Australia presses Nauru over proposed billion-dollar deal with mystery Chinese company
The Albanese government presses Nauru over a proposed billion-dollar deal with a Chinese company, warning of the risks tied to opaque financial arrangements and Beijing's expanding footprint in the region.
A project to reclaim land in low-lying Tuvalu is held up at a major infrastructure conference as a prime example of how to deliver meaningful, lasting work.
Registrations for the second annual round of Australia's Pacific Engagement Visa ballot remain slow going.
In Tonga, an international team of scientists investigate the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcanic eruption in 2022.
CNMI Congresswoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds writes to Donals Trump requesting that documents about Amelia Eahart be declassified.
And Toa Samoa's team manager says Payne Haas' decision to switch allegiances could tip the balance for others considering making the same move.
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ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Tonga's king takes control of government department, as critics fear 'dangerous' situation
Lopeti Senituli has seen many changes in Tonga over his lifetime. The well-known lawyer and political commentator was working within the bowels of Tonga's government in 2010, when long-heralded democratic reforms were introduced to the country after decades of debate. At the time, it was a history-making exercise that brought power to the people. But over the past 12 months — and the past two weeks in particular — Mr Senituli sees a worrying trend, what he describes as a "dangerous situation". "We are going back to the pre-2010 days when everything that was done by the king and his minions escaped public scrutiny." Tonga, known affectionately as The Kingdom, has the only remaining sovereign monarchy in the region. It was an absolute monarchy for almost 150 years until 2010 when reforms were introduced, essentially making Tonga more democratic. The decision came after violent riots in the capital in 2006 calling for change — the aftermath of which the country is still paying off. But critics say these recent moves are testing those reforms. Last week, Tonga's parliament approved a bill to rename the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to "His Majesty's Diplomatic Services". The move essentially brings the country's foreign affairs portfolio under the control of the monarch, King Tupou VI. The current foreign affairs minister is Crown Prince Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala, the king's son. "Those in His Majesty's Diplomatic Services are most likely going to have some noble blood, some royalty blood," Mr Senituli said. "Everyone else will not be considered because [they] don't have that blue blood. And that's dangerous." In Tonga, the royal family is almost universally revered. There are signs pledging allegiance to the king all over the capital, Nuku'alofa, and the vast majority of Tongans view the royal family with a sense of pride. On the streets of the city, and on social media — where Tongans both in-country and among its vast diaspora have vibrant debates about the direction of the country — the response to the latest political move has been mixed. A small number have spoken out against it, yet many are too scared to make their opinion known, citing respect for the monarchy — others just don't understand what it means. And there are also loyalists, who side with the king no matter what. Some, such as Tongan lawyer and commentator Teimumu Tapueluelu, are in support, saying the decision went through parliament and was voted on. She described the move as a "much-needed" long-term investment of "trust, credibility, and relationship-building" that would "stabilise political disruptions" through any changes in government. The government itself is labelling it a "technical change". In a statement, Tonga's attorney-general, Linda Folaumoetu'i, told the ABC that the foreign ministry, under these new reforms, still "maintains the structure of having a minister, secretary, and foreign diplomats and employees". The ministry will also include a new board — including the king's advisors, his Privy Council, and, "from time to time", anyone the king wishes — that would act as an "oversight body". But critics, again, say the king is overreaching. In December, Tonga's then-prime minister, Siaosi Sovaleni, resigned from office before facing a no-confidence motion after a string of run-ins with the king. He was replaced by the current prime minister, 'Aisake Eke. Mr Senituli described Mr Eke as a "yes man". "He never says no to what the king says," he said. "And this is proving to be true, and this is how it is playing out." Tonga is due to hold its national elections in November. Mr Senituli said the people of Tonga should consider whether they wanted to elect a "yes man" as their leader. Mr Eke and Tonga's foreign affairs minister, the Crown Prince, were contacted by the ABC for comment. The chairperson for the country's Pro Democracy Party, Teisa Cokanasiga, has launched a petition to stop the latest move, calling it a major reversal of Tonga's democratic reforms. "We've gone through so much in the past 40 years to have in place the major constitutional amendments [and] more power to the people in parliament, [now] it's like 10 steps forward and 20 steps back." She said the bill was rushed through parliament without debate. "It's as if there was already a consensus not to discuss this bill," she said. "That's deeply concerning when you're talking about huge changes to the form of government and the executive power of the state." The petition has been lodged to the king, but insiders say it will almost certainly be rejected. Looking at the country's democratic future, Mr Senituli said he worried about what was next. "I have great respect for his majesty," he said. "But I must ask them, please have some thought for the voices of the Tongan people," he said.
