Australia needs the United States for defence, but the US needs Australia too: Albanese government
The Financial Times reported Mr Colby pressed both Australia and Japan to say what role they would play if the US and China went to war over Taiwan.
The Albanese government has disregarded these kinds of statements, figuring Mr Colby has about as much status as Australia's Assistant Defence Minister Peter Khalil.
Sources indicate that while Australia needs the United States for defence security, the US also needs Australia.
However, shadow defence minister Angus Taylor told Sky News that the government should align with the US on its Taiwan position.
'We have a commitment, as does the United States to the status quo in and around Taiwan,' Mr Taylor said on Friday.
'That means peace in the Taiwan Strait. That means a secure Taiwan.'
While critics accused the prime minister of engaging in soft diplomacy and indulging in nostalgia during his China visit, Mr Albanese has insisted the trip was a success.
In a statement concluding his diplomatic visit, Mr Albanese said the trip "marks another important step in the Australia-China relationship".
"A stable and constructive relationship with China is in Australia's national interest," he said on Friday.
"We will cooperate where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest."
The prime minister said he had made Australia's position on regional security 'very clear' to the Chinese leadership.
He raised concerns over Chinese military activity near Australia, particularly naval operations in international waters that coincided with Operation Talisman Sabre.
However, he avoided clashing with Chinese President Xi Jinping over the Darwin Port, China's support for Russia or military drills near Australian waters.
'President Xi Jinping said that China engaged in exercises just as Australia engages in exercises,' Mr Albanese said.
'I said what I said at the time … but that we were concerned about the notice and the ways that it happened, including the live-fire exercises.'
In response, President Xi reportedly defended China's actions, saying Beijing had the right to conduct its own military drills.
The opposition has attacked Mr Albanese's trip to China, characterising it as bloated and lacking hard outcomes.
Shadow finance minister James Paterson told Sky News the visit was 'starting to look a little bit indulgent'.
'I do wonder whether… a visit to Chengdu to pose with some pandas… is strictly necessary as part of a six-day visit to China,' he said.
'There is so much else at stake in our other international relationships.'
Former Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo echoed the criticism, suggesting the prime minister should have tried to meet with the US instead.
'I wouldn't have done the six days with the pandas and all the rest of it,' Mr Pezzullo told Sky News on Satruday.
'I would have had a shorter, sharper visit. The engagement with the President is important… but the rest of it was optional.'
He also said he would have encouraged the prime minister to have 'blunt' discussions behind closed doors about Taiwan, stressing that any conflict would drag Australia in and have devastating consequences.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Superannuation at risk, economists say
Annie Guest: Millions of Australians in or approaching retirement are potentially exposed to enormous financial insecurity. It's connected to the global bond market. That's where governments, corporations and financial institutions trade debt securities, primarily bonds. Our business correspondent David Taylor joined me earlier for more. David, what's at the heart of the concerns for millions of Australians in or approaching retirement? David Taylor: Annie, I'll try to make this simple. Many Australians rely on superannuation nest eggs for their retirement income. Now, those nest eggs are made up of shares and bonds and things like that. Now, superannuation funds are heavily invested when it comes to shares in US shares. Australian share market is big, but not quite big enough to produce the sort of returns they want. Now, that's good news because Wall Street's consistently flirting with all time highs. So, you know, that boosts superannuation balances big time. But Annie, there are concerns that Wall Street now is vulnerable to a lasting correction or a big drop, a lasting drop in stock prices. Annie Guest: David, what's the basis for those concerns? David Taylor: Well, Australians are not the only ones invested in US stocks and bonds. The Japanese are too. And a problem may come, Annie, if Japanese bonds become an attractive place for both Japanese and Chinese and other investors to put their money in. Now, what I mean by that is investors are chasing returns. So, if the share market in the US on Wall Street is doing well, you get high returns. Go over to the bond market in Japan. If the interest rate on those bonds starts to rise, well, people go, maybe I should be investing in the Japanese bond market. And so, money is transferred from the United States and Wall Street into the Japanese bond market where they can get, where they can own a relatively safe security with higher returns. As AMP's head of investment strategy, Shane Oliver, explains. Shane Oliver: Well, the basic concern is that the Japanese government lost its majority in the upper house elections on the weekend. That is leading to political uncertainty in Japan. It's unsure as to