Albanese says ‘very confident' AUKUS pact serves all three nations after Pentagon review
It is the first time the Prime Minister has addressed the issue since news broke that the Trump Administration was examining whether the pact aligns with US interests under their 'America First' agenda.
'It will play an important role in peace, security and stability around the world at a time when that is absolutely necessary,' the PM said on Friday after landing in Fiji enroute to the G7 summit in Canada.
He echoed remarks by his Defence Minister Richard Marles on Thursday that the US launching a review was a 'natural' step for an incoming government.
'The United States as an incoming government is having a review just like the Australian government did with our Defence Strategic Review, and just like the government of Keir Starmer in the United Kingdom had as well,' Mr Albanese said.
'We're very confident though that all, because he's in the interests of all three of our nations.'
Mr Albanese declined to say whether he would accelerate Australia's defence spending commitments in response to US calls for allies to lift their budgets.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had conveyed to Mr Marles at a recent Singapore forum that Australia should hike its defence budget to 3.5 per cent of GDP, far beyond the projected 2.3 per cent by 2033.
The review, driven by AUKUS-sceptic Elbridge Colby, has stoked fear America might abandon the 2021-formed tripartite deal with the UK and the US.
Under the deal Australia plans to build five SSN-AUKUS submarines and buy between three and five Virginia Class nuclear-powered subs from the US.
A collapse of the pact could be a major blow for Western Australia, which has been earmarked as the future home of AUKUS nuclear powered submarines in Henderson.
Opposition leader Sussan Ley urged the PM not to be a 'bystander' in the Australia-US relationship and do everything possible to secure a G7-sideline meeting with Donald Trump.
'We support AUKUS, we (the Coalition) put it in place but we are concerned about this review by the Pentagon,' she said on Friday.
'It adds to a growing list of issues within the US-Australia relationship. It's important that Anthony Albanese not be a bystander in this relationship.'
'We do have a good case to make about the mutual benefits.'
Ten crossbenchers —including teal Allegra Spender, Senators Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock— on Friday penned an open letter to Defence Minister Marles calling for a Parliamentary inquiry into AUKUS.
'People across our communities are increasingly concerned about the AUKUS agreement,' they stated.
'Despite these concerns, there has been limited opportunity for parliamentary scrutiny of AUKUS to date. Indeed, both of Australia's AUKUS partners are conducting similar inquiries.
'We therefore think it is important and timely for parliament to conduct a full and formal inquiry.'
WA teal MP Kate Chaney — whose Curtin electorate is north of the Henderson facility — was among a group of 10 crossbenchers.
'Australians want to understand whether this is the best use of our resources and the right path for our security,' Ms Chaney said.
'AUKUS is a monumental strategic commitment with far-reaching implications for our economy, sovereignty, and security posture. Yet, it continues to unfold with minimal public transparency and virtually no parliamentary accountability.'
The MPs and Senators suggested the inquiry could be hosted through a Joint Select Committee and examine the feasibility, timeline, progress, strategic rationale, and opportunity costs among other elements.
Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA chief executive Peter Cock said the deal was a massive boon for WA industry and expected that the Federal Government would 'engage proactively' to ensure the pact was secure.
'We expect the state and federal governments will continue to engage proactively with the Trump administration throughout the review process to ensure WA and Australia's best interests are represented,' he said.
'CCIWA remains confident that defence industry including the AUKUS elements will deliver significant economic benefits to the Western Australian economy, regardless of the review to be conducted by the Trump administration.'
