カテゴリー: Australian politics
Australian citizen, potentially facing the death penalty on an espionage charge, begs PM to ‘please help me’Scott Morrison has called China’s allegation that an Australian writer detained in Beijing is a spy “absolutely untrue” after Yang Hengjun issue…
Marise Payne says arrest on spying charges does not appear to be retribution for any Australian policies to BeijingAustralia will continue to press for Yang Hengjun’s release, despite the Chinese government demanding Canberra stop interfering in the hi…
Canberra must tread cautiously amid the political instability, the peak union body tells a parliamentary committeeThe peak union body has urged the Morrison government to delay ratifying a free trade deal with Hong Kong amid human rights abuses and a v…
Aingimea takes office as Australia attempts to repeal medevac laws and Nauru accused of blocking medical care to refugeesNauru’s new president, Lionel Aingimea, says he will be like a “father of the nation”, guiding and protecting the South Pacific isl…
Medecins Sans Frontieres accuses Nauru of breaching medical ethicsA 36-year-old Pakistani refugee has been hospitalised after he set himself alight on Nauru on Friday.This comes amid warnings the government’s attempts to repeal the medevac laws could h…
Scott Morrison should bring strong climate commitments to next year’s forum to avoid a repeat of this year’s summitLast week at the close of the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu I described the leaders’ discussions as frank and fierce. It is now well-kn…
PM Enele Sopoaga responds to Michael McCormack’s belief that Pacific islands will survive climate crisis because they ‘pick our fruit’The prime minister of Tuvalu is considering pulling his country out of Australia’s seasonal worker program, after comm…
Exclusive: Frank Bainimarama says Australian leader is pushing nations towards ChinaScott Morrison has been accused of causing an extraordinary rift between Australia and Pacific countries by the prime minister of Fiji, who said the Australian prime mi…
Analysts say Kyoto credits being used to back out of promised cuts as Tuvalu’s PM calls Australia’s $500m pledge an immoral ploy to quell debate Australia has been accused of using a loophole to back out of a promised emissions cut nearly eight times g…
The government says money will fund new infrastructure but do climate investments like this work?The Morrison government has committed to spend $500m on climate change and disaster resilience in the Pacific.The announcement – on top of an existing comm…
Pacific leaders say they need more than money from Australia as they demand concrete actions to reduce emissionsScott Morrison will unveil a $500m climate change and oceans funding package for the Pacific region when he attends the Pacific Islands Foru…
Breakaway leader Benny Wenda will use meeting in Tuvalu to push for UN vote on Jakarta’s control of province Human rights violations and political independence in West Papua are set to command debate at this week’s Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), where Pa…
Embassy accuses MP of having a ‘Cold-War mentality’ after he said rise of China was putting Australia’s sovereignty at risk China has said it “strongly deplores” comments by the Liberal MP Andrew Hastie comparing the west’s attitude to China to France’…
US secretary of state dismisses warning by top security analyst, arguing ‘you can sell your soul for a pile of soy beans or you can protect your people’The US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has declared “you can sell your soul for a pile of soy beans, …
Mike Pompeo hails ‘unbreakable’ relationship between Washington and Canberra as he urges Australia to join coalition to protect shipping in the Gulf Australia’s defence minister Linda Reynolds says the Morrison government is giving “very serious consid…