Opposition accuses PM of ‘indulgent' trip as Albanese tours panda facility
Nevertheless, the prime minister leapt headlong into China's game of panda diplomacy on Thursday.
At the Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding, Albanese was treated to a tour of black-and-white icons big and small, mostly in their relatively sedate state, that explains their reluctance to breed.
'This guy is clearly feeling the friendship between Australia and China as well,' Albanese said, peering into an enclosure with fiancee Jodie Haydon. 'He's very chill.'
'They are much loved in Australia, and they are also great ambassadors for China and a great sign of friendship.'
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China uses its pandas as a soft-power tool, leasing them to zoos in countries with which the nation is on good diplomatic terms.
The US received some after the landmark 1972 'Nixon to China' moment.
From the 1980s, it started leasing rather than selling them, often linking the deals to strategic moves on trade.

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Sydney Morning Herald
7 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
PM needs to be wary of becoming too reliant on China
While a fair portion of what Peter Hartcher said in his article was fair enough ('' Adolescent' nation coming of age ', July 19), there was no mention of how Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Beijing trip is going to make us even more reliant on China for trade given that Albanese has said this was his main aim. In fact, we are reliant on China for just about everything except food. Our free trade agreements over the years, especially those with China, have successfully killed most of our manufacturing. During COVID, when China decided to punish us instead of doing the hard work of diversifying, our bottom lip started wobbling, we put our cap in our hand and we begged for mercy. Since then, we are even more reliant on China. To be so reliant on any country is stupid, but to be almost totally reliant on a country with a human rights record such as theirs, with such obvious military aspirations, and a country that we see as a possible future enemy, is sheer madness. To me, this is evidence of Australia's continued adolescence. In fact, I think an adolescent would be smarter. Andrew Cronin, Robertson Yes, Australia is being forced to grow out of its adolescence due to Trump's disruption of the world order and the decline of America's central global role. No one, except the myopic opposition, can have any criticism of the way Albanese has been navigating the diplomatic US-China tightrope. His attitude is sensible: 'You don't have time to see me and want to put tariffs on our goods and threaten delivery of the submarines? No problem, we have other friends who want us to join their party.' While the US has been a reliable ally over the past eight decades, its star is waning due to tyranny of distance, its unfettered economic model and its choice of leadership. During this time, a cold, calculated focus on our own long-term self-interest is what Albanese is demonstrating, while not being threatened by pressure from either China or the US. Unless the opposition has a solid game plan to counter the Albo-Wong strategy, it should work with the government to achieve what is best for us. Manbir Singh Kohli, Pemulwuy Capital gains pains Sorry, William Lloyd (Letters, July 19), but most economists expected a CGT to do what any tax does – discourage people from investing in that area. That is what happened to housing from 1985 to 1988, when the entire economy took off. This lasted just two years and property prices fell and remained low until 1999, when John Howard introduced his 50 per cent discount on the amount taxed for CGT. While I know that correlation does not prove causation, house prices took off immediately on the introduction of that amendment and have continued that upward trajectory for 26 years since. Why income from property profits should be taxed at a fraction of the rate that income from any other source is taxed remains a mystery to me. Barry Harrod, Fig Tree Pocket (Qld) Valid criticism Richard Flanagan expertly draws on Jewish writers to demonstrate the folly if our PM adopted the Segal report's recommendations (' PM must disavow and abandon Segal report ', July 19). Antisemitism, like all other forms of racism, is not supported by most Australians. We are at heart the proud outcome of our indigenous and ethnic diversity. Australia is also a democracy. Criticism of the Israeli state or Zionism is neither antisemitic nor racist. Robbing us of our right to criticise the egregious actions of nation states is tantamount to destroying our own democracy. Do that at your own peril. Brian Barrett, Padstow In Australia 2025, Jewish students are harassed on campus, and Jewish artists and academics – even ones with a history of speaking up for Palestinians – are excommunicated for disagreeing with the modern progressive dogma that Israel is evil. Jewish-owned businesses are vandalised and synagogues are burnt. But we are told by Richard Flanagan that 'leading Jewish figures' such as Louise Adler (who in reality represent a fringe minority of Australian Jews) are calling reports of antisemitism exaggerated. We are told that the IHRA definition of antisemitism says that criticism of Israel is antisemitic, when it explicitly says this is not the case. Gaslighting at its finest. Tim Peach, South Perth (WA) As a child of Holocaust survivors, I believe it is essential that the Executive Council of Australian Jewry condemn the war of annihilation waged by Israel's Netanyahu government against the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. It also behoves Jillian Segal, Australia's special envoy to combat antisemitism, to unequivocally condemn the inhumanity of Netanyahu in his ruthless and indiscriminate killing of Palestinian women, children and men according to the false doctrine of 'collective punishment', which is regarded as a war crime by the United Nations and other bodies such as the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and Amnesty International, among others. John-Janusz Ebel, Caulfield North (Vic) Plastic