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Sydney Morning Herald
2 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
After PNG, Australia's soft power game with China extends to Solomons
Somewhere in a remote mountain village, or perhaps on the dusty streets of Honiara, a youngster is kicking a football and dreaming big – and could soon be caught up in the Pacific's great geopolitical battle of our time. Australia's regional rivalry with China was a key driver of the federal government's $600 million decade-long commitment to Papua New Guinea's NRL team. That same contest is at play in neighbouring Solomon Islands, an impoverished nation where the World Game reigns supreme, and where a new fully professional soccer club is taking shape. Solomon Kings FC, a joint venture between the Solomon Islands Football Federation and Brisbane club Wynnum Wolves, is a near-certainty to be an inaugural member of the FIFA-backed Oceania Professional League. The club's moniker is a nod to King Solomon, the biblical figure after whom the nation was named. 'Informally, we have been given the guarantee that we will be in,' SIFF president Donald Marahare told this masthead. 'It's just the formalities – we have to make sure that we take all the boxes and there should be certainty in terms of getting us participating Pro League.' Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has thrown his weight behind the club, and discussions have been held with the Australian High Commission in Honiara about Australian government support. While an interview request with Australian High Commissioner Rod Hilton was denied, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said the Commonwealth actively engaged with Pacific nations through sport. 'The Australian government's partnership with Football Australia provides increased opportunities for Pacific men's and women's national teams to train and compete with Australian teams, in Australia and across our region,' she said. 'Australia is Solomon Islands' largest development partner.' But on the ground in Solomon Islands, China's influence still looms large. The new national stadium, which the Solomon Kings will call home, was funded by the Chinese government to host the 2023 Pacific Games. In response to China's growing influence, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a $190 million security deal with Solomon Islands last year. That came two years after a similar deal was reached between China and Solomon Islands, which caused alarm in Australian defence circles. 'In terms of their influence, they [China] have entered or intruded into every aspect here in the Solomons,' Marahare said. 'At one stage, probably two years ago, they were prepared to provide support the football federation, in terms of equipment and staff. 'They insisted on us signing a paper to promote the One China policy, to actually sign a public document, which we had reservations to do.' But that might not always be the case. 'The Solomon Kings FC will definitely need financial, budgetary support and we will not hesitate to call on or to actually approach the Chinese government if there's a need,' Marahare said. 'Certainly this will not go down well with the Australian government, but this is something that we will need to talk about or discuss in the near future.' One of the club's driving forces, Wolves chairman and former North Queensland Cowboys chief executive Rabieh Krayem, said the Kings' potential for Australian sports-led, soft-power diplomacy could rival the NRL team in PNG. Loading 'From the Australian government perspective, it's a no-brainer, to be quite honest,' he said. 'I mean, you saw the prime minister in China talking to Kevin Muscat – well, I've got to tell you, football in the Solomon Islands will do more for diplomacy than anything else. 'In PNG, rugby league's the No.1 sport, but they also have football. In the Solomons, it's football No.1, 2 and 3 – the best way I can describe it is it's like being in Brazil.' Though based in Honiara, Solomon Kings will have a secondary training base at the Wolves' Carmichael Park in bayside Brisbane. Initially, OPL rounds will be held in one location – similar to the NRL's Magic Round – with the hope of eventually evolving to a home-and-away competition. And with the Queensland government teasing an upgrade to Perry Park, Krayem said the Bowen Hills venue could serve as the Kings' second home ground. 'You're bringing eight teams from eight different locations into Brisbane to play here for 10 days,' he said. 'From an economic perspective, it's a massive economic boost for Queensland.' Krayem's journey with Solomon Kings started about two years ago, when he met with Oceania Football Confederation president Lambert Maltock. Having failed to get the Brisbane United joint venture for the second-tier Australian Championship over the line, Krayem considered a solo Wolves entry to the new OPL, which would allow a maximum of one Australian side to join. 'At that point of time, airfares and accommodation were to be funded by FIFA, and to the most consistent team over a four-year period qualifies for the [FIFA Club World Cup],' he said. Oceania representative Auckland City took home more than $AU7 million for competing at this year's tournament. 'That's huge. I said, why wouldn't we do that?' Krayem said. But when it became clear Australian clubs would have to fund their own airfares and be denied entry to the lucrative Club World Cup, due to Australia's membership of the Asian Football Confederation, Krayem took a different approach and teamed up with the SIFF. He said it was an obvious partnership for a club with a connection to the Solomon Islands that started a quarter-century ago, when the club took a team over to play exhibition matches. Several Solomon Islander internationals have played in Wynnum's black and white kit – colours it shares with German powerhouse Borussia Dortmund, with which it has established formal links, and the new Solomon Kings FC. Loading Krayem said 65 per cent of Solomon Islanders in Australia lived in south-east Queensland, which had the only direct route by air to their homeland. 'There's already that sort of connection,' he added. 'A lot of Australian businesses operate out of Brisbane straight into Honiara and I think they want to grow their tourism.' The Kings have lined up a chief executive with English Premier League experience, and have already agreed terms with a high-profile head coach. But as important as success on the field would be for the club financially, it was the transformational effect on the community that excited the Kings' backers. 'As soon as it's dark, kids get out when no one's on the road and they're kicking a ball. I think the impact that we could have, what Australia could do for them, through football is huge,' Krayem said. The International Monetary Fund estimates the Solomon Islands' per capita GDP is just $US2380 (Australia's, by comparison, is $US65,550). For this Pacific island nation, the potential benefits of this new venture could be invaluable. 'It is an opportunity for the kids and the youth to have something to look forward to,' Marahare said. 'One thing for certain is that you go anywhere in the villages, all the villages in the provinces, it's very difficult to see clinics and hospitals, but you will be able to see soccer pitches, soccer fields everywhere. 'And this is a testament of how people, both in the urban and in the rural areas, love football.' And with Brisbane set to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, engagement with Pacific nations through sport would only get more important. Brisbane 2032 president Andrew Liveris said while he was unaware of the Solomon Kings until informed by this masthead, the diplomatic potential of sport to solidify links with the Pacific was central to Games planning. 'They really feel that these are their Games as well, and there is definitely a geopolitical positive to that,' he said. 'In other words, Oceania – a vast amount of territory, small population, small islands, strategically important to Australia – is not lost on us, nor the Prime Minister, nor DFAT.'
