Australia politics live: Brandis says Rudd must have bipartisan support as ambassador despite Trump comments; Joyce says Rudd is ‘cooked’

From 23m ago Brandis says Rudd must have bipartisan support as ambassador despite Trump’s ‘wild’ comments The former UK ambassador and Coalition minister George Brandis is speaking to ABC radio and he is being very critical of his former colleagues over the Kevin Rudd mini storm, sparked by Donald Trump’s comments. Brandis says the resulting storm has all been a bit much: I think this has been rather overinterpreted. Donald Trump is infamous for making rather wild and off-the-cuff claims that don’t in the end amount to very much, so…

Chris Bowen defends Paul Keating’s meeting with Chinese foreign minister – video

Energy minister Chris Bowen has defended the former Labor prime minister’s plans to meet with China’s Wang Yi, saying it is ‘singularly unsurprising’ that a foreign minister would seek out a meeting with a former PM. ‘Former prime minister Keating is deeply respected across Asia as the man who first pointed out that Australia would seek its security in Asia, not from Asia,’ Bowen said The Guardian

Australia politics live: Coalition slams Keating for China meeting; RBA tipped to hold rates

From 1h ago Coalition slams Keating for China meeting Daniel Hurst The Coalition has taken aim at former prime minister Paul Keating for accepting a meeting with the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, who is visiting Australia later this week. The Coalition’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Simon Birmingham, said the idea of the meeting was “pointed and somewhat insulting” in light of the extent of Keating’s past commentary directed towards the Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong: Paul Keating’s reckless and irresponsible comments since the Albanese government was elected demonstrates an underlying…

Australia news live: Albanese hails ‘significant progress’ in Pacific diplomacy; Australia not named as part of Red Sea task force

From 45m ago Australia not among nations named in Red Sea task force The US defense secretary has announced a new multinational operation to safeguard commerce in the Red Sea as attacks by Iran-backed Yemeni militants forced major shipping companies to reroute, stoking fears of sustained disruptions to global trade. Lloyd Austin, who is on a trip to Bahrain, home to the US navy’s headquarters in the Middle East, said Britain, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain would be involved in the Red Sea security operation.…

News live: Marles will ‘make right decision in Australia’s interest’ over deploying navy vessels to Red Sea, Farrell says

From 5h ago Sarah Basford Canales Marles will ‘make right decision in Australia’s interest’ over deploying navy vessels to Red Sea Earlier this morning, trade minister Don Farrell left open the possibility Australia could deploy navy vessels to the Red Sea amid ongoing attacks against commercial shipping from Iran-backed militia. This week the US asked Australia to send a warship to the region as part of its duties as a member of the international naval security taskforce, the combined maritime forces. It comes as the Yemen-based and Iran-backed Houthis warned…

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 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…

Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Xi is a step towards rebuilding trust between China and Australia – but can it last?

Anthony Albanese’s trip to China – the first by an Australian prime minister since Malcolm Turnbull’s in 2016 – has become a symbol of his effort to stabilise Australia’s relationship with China. In the lead-up to the trip, we saw progress on many of the frictions left over from the Morrison years. Such a quick turnaround in bilateral relations is a credit to the Albanese government. But can this stabilisation endure and overcome many challenges to come? One of the biggest long-term risks to a stable bilateral relationship are the…

Australia news live: fires in Queensland and NSW threaten homes amid strong winds, high temperatures

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Australia politics live: Marles warns of risks in ‘grave’ China clash; the ‘fables’ spread by the no campaign

<gu-island name="KeyEventsCarousel" priority="feature" deferuntil="visible" props="{"keyEvents":[{"id":"65303b038f0858f6e93c8a63","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" Thank you to Martin for getting us started this morning – you have Amy Remeikis with you now for the last parliament sitting this week. ","elementId":"ebcf54b3-a0ce-4923-b31d-e1c0f7500109"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" The Canberra team will be with you very soon – that’s Katharine Murphy, Daniel Hurst, Paul Karp, Sarah Basford Canales and Josh Butler. ","elementId":"bad8faa1-da8c-454c-ada9-dbf882f4feeb"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" You’ll also be treated to some Mike Bowers magic and be kept up to date by the entire Guardian brains trust. ","elementId":"68adaa37-1b17-41c2-9f94-cbefc32f353e"},{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":" It’s a three-coffee morning so far. Hope your Thursday (always the worst day…