not fantastic Like most Australian consumers, I want to do the right thing when it comes to recycling plastics. So I was horrified, but not altogether surprised, to read Hannah Kennedy's feature (' The plastic that contaminates our recycling stream', July 19). It seems that despite the efforts of people such as me, companies, watchdogs and governments are all dragging the chain when it comes to plastic recycling standards and product symbols. Silly me. Turns out the whole area is a minefield – businesses labelling their products recyclable when they are not, different local councils with different rules, different rules applying to local and overseas markets, products without symbols indicating they can be recycled when they cannot be – and so on. A dog's breakfast, indeed. It's time to fix this problem. Consumers must lobby their elected representatives and boycott companies that make misleading and sometimes dishonest claims about their products. Jane Mundy, Balgowlah According to Hannah Kennedy's article, many of the product symbols commonly used are misleading and incomprehensible. What about simply having 'Recyclable in Australia' shown on all relevant containers and packaging? It would be simple and effective and make it easy for all to do the right thing. Wendy Crew, Lane Cove North Latham can't be avoided Unless a government has an absolute majority, it will need to work with independents and minor party members to get legislation passed, regardless of political persuasion, moral compass or alleged sins of said parliamentarians. Why, then, do we demonise the NSW government for working with Mark Latham on matters of policy and law (' NSW Labor vowed not to work with Latham. The reality is complicated ', July 19)? He is a member of Parliament and as such, his vote counts. The government is not supporting Latham; it is asking him to support them on political matters. I don't see a problem. Gerianne Rudd, Toowong (Qld) We read that Liberal Upper House leader Damien Tudehope worked with Mark Latham to oppose Labor's controversial cuts to the workers' compensation scheme, which seems to have angered Premier Chris Minns. Yet the premier had no qualms about collaborating with the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party to try to push through these same cuts. The premier has opened the door to a plan by Shooters to establish a new 'hunting authority'. Apparently, Latham's alleged personal foibles count for more than the risk of allowing shooters to intrude onto public land and blast away at supposedly 'game and feral animals'. The approval of night shooting and guns with silencers is a chilling prospect. It would not only be a tragedy for wildlife but for unwary members of the public. Shooters will even be paid a bounty for the kill. We presume that won't be paid on people who cop a bullet. Jan O'Leary, Springwood Correspondent Jack Robertson decries the 'wowserish curtain-twitching and public hysteria about private and consensual sexual behaviours' concerning Mark Latham (Letters, July 19). Meanwhile, Latham was found to have defamed lower house MP Alex Greenwich to the tune of $140,000 in damages in a tweet targeting Greenwich over his sexuality. Can your correspondent please clarify the difference between his pearl-clutching concern about Latham's 'private and consensual sexual behaviours' and the aforementioned Mr Greenwich's 'private and consensual sexual behaviours'? Nick Andrews, Bellevue Hill Trump's Achilles Be very careful, Mr Trump ('Trump taunts Murdoch as he files $15b lawsuit over Epstein story', July 19). You may have been able to dismiss some of your loyal followers over the Epstein saga, and even rid yourself of your biggest donor, Elon Musk. However, Rupert Murdoch is another matter altogether. If you alienate Murdoch, keep in mind his empire has been, and will be, there for a lot longer than four years. Perhaps Murdoch's critics might forgive him for everything if he rids the world of this serial pest. Mary Lawson, Marrickville I read that Trump is suing Murdoch for $15 billion for defamation. His lawyers claim a newspaper article 'malign[s] President Trump's character and integrity'. Question: how can a convicted criminal have character and/or integrity worth $15 billion? Peter Duffy, Burra Has Trump finally done something useful in suing Murdoch? Or has Murdoch actually given us some truth in his rags, calling out a convicted criminal? Paul Fergus, Croydon Wow, I almost find myself in the very strange position of wishing Murdoch well. Judy Hungerford, Kew (Vic) Houses of God I think correspondent Jacqui Keats is being rather uncharitable on the subject of churches building high-rise unit blocks (Letters, July 19). Now more than ever, churches need income, especially to house and sustain their ministers and priests, and all the help and succour they give to society besides providing spiritual support to the community. Churches are also suffering the high cost of living and if it means building high-rise apartments, then so be it. Lynne Zahra, Epping Correspondent Tony Doyle wrote that high-rise apartments built by churches were closer to heaven, but with all those extra cars, they will also need deeper basements. It gets satanically hotter parking down there. Yours warmly. Russ Couch, Woonona Respect the planet Millie Muroi has written an important article about the need for 'clear goals' concerning environmental management (' Like ChatGPT, we need clear goals and rules. Otherwise, we could make bad decisions ', July19). After all, if we don't know where we want to go, it doesn't matter which bus we get on. Unfortunately, the goals we espouse involve growth, especially in terms of the economy and population size, both of which being achieved at the expense of the environment. Since this environment provides our life-support system, it is increasingly imperative to address these damaging growth factors and find sustainable, ethical alternatives. Alan Jones, Narraweena At US behest Does anyone believe that the delivery of the 49 Abrams tanks promised to Ukraine was delayed because of 'logistics challenges' (' Australian tanks arrive in Ukraine after nine-month wait ', July19)? I believe it's more