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Penny Wong and Wang Yi meet in Manila
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, met her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Asean foreign ministers’ meeting in Manila last night, a statement from her department said.
In their 12th meeting, the ministers discussed Asean priorities and the importance of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
Wong raised Australia’s concerns about China’s test of a nuclear-capable submarine-launched missile earlier this month – and noted the strong concerns expressed by many Pacific island countries.
Wong also raised a range of consular issues including the case of Dr Yang Jun, respect for Australia’s laws, sovereignty and freedom of expression, the importance of safe and professional maritime conduct, and human rights.
Key events
Murray Watt says government has taken ‘serious action’ on gambling in defence of response to Murphy report
Minister for the environment and water, Murray Watt, is appearing on ABC News Breakfast from Adelaide this morning ahead of the Labor party’s national conference. Asked if it would be like “WWE wrestling” (frightening imagery), Watt said there would be “a few little stage fights, but ultimately, it’s going to be an endorsement of the federal government’s policy agenda”.
He continued:
We know that many Australians still continue to do it tough, despite the work we’ve done around tax cuts and increased wages and cost of living relief. So I think what you’ll see at this conference is a really big focus on what more we can be doing as a party, and as a government, to deliver that real change.
Pointed to an area where there does seem to be disquiet amongst the party’s rank and file – gambling reform – where many don’t think the government’s changes have gone enough, Watt said Labor had proposed the “most far reaching” reform on gambling of any government. Asked if a national gambling regulator could be enacted, he said:
I don’t want to preempt the conference. There’ll be people who’ll say a range of things about these sorts of issues, but I do think it needs to be recognised that the government has taken some very serious action already.
Good morning
Good morning readers, Caitlin Cassidy here taking the reins from Martin Farrer to guide you through today’s news. I’ll be with you until mid-afternoon – it’s caitlin.cassidy@theguardian.com if you’d like to get in touch.
Christopher Pyne speculates that Barnaby Joyce could return to Nationals
Christopher Pyne, a minister in several Coalition governments, agreed with Bill Shorten that Pauline Hanson and One Nation were coming under more scrutiny because of their surge in popularity since the Bondi terror attack.
But he said “voters will have the final say”, and that “I don’t believe by election day [people] will be voting for One Nation in the numbers that are currently being seen in the polls”.
After Barnaby Joyce’s colourful appearance on the program on Monday night, there has been speculation about how he can accommodate himself with Hanson in the wake of her cosying up to the UK extremist Tommy Robinson and suggesting that the White Australia policy should not have been scrapped.
Pyne said:
Barnaby can do almost anything. Nothing would surprise me – if he went back to the National party, especially now that David Littleproud is not the leader – I don’t have any inside information, but nothing would surprise me if this continues with some of these less mainstream comments being made.
Shorten and Pyne cast doubt on One Nation’s staying power
Bill Shorten and Christopher Pyne have had their disagreements in the past, but they both agreed last night that voters will not turn out for One Nation at the next election at the levels suggested by recent polls.
Appearing on ABC’s 7.30, the Labor and Liberal veterans were asked about the impact of more scrutiny on the party, Pauline Hanson’s controversial trip to the UK, and possible tensions with Barnaby Joyce.
Shorten, a former Labor leader, said:
I don’t think [voters] are happy with the system, but I don’t think she should assume her 30% of people who say they want to support One Nation are the same as her 6% to 7% rusted-on hardline true believer vote of the past.
Some of the people who are looking to her now are sick of the system, and they’re hurting, but I think they would be perturbed by dusting off the bones of a White Australia policy.
Wong, Rubio criticise ‘dangerous’ China-Philippines skirmish in South China Sea
Penny Wong also criticised “destabilising and dangerous conduct” by China after a clash at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, AFP reports.
The Philippines and China summoned each other’s ambassadors on Tuesday after the Philippine military accused the China Coast Guard of clubbing a Filipino sailor with a baton on Monday as they approached a grounded vessel that has long served as a Philippine garrison.
The Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos, met with China’s ambassador to Manila on Tuesday after summoning the envoy over the incident at the flashpoint Second Thomas Shoal in the sea.
Multiple nations in the region, including the Philippines, have territorial claims that overlap with China’s, and altercations regularly occur in the heavily patrolled waterway.
Washington also condemned Beijing’s “dangerous and aggressive actions”.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, in an opinion piece published in Philippine media outlets on Tuesday, heralded Washington’s commitment “to freedom of navigation in Southeast Asia” while reaffirming the US defensive umbrella in the region.
“This freedom is by no means guaranteed. If these waters were to fall under the control of a power willing to use trade as a geopolitical weapon, both the United States and the ASEAN states would face serious new threats to their sovereignty, security, and economic future,” he wrote, in an apparent allusion to China.
Penny Wong and Wang Yi meet in Manila
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, met her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Asean foreign ministers’ meeting in Manila last night, a statement from her department said.
In their 12th meeting, the ministers discussed Asean priorities and the importance of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
Wong raised Australia’s concerns about China’s test of a nuclear-capable submarine-launched missile earlier this month – and noted the strong concerns expressed by many Pacific island countries.
Wong also raised a range of consular issues including the case of Dr Yang Jun, respect for Australia’s laws, sovereignty and freedom of expression, the importance of safe and professional maritime conduct, and human rights.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories before your morning blogger arrives with the main action.
We begin with geopolitics: Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has sat across the table from her Chinese counterpart at the Asean meeting in Manila. They talked about peace in the Pacific, and Wong says she brought up China’s recent test of a nuclear-capable submarine-fired missile.
Wong also took aim at China over a recent clash with the Philippines in the South China Sea. More on that soon.
