From 54m ago Australia and NZ to coordinate on electric vehicle fleet Royce Kurmelovs Australia will coordinate with New Zealand when it comes to procuring electric vehicles for its government fleet. Prime minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement on Friday when discussing opportunities for trans-Tasman collaboration in the area of renewable energy. Albanese said: If we are all competing against each other for procurement at the same time, we will end up paying more for it but not if there is cooperation between Australia and New Zealand. The PM went…
Tag: Penny Wong
Penny Wong says she is open to meeting with Chinese counterpart at G20
Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, has signalled she is open to meeting her Chinese counterpart at a looming meeting of G20 foreign ministers, but she has warned any diplomatic thaw will require the removal of Beijing’s “coercive” trade sanctions against a variety of exports. Wong was asked during a visit to Singapore on Wednesday to disclose whether or not arrangements were now in place for a conversation at the G20 meeting in Indonesia later this week – and if so, what her message would be to China’s Wang Yi. Australia’s…
Australian trade minister offers ‘compromise’ with China over anti-dumping tariffs
Australia’s trade minister has extended an olive branch to China, suggesting a “compromise situation” or “alternative way” to settle trade disputes might emerge in talks between the two countries. Don Farrell made the comments in an interview with Guardian Australia hailing “positive signs” in Australia’s relationship with China, including the foreign minister, Penny Wong, planning to meet her counterpart, and China’s consent to a trade dispute appeal process. Since the Albanese government was elected in May, Australia and China have reopened lines of communication including the deputy prime minister, Richard…
Australia news live: NSW flood warnings; Sydney train strike delays; at least 27 Covid deaths recorded
From 5h ago NSW rail union pushes ahead with industrial action Sydney commuters are in for a “very messy day” as the NSW rail union pushes ahead with industrial action that will take out 70% of the train fleet, AAP reports. The Rail, Tram and Bus Union has been locked in long-running stoush with the Perrottet government over a new Korean-made Intercity fleet, which it says is unsafe. While the government has signalled it could be prepared to spend $264m to modify the fleet, the union says it has refused…
‘Things aren’t going back’: Australia braces for step-up in China’s Pacific push
The Australian government is bracing for China to step up its push to expand influence in the Pacific, with a senior figure privately conceding Canberra has a lot of work to do to regain lost trust and strengthen regional unity. Despite initial relief at a decision by Pacific island countries to defer a sweeping 10-country security and economic pact proposed by China, the Australian government now believes this may be only a temporary reprieve. “Things aren’t going back to the way they were,” said a senior Australian government figure who…
After the freeze: can Australia and China rekindle relations?
Australia and China’s defence ministers have met in person for the first time since China froze its communications with high-level Australian politicians in early 2020. Foreign affairs and defence correspondent Daniel Hurst speaks with Jane Lee about the key tensions that remain unresolved between the two countries now that the freeze is over. How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know The Guardian
Thaw or cold war: will Labor succeed in unfreezing Australia-China relations?
After the end of a two-year diplomatic freeze between China and Australia, the new Albanese government is embarking on a grand experiment: is a different tone enough to get the relationship on a better footing? Gone are Peter Dutton’s blunt declarations that Beijing wants to turn countries like Australia into tributary states, as is the prediction Australia would almost certainly join any US-led military action to defend Taiwan against invasion. Anthony Albanese’s government has reverted to Australia’s long-standing bipartisan position against any unilateral changes to the status quo. At the…
Cabinet committee blocked plan to double Australia’s support to Pacific, election-eve leak reveals
The Morrison government has been hit by an election-eve leak that cabinet’s national security committee blocked a proposal by the foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, to double Australia’s support to the Pacific. Labor said the “extraordinary” pre-election leak, first reported by the Australian newspaper, showed the government was “falling apart”, while Scott Morrison insisted the committee was “extremely tight”. The revelation was expected to trigger renewed debate about the government’s Pacific policy in the wake of China signing a security deal with Solomon Islands. Guardian Australia has confirmed that the…
Solomon Islands-China pact is worst policy failure in Pacific since 1945, Labor says
Labor has lashed the Coalition in the wake of the newly signed security agreement between China and Solomon Islands, branding it “the worst Australian foreign policy blunder in the Pacific” in decades. The Coalition government sounded the alarm over the deal, arguing the pact has been negotiated in secret and could “undermine stability in our region”. The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, and the minister for the Pacific, Zed Seselja, said they were “deeply disappointed” by the deal, and would “seek further clarity on the terms of the agreement, and…
Penny Wong says better relationship with China possible if Coalition stops ‘playing politics’
Labor’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Penny Wong, says it may be possible for Australia to achieve a diplomatic thaw with China despite the substantial differences between the two countries – if Scott Morrison abandons his “desperate” pre-election weaponisation of national security. The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, this week met China’s new ambassador to Australia who has made several overtures for dialogue since arriving in Canberra in January. Subsequently, the shadow minister told the Guardian’s Australian Politics podcast that diplomatic engagement was important. Wong said if Labor won the federal election…