Latest news with #PennyWong
Arab News
9 hours ago
- General
- Arab News
UAE's foreign minister, Australian counterpart reaffirm friendship
LONDON: Foreign ministers of the UAE and Australia have reaffirmed the friendship of their countries, some 50 years on from establishing diplomatic relations. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Penny Wong stressed in a phone call their mutual commitment to strengthening areas of cooperation in support of both countries' development goals, the Emirates News Agency reported. The parties also reviewed regional and international issues of mutual interest and expressed their commitment to continue cooperating to achieve growth. Abu Dhabi and Canberra are celebrating 50 years since establishing diplomatic relations in March 1975.
Zawya
14 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
Abdullah bin Zayed, Australian Foreign Minister discuss strengthening ties
H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, discussed bilateral relations and ways to enhance them in a phone call with Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia. H.H. Sheikh Abdullah congratulated Wong on her reappointment as Minister for Foreign Affairs, expressing his aspiration to continue working together to further the growth and development of the prosperous cooperation between the two friendly countries. H.H. Sheikh Abdullah affirmed the depth of the UAE-Australia friendship, as the two nations mark 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1975. He also highlighted their shared commitment to seizing available opportunities to strengthen avenues of joint cooperation in support of both countries' development goals. H.H. Sheikh Abdullah and Penny Wong also reviewed a number of regional and international issues of mutual interest.
The Guardian
20 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Vanuatu criticises Australia for extending gas project while making Cop31 bid
Vanuatu's climate minister has expressed disappointment over Australia's decision to extend one of the world's biggest liquefied natural gas projects and said it raises questions over its bid to co-host the Cop31 summit with Pacific nations. The UN is expected to announce which country will host the major climate summit in the coming weeks, with Australia pushing for the event to be held in Adelaide as part of a 'Pacific Cop'. Speaking to the Guardian, Vanuatu's minister for climate adaptation Ralph Regenvanu said Pacific leaders who have supported the co-hosting proposal now have 'questions raised' following Australia's decision to greenlight Woodside's North West Shelf gas project until 2070. Scientists and activists have said the life extension could be linked to up to 6bn tonnes of greenhouse gases being emitted in the decades ahead. 'This is not the leadership we want to see from Australia, if they are to be the host of Cop at the same time,' Regenvanu told the Guardian. Australia's foreign minister, Penny Wong, visited Vanuatu the week before her government approved the extension of the Woodside gas plant. While there, she said Australia had been 'a very emissions-intensive economy' and that '[we] have to turn that around'. Regenvanu called this 'double speak from Australia' and feared the same would take place during Cop. 'It's bewildering for those of us in the Pacific to hear one message and then to see the actions completely contradict what the government is saying to us,' Regenvanu told the Guardian. Despite his concerns around Australia's support for the fossil fuel industry, Regenvanu said he continued to back the Australian government on the Cop31 bid. 'We continue to stand with Australia, but we feel very disappointed in what's happened,' Regenvanu said. 'It raises, obviously, questions about whether Australia really is a partner of choice and whether it really is a friend of the Pacific.' Cop, or the 'Conference of parties on climate change', includes meetings where governments negotiate how to respond to climate change while developing treaties like the Paris agreement to curtail rising global temperatures. The UN climate talks have been criticised in the past for being held in major fossil fuel producing countries, with some experts calling for hosts to first prove their climate credentials. Pacific leaders have supported Australia's bid to host a Pacific Cop in 2026, saying the conference would help highlight the crisis Pacific nations face as a result of a warming climate and help them advocate for more ambitious global action. But regional leaders have also criticised Australia's continued reliance on fossil fuels. Palau's president, Surangel Whipps Jr, has said the 'merit and credibility' of Australia's bid relies in part on its commitment to shift away from new gas and coal developments. Tuvalu's minister for home affairs, climate change and environment, Maina Talia, said Australia's decision to extend the North West Gas shelf project was 'threatening our survival and violating the spirit of the Pacific-Australia climate partnership'.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Anthony Albanese deflects question on whether he'll be immediately hit with proposed $3m super tax
