Politics Now: China ties reset without 'kowtowing': Labor

Australia's economic and diplomatic relationship with China has been stabilised, Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell declares, saying to suggest otherwise is a 'complete misreading'.

Tourism Minister Don Farrell. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Welcome to The Weekend Australian's live politics blog, Politics Now. 

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6:44 pm June 16, 2024

Energy bills under Labor pushing up groceries: Dutton

Staff writers

Peter Dutton says Australians are paying more at grocery shops due to high energy bills under the Albanese government.

“We have to make sure that we’ve got a realistic system and energy is the economy,” the Opposition Leader said on Sky News this evening.

“It’s not just your household power bill that’s going through the roof, it’s the local butcher and the local IGA, the local Coles store the local farmer, anyone that’s got cold storage, and that’s why under Labor you’re paying so much more for your groceries when you go to the supermarket.”

Mr Dutton also said it seems “there’s no prospect” of the government reaching the 2030 target.

“The 43 per cent target has contributed significantly to an increase in power prices and I think that the question is, ‘What’s in our country's best interest?’” he said.

“I know the Prime Minister loves to hang out with all the world leaders and get a slap on the back and the rest of it, but his job is actually to make it easier, not harder, for Australian families and small businesses.”

The Coalition government is still “fully committed” to the net zero by 2050 target, with Mr Dutton saying “interim targets are fine where they’re realistic”.

— Clareese Packer

5:39 pm June 16, 2024

Minns apologises for last-minute drone show cancellation

Staff writers

NSW Premier Chris Minns has apologised for the cancellation of the Vivid Love is in the Air drone show, which was scrapped just 20 minutes before it was scheduled to go ahead on Saturday night.

Mr Minns said the cancellation was “deeply regrettable” and that he was “sincerely sorry”.

“I am really sorry about last night. A lot of families and kids were really looking forward to last night,” Mr Minns said at a press conference on Sunday.

“The decision was made by the drone operator and it was completely weather dependent. They made the call as late as possible – not to inconvenience families, but to actually see whether they could go ahead with the program.

“I know families are doing it really tough at the moment and the free entertainment that comes about as a result of Vivid and the drone show is welcome because it means you can take your kids and family out, and it doesn’t cost anything to see it.”

— Clareese Packer

3:08 pm June 16, 2024

Replacement pandas 'big deal' for ties with China

Staff writers

South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas says Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s announcement that two pandas will replace Wang Wang and Fu Ni is a “big deal” for Australia’s relationship with China.

“Are the pandas important? Of course they are, it’s a big deal for the zoo and the city, but it’s really a symbol,” Mr Malinauskas said at a press conference this afternoon.

“It’s a powerful gesture of the stabilisation of the Australia-China relationship.”

Mr Malinauskas also said he hopes to keep the pandas for at least a decade, but no decisions have been made on that yet.

“Pandas are a drawcard not just for South Australia but for people around the country. They are the only pandas we see in the Southern hemisphere, so it's a privilege for us,” he said.

“Importantly, Premier Li made it clear that we would have a say in actually choosing the pandas that come here.

“It will be a male and a female to say the least, and we look forward to going through that process over the coming months.”

Malinauskas said Premier Li's visit to South Australia demonstrated “South Australia’s economic trajectory is increasingly known outside of our own borders."

By Clareese Packer

1:19 pm June 16, 2024 Highlight

Australia hasn't 'kowtowed' to China: Farrell

Rosie Lewis

Australia hasn’t “kowtowed at all” to China in resetting the economic and diplomatic relationship, Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell declared, and to suggest otherwise was a “complete misreading” of what had occurred.

“We haven't kowtowed at all. We've continued to represent our national interest and our national security. But what we have done is to stabilise the relationship with our largest trading partner,” Senator Farrell told Sky News’ Sunday Agenda program.

“That has resulted in, as I said, almost $20bn of resumed trade with the Chinese government. In the last month since the bans on wine were removed we've sold $86m worth of new wine into China. Three-hundred-and-fifty predominantly South Australian wine makers have now got their wonderful products back into the Chinese market. If that continues then our wine trade with China will be back to where it was, which is over one $1bn.

"So we've managed to get all of these things without kowtowing to the Chinese government. We've got a mature, respectful relationship. And that's what I think Australians would want with our largest trading partner.”

