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Key events
Reacting to the Quad meeting, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that cooperation “should not be directed against any third party”, AFP reports.
“We also do not support exclusive cliques or bloc confrontations,” she told reporters.
The Quad ministers said in a joint statement they were “seriously concerned” about the South China Sea and East China Sea and opposed “destabilising or unilateral actions” – a clear reference to Beijing.
The ‘Quad’ group of countries – Australia, the United States, India and Japan –have announced a new initiative to build surveillance capabilities and critical minerals cooperation, Agence France Presse reports.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio took part in the meeting in New Delhi, and said the Quad comprised countries “who share strong values – strong, vibrant democracies” and have “many aligned interests”.
The Quad said in a joint statement members would together mobilise US$20 billion in government and private money to strengthen critical mineral supply chains, including by identifying projects in the four countries.
They would also work together on two maritime initiatives – one that combines their surveillance capabilities, and another that will provide enhanced real-time information to commercial traffic at sea.
Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the Quad was cooperating on assisting port development in Fiji – a key island nation in the South Pacific, where China has made a concerted push for greater influence.
“We recognise our obligation – our responsibility – to provide real choices, particularly as strategic circumstances in our region are deteriorating,” Wong said.
The Quad in a statement also set a goal of connecting South Pacific islands through undersea cables by the end of the year, integrating them economically to the four democracies rather than China.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.
It was a busy night at Senate estimates with the National Anti-corruption Commission inspector announcing that she has launched a second investigation into the outgoing boss Paul Brereton. Gail Furness’s announcement came after Brereton hit back at suggestions he had contributed to the major suffering of robodebt victims. More on that coming up.
In addition, it was revealed at estimates that the Australian federal police and the federal government’s special investigator for war crimes allegations have asked the Nacc to investigate media leaks about the arrest of Ben Roberts-Smith. More details to follow.
Overseas, there’s been a meeting of the Quad countries in New Delhi attended by Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong. They announced a deal for new cooperation on surveillance and a new port for Fiji, in a move to counter China’s influence that Beijing has not taken well. More on this soon.
