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Articles on G20 Brisbane

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One of four koalas on loan to Singapore Zoo, where they were unveiled to the public on Wednesday May 20. Qantas Airways

Koalas, platypuses and pandas and the power of soft diplomacy

Four female koalas have just made their debut in front of an adoring public at Singapore Zoo – the latest in a long line of animals used for diplomatic purposes, going back to Winston the platypus.
A ranger looks at the skull of an elephant killed by poachers - a frequent side-effect of development projects that open up remote forests to human access. Ralph Buij

Roads to ruin: the pitfalls of the G20’s infrastructure bonanza

The G20 has pledged to spend more than US$60 trillion on new infrastructure in the next 15 years, much of which will affect pristine areas. Without a solid plan, the environmental toll could be huge.
A global infrastructure shortfall looms - but governments need to carefully assess the merits of private capital. Flickr/Trey Ratcliff

Why Sydney’s global infrastructure hub should be wary of PPPs

While in Davos representing Australia at the World Economic Forum, Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has enthusiastically extolled the virtues of the Global Infrastructure Hub as a way of funding an…
Advocates of free trade often overlook the goals - and the people - that free trade deals leave behind. Jeff Tan/AAP

Beware overselling the case for free trade

Following a fortnight of intense Australian international engagement in APEC and the G20, last week saw the culmination of nearly a decade’s worth of negotiations with China over a much-anticipated free…
Many countries still need to clean up their act on anti-corruption and whistleblowing protections. Shutterstock

Anti-corruption bar set higher, but Australia still has more to do

Despite the adoption of a third two-year G20 Anti-Corruption Action Plan, corruption received only a few lines in the latest G20 leaders’ communique. The credibility of the G20 as a whole now rests on…
As the leaders were meeting at G20 the tweeters were tweeting their own thoughts on the global summit. Flickr/Palazzo Chigi

From selfies to climate change: the #G20 debate on Twitter

The G20 Summit that brought many of the world’s most important leaders to Brisbane last weekend was also a major Twitter event. Australian and international users expressed their concerns over the appearance…
AAP/Lukas Coch

The G20: thanks for noticing

There’s nothing quite like being the centre of attention, even if it costs A$400 million to do so. Now that the curtain has come down on Australia’s moment in the diplomatic spotlight, taxpayers might…
Many G20 members have now pledged contributions to the Green Climate Fund, but Australia has signalled it will not. PR handout/AAP

UN Green Climate Fund: it’s time for Australia to step up

The G20 summit in Brisbane has put the pressure on Australia to boost its action on climate change not just at home but also internationally through a new UN-backed fund. The summit yielded major pledges…
G20 leaders agreed to an economic growth target of 2.1% by 2018. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Climate not included: the G20 growth target will accelerate crisis

Despite Australia’s best efforts, climate change muscled its way onto the G20 agenda. The summit’s final communique included one paragraph restating the importance of international negotiations in Paris…
OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration Director Pascal Saint-Amans has been leading the charge against tax avoidance. Dominika Lis/G20 Australia

G20 tax reform plan should prevent another Lux leaks

The G20 Communique is good news on the international tax reform front. As part of the G20 commitment to boost economic resilience the Communique commits G20 nations to taking action to ensure fairness…
The B20, charged with representing the interests of the wealthy international business community, has low female representation. Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet/Flickr

The other gender equality gap Australia needs to talk about

The G20 leaders have committed to reduce the gap between male and female workforce participation rates by 25% by 2025. The gender equality focus by many of the leaders during the summit, including UN Secretry-General…
Tony Abbott and Vladimir Putin cuddle up to koalas. AAP/Andrew Taylor, G20 Australia

G20 summit successful but untidy for Abbott

Tony Abbott always said he wanted the Brisbane G20 to come up with practical actions and a communique of no more than three pages. He achieved both objectives – although the communique had a mass of attached…
United on the need for stronger economic growth. Lukas Coch/AAP

G20 leaders agree US$2 trillion growth goal: experts react

The G20 leaders have reaffirmed a commitment to raise global growth, saying if more than 800 agreed measures are “fully implemented”, GDP will grow by an additional 2.1% by 2018, adding more than US$2…
Tony Abbott used his closing remarks at the G20 to reaffirm his commitment to coal. AAP/Lukas Coch

G20 leaders pledge on growth and support climate action

G20 nations have supported “strong and effective” action on climate change, but included some equivocal wording on the timing for issuing post-2020 targets and on the Green Climate Fund to accommodate…
Rebalancing towards Asia…with values. Dan Peled/AAP

‘And speaking of China…’ Obama’s hope for Asia

US President Barack Obama took to the stage at the University of Queensland in Brisbane on a day which had the soles of your shoes melting. We had been through a complicated but reasonable security process…
So we meet again: Tony Abbott and Vladimir Putin cope with an awkward moment. AAP/Lukas Coch

Abbott buffeted by the winds of climate

When G20 leaders gathered for their “retreat” at Queensland’s Parliament House, they heard more about the Abbott government’s budgetary travails than they might have expected or wanted, even in a session…

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