12:39 pm June 16, 2024

China's show of trademark 'panda diplomacy'

Ben Packham

China's Premier Li Qiang, centre, gestures towards Wang Wang the panda alongside South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas and members of the Chinese delegation at Adelaide Zoo. Picture: Getty Images

Chinese Premier Li Qiang has pledged a new pair of giant pandas will be sent to Adelaide to replace Wang Wang and Fu Ni, who have been at the city’s zoo since 2009.

In a show of China’s trademark “Panda diplomacy”, China’s No. 2 leader said he could see by their condition that Wang Wang and Zhou Ni had been “in safe hands”.

“Wang Wang and Funi have been away from home for 15 years. I guess they must have missed their home a lot,” Mr Li said through an interpreter.

“So they will return to China before the end of the year. But what I want to tell you is that we will provide a new pair of equally beautiful, lovely and adorable pandas.”

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said the panda lease, which costs a reported $1m a year, was “a dramatic representation of the strong relationship between South Australia, Australia and the People's Republic of China”.

Mr Li was met by hundreds of “patriotic Chinese” and anti-China protesters at the zoo.

Uyghurs and Falun Gong activists accused the Chinese leader of genocide, while Chinese students and elderly Chinese waved Chinese flags and shouted greetings to the Premier.

Adam Turan, the president of the East Turkistan Australian Association, said he was happy for Australia to have an economic relationship with China, but human rights should come first.

Mr Turan said his father had died in a Chinese concentration camp in Xinjiang, and he had not heard from his four brothers and two sisters for years.

”Don’t be deceived by Chinese soft power,” he said.

”I call it propaganda, not panda diplomacy.”

One of the pro-China supporters, a student nurse who declined to give her name, said China was “good for the peace of the whole world”.

”I love China so I want to come and welcome Li Qiang,” she said.

11:44 am June 16, 2024

Weakening climate targets would cost Australia in Pacific

Rosie Lewis

Foreign Minister Penny Wong says any weakening of emissions reduction targets under Peter Dutton would “of course” cost Australia strategically in the Pacific, declaring the uncertainty created by the Coalition’s climate action will hike electricity prices.

“Mr Dutton’s walking away from climate action again is a recipe for higher energy bills in Australia. It is also him, yet again, abandoning the field in the Pacific," Senator Wong told the ABC’s Insiders program.

“I still get, when I move around the Pacific, people remembering him joking about climate change by talking about water lapping at the door of Pacific nations. People still remember that. That is, apart from being not a very decent thing to say, it is also a diminution of Australia's influence. It affects Australia's influence.

“It is mind bogglingly absurd for him to suggest that more uncertainty will do anything other than increase costs. His policy is a policy that will lead to higher electricity bills for Australians.

“During their tenure of government, where they had in excess of 20 policies, what did that uncertainty mean? Remember 24 coal stations announced closures … The market looks at this and says ‘well, there's a lot of uncertainty so we're not going to invest’. Meanwhile, the old technology is exiting the market. You're reducing supply. What does that mean? Higher electricity prices.”

Asked about the strategic implications of the climate debate triggered last weekend by Peter Dutton vowing to oppose Labor’s legislated 43 per cent emissions reduction target by 2030, Senator Wong said: “Of course it would (cost Australia strategically in the Pacific)”.

The Opposition Leader on Sunday declared there'd be a "big difference" between the major parties ahead of the election, with Labor's climate and energy policies – including through a yet-to-be-announced 2035 emissions reduction target – increasing power prices.

"It would be reckless, frankly, to sign up to a (2035) target sight unseen and not understand whether it's going to mean another 30 per cent increase in people's power prices," he told Sky News' Sunday Agenda program.

"There are pensioners this winter who are eating or heating but not both. And I'm not going to contribute to further agony for Australians that the Prime Minister's imposing on them at the moment, and there'll be a big difference between the two parties as we go into the next election."

11:02 am June 16, 2024 Highlight

Australia in 'permanent contest' in Pacific: Wong

Rosie Lewis

Peter Malinauskas and Penny Wong welcome Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Adelaide. Picture: NewsWire / Ben Clark

Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Australia is in a “permanent contest in the Pacific” and has accused the former Coalition government of losing the opportunity to be the “only partner of choice” in the region.

