

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Global director general says ‘state of in-limbo cannot last longer’, with about 40 citizens still believed to be detained indefinitely

Australia and other countries must continue to rescue their citizens from “dire” conditions in camps in north-eastern Syria, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said.

The global director general of the Geneva-based humanitarian organisation, Robert Mardini, said the “state of in-limbo cannot last longer”.

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Liberal senator insists Australia must be ‘ruthless’ in pursuit of US military technology

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James Paterson says regulatory barriers in US could imperil access to AI, hypersonic weapons and other advanced systems

Australia needs to be “ruthless” about prioritising which technologies it pursues under the second pillar of the Aukus pact to overcome “regulatory barriers” in the US, the shadow minister for cybersecurity and countering foreign interference, James Paterson, has said.

The Liberal senator made the comments on the Guardian’s Australian politics podcast, warning that an “absence of consensus” in the US and a “clear plan” in Australia could see it miss out.

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Daniel Andrews returns from media-free China trip as opposition vows to pursue unanswered questions

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Victorian premier reveals it was his decision not to invite media on his four-day mission to China

The Victorian premier Daniel Andrews says it was his decision not to invite journalists or key stakeholders on his four-day trip to China and has batted off criticism he had failed to be transparent about the visit.

Andrews this week became the first Australian leader to travel to China since the start of the pandemic and the announcement of the Aukus defence pact, visiting Beijing, Jiangsu and Sichuan before returning on Saturday.

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Vast Aukus spending sparks calls to boost Australia’s aid budget

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Country gives just $1 in assistance for every $10 that goes to defence, humanitarian groups say

The huge Aukus price tag has sparked calls to boost aid funding, with the sector lobbying the Australian government not to dismiss such measures as an optional “luxury”.

The nuclear-powered submarine program is forecast to cost between $268bn and $368bn by the mid 2050s, most of it beyond the first four-year budget period.

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Daniel Duggan: investigation launched into imprisonment of Australian accused of training Chinese pilots

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Duggan is fighting a US extradition request from prison, over allegations he trained Chinese aviators

Australia’s inspector general of intelligence and security has launched a formal investigation into the ongoing incarceration of Daniel Duggan, the Australian pilot fighting a US extradition request from prison, over allegations he trained Chinese aviators.

Duggan’s legal team has called for his extradition proceeding to be immediately abandoned. The 54-year-old has been incarcerated – much of it in isolation – for 157 days since being arrested in Orange in New South Wales last October.

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Greens attack Albanese government’s ‘deeply unsettling’ secrecy on submarine nuclear waste plans

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Radiation Health and Safety Advisory Council also warned against cloak of national security to ‘mask inadequate radiation safety protection’

Labor and the Coalition have been accused of taking a “deeply unsettling approach” to transparency around Aukus after the major parties blocked the publication of documents about nuclear safety and waste issues.

The government cited national security concerns when it rejected a Senate order to produce documents, including those about options to manage operational waste from the nuclear-powered submarine program.

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Australia politics live: Albanese condemns Nazi salutes at anti-trans rally after Dutton and Dreyfus clash in question time

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Follow the day’s politics

Jacqui Lambie expresses concerns over housing fund costing

Over on ABC RN Breakfast, Jacqui Lambie is speaking about what it would take for her and Tammy Tyrrell to vote for the housing fund.

We are worried about the $500m annual cap on disbursements to the fund because the way that we’re working out if you look at the next five years is that that that is only going to build it the amount of houses that you need to and I’m sorry, the house that you need to build is only is gonna end up about $80,000 per house. That’s the first problem that they have right now.

We are worried also with the inflation on what that $500m looks like in the next nine or 10 years. That’s your other issue. So we are concerned about that.

Yeah, I think obviously we’ve got to take the advice of our intelligence agencies. And that advice is becoming stronger and stronger. I think it’s unwise to have a TikTok account on your government held phone. We’ve got to understand the world we live in and the risk of having these phones as members of parliament, the privileged position we have, does pose to our national security. So I think it is important that the government takes that advice and if that’s the advice we should act swiftly on it. I would be very disappointed if any members of my National party didn’t adhere to any advice given by a security agency on social media, particularly TikTok.

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Labor’s opposition to Iraq war ‘vindicated’, Richard Marles says

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Defence minister says any decision to engage in armed conflict should be better debated and scrutinised

Richard Marles says opponents of the Iraq war have been vindicated, prompting fresh calls from campaigners to reform the Australian government’s war powers to prevent a repeat.

The defence minister, who is awaiting a report from a parliamentary inquiry into how the nation decides to engage in armed conflict, said such deployments were among the most significant any government could make.

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‘Path of error and danger’: China angry and confused over Aukus deal

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Deal is designed to counter perceived threat from Beijing but analysts in China say it could push region closer to conflict

When the UK, the US and Australia announced the details of their multibillion-dollar deal to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines on Monday, the reaction in China was both outrage and confusion.

The allies were “walking further and further down the path of error and danger”, said Wang Wenbin, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, on Tuesday. The Chinese mission to the UN accused the three countries of fuelling an arms race.

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Myer to close flagship Brisbane store – as it happened

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Turnbull concerned about UK economic situation

Malcolm Turnbull rounded out his concerns there with one shared with Paul Keating – although the language he used was a little more moderated than the former Labor PM is famous for.

The bottom line is their economy is sick. It’s got fundamental, sort of existential problems. And you’ve got to ask yourself, whether Britain is going to be able to sustain investment in its navy and its military in the years ahead, given this huge demand that they’ve got elsewhere, not least the National Health Service.

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Chinese official asks if Australia’s Aukus nuclear submarines intended for ‘sightseeing’

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Multiple sources present confirm the remark was made, but it is unclear if it was made sarcastically

A Chinese embassy official asked Australian officials during an Aukus briefing whether the nuclear-powered submarines were intended for “sightseeing”, according to multiple sources.

Guardian Australia understands several others in the room found the intervention curious, because the Australian government has made no secret of the fact the nuclear-powered submarines are to be used by the Royal Australian Navy.

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Australia seeks talks with global nuclear watchdog to allay Aukus fears

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Government has promised not to enrich uranium or reprocess spent fuel as part of the nuclear-powered submarine program

The Albanese government has requested formal talks with the global nuclear watchdog to allay any concerns Aukus could lead to undeclared nuclear activities in Australia or the diversion of enriched uranium.

The government has also invited senior officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit Australia this year, attempting to head off a fresh campaign from China, which urged the body not to fall for “high-sounding rhetoric”.

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ABC staff to walk off job next week – as it happened

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Acting prime minister and defence minister Richard Marles has spoken to ABC News Breakfast this morning after the $368bn announcement of the Aukus deal yesterday.

In response to the reaction from China accusing Australia, the US and Britain of embarking on a “path of error and danger”, Marles defends making a decision that is in Australia’s national interest:

We are seeking to acquire this capability to make our contribution to the collective security of the region and the maintenance of the global rules-based order.

And one of the issues within our region we are witnessing the largest conventional military build-up that the world has seen since the end of the second world war. And it’s not Australia who is doing that, but that shapes the world in which we live.

We’re completely confident these are in complete compliance with non proliferation.

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