The Australian government is resisting issuing a ban on WeChat on government devices despite many government departments instituting their own bans after the TikTok edict earlier this month. TikTok was banned from government devices in early April over data collection and security concerns connected to the Chinese government. The move followed a review by the home affairs department which examined a range of social media platforms, but TikTok was the only app singled out for an immediate ban. At the time TikTok was banned, dozens of federal departments had already…
Tag: Australian politics
Australia’s plan to confront the changing face of warfare – podcast
The defence strategic review has found that the Australian defence force is ‘not fully fit for purpose’ and recommended projecting military power further from its shores. Foreign affairs and defence correspondent Daniel Hurst talks to Jane Lee about the future of the ADF How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know The Guardian
Australia’s defence force is expected to get its biggest overhaul in decades. Here’s what we know so far
Australia’s national security environment is about to get a major shake-up. The defence strategic review ordered by the Albanese government – and what the government plans to do about it – will be publicly released on Monday in what is being touted as the biggest defence overhaul in nearly four decades. Ordered just 73 days into the Albanese government, the review was conducted by the former chief of defence Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston AK AFC and former Labor defence minister Prof Stephen Smith. They handed their completed review…
War of words: Australia can expect a hostile response from China to strategic defence review
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”. “Clearly, our circumstances have changed dramatically over the recent past.…
Chinese-Australians face fewer racist insults than at height of diplomatic tensions with Beijing, survey finds
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. But this figure of 21% was four points lower than the result in the same survey in 2021, and down 10 points from 31% in 2020, when the diplomatic rift between the Chinese and Australian governments was most stark.…
Penny Wong and Paul Keating spar as minister warns against ‘frenzied’ Taiwan war speculation
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. Wong hit back at the former Labor prime minister, who ridiculed the minister for “running around the Pacific islands with a lei around [her] neck…
Australia’s trade minister hopeful China bans will end but warns against putting ‘all our eggs in one basket’
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”. But he said Australia had agreed to hit pause on that World Trade Organization dispute because “even a positive finding in our favour would still have meant…
Australia aims to boost critical minerals processing to hedge against China’s dominance
Australia needs to develop processing capabilities that would hedge against China’s dominant position over minerals crucial to clean energy and defence technologies, the resources minister, Madeleine King, said on Thursday. Speaking to a Darwin audience that included key allies and trading partners, King said the concentration of the critical minerals market in China posed a strategic challenge to Australia. “Working together, like-minded partners can build new, diverse, resilient and sustainable supply chains as part of a global hedge against concentration,” King said at an event organised by the Australian Strategic…
Australia news live: total fire bans in parts of Victoria, NSW and SA amid autumn heat blast
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Aukus isn’t enough to secure the region’s prosperity – there is still much more work to done | James Laurenceson
With the announcement of an “optimal pathway” for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines now behind us, there’s no sign of Beijing changing its approach to the bilateral relationship: much grumbling about Aukus but not much else. This was the expectation ahead of the announcement. Last year, Canberra and Beijing agreed to re-engage in full awareness of their differences – even “disputes”, the Chinese ambassador remarked – but also accept that these should not stop the two sides pursuing areas of mutual benefit. The diplomacy of the Albanese government, which turned…