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
After PNG, Australia's soft power game with China extends to Solomons
Somewhere in a remote mountain village, or perhaps on the dusty streets of Honiara, a youngster is kicking a football and dreaming big – and could soon be caught up in the Pacific's great geopolitical battle of our time. Australia's regional rivalry with China was a key driver of the federal government's $600 million decade-long commitment to Papua New Guinea's NRL team. That same contest is at play in neighbouring Solomon Islands, an impoverished nation where the World Game reigns supreme, and where a new fully professional soccer club is taking shape. Solomon Kings FC, a joint venture between the Solomon Islands Football Federation and Brisbane club Wynnum Wolves, is a near-certainty to be an inaugural member of the FIFA-backed Oceania Professional League. The club's moniker is a nod to King Solomon, the biblical figure after whom the nation was named. 'Informally, we have been given the guarantee that we will be in,' SIFF president Donald Marahare told this masthead. 'It's just the formalities – we have to make sure that we take all the boxes and there should be certainty in terms of getting us participating Pro League.' Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele has thrown his weight behind the club, and discussions have been held with the Australian High Commission in Honiara about Australian government support. While an interview request with Australian High Commissioner Rod Hilton was denied, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said the Commonwealth actively engaged with Pacific nations through sport. 'The Australian government's partnership with Football Australia provides increased opportunities for Pacific men's and women's national teams to train and compete with Australian teams, in Australia and across our region,' she said. 'Australia is Solomon Islands' largest development partner.' But on the ground in Solomon Islands, China's influence still looms large. The new national stadium, which the Solomon Kings will call home, was funded by the Chinese government to host the 2023 Pacific Games. In response to China's growing influence, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a $190 million security deal with Solomon Islands last year. That came two years after a similar deal was reached between China and Solomon Islands, which caused alarm in Australian defence circles. 'In terms of their influence, they [China] have entered or intruded into every aspect here in the Solomons,' Marahare said. 'At one stage, probably two years ago, they were prepared to provide support the football federation, in terms of equipment and staff. 'They insisted on us signing a paper to promote the One China policy, to actually sign a public document, which we had reservations to do.' But that might not always be the case. 'The Solomon Kings FC will definitely need financial, budgetary support and we will not hesitate to call on or to actually approach the Chinese government if there's a need,' Marahare said. 'Certainly this will not go down well with the Australian government, but this is something that we will need to talk about or discuss in the near future.' One of the club's driving forces, Wolves chairman and former North Queensland Cowboys chief executive Rabieh Krayem, said the Kings' potential for Australian sports-led, soft-power diplomacy could rival the NRL team in PNG. Loading 'From the Australian government perspective, it's a no-brainer, to be quite honest,' he said. 'I mean, you saw the prime minister in China talking to Kevin Muscat – well, I've got to tell you, football in the Solomon Islands will do more for diplomacy than anything else. 'In PNG, rugby league's the No.1 sport, but they also have football. In the Solomons, it's football No.1, 2 and 3 – the best way I can describe it is it's like being in Brazil.' Though based in Honiara, Solomon Kings will have a secondary training base at the Wolves' Carmichael Park in bayside Brisbane. Initially, OPL rounds will be held in one location – similar to the NRL's Magic Round – with the hope of eventually evolving to a home-and-away competition. And with the Queensland government teasing an upgrade to Perry Park, Krayem said the Bowen Hills venue could serve as the Kings' second home ground. 'You're bringing eight teams from eight different locations into Brisbane to play here for 10 days,' he said. 'From an economic perspective, it's a massive economic boost for Queensland.' Krayem's journey with Solomon Kings started about two years ago, when he met with Oceania Football Confederation president Lambert Maltock. Having failed to get the Brisbane United joint venture for the second-tier Australian Championship over the line, Krayem considered a solo Wolves entry to the new OPL, which would allow a maximum of one Australian side to join. 'At that point of time, airfares and accommodation were to be funded by FIFA, and to the most consistent team over a four-year period qualifies for the [FIFA Club World Cup],' he said. Oceania representative Auckland City took home more than $AU7 million for competing at this year's tournament. 'That's huge. I said, why wouldn't we do that?' Krayem said. But when it became clear Australian clubs would have to fund their own airfares and be denied entry to the lucrative Club World Cup, due to Australia's membership of the Asian Football Confederation, Krayem took a different approach and teamed up with the SIFF. He said it was an obvious partnership for a club with a connection to the Solomon Islands that started a quarter-century ago, when the club took a team over to play exhibition matches. Several Solomon Islander internationals have played in Wynnum's black and white kit – colours it shares with German powerhouse Borussia Dortmund, with which it has established formal links, and the new Solomon Kings FC. Loading Krayem said 65 per cent of Solomon Islanders in Australia lived in south-east Queensland, which had the only direct route by air to their homeland. 