Anthony Albanese has sidestepped a question on whether he and politicians with more than $3m in their super balances will be required to immediately pay Labor's proposed tax. This follows comments from Employment and Industrial Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth stating that there will be provisions that mean people on defined superannuation funds won't have to immediately pay tax even if their balance is above $3m. Labor's proposed plan is tipped to generate $2.7bn annually and hit superannuation balances over $3m with a 30 per cent tax, a doubling of the current rate. As it stands, about 0.5 per cent or 800,000 Australians will be affected by the policy. However unlike Australians on ordinary and self-managed super funds, long-serving politicians on defined benefit pensions like Penny Wong, Sussan Ley, Tanya Plibersek and the Prime Minister who entered parliament in 2004 will be able to defer paying the tax until after they retire. Speaking to Sky, Ms Rishworth was repeatedly asked whether Australians on defined benefit would be required to pay their tax while still working, or whether they'd only be liable once they retire. While she didn't directly answer the questions, she said that 'the same provisions that have been used to treat, defined benefits schemes in the past under the Coalition and under previous governments have been applied,' and that the accounts are 'treated differently'. 'What I'm saying is we have applied the exact same rules as in the past that had been how you treat defined benefit schemes to this provision as well,' she said. 'It's entirely consistent and long standing and applies across the board to defined benefit schemes which the Commonwealth has constitutional power over.' When asked later, Mr Albanese also deflected a question on whether he would be subjected to the tax immediately, telling a journalist: 'Look it applies to us as it applies across the board, but the legislation, of course, has yet to be carried by the parliament'. The Coalition's finance spokesman James Paterson, who has objected to the tax as it hits unrealised gains, said the government needs to be more 'open and transparent' on the plan. He specifically called on Mr Albanese to explain the 'different treatment between different categories of retiree,' questioning whether he influenced the policy. 'Every other taxpayer, if they exceed the threshold, has to pay it in their working life but people like Anthony, on a defined benefit pension, only have to pay it after they retire,' he said. 'Now I think there is a very important question that arises out of this. Jim Chalmers has written rules which are favourable to his boss. Did Jim Chalmers ever discuss this with Anthony Albanese? Was it ever discussed in Cabinet or the Expenditure Review Committee of Cabinet? 'Did the Prime Minister exempt himself from that discussion? Did he remove himself from the room because of the significant personal conflict of interest that he has?'
Arab News
6 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
Labor members pressure Australian govt to impose Israel sanctions
LONDON: Australia's Labor government is under pressure from its own party activists to impose sanctions on Israel. A motion will be put to members of the party drafted by the Labor Friends of Palestine group to call on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to impose measures on people and groups involved in war crimes in Gaza and the displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank. It also calls on the government to 'redouble' efforts to secure a ceasefire. LFP's Peter Moss told The Guardian: 'There is a deep frustration that Australia has failed to move beyond words and take effective action under international law to protect the Palestinian people and hold Israel accountable.' He added: 'We are seeing a surge in anger and frustration among Labor members and the broader community. Labor Friends of Palestine is signing up a stream of new members horrified by the genocide. 'There are many Labor voters and supporters who cannot accept Australia's failure to act effectively under international law to stop the starvation.' Last week, Australia condemned Israel's months-long blockade of the Gaza Strip, signing a statement alongside 22 other nations including the UK, Canada and New Zealand. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Israel 'cannot allow the suffering' in Gaza to continue, and statements by several Israeli ministers about the situation in the Palestinian enclave are 'abhorrent and outrageous.' Wong made the remarks after holding talks with her Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar on Friday. But the Australian government did not go as far as to say it was considering targeted sanctions, unlike fellow signatories the UK, Canada and France, which is co-chairing a UN meeting in June on Palestinian statehood with Saudi Arabia. Australia is set to participate in the conference. Moss told The Guardian: 'At a minimum, Australia should immediately support the statement from the UK, France and Canada and prepare sanctions targeted at Israeli officials responsible for using starvation as a weapon of war.' On Monday, Albanese called Israel's blockade — preventing vital aid reaching millions of Palestinian civilians — 'completely untenable' and 'an outrage,' adding that he had conveyed his feelings personally to Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Labor MP Ed Husic praised Albanese's comments on ABC radio station on Tuesday, but said Australia needs to do more to pressure Israel and alleviate the suffering of Palestinians. He added that sanctions of individuals and organizations are 'probably under consideration' by the government to 'exert maximum international pressure to stop this blockade.' At an event for Gaza at Parliament House on Tuesday night, Sen. David Pocock, an independent, said: 'If the horror unfolding in Gaza is not our country's red line for stronger action, then I don't know what is.' Mohammed Mustafa, a British doctor who has been working in Gaza, also spoke at the event, calling on the Australian government to do more. 'You don't have to be a major player to feed children. You don't have to be a major player to heal children,' he said. 'We need healers in the Middle East, and Australia can be the healer. It can lead the world.'
