At 10.45am on Wednesday 15 March, an explosive email landed in the inboxes of all of Anthony Albanese’s cabinet ministers. “Dear cabinet colleagues,” wrote Paul Keating, Labor luminary turned chief Aukus critic. “My views will not please the prime minister, the foreign minister nor the defence minister but the country is entitled to a rationale for such a radical and dangerous policy.” The purpose of the email was to forewarn ministers that he would be tipping a bucket on them – and the nuclear-powered submarine plan they had endorsed –…
Tag: Penny Wong
Australia ‘diminished’: Penny Wong’s frenetic mission to repair regional ties
A year ago, Penny Wong claimed the Coalition had “dropped the ball” in the Pacific. Now, as she marks one year as foreign affairs minister, Wong says Australia’s relationships across the region were in an even worse state than she initially believed. “The previous government did diminish Australia’s influence in the region – and the extent of that was greater than I had anticipated,” Wong says in an interview. That’s something she has been trying to rectify through extensive travel across the Pacific and south-east Asia, intended to make a…
Australia rethinks ‘quiet diplomacy’ tactic as Cheng Lei marks 1,000 days in Chinese detention
The Australian government is rethinking how to help citizens embroiled in “hostage diplomacy” as it marks the 1,000th day of the journalist Cheng Lei’s detention in China. The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, called for Cheng to be reunited with her children, saying the government shared “the deep concerns of her family and friends about the ongoing delays in her case”. Cheng remains in limbo after the verdict in a closed national security trial was delayed multiple times. Tuesday will be her 1,000th day in detention in China. The Department…
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…
Australian winemakers hopeful of breakthrough on $1.2bn China trade but still plan to diversify markets
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. The chief executive of Australian Grape and Wine, Lee McLean, said he hoped China’s promised review of the barley tariffs went well and could serve as a template for removing the imposts on…
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…
Chinese official asks if Australia’s Aukus nuclear submarines intended for ‘sightseeing’
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. The comment was made during a briefing held by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Wednesday at which dozens of representatives from other diplomatic missions were also present. It is…
‘Pretentious’, ‘hyperbolic’ and ‘irresponsible’: what was behind Nine newspapers’ Red Alert series?
It was one of the most alarming front-page stories in the nation’s history. Last week, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age splashed the first episode in a three-part series with the headline: “Australia faces the threat of war with China within three years – and we’re not ready.” The most likely cause of war, the articles said, was a Chinese invasion of Taiwan to which the US would respond. “The nature of the threat extends to the prospect of a full-scale war – and Australia would have to be…
‘Only one is paying. Our bloke’: Paul Keating attacks Labor leadership over Aukus deal – video
Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating savages his own party for signing up to the Aukus submarine deal. Keating calls the Aukus press event held in the US with Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak ‘kabuki theatre’. The former PM says one of the ‘principle problems’ of the deal is that ‘defence has overtaken foreign policy’. He goes on to attack the foreign minister, Penny Wong, saying, ‘running around the Pacific Islands with a lei around your neck handing out money, which is what Penny does, is not foreign policy’…
Australia news live: Victorian energy prices to jump almost a third as Bowen calls on Coalition to ‘look in the mirror’
From 1h ago Chris Bowen throws back to Coalition on energy price rises The energy minister is borrowing a turn of phrase out of Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech when asked about the Coalition’s suggestion that capping coal and gas prices will, in the longer run, increase prices. Chris Bowen: I invite the Coalition to have a look in the mirror. I mean, he had the independent energy regulator this morning pointing out that without the intervention, the price rises would have been closer to 50%. An intervention that Mr Dutton…