Guardian Australia’s political editor, Katharine Murphy, discusses her recent trip to China, Chinese-Australian diplomatic relations and Anthony Albanese’s viral Chinese social media nickname with Full Story host Laura Murphy-Oates How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know The Guardian
Tag: Australian politics
Albanese has threaded a needle between the US and China. Now he needs to do the same on Israel-Hamas at home | Katharine Murphy
It’s been a high octane few weeks for the Albanese government when it comes to managing complexity on the global stage. We’ll get to keeping the US engaged in the region, rapprochement in China, and managing climate change and security in the Pacific, shortly. But we need to start our story in Sydney, just over a month ago, at an event that felt like a high-water mark in the relationship between Australia’s federal government and the Islamic community. On 6 October, Anthony Albanese visited the Lakemba Mosque. The prime minister,…
Australia news live: Optus network goes down across nation; trains grind to a halt in Melbourne
<gu-island name="KeyEventsCarousel" priority="feature" deferuntil="visible" props="{"keyEvents":[{"id":"654a8bb38f08a667a2c26df5","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" Optus’ network is suffering a major, apparently national blackout this morning, leaving people unable to make calls. ","elementId":"d10f9e19-3c3a-4913-b0fe-040a6e830f67"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" The company’s website says: “Our engineers are currently investigating a network fault that is impacting Optus Mobile & Fixed customers.” ","elementId":"460898d4-4704-4aba-9fd8-b8f6c84db35b"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" On social media, people in multiple capital cities, from Sydney to Perth, are complaining about the outage. ","elementId":"a2dea91f-b047-4744-9157-77f2c8c27e8c"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" Their social media rep has replied, saying: “We’re aware of an issue impacting connections for some Optus mobile and fixed customers. We understand connectivity is important and are…
China and Australia agree to new multi-entry visa as Albanese touts improved relationship after thaw
Anthony Albanese is en route to the Pacific Islands Forum after executing a comprehensive diplomatic reset with China which includes an agreement to create a new multi-entry visa to facilitate exchanges and closer links between people. The new visa for visitors and business people was agreed at the conclusion of the Australian prime minister’s meetings with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and the premier, Li Qiang, in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Monday and Tuesday. In a joint statement released as Albanese left the country, the governments of…
‘Handsome boy’ Albanese may have managed to turn China’s iron fist into a velvet glove
Just before the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked interest rates, and Without A Fight stormed home in the Melbourne Cup, China’s premier, Li Qiang, adopted a flirtatious tone in Beijing with his guest Anthony Albanese. Tongue firmly in cheek, Li said to the Australian prime minister: “On our way into the hall, I shared with you that I see on social media of China … there are many sharing of short videos about your trip to China … including a video of you running along the river with a yellow…
Australia news live: Shorten labels Greens’ Senate walkout ‘political grandstanding’; Birmingham says Gaza child deaths a ‘terrible function of war’
From 39m ago Shorten labels Greens’ Senate walkout ‘political grandstanding’ Government services minister Bill Shorten has labelled the Greens decision to walk out of Senate question time yesterday as “political grandstanding”. Yesterday, the Greens stormed out of Senate question time to protest what they say is Albanese government inaction over the conflict in Gaza. You can read more from my colleague Paul Karp here: Speaking to the ABC just earlier, Shorten argued the Greens’ walk out doesn’t help “a single soul anywhere”: I think that is just political grand standing.…
Albanese in China: five things we learned from his talks with Xi Jinping
Anthony Albanese met China’s president Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday night. Here are five things that came up when the two leaders spoke for the first time on Chinese soil. Yang Hengjun The prime minister raised the plight of the Australian writer and democracy activist Yang Hengjun. Yang has been detained by China for almost five years. During the diplomatic thaw which played out in the run up to Monday’s meeting, China released the Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who had been detained…
Albanese and Wong evoke Whitlam in bid to defrost China relations
Australia’s relationship with China has been stuck in the bottom compartment of the diplomatic deep freezer since 2020. Given this, it seemed appropriate that Arctic weather heralded the arrival of Anthony Albanese to the Temple of Heaven on Monday morning. When I say Arctic weather, it was cold enough to snap-freeze extremities. The wind ripped across the World Heritage site, sand-blasting rows of ceremonial chrysanthemums and threatening to upend a prime ministerial lectern. One Australian reporter, minus a coat, enfolded himself in bubble wrap to try and maintain some body…
Albanese China trip: PM stops short of saying he trusts Xi but points to ‘promising signs’ with Beijing
Anthony Albanese has stopped short of saying he trusts the Chinese president but says he’s convinced he is building a constructive relationship with Xi Jinping. Ahead of Albanese’s first meeting with Xi on Chinese soil – the first engagement at that level since 2016 – reporters asked the prime minister on Monday whether he was convinced he could trust the Chinese president. During his recent state visit to Washington, the US president, Joe Biden, advised Australia’s prime minister to trust China “but verify” during this attempted rapprochement. This was in…
Australia news live: Westpac profit surges to $7.2bn despite ‘increase in stress’ for customers
From 30m ago Westpac rewards shareholders after profit surges to $7.2bn Jonathan Barrett Westpac has recorded a 26% lift in annual net profit to $7.2bn after profiting from increased margins on its home and business loan books amid rising interest rates. The bank’s CEO, Peter King, said the result was pleasing and that shareholders would be rewarded with a $1.5bn buyback. He said there had been a “modest increase in stress” among customers due to rising interest rates and elevated inflation. Our mortgage portfolio, which is our largest, is demonstrating…