During Thursday’s extremely unruly Question Time, when Speaker Bronwyn Bishop ejected a record 18 (all Labor) members, Tony Abbott was asked whether he’d visit Victoria on Friday, the eve of the state…
John Howard made sure he was facing the same way as other world leaders on climate policy, unlike the current Prime Minister.
AAP Image/David Crosling
Throughout his prime-ministership, which ran from 1996 to 2007, John Howard’s perspective on climate change was informed by geopolitics more than science. The Kyoto Protocol, the key international climate…
Julie Bishop is leading the attempt to discredit Barack Obama’s argument about the Great Barrier Reef.
AAP/Paul Miller
Barack Obama certainly hit a sensitive domestic nerve when, speaking at the University of Queensland last weekend, he highlighted the threat climate change poses to the Great Barrier Reef. The Abbott and…
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the Coalition had concerns at the time about the detail of the agreement Labor put in place just before the 2013 election.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The government wanted to ensure Papua New Guinea understood “absolutely” its responsibilities to resettle refugees from Manus Island, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said today, but avoided predicting when…
Julie Bishop says Russian President Putin had responded “very constructively” to her appeal about MH17.
AAP/Richard Wainwright
Once again Julie Bishop has demonstrated she can lay claim to be currently the best performing minister in cabinet. On her recent overseas trip, Foreign Minister Bishop secured an apparently useful meeting…
Treasurer Joe Hockey wants Australia to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
EPA/DREW ANGERER
Senior cabinet ministers are believed to be divided over whether Australia should sign up to an internationally funded infrastructure development bank that China is set to launch next month. Treasurer…
The government wants to toughen laws to prosecute and deter Australians, such as alleged Syria suicide bomber ‘Abu Asma al-Australi’, from fighting in foreign conflicts.
Twitter/@AbuSiqr
The Abbott government will soon unveil the legislative details of its second tranche of revamped anti-terrorism measures. The government introduced the first set of reforms into the Senate in July. One…
The process of delivering the justice that foreign minister Julie Bishop demanded for MH17 victims will be neither simple nor swift.
EPA/Andrew Gombert
Addressing the United Nations Security Council, Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop condemned the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 as “barbaric” and “an absolute outrage”. She demanded justice…
Nauru is too small to be able to cope with a significant number of resettled asylum seekers – hence the mooted proposals to resettle genuine refugees in Cambodia.
AAP/Department of Immigration
In recent weeks, Abbott government ministers have been spruiking a plan for Cambodia to resettle some or all asylum seekers on Nauru who are found to be genuine refugees. While the Australian and Cambodian…
Foreign minister Julie Bishop, pictured with her Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Liberman, in Jerusalem where she confirmed a change in Australia’s position on Jewish settlements.
Twitter/AusAmbIsrael
There was once consensus that the earth is flat. Similarly, the international legal situation of Israeli settlements is flatly said to be criminal. The truth is different and more complex. Ben Saul’s recent…
What has the international response been to China establishing an Air Defence Identification Zone over the East China Sea?
EPA/Hiroya Shimoji
Last week, China announced the creation of a new Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea, encompassing the disputed Senkaku Islands. The move has significantly escalated tensions…
It’s smart of Abbott to prioritise Australia’s relationship with Indonesia but can he leave his ‘Anglosphere’ past behind?
EPA/Adi Weda
Many foreign policy observers are apprehensive about the election of Tony Abbott. A key concern is that his government may be liberal in name only and that we may see a return to the sorts of policies…
1. Julie Bishop: Australia has the right to return asylum seeker boats to Indonesia “We cannot escape from the fact that they are Indonesian boats with Indonesian crews from Indonesian ports. Of course…
Just how much co-operation can Tony Abbott expect from Indonesia leaders on his plan to turn back asylum seeker boats?
EPA/Adi Weda
In the coming days, prime minister Kevin Rudd will visit Indonesia to discuss asylum seeker policy with Indonesian officials, including Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Rudd’s visit will…