likely the nine-month wait was caused by the need to gain Washington's approval. Australia is at the mercy of United States decision makers – or maker. We have out-of-service, US-made Abrams and don't need them. Ukraine does. Australian pledged to help Ukraine, and in October 2024 we said we would send them 49 tanks immediately. The ABC and others report that the United States refused to give us permission to send the tanks to Ukraine. How could Australia have gotten in this deplorable position? Why would our sovereign country need any other country's permission? This raises the question of what else we need permission from the United States for. Carol Dance, Wollstonecraft Ages of consent While many politicians favour lowering the voting age in Australia and elsewhere, there doesn't seem to be a similar enthusiasm for lowering the age at which young people should be treated as adults in court (' Could Australia follow UK's 'shock' move to lower voting age to 16? ' July 19). If 16-year-olds are mature enough to have an equal voice in selecting the government, surely they are mature enough to accept the consequences of their illegal actions as an adult. Or is this lowering of the voting age just pandering for votes rather than a well-reasoned view of maturity? Remember, once the voting age is lowered, there will be no going back. Steen Petersen, Nanaimo (Canada) Not appy, Jen Thank you, Jenna Guillaume (' The app-ocalypse: Please, I beg, don't make me download one more app ', July 19). I find the world of apps exhausting. Like Jenna, I try to avoid them by using my trusty computer, yet somehow I end up with that dreaded word 'app'. Am I sounding like a grumpy old woman? Perhaps I could find an app to help me. Philippa Reiss, Port Macquarie Harmony to discord Best meme from that kiss-cam moment (' CEO of $1.5b tech firm appears caught out on Coldplay 'kiss cam'? July 19)? 'Coldplay haven't released any singles for ages – but they created two last night.' George Zivkovic, Northmead Bastardly act Richard Glover's article about Australian English, including our multiple meanings of the word 'bastards' – from insult to compliment to collective noun – jogged my memory about a story from the 'bodyline' Ashes series in the 1930s (' Do Australians have the best possible version of English? ' July 19). After a particularly acrimonious session, English captain Douglas Jardine stormed into the Australian dressing room to demand an apology after he had been sworn at by an Australian player. Vic Richardson, the Australian captain, called the team together and asked 'which one of you bastards called this bastard a bastard?' Ian Morris, Strathfield

Sydney Morning Herald
37 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The long climb: Disaster for Coalition in new opinion poll as Albanese builds on record win
The first post-federal election opinion poll has revealed the scale of the battle facing Opposition Leader Sussan Ley as she seeks to rebuild a shattered Liberal Party, with support for the Coalition falling to a near-record low. But the new Resolve Political Monitor also shows that the dire situation confronting Ley has not translated into a surge of support for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, even as voters believe Labor is better able to deal with issues ranging from the economy to national security. The 48th Parliament will on Tuesday sit for the first time since the May 3 election. Albanese holds a record 94 seats in the House of Representatives after trouncing the Coalition 55-45 on a two-party preferred basis. At the election, the Coalition's primary vote dropped almost four percentage points to 31.8 per cent. The Resolve poll shows its primary support has fallen another three points to just 29 per cent – its lowest level since early 2023. Most of that drop has flowed to One Nation, with Labor's primary vote increasing marginally to 35 per cent. It secured 34.6 per cent at the May election. On a two-party preferred level, based on preferences as nominated by the 2311 people who took part in the poll, Labor leads the Coalition 56-44. Resolve Strategic director Jim Reed said the Coalition was now in 'real strife', arguing that while the party needed a primary vote in the 40s to be competitive, it was struggling to get into the 30s. However, he cautioned that Albanese was not enjoying the honeymoon he had following the 2022 election, when Labor's primary vote regularly reached 42 per cent.

The Age
37 minutes ago
- The Age
The long climb: Disaster for Coalition in new opinion poll as Albanese builds on record win
The first post-federal election opinion poll has revealed the scale of the battle facing Opposition Leader Sussan Ley as she seeks to rebuild a shattered Liberal Party, with support for the Coalition falling to a near-record low. But the new Resolve Political Monitor also shows that the dire situation confronting Ley has not translated into a surge of support for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, even as voters believe Labor is better able to deal with issues ranging from the economy to national security. The 48th Parliament will on Tuesday sit for the first time since the May 3 election. Albanese holds a record 94 seats in the House of Representatives after trouncing the Coalition 55-45 on a two-party preferred basis. At the election, the Coalition's primary vote dropped almost four percentage points to 31.8 per cent. The Resolve poll shows its primary support has fallen another three points to just 29 per cent – its lowest level since early 2023. Most of that drop has flowed to One Nation, with Labor's primary vote increasing marginally to 35 per cent. It secured 34.6 per cent at the May election. On a two-party preferred level, based on preferences as nominated by the 2311 people who took part in the poll, Labor leads the Coalition 56-44. Resolve Strategic director Jim Reed said the Coalition was now in 'real strife', arguing that while the party needed a primary vote in the 40s to be competitive, it was struggling to get into the 30s. However, he cautioned that Albanese was not enjoying the honeymoon he had following the 2022 election, when Labor's primary vote regularly reached 42 per cent.