News.com.au
15 hours ago
- News.com.au
Jim Chalmers' spat with Shadow Treasurer Ted O'Brien over spending pressures, outlines seven key budget pressures
The final day of Labor's Economic Reform Roundtable has gotten off to a chaotic start, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers and his opposition counterpart Ted O'Brien clashing over 'fiscal restraint'. People at the closed door summit described to NewsWire a “war of wordsâ€� and a “fiery exchangeâ€� after Mr O’Brien accused the Albanese government of adding $100bn to the national debt. He also charged that Labor was leading Australia into 11 consecutive budget deficits. Mr Chalmers rejected Mr O’Brien’s call to tighten government spending and said his figures were “falseâ€�, people in the room said. Mr Chalmers said “this is not question timeâ€� shortly before NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey broke it up, according to one person. But another insider played down Mr Mookhey’s role, saying it was simply “his turn to speakâ€� and that Mr Chalmers threw to him. According to that source, Mr O’Brien had been noticeably quiet for the first two days of the roundtable and came into Thursday’s session seemingly with a premeditated plan to open fire. They described it as “very briefâ€� but confirmed it ended with Mr Chalmers saying attendees were there to discuss issues, not to witness question time. Though, one person said it was clear Mr Chalmers “didn’t have control of the roomâ€�. The talking points sources said Mr O’Brien raised were similar to points in an opinion piece he wrote for Thursday. Australian Council of Trade Unions chief Sally McManus also mentioned the exchange in a press conference after the morning session. “There was a bit of a political exchange that went on that felt a bit like in Question Time,â€� she said. “It was a bit of a backwards and forwards on that, and two very different views about … whether or not you need to have rules,â€� Ms McManus said. She said that no one weighed in on the stoush as it played out, but that business groups did circle back to some of the points later in the session. Mr Chalmers earlier kicked off the last day of the roundtable by outlining the budget’s “seven structuralâ€� issues which include a “cluster of fiveâ€� issues linked to the care economy, plus lagging productivity and resilience concerns. “But five of them are in the care economy and then you’ve got interest costs, and then you’ve got defence,â€� he told the room before media were asked to leave,â€� he said. “The challenge on us is to convert the progress we’ve made in the near term in the budget into longer term structural progress in the budget as well.â€� He said discussions about tax reform and budget sustainability would be the “real test,â€� with the group set to debate government spending â€' an area where its been criticised by economists. However, he once again stressed the importance of discussions and reaching consensus, stating that: “One of the reasons why we’re in this room and one of the reasons why we put this group together is because we wanted to get some collective buy in when it comes to the big trade-offs that we grapple withâ€�. “We’re about $60bn down on interest costs over the next decade because of that near term progress we’ve made in the budget,â€� he said. “So, the three of those seven structural pressures that we’ve made the most advances on are NDIS, aged care and interest. “Obviously, the spending side of the budget is key and that’s why we begin there today.â€� Unions hail ‘significant shift’ on AI In her remarks to media, Ms McManus said the Tech Council of Australia had heard the concerns of the ACTU on artificial intelligence and wanted to help address them. The ACTU is calling for an “AI Actâ€� to put guardrails on the data ravenous technology to stop it eating jobs and generating cash for its big tech backers without compensating intellectual property owners. The Tech Council has opposed guardrails in the past. Ms McManus did not say the peak body had changed its position entirely, but there was room to work. “We want AI to benefit us all, not to just benefit a few people that aren’t even living in Australia anyway,â€� she told reporters. “There was discussion with the Tech Council and ACTU about wanting to address the issue of properly paying creatives, journalists and academics for their data, their work, their creative work that they do. “That’s quite a significant shift, and it’s one we really welcome.â€� She said ultimately much of it hinged on the government. “But a big outcome of the roundtable is the fact that … there’s agreement that we’re going to give this a real good go at coming up with a model that makes sure that people are actually paid for what they produce,â€� Ms McManus said.
