Latest news with #WorldEcumenicalDay
West Australian
19-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Australian news and politics live: Donald Trump's new man in the UK says AUKUS is ‘vital to the world'
Scroll down for all the latest posts. Donald Trump's new ambassador to the UK has used his first public speech to back the AUKUS partnership with Britain and Australia. Warren Stephens highlighted how 'vital the US-UK relationship is to our countries and to the world' at an event in parliament attended by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday. Stephens said the AUKUS partnership, which is developing a new fleet of nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarines for the UK and Australia, would help maintain a 'free and open Indo-Pacific'. The ambassador's decision to make his first public address in support of the project is symbolically important, given it is a legacy of Joe Biden's term in the White House. The alliance, which also covers collaboration on other advanced technologies, is seen as an attempt to counter the influence of China in the region. Read the full story here. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has presented Pope Leo with a bottle of Australian red wine that retails at Dan Murphy's for $41 and an indigenous artwork after securing Australia's first meeting with a pontiff in 16 years. Pope Leo in return blessed the rosary beads that belonged to Maryanne Ellery, Mr Albanese's mother who the prime minister told the Pope on Sunday would be 'smiling down from heaven' at their encounter. The Vatican said the Pope discussed religious freedom. 'An exchange of views then took place on the socio-political situation of the country, focusing in particular on themes of mutual interest, including environmental protection, integral human development and the freedom of religion,' the Vatican said. Mr Albanese formally invited the Pope to visit Australia in 2028 for World Ecumenical Day. Read Latika M Bourke's exclusive story here. While Anthony Albanese enjoys the sun in Rome he might want to get an English lesson from UK Labour and in particular, Labour's PM, Sir Keir Starmer. The two have so much in common. Both crushed their opponents and had huge majorities after their recent elections. Starmer's is now 10 months old, but still sees him hold 402 out of 650 seats in the Commons, on a par with Albanese's own 94 from 151 in our own Parliament. Both had gushing post-election headlines from a few notable national newspaper editors sucking up while playing catch-up. Both Starmer and Albanese were written as having won 'two term elections' and both spoke of governing for all and wanting to be the natural party of government. Well 10 months in, Starmer is in a flat out panic domestically. He is deeply unpopular and Labour lost a by-election in the previous 'Red Wall' to Nigel Farage's Reform Party on May 2. At the same time, Reform won 677 of 1650 council seats contested nationally. It added eight new mayors to their ranks. Read Cameron Milner's full story here. Home owners can expect more mortgage relief if the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates as widely expected but those looking to break into the housing market could see property prices rise even higher. Traders are pricing in a 95 per cent chance the RBA board will cut its key interest rate to 3.85 per cent when its two-day meeting wraps up on Tuesday. Nicola Powell, chief economist at property portal Domain, said it's pretty much a given. Underlying inflation moderated to 2.9 per cent in the first three months of the year, which will reassure the RBA that they can take some restrictiveness out of the economy. Read the full story here. Australia's mortgage holders are holding their collective breath as the RBA is set to deliver an interest rate decision today. For all the latest in politics, business, news and views - Stay right here throughout the day.
West Australian
19-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Anthony Albanese presents Pope with $40 bottle of wine after securing first audience with pontiff in 16 years
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has presented Pope Leo with a bottle of Australian red wine that retails at Dan Murphy's for $41 and an indigenous artwork after securing Australia's first meeting with a pontiff in 16 years. Pope Leo in return blessed the rosary beads that belonged to Maryanne Ellery, Mr Albanese's mother who the prime minister told the Pope on Sunday would be 'smiling down from heaven' at their encounter. The Vatican said the Pope discussed religious freedom. 'An exchange of views then took place on the socio-political situation of the country, focusing in particular on themes of mutual interest, including environmental protection, integral human development and the freedom of religion,' the Vatican said. Mr Albanese formally invited the Pope to visit Australia in 2028 for World Ecumenical Day. The prime minister's visit came as Australia's new Ambassador to the Holy See Keith Pitt told The Nightly that the Catholic Church remained relevant to Australia's strategic interests and cited its charitable work in the Pacific as a prime example. The former Liberal National MP Keith Pitt only arrived in Rome six weeks ago, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reached across the political aisle to personally appoint him Ambassador before the election. He is so newly arrived in the Italian capital, he did not have the opportunity to present his credentials to the late Pope Francis before his death meaning that as Ambassador-designate, he was not able to meet the new Pontiff alongside the