G7: Australia considering EU request for formal defence partnership
He is set to hold his first face-to-face meeting with US president Donald Trump.
Albanese's ministers will consider a request from the EU for a formal defence partnership. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will task senior ministers to move forward on consideration of the request from the European Union to create a formal security and defence partnership. The invitation was extended by EU President Ursula von der Leyen during talks with Albanese in Rome in May. Albanese has asked Foreign Minister Penny Wong and deputy prime minister Richard Marles to take the work further. Trade Minister Don Farrell told SBS News earlier this month that officials had been dispatched to Brussels to begin formal conversations about the defence and security proposal.
Albanese told reporters in Calgary at the Canadian G7 Summit that he would meet with von der Leyen in the coming days. "One of the things that I've said consistently is that we invest in our capability and we invest in our relationships. The two things are important," he said. "An investment in our relationships can produce very effective outcomes economically as well." Albanese met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and said the two countries shared similar views on climate change and the impact it is having on both countries.
Albanese spoke about recent wildfires in Canada. "Just as Canada has always helped Australia, there were over 200 Canadian firefighters in Australia during that terrible period of 2019-2020. And we share resources," he said. "Increasingly, the impact of climate change means that our seasons are overlapping, so that's becoming more and more difficult. "But it is possible as well that we learn off each other and our firefighters respectively get skills to then be able to implement back in our respective home countries." Albanese is expected to hold his first face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 meeting.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AU Financial Review
18 minutes ago
- AU Financial Review
Daniel Mookhey is not a treasurer from central casting
Chatkazz, Harris Park, has a rich political pedigree. The vegetarian Indian restaurant was visited by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after it received a shoutout from his visiting Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, in 2023.
SBS Australia
18 minutes ago
- SBS Australia
Security camera set for childcare centres
Security cameras are set to be trialled at 300 childcare centres across Australia, in response to the safety crisis that has hit the industry. Education ministers from around the country have met in Sydney today to try and put in place solutions, after several cases of alleged child abuse in childcare centres. Some centres will be made to install security cameras, whilst others can volunteer to do so. Cameras can be put in everywhere in a centre except toilets and change areas. The federal government is proposing to put in 189 million dollars for various improvements, and wants a national childcare worker register. Federal Education Minister Jason Clare says all levels of government need to work together to effectively protect children. "We only get this done if we work together, if we all step up. The Australian government's got to step up. The states and territories have got to step up. Regulators have got to step up." Australia has joined allies in rebuking Israel over its plan to build illegal settlements in the West Bank, as the diplomatic stoush between the two nations deepens. Foreign Minister Penny Wong has released a joint statement - alongside her counterparts from 20 countries, including Canada, Italy, Japan and the UK - calling on Israel to immediately reverse its decision to construct 3400 homes in the E-1 area east of Jerusalem. The plan, devised by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, would effectively cut the Palestinian-controlled West Bank in two. The joint statement said that the plan will undermine security, and fuel further violence and instability, as well as making a two-state solution impossible by dividing any Palestinian state and restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem. A postal worker has been charged after allegedly stealing bank cards from the mail in a number of Sydney suburbs before handing them off to criminal syndicates in a scheme worth nearly $1.5 million. Police raided the homes of the 56-year-old postie and two other men, aged 35 and 27, in southern Sydney where they found the stolen goods. These included Australian and US cash totalling more than $14,000, a Rolex watch, Louis Vuitton handbags, a taser, electronic items and cartons of cigarettes. Detectives from Strike Force Rubi with help from Australia Post investigated the postal employee who rifled through the mail in Edgecliff, Woollahra and Double Bay in Sydney's eastern suburbs. They allege he supplied the stolen bank cards to two separate organised crime syndicates. Weather conditions in New South Wales are clearing up after a long spell of heavy rain leading to flash flooding, with emergency crews responding to 10 rescues. The NSW State Emergency Service [[S-E-S]] has been dispatched to nearly 630 incidents across the state in the last 24 hours, including 10 flood rescues. There are 42 warnings in place for residents across the impacted areas from Wollongong to Goondiwindi. Angus Hines from the Bureau of Meteorology says people in Northern New South Wales especially should keep up to date with flood warnings. "We maintain the risk of minor or moderate flooding for large parts of Northern NSW as well so if you do live along Northern or North-Eastern parts of the state definitely stay up to date with the latest weather, flood watches and warnings." More than 356mm of rain has fallen in three weeks in Sydney's CBD, closing in on the city's all-time August record of 482mm, set in 1998. Six people have died at a dairy in the U-S state of Colorado from what appears to be an accident involving exposure to gas in a confined space. The people killed in the incident, which happened around 55 kilometres north-east of the state capital, Denver, are all Hispanic males. Autopsies are yet to take place, as authorities try to find out exactly what gas was involved. At least 18 people are dead and more than 40 injured in Colombia after two attacks by different dissident factions of the former rebel group known as FARC. In one attack, a vehicle exploded in the country's third-largetst city, Cali, killing six people. In the other, twelve police officers were killed when a police helicopter was shot down while participating in a coca leaf crop eradication operation in Antioquia, which is in the country's central northwest. More than 450,000 people died in the long-running conflict between the FARC rebels and the Colombia government that ended with a 2016 peace agreement. These attacks are being blamed on groups of FARC members who reject that agreement. Passionate performers have competed in Finland for the qualifying round of this year's Air Guitar World Championships. The competition in it's 28th year reaches its climax with the final on Friday evening local time bringing together competitors from 13 countries. Contestants are judged on the performance of two songs in two separate rounds, each lasting 60 seconds and real instruments are off-limits. The challengers include U-S champion Saladin 'Six String Sal' Thomas and German champion Patrick 'Van Airhoven' Culek. The winner is chosen by a five-member jury of performing arts professionals. In rugby union, Olympian Corey Toole has been picked to make his debut for the Wallabies in this weekend's Rugby Championship match against South Africa in Cape Town. Toole played rugby sevens for Australia at the Paris Olympics last year. Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt says the winger has adapted well to the more physical fifteen-man game. "You've got to become pretty proficient around the contact area. And Corey has worked really hard at that. He's got better and better contesting ball in the air." Toole replaces Dylan Pietsch, who broke his jaw in last weekend's game. Fraser McReight will captain the side in place of Harry Wilson. Meanwhile, Australia's women's team, the Wallaroos, have announced their lineup to play Samoa in the opening game of the World Cup in England tomorrow night Caitlyn Halse has been named at fullback, and at 18 years of age, will become the youngest woman to ever play for Australia at a World Cup.
SBS Australia
35 minutes ago
- SBS Australia
SBS News in Filipino, Friday 22 August 2025
Mandatory child safety training and a national register of carers will be on the agenda when Australia's education ministers gather for a crucial meeting today. Business groups have urged the federal government to follow through on crucial reforms brought up during its productivity roundtable. Indigenous community groups have raised concerns about the roll-out of the Northern Territory government's 12-month pepper spray trial. LISTEN TO SBS Filipino 08:03 Filipino 📢 Where to Catch SBS Filipino