News.com.au
17 hours ago
- News.com.au
CEO says government has many issues to fix before productivity can improve
A top entrepreneur has given a brutal reality check to the Albanese government, warning there are other issues that should be prioritised before productivity can improve. Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Thursday is in his final day of the Economic Roundtable, a three-day summit involving discussions with business experts, industry leaders and government ministers aimed at lifting productivity which has slowed in recent decades. It said there are three main focuses: making the economy more productive, building resilience in the face of global uncertainty and strengthening the budget to make it more sustainable. But Matt Barrie, chief executive of two companies and chair of another, went on a lengthy rant online, declaring 'everything is cooked' in Australia. The Treasurer's office has responded to the criticism — saying the Albanese government is confident of turning the tide on Australia's problems. It pointed to the third interest rate cut in six months last Tuesday due to 'progress' on inflation, real wage growth for the seventh consecutive quarter and the lowering of unemployment to 4.2 per cent, down one point, and addition of 25,000 new jobs. Mr Barrie's first concern was that businesses faced 'astronomical' land, labour and energy costs. He blamed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for 'hitting the pedal on the mother of all housing bubbles which is now a conflagration consuming all'. 'Labour costs through (the) roof as everyone's drowning in rent & mortgages, and 10 per cent real inflation, yet even with highest casual wages in the world people are choosing between heating and eating,' he wrote in response to a commentator's tweet. 'Energy through roof pretending windmills and solar can power a G20 economy. Hot tip: you can't. You need to move the power through time and space to where it's needed. You also can't run industrial thermal loads or precision manufacturing on intermittent power with phase instability.' Mr Barrie then pointed to immigration, claiming welfare recipients were being let into Australia and not workers who can contribute to the economy, adding more pressure to taxpayers, as well as infrastructure and services. He continued: 'Australian education is now regarded as a joke.' 'Entire non-govt sector created 53,000 jobs in 2024, but they're bringing in about that many PER MONTH. 'New mortgage issuance is money creation, so is out of control government waste like $50b+ of NDIS p.a. That money issuance has real inflation running at 10 per cent. 'The country is utterly cooked, blind Freddie can see the wheels are falling off the bus at a tremendous rate. They think they can fix it with 2 days WFH and a 4 day work week which will collapse CRE. 'The housing market will pop and it will not be a soft landing, it will bring down the banks and the AUD.' The chief executive argued half the country is dependent on the taxpayer. '7.1m people work >35h, 1.5m SME (small, medium enterprise) owners leaves 8.6m people supporting 28m others including 2.5m public servants,' he wrote. 'Manufacturing can't run, smelters can't run, can't make plastic, glass, a tin can. 'Everyone's white knuckling it to make mortgage payments and eat, dodging yet another Gaza protest and hoping they don't cop a machete to the head.' Mr Barrie said input costs had to be dealt with before productivity can grow. 'I feel sorry for the poor fools that turned up to the round table because they'll just be used as a veneer of legitimacy to push through some more awful policy,' he concluded. reached out to Mr Chalmers' office for comment, but a spokesman flagged he was busy on his final day of the Economic Roundtable. In response, they pointed to the Treasurer's remarks from the summit the past two days where the Labor MP said the government is confident of turning the tide. He mentioned the third interest rate cut in six months last Tuesday due to 'progress' on inflation, real wage growth for the seventh consecutive quarter and the lowering of unemployment to 4.2 per cent, down one point, and addition of 25,000 new jobs. 'Global uncertainty surrounds us, big economic challenges confront us and our ambitions must meet this moment,' Mr Chalmers said. Ahead of day two of the summit, the Treasurer said productivity had to be analysed at a broader lens, flagging energy transformation, technological support, competition and dynamism, and artificial intelligence as areas to help boost productivity. On Wednesday, Health Minister Mark Butler announced at the National Press Club a $2 billion investment into 'Thriving Kids', a program outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme to help kids with mild to moderate developmental delays and autism. It comes after figures showed more than 71 per cent of new participants had autism as their primary diagnosis, raising more questions about the future of the NDIS. 'Diverting this group of kids over time from NDIS is an important element of making the scheme sustainable and returning to its original intent,' Mr Butler said. Further reforms could be implemented in future, including cracking down on fraud, as well as a new Medicare bulk-billed over three years to pick up any development concerns in kids. The Albanese government has also promised 1.2 million new homes as part of its second term in hopes of alleviating the housing supply shortage adding to rental pressures. But a report as recent as May showed Labor is falling behind 262,000 homes by the end of the decade. Mr Albanese has blamed the slow building of homes on red tape and excessive regulations, insisting the government will look at options to bring down costs which have ballooned by around 30 per cent since the Covid pandemic, one report noted. 'It is too hard,' the PM said at a National Press Club.