Prime Minister inside the Basilica after Pope Leo XIV's inaugural mass on Sunday. Neither was he able to attend Mr Albanese's private audience late Monday afternoon local time with the new Pope at the Apostolic Palace inside Vatican City. Mr Albanese was one of a string of the 151 world leaders and dignitaries the Pontiff received after they attended his first mass under the hot Roman sun on Sunday morning, along with 150,000 well-wishers who gathered in St Peter's Square and lined the streets. The most high profile VIP was US Vice President JD Vance, who is a devout Catholic and was one of the late Pope Francis' final visitors. Mr Vance presented Pope Leo, a Chicago native with a Chicago Bears jersey with the name 'Pope Leo' and 'XIV' on the back. His office released a statement that said they discussed the persecution of Christians around the world, and the shared commitment of President Trump and Pope Leo XIV to stop the killing in Ukraine and the Middle East. Mr Albanese is not a devout Catholic like Mr Vance but nominates his Catholic upbringing as one of his three great faiths, alongside the South Sydney Rabbitohs football club and the Labor party. During his 40-minute audience, he gave the Pope a bottle of 2021 Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz, which Dan Murphy's values at $41, and an indigenous artwork. The piece, measuring 320mm x 45mm x 420mm is an acrylic on canvas by Amanda Westley. It is called 'Raukkan' which means 'meeting place' in Westley's Ngarrindjeri community around 80 kilometres southeast of Adelaide. The choice of gifts may have been last-minute choices, given the prime minister only confirmed a week after his landslide re-election that he would be attending the Pope's mass, extending what was originally going to be his first post-victory visit to Jakarta into a seven-day trip encompassing Europe. Speaking to The Nightly in an exclusive interview conducted in his office overlooking the Vatican, Mr Pitt endorsed the prime minister's decision to extend his trip beyond Indonesia. 'It is important that we send delegations of the highest level, so the Governor-General attended the funeral — the prime minister is here for the inauguration,' he said. 'That is just an important reflection of the significance of the event and the work of the Church and the Pope in particular. 'Imagine if we didn't come, imagine if we weren't here. 'The fact that you've got such high-level delegations, at the funeral in particular. 'It was extraordinary, firstly the level of mourning and grief from people, even I thought, 'wow, it actually means something to them.'' Asked what interests Australia was advancing in the Catholic Church, Mr Pitt said its charitable work in the Pacific, which is the target of fierce competition between China and the West, was key. 'If you look at an area like the Pacific for example … there's a Cardinal for Tonga for example,' he said. 'The Vatican sometimes helps make those quieter voices heard. 'It's a critical area for Australia. 'When you look at the fact that there's over 1.2 billion Catholics around the world and the amount of significant work that the Church does, that's why it's critical. 'It's not just about the fact that it's a faith-based organisation, it's a global institution that has significant influence — and it's it's own country.' Asked if Australia was pushing for the Church to increase its footprint in the region, Mr Pitt said: 'Absolutely.' 'They are obviously incredibly strong advocates for peace around the world in those conflict zones.' He said the church, which and has been plagued by child-sexual abuse scandals over decades, stood for gender equality, climate change and safeguarding children from abuse online. 'I think that's quite a change. 'They've made significant changes in recent years,' he said. 'Pope Francis made a public apology, that's a very significant step. 'He's established what's called a pontifical commission …. there's always more to do. 'And it's one of the things that is incredibly important to the Australian government and it's an incredibly strong part of what we do and our advocacy here.' He praised Pope Leo's recent intervention on artificial intelligence. 'Even I was surprised at the level of involvement, engagement, the understanding of artificial intelligence that Pope Leo has demonstrated,' he said. 'Pope Francis in particular made some changes in the time he was Pope and we shouldn't assume what Pope Leo might do.' He insisted the Church's geopolitical activities were not inconsistent with its teachings that forbid women priests, marriage, homosexuality and abortion or the Australian government's positions on the same issues. 'That's the reason why you have an embassy here, to put forward those views, to try and create influence, to try and get outcomes that matter to the Australian people.' But he said it was for the Church to decide whether it wanted to modernise to attract new followers. 'What the Church does in terms of its teachings and the way it moves forward in the future is entirely up to the Church,' he said. 'It's not up to me to try and tell them how they run their own institutions.' Mr Pitt, who represented Hinkler in Bundaberg for the LNP declined to comment on whether he sought the posting because he saw the Coalition's landslide defeat coming. 'I'm appointed by the Governor General and I don't want to get in the weeks,' he said. One of four boys raised Catholic, he described himself as a 'poor Catholic' and recounted going to mass in a timber church in central Queensland, and wore white shirts handmade by his mother for his First Communion, one of Catholicism's sacraments.
