The head of the theatre hosting the Shen Yun dance troupe in Sydney says the company would not be intimidated to pull the shows by any “outrageous” anonymous threats and that the publicity had increased interest in the show. On Monday, the Gold Coast venue for the Shen Yun performances was forced to evacuate after a bomb threat, with a similar threat forcing the evacuation of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s official residence, The Lodge, in Canberra the next day. Graeme Kearns, the chief executive of Foundation Theatres – the operator…
Tag: Anthony Albanese
What is Shen Yun – the Chinese dance troupe that received a bomb threat causing the evacuation of the Lodge?
Yesterday’s evacuation of the prime minister from the Lodge has been linked to the Chinese dance troupe Shen Yun. In a bomb threat emailed to the group, the sender said explosives would be detonated if Australian performances by Shen Yun proceeded. This is just the latest controversy surrounding Shen Yun. But this use of a security threat as a prop to achieve other goals exposes a deeper and increasingly consequential struggle over culture, representation and political voice in the transnational Chinese world. At stake is not a dance performance, but…
Trump, tech barons and a title-less Andrew: how well do you remember 2025? – quiz
<gu-island name="KnowledgeQuizAtom" priority="critical" deferuntil="visible" props="{"id":"75bfad1e-dbaf-4e95-b266-c3bccb09a1ea","questions":[{"id":"fbdcaee2-e8f7-4531-9eeb-6190273386af","text":"Which of these is a real question from an actual supposed journalist in the Oval Office during the Trump/Zelenskyy meeting/ambush in February?","answers":[{"id":"b9118429-13c3-46f9-bd35-59600062cbf2","text":"“Do you own a suit?”","revealText":"Brian Glenn, chief White House correspondent for the conservative cable network Real America’s Voice (and boyfriend of Marjorie Taylor Greene), joined the pile-on on Zelenskyy by asking the Ukrainian president: “Why don’t you wear a suit? You’re at the highest level in this country’s office, and you refuse to wear a suit … Do you own a suit? … A lot of Americans…
Albanese’s critical minerals deal isn’t good economics – but in Trump and Xi’s new world, bargaining chips matter
Anthony Albanese has struck a multi-billion dollar deal with Donald Trump to develop critical minerals projects in Australia that will never be commercially viable. When it’s laid out like that, it very much sounds like our prime minister fell victim to the president’s “art of the deal”. But we are in a new world where the national value of our critical minerals extends beyond economics, experts say. “This is a really significant deal, and I’m surprised how good it is,” says Hayley Channer, the director of the economic security program…
Australia and the US have signed a critical minerals deal to take on China’s monopoly. Here’s what you need to know
1. Albanese named two ‘priority projects’ in Australia The Australian prime minister specifically referred to two “priority projects”, one by Alcoa and the other by Arufura Rare Earths, that will get an injection of capital from the government as part of a broader list. The first is a proposed gallium plant in Western Australia, to be co-located at one of Alcoa’s alumina refineries. Gallium is a strategic mineral vital for modern technologies like military equipment – including in advanced electronic warfare systems such as missile guidance technology and radar. The…
PNG to provide troops to Australia under first new alliance since Anzus
Australia will elevate its relations with Papua New Guinea to the same level as the US and New Zealand, with a major defence treaty set to be signed as soon as next week. Delayed last month due to political complications within the PNG government, the new treaty won approval from prime minister James Marape’s cabinet ministers on Wednesday night. The Pukpuk mutual defence treaty will establish Australia’s first new alliance since the Anzus agreement was signed in 1951. Pukpuk will require both countries to come to the aid of the…
Anthony Albanese fails to seal defence treaty between Australia and PNG
Anthony Albanese’s strategy of pushing back against China in the Pacific has been dealt another blow, with a major defence treaty with Papua New Guinea delayed amid concerns about sovereignty. A deal was expected with the former Australian colony this week but the prime minister is set to leave Port Moresby without signing the so-called Pukpuk mutual defence treaty with his counterpart, James Marape, on Wednesday. Albanese downplayed the delay earlier this week, suggesting cabinet deliberations had been held up due to commemorations of PNG’s independence. Instead the two governments…
Australia-PNG defence treaty: countries to agree to defend each other from military attack as China’s Pacific influence grows
Australia and Papua New Guinea will agree to defend each other in the event of a military attack, part of a landmark defence agreement due to be signed on the sidelines of celebrations to commemorate the country’s independence this week. Anthony Albanese and PNG’s defence minister, Billy Joseph, both downplayed a delay to the deal being formalised, insisting the plan known as a Pukpuk treaty won’t affect sovereignty in the former Australian colony. Designed to push back against China’s expansionist attitude to Pacific countries, the deal is the latest negotiated…
Albanese went to Vanuatu to sign a $500m agreement – but leaves empty-handed thanks to concerns about China
The federal government is racing to save a major new agreement with Vanuatu, after Anthony Albanese’s plans to sign the deal were rebuffed over concerns about infrastructure funding from China. Speaking alongside Vanuatu’s prime minister, Jotham Napat, on Tuesday, Albanese said he was confident the Nakamal agreement will be “able to be signed soon”, talking up cooperation and proper process with Vanuatu’s governing coalition. The Australian prime minister travelled to Port Vila before this week’s Pacific Islands Forum, hoping to sign the agreement, which would see Australia spend up to…
Scott Morrison to testify before US House panel on China
The former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison will testify at a US House panel hearing next week about countering China’s “economic coercion against democracies,” the committee said on Friday. Rahm Emanuel, the former US ambassador to Japan, will also testify before the House select committee on China. Relations with China, already rocky after Australia banned Huawei from its 5G broadband network in 2018, cooled further in 2020 after the Morrison government called for an independent investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 virus. China responded by imposing tariffs on Australian…