Her warning of an ongoing contest and attack against the opposition comes ahead of a seven minister delegation to Papua New Guinea this week and as Chinese Premier Li Qiang begins his first visit to Australia in seven years.

China’s influence has been growing in the Pacific, with its aid primarily directed to countries with whom it has official diplomatic relations.

“That is a very substantial and serious ministerial delegation to Papua New Guinea and it's because this government understands the importance to Australia of engagement in the Pacific,” Senator Wong told the ABC’s Insiders program. “We understand that it matters to Australia's stability, security, prosperity in the region, and because we want to be and are being more involved members of the Pacific family.

“The reality is Mr Dutton and the Coalition abandoned the field in the Pacific and others have filled that space. We are now in a position where Australia is a partner of choice, but the opportunity to be the only partner of choice has been lost by Mr Dutton and his colleagues.

“And we're in a state of permanent contest in the Pacific. That's the reality. I wish there were a rewind button (so) we could recover the last 10 years, but we don't. We have to deal with what we have now, which is a permanent contest in the Pacific.”

10:23 am June 16, 2024

Approval of Labor's handling of cost of living falls

Dennis Shanahan

Public approval of Labor’s handling of cost of living, housing and interest rates has dropped 10 points since the 2022 election as concern about the cost of living has risen 15 points during the same time.

Since the last election the “importance” of the environment and climate has dropped more than 10 points to fall to the least important “top five” issues according to new analysis of JWS Research.

The high importance of cost of living and the decline in the importance of climate as well as the falling support for the Labor government’s handling of the pressures on families and households comes as Peter Dutton vows to abandon 2030 carbon emissions targets to “help families”.

The analysis of how the public rates government performance and the importance of issues shows cost-of-living concerns began growing under the Morrison Coalition government and was at an importance rating of 65 points at the May 2022 election.

Since the election, cost of living has extended its lead dramatically as the most important issue going from 65 in May 2022 to 80 points in May 2024.

Housing and interest rate concerns have rocketed over the same period rising from 37 points to 55 points while economic concerns generally have remained steady.

The importance of the environment and climate has plunged 10 points to 29 points to be the bottom of the top five issues.

The ranking of how the government is performing on the key issues has improved for the environment and climate change, lifting from 41 to 46 points, but housing and interest rate management has fallen from 41 to 30 points and cost of living, Anthony Albanese’s key winning election strategy, has also fallen 10 points from 36 to 26 points in May this year.

The fall in performance on cost of living has come despite tax cuts, welfare support and a $300 energy rebate.

9:46 am June 16, 2024

Protests kick off ahead of Premier Li's arrival

Ben Packham

Human rights protesters and patriotic Chinese are attempting to drown each other out at Adelaide Zoo ahead of Premier Li Qiang’s arrival.

China’s No. 2 leader arrived in Adelaide yesterday afternoon for a four-day visit, where he was met by Penny Wong, South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas, Chinese Ambassador Xiao Qian and Australia’s ambassador to China, Scott Dewar.

He is the most senior Chinese leader to visit Australia in seven years, and the Albanese government is hailing the trip as a fresh milestone in its stabilisation of the nation’s China relationship.

In a statement released by the Chinese Embassy, Mr Li said “shelving differences” had helped get the bilateral relationship “back on track after a period of twists and turns”, and China was looking forward to renewing the nations’ cooperation and “friendship”.

9:27 am June 16, 2024 Highlight

Dutton mulls government-subsidised nuclear

Rosie Lewis

Peter Dutton has flagged nuclear power stations established by a government he leads could be government subsidised, pointing out every energy source except coal receives taxpayer-funded support.

“We will make our announcement in due course, but I just make the point that wind and solar don't work without government subsidy,” the Opposition Leader told Sky News’ Sunday Agenda program when asked if nuclear power plants would be government subsidised or owned.

“Every energy at the moment apart from coal is (subsidised). So wind and solar, the other green energy sources and don't forget that nuclear is the greenest of them because it doesn't emit any emissions whatsoever. In Poland they've adopted a plan there, it's the equivalent of taking about 9 million cars off the road.

“I'm very strongly supportive of renewable energy, but it needs to be firmed up because our hospitals can't run 24/7 on wind and solar, they need that 24/7 baseload power.”