Julian Assange has stepped foot on Australian soil, bringing to an abrupt end a bitter and protracted legal saga lasting more than a decade that centred on the release of hundreds of thousands of classified and unfiltered US state department documents. Touching down at Canberra airport on Wednesday evening atContinue Reading
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong has indicated the federal government is considering recognising Palestinian statehood, which would help “build momentum towards a two-state solution” with Israel. The government’s criticism of Israel has increased recently as violence escalated in Gaza, with former ADF chief Mark Binskin appointed to scrutinise Israel’s investigationContinue Reading
Penny Wong has made one of her strongest statements yet on the ongoing war in Gaza, declaring a planned Israeli ground offensive in Rafah would be “unjustifiable” and urged the Jewish state to “not go down this path”. “The world is watching,” the Foreign Minister warned Israel in a statementContinue Reading
Australia’s revolving door of prime ministers has returned with three of the nation’s senior political leaders holding the top job in as many days. With Prime Minister Anthony Albanese departing on Wednesday to attend a high-level Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering in San Francisco, the role was passed on toContinue Reading
The Albanese government must “remain clear-eyed” about China, the Coalition has warned, despite the Prime Minister’s meeting with Xi Jinping in Beijing marking a significant thawing in the relationship. Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Mr Xi marks the first time an Australian prime minister has visited China in seven years, andContinue Reading
More than 9000 people have thrown their support around the Jewish community at a vigil following the weekend’s shock attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas. Local Dover Heights woman Cindy S, who attended the event with her daughter and cousin Danny S, said she wanted her daughter toContinue Reading
Australia will lose respect among its Pacific neighbours in the “inconceivable” scenario that the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum fails, according to a Fijian MP. “Respect for Australia in the Pacific will be elevated by a positive Yes vote,” former Fijian Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu wrote on X. “It isContinue Reading
Has Beijing snared itself in its own debt trap? The lure of cheap cash has bought it diplomatic support and access to ports across Africa, Asia and the Pacific. But now those nations are struggling to meet repayments. And someone still has to pay. “China is a loan shark withContinue Reading
Australia has slapped tough new sanctions on Iranian police and state media following the death of a young woman which triggered global outcry over the countries’ oppressive regime. Nearly one year after the death of Mahsa “Jina” Amini, the Albanese government has unveiled new sanctions and travel bans to targetContinue Reading
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has denied reports he has been officially invited to China. Earlier this week, The South China Morning Post cited both Chinese and Australian government sources in reporting President Xi Jinping’s government had extended an “in principle” invitation to visit Beijing. The article, published online on Tuesday,Continue Reading