'There's already that sort of connection,' he added. 'A lot of Australian businesses operate out of Brisbane straight into Honiara and I think they want to grow their tourism.' The Kings have lined up a chief executive with English Premier League experience, and have already agreed terms with a high-profile head coach. But as important as success on the field would be for the club financially, it was the transformational effect on the community that excited the Kings' backers. 'As soon as it's dark, kids get out when no one's on the road and they're kicking a ball. I think the impact that we could have, what Australia could do for them, through football is huge,' Krayem said. The International Monetary Fund estimates the Solomon Islands' per capita GDP is just $US2380 (Australia's, by comparison, is $US65,550). For this Pacific island nation, the potential benefits of this new venture could be invaluable. 'It is an opportunity for the kids and the youth to have something to look forward to,' Marahare said. 'One thing for certain is that you go anywhere in the villages, all the villages in the provinces, it's very difficult to see clinics and hospitals, but you will be able to see soccer pitches, soccer fields everywhere. 'And this is a testament of how people, both in the urban and in the rural areas, love football.' And with Brisbane set to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, engagement with Pacific nations through sport would only get more important. Brisbane 2032 president Andrew Liveris said while he was unaware of the Solomon Kings until informed by this masthead, the diplomatic potential of sport to solidify links with the Pacific was central to Games planning. 'They really feel that these are their Games as well, and there is definitely a geopolitical positive to that,' he said. 'In other words, Oceania – a vast amount of territory, small population, small islands, strategically important to Australia – is not lost on us, nor the Prime Minister, nor DFAT.'
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
What is productivity? It's one of the biggest topics at this week's round table
The Albanese government's "economic reform round table" will be held in Canberra this week, from Tuesday to Thursday. "Productivity" is on the agenda for the second day. What is productivity? Why is it important? Why are policymakers worried about it? It's a major topic that impacts everyone. When we hear the word "productivity," our eyes can glaze over, but we're talking about something profound. At its heart, productivity is about doing more with less effort to improve everybody's lives. For example, imagine someone hands you a shovel and asks you to dig a long trench from one end of a football field to the other, to lay some underground cables. How long would it take you to dig the trench? (And what would it do to your hands and back?) Now, instead of a shovel, let's say they give you an excavator. The difference in your "output" and the ease with which you could complete the task would be dramatic. It would see a huge improvement in your productivity, and it would be thanks to the investment in machinery and the improvement in the state of technology you had at your disposal (shovel vs excavator). Modern society has been built on constant productivity improvements. They make it much easier and faster to do things compared to the past. That has a deeply personal impact on everybody's lives — it's about our time, and improvements in our lifestyle and material prosperity. Over time, productivity growth can lead to lower prices for goods and services, higher profits for businesses, higher wages for workers, and stronger economic growth. A few years ago, the Productivity Commission explained things this way: "The number of hours a person needs to work in order to buy particular goods has fallen dramatically," it wrote. "In 1901, it would have required several months of work to afford a new bike, but today it requires less than a day of work for a basic model. "[And] these falling costs understate the increased quality of most goods available now compared to what was available at Federation — even the lowest-quality bicycles produced now are much safer and easier to use than their 1901 versions. "[And] more significant for many people are the goods that are cheaply available now that had not been invented at Federation. "Antibiotics, for example, have lowered the mortality from infectious disease from about 30 per 10,000 people in 1907 to 1 per 10,000 people in 2017, all at a fraction of the price." It published a table with more examples to illustrate its point: This is another area where our eyes can glaze over, so we don't want to get bogged down here. But there are two main ways to measure productivity. As the Reserve Bank explains: The RBA has produced this handy little graphic to help us visualise what they're talking about: Yes. There are quite a few challenges. But it depends on the nature of the "economic activity" you are trying to measure. For example, it's far easier to measure the productivity of a manufacturing facility than a childcare worker. How do you measure a childcare worker's "output" when their job is to care for babies and toddlers? What about teachers? Nurses? Police? In the terminology, "non-market" industries are notoriously difficult to measure when it comes to productivity. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) doesn't even provide estimates for multi-factor productivity (MFP) for our three non-market sector industries: public administration and safety, education and training, and healthcare and social assistance. The non-market sectors are characterised by providing goods and services that are either free of charge or heavily subsidised, and are not primarily driven by market forces. The ABS only provides MFP estimates for the 16 "market" industries in our economy that produce goods and services that are sold at market prices, because their output is much more easily measured. But even then, when you run your eye down the list of those 16 industries in the table below, you can see how it might be much easier to measure productivity in some market sectors than others. It's why the growth of the "care economy" in Australia is presenting unique problems for policymakers. As more and more workers enter the "non-market" industries of childcare, aged care, and healthcare, the area of the economy where "productivity" is much harder to measure is growing. But when the Productivity Commission recently tried to estimate non-market "labour productivity" for the three non-market sector industries, by using gross-value added and hours worked, its estimate showed a steep decline over recent years. It found that labour productivity for the "whole economy" has barely risen over the past decade, when averaging labour productivity in the market and non-market sectors combined. Why is productivity growth so slow in Australia at the moment? Why has business investment declined? Lots of people are trying to answer those questions, and there are probably many causes. Participants at the productivity round table will discuss them this week. But here's an interesting hypothesis. In early 2023, Ken Henry, a former treasury secretary (2001 to 2011), gave a speech to the Tax Institute titled "The need for ambitious tax reform." In that speech, Dr Henry said part of the answer to our productivity problems comes from the fact that Australian policymakers mishandled the mining boom of the early 2000s, and we're now living with the consequences. He said if we had properly taxed the super profits of the miners in the early 2000s, we could have used that revenue to re-invest in non-mining parts of Australia's economy to lift non-mining productivity, but we didn't. And now that the mining boom is over, we're left with a hollowed-out economy with woeful rates of productivity. Dr Henry said, historically, much of Australia's productivity growth had been driven by "capital-deepening" (that is, higher capital per worker), thanks to a strong rate of business investment. But two centuries of capital-deepening have stalled. He said Australia has unfortunately experienced "capital-shallowing" in the 21st century, with declining physical investment in the non-mining sectors and more and more non-mining capital heading overseas. He said the positive terms-of-trade shock, caused by soaring commodity prices linked to the China boom, had pushed Australia's dollar higher earlier this century. The strong appreciation that followed in our real exchange caused a "profound loss" of international competitiveness for Australia's trade-exposed industries. He said that pressure could have been released with a resources super profits tax or something similar, with the money reinvested in non-mining parts of the economy to boost productivity there, but it didn't happen. Instead, he said Australian governments just "let it rip." "The collapse in the non-mining investment rate is remarkable," he said in his speech two years ago. "The financial mirror image of declining physical investment and capital-shallowing is that, in recent years, we have recorded net capital exports on the balance of payments. "Many commentators appear to believe that we have become a net capital exporter merely because superannuation has boosted household saving. But I would argue that we are exporting capital because Australia has become an increasingly unattractive destination for doing business, in the eyes of foreign investors and Australian savers alike. "It is truly extraordinary that this country, which stood to gain the most, should be suffering capital-shallowing, and should be a net capital exporter, not withstanding a historic mining boom," he said. Also in 2023, the RBA's Jonathan Hambur and the e61 Institute's Dan Andrews released a paper suggesting another reason why productivity growth may have slowed in Australia. "We find evidence that increasing market power [of powerful companies] has played a role, muting incentives for better firms to invest and grow their capital stock," they wrote. "This finding complements earlier work that found declining competition had limited incumbent firms' incentives to reallocate labour to more productive firms and to innovate and adopt technologies. "It reinforces the need to understand why competitive pressures may be declining, and whether that reflects competition policy or other frictions that prevent new firms from growing and challenging incumbents." Last month, the Productivity Commission supported that thesis, warning that Australia's 21st-century economy is dominated by powerful firms that are extracting above-normal profits from the system, and their power is growing. It said those firms are extracting "economic rent" from our economy, which means they're charging higher prices and collecting higher profits from a lack of competition, and it's crippling investment (and undermining productivity growth) elsewhere in our economy. It said that if we wanted to reform our tax system, we should focus on that issue.
