Last weekend, the astroturf body Advance Australia held its first national conference in Darling Harbour. Contrary to its theme, “evolve”, what leaked recordings of the speeches reveal is that Advance wants to return Australians to a mythical past. At a time when Australian politicians and certain members of the commentariat are lecturing us about “social cohesion”, Advance’s messaging was a reminder that our definition of hate speech often depends a lot on who does the speaking. Throughout the different talks came a consistent and clear message: the west is in…
Tag: Tony Abbott
Government prepared for backlash before Tony Abbott’s Taiwan trip made public, FoI documents reveal
Australian officials prepared talking points to help the government respond to sensitive questions about Tony Abbott’s trip to Taiwan, dismissing any suggestion the former prime minister’s visit represented a policy shift. Documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal the Australian government was drafting its responses to potential media questions at least a week and a half before news broke of the former prime minister’s travel to Taiwan. Abbott’s visit in October triggered a diplomatic protest from Beijing, after he raised fears that the Chinese government “could lash out disastrously very soon”…
Australia wants deeper energy ties to help Taiwan decarbonise, amid China tensions
The Australian government says it wants to help Taiwan decarbonise its economy, flagging this as the next area of cooperation with the democratically ruled island, amid ongoing tensions with China. The trade minister, Dan Tehan, said he saw “real opportunities” to deepen energy ties with Taiwan, while arguing there was bipartisan recognition in Australia of “the greater assertiveness that we’re seeing from China”. Tehan also confirmed he had been aware of the former prime minister Tony Abbott’s plan to travel to Taiwan prior to his departure, but reiterated that “all…