Anthony Albanese may be humming Paul Kelly and Powderfinger when his plane lands back in Australia from China on Friday. After more than two hours of talks with the country’s president, Xi Jinping, a series of successful business events, and a retracing of Gough Whitlam’s steps at the Great Wall, the prime minister is likely to view his six-day visit as a diplomatic home run. A trip designed to capitalise on the increasingly warm relations between Beijing and Canberra showed all signs of success, with a special lunch organised to…
Tag: Australian politics
Pentagon wants to make Aukus work but some stakeholders have ‘serious concerns’, senior US defence official says
Some US military stakeholders have “very serious concerns” about the Aukus arrangement but the Pentagon wants “to make this thing work”, a senior American defence official says. While they say a review of the nuclear submarine pact is being undertaken in good faith, it will not be completed within 30 days, as initially anticipated. Still, Washington is sticking to its request for Australia to give “a clear sense” of how it would respond militarily, including with the Aukus submarines, to future conflicts. While Anthony Albanese declares the Australian government wants…
Australia news live: Albanese to raise concerns over Chinese steel dumping; Grace Kim wins golf major in miraculous finish
From 43m ago Albanese to raise concerns over Chinese steel dumping at roundtable Anthony Albanese will raise Australian concerns over Chinese steel dumping as he urges industry leaders from both nations to work together to develop low-carbon steel production methods, AAP reports. At a roundtable of Australian iron ore producers and Chinese steelmakers in Shanghai on Monday, Albanese will call on China to address an oversupply of steel in the global market. ‘It is in both countries’ interests to ensure a sustainable and market-driven global steel sector,’ the PM will…
Rare earths: how these critical minerals impact Australian industry and global politics – video
What do tariffs, Australian mining, geopolitics and the trade war between China and the US have to do with tiny magnets made from rare earth minerals like yttrium and scandium? Guardian Australia’s Matilda Boseley explains China has a stranglehold on the world’s rare-earths supply chain. Can Australia break it? Commonwealth to invest a further $200m in rare earth mining project backed by Gina Rinehart Continue reading… The Guardian
Albanese heads to China as Trump upends the global order. The PM may wish he lived in less interesting times | Tom McIlroy
Anthony Albanese watched on from the opposition benches when Xi Jinping addressed a joint sitting of federal parliament back in 2014. In Australia for the G20 summit, and hosted by Tony Abbott, China’s president told MPs he had visited the country five times over 30 years, spending time in every state and territory. Xi said the friendship between Australia and China would be as “strong and everlasting” as Uluru and the Great Wall of China. As he prepares to meet Xi later this month, Albanese may be forgiven for wishing…
‘It’s not Chinese assistance’: Australia accuses China of taking undue credit for aid projects in the Pacific
China is bolstering its geo-political influence in the Pacific by “branding” Asian Development Bank projects – funded in significant part by Australian taxpayer dollars – as Chinese projects, the Australian government says. On the island of Bougainville, an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea to Australia’s north, the state-owned China Railway Construction Corporation has begun work to strengthen the runway at Kieta-Aropa, on the outskirts of the largest city. When the government of Bougainville announced the upgrade of the airport, there was no mention of the Asian Development Bank –…
‘We’ll determine our defence policy’: Albanese responds to US push for huge rise in spending as it stokes China fears
Anthony Albanese has responded to the United States’ calls for a huge rise in defence spending amid fears about China, while hitting back at Donald Trump’s move to double tariffs on steel and aluminium. On Saturday Pete Hegseth urged US allies in the region, including Australia, to “share the burden” and lift defence spending to 5% of GDP, warning that “Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific”. “There’s no reason to sugar coat it,” he said. “The threat China…
Has the Liberal party lost Chinese Australian voters for good? – video
After two thumping election loses, the Liberal party has a lot of soul-searching to do if it wants to regain government, especially with Chinese Australian communities. In its post-2022 election review, the party admitted more work needed to be done to win votes with Chinese Australians after electorates with significant communities all voted against the Liberal party at a higher rate than others. So why was the drubbing repeated in 2025? The Guardian
Hedging our bets: the existential questions facing Australia’s next government in unpredictable times
The world is a more dangerous place. Global conflicts have doubled over the past five years, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (Acled). In 2024 alone, one person in eight across the world was exposed to conflict: political violence increased by a quarter, by factors worse in countries that held elections. Australian political leaders of all stripes couch it in shared aphorism: the most “challenging strategic circumstances since WWII”. Violence, of course, never went away. It ebbed in some periods, but the myth of the triumph of liberal…
Why Chinese Australian voters could be key in a close race between teals and Liberals
Bradfield in Sydney’s affluent north shore is shaping up as the scene of one of the federal election’s most fiercely fought teal v Liberal battles. Nicolette Boele, a community independent, is taking on the star Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian. It’s Boele’s second shot at winning the seat, having run against the Liberal MP, Paul Fletcher – who is now retiring – and reducing his margin to just 4.2%. In a contest this tight every vote matters. That’s why the decision by another independent, Andy Yin, a former Liberal party insider,…