how long the Prime Minister will remain. That, in turn, is adding to risks that there will be some sort of fiscal easing and further expansion in Japanese government debt. And if that occurs, it will mean higher bond yields than we've already got in Japan, which of course will suck money out of the US and elsewhere back into Japan as investors unwind their so-called carry trades. And carry trades are basically situations where investors borrow very cheaply in Japan, put that money into places like the US, pick up a higher level of yield. But whenever there's uncertainty about the global economy or there's rising yields in Japan, then that money can flow back to Japan. And we're seeing a bit of that at present. David Taylor: So is AMP concerned about a large volume of money in the event that money does end up moving from the United States to Japan? Shane Oliver: Look, to be honest with you, we're not overly concerned about it, but it's certainly something we're monitoring. Annie Guest: That's the AMP's Shane Oliver there. And the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, or ASFA, represents many superannuation funds. What's it had to say about this worry? David Taylor: Annie, it might not surprise you that it's not concerned. It says it's not concerned. It expects that $450 billion US dollars will be directed to US assets over the next decade. It says that superannuation giants are well-placed to deal with the market volatility if it eventuates in any case. Annie Guest: That's business correspondent David Taylor.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
ATO leaving tax money on the table
Rachel Mealey: The Tax Office is one of the biggest government agencies in the country and among the most secretive. But a Four Corners investigation has found the agency set up to protect our revenue is failing us badly, with more than $50 billion in taxes uncollected. Angus Grigg reports. Angus Grigg: There's one number the ATO does not like to talk about. It's called collectible debt. Karen Payne: Around the time we were looking it was about $34 billion. Angus Grigg: Karen Payne is a former Inspector General of Taxation. The figure she mentioned has now grown to almost $53 billion. That's undisputed money owed to the ATO, which it has failed to collect. Karen Payne: It's a big number and if you bring that number back into the revenue then that means hopefully less taxes that everybody else has to pay. It's in all of our interests that the debts get collected. Angus Grigg: More worrying for Karen Payne is that this number has more than doubled over six years. Karen Payne: The fact that it keeps rising is troubling. Angus Grigg: The ATO collects hundreds of billions of dollars of our taxes every year, but despite its scale is subject to little oversight. This is a long held frustration for Senator Barbara Pocock. Barbara Pocock: There's a lot that happens behind the closed door of the ATO that isn't open to scrutiny for us as average citizens and taxpayers. Angus Grigg: The ATO tells us it's doing a stellar job, even as the scandals mount and evolve. Two years ago the ATO reported $2 billion was stolen in a GST scam that became known as the TikTok fraud. News report: The ATO is blaming influencers on TikTok for promoting the scam. Angus Grigg: New details uncovered by Four Corners show the ATO was warned its fraud detection systems were badly lacking. Ali Noroozi is a former Inspector General of Taxation. Ali Noroozi: There have certainly been on notice that their risk assessment tools could do better. Angus Grigg: Not only did the ATO fail to heed this warning, just two months before the GST scam blew up in mid-2021, it downgraded the fraud risk from severe to low. Ali Noroozi: So given any kind of fraud really, you need to take it seriously. You need to act on those early warning signs. Angus Grigg: Of the $2 billion stolen in the TikTok scam, just 8%, or $160 million, has been recovered. And of the 57,000 people who took advantage of it, just 122 have been convicted. The ATO says GST fraud is not widespread and the majority of businesses are doing the right thing. Karen Payne says we should all care about tax administration because it funds essential services. Karen Payne: That allows the government to fund the services that we all benefit from. So health, defence, security, infrastructure. So it's a pretty key part of our democracy. Rachel Mealey: The former Inspector General of Taxation, Karen Payne, ending Angus Grigg's report. And you can catch Four Corners tonight at 8.30 on ABC1.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Major truth bomb dropped about Obama administration's ‘bluff' on Russia hoax
Sky News host James Morrow discusses the 'great tell' in a declassified intelligence report about the former Obama administration and the 2016 Russia hoax scandal. 'This report was called Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections, and it looked at Russia and the Russia hoax and found that the intelligence community's assessment of the Russians' hacking of the 2016 election was extremely fraudulent,' he said. 'The report was used to tar Trump, included the line Putin's inner circle strongly preferred Republicans over Democrat candidates because they judged that Republicans had historically been less focused on democracy and human rights. 'This is what poker players call a tell; a sign that the people behind this knew they were trying to bluff everyone.'
