New research shows that funding for DFAT has hit a new low of 1.3% of the federal budget. Scaling back has a real effect on Australia’s influence around the world.
Attacking Erdoğan’s original comments, Morrison told a news conference they were “highly offensive to Australians and highly reckless in this very sensitive environment”.
Whoever forms the next government should increase investment in foreign affairs and trade, finding ways to make Australia more prominent in global dispute resolution.
Morrison announced a compromise position that recognises West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital but does not move Australia’s embassy there until a peace settlement determines Jerusalem’s final status.
Ministers scrapping publicly over whether our embassy should be relocated is adding to the perception of government disunity and fanning the friction the issue has already caused with our neighbours.
The fundamental point is that those were desperate days for the Coalition and so are these. “McMahon was in survival mode,” says author Patrick Mullins. The same could be said of Morrison.
In a speech titled “After the Midterms”
Fullilove warns Australia may need to increase its defence spending beyond the present commitment and urges the government to reverse some of its cuts to aid.
Peter Jennings on Morrison’s Jerusalem move
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Jennings says it would be "silly" to claim there is no connection between this week's announcement about the possible relocation of Australia's embassy to Jerusalem and the Wentworth byelection.
Bishop could presumably expect to receive some attractive job offers in the next few months, and if the right one came along, domestic or international, she would be taking it.
Whether New Zealand achieves real change in the way it engages with Pacific nations depends on how the ‘Pacific reset’ funding boost is translated into action on the ground.
NATO leaders meet in Belgium today; many are worried about US President Trump’s habit of breaking diplomatic norms. History is filled with other leaders acting bullishly, often with poor results.