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US warns Solomon Islands over China pact; will fast track new embassy
By Farrah Tomazin
Washington: The US will expedite the opening of an embassy in Solomon Islands and has warned the Pacific nation that it will “respond accordingly” if steps are taken allowing China to establish a military base there.
Days after Solomon Islands sent shock waves across the Pacific by signing a security cooperation pact with Beijing, a high-level US delegation - led by National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator, Kurt Campbell, and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Daniel Kritenbrink - met with members of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s government for 90 minutes on Friday to discuss their concerns.
Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele, left, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands during a ceremony to mark the establishment of diplomatic relations between Solomon Islands and China.Credit:AP Pool
American officials told Sogavare and members of his cabinet that while the US “respected the rights of nations to make sovereign decisions in the best interest of their people”, the pact between Solomon Islands and the People’s Republic of China had security risks for the region, as well as the US, Australia and its allied partners.
‘Everyone looks happier’: Retail, hospitality workers on first mask-free shift
By Chloe Booker
Service with a smile has returned to Melbourne, as hospitality and retail workers shed their masks after two years of COVID-19 restrictions.
Their beaming faces could be seen in the shops and cafes on Northcote’s High Street, in the city’s inner north, on Saturday morning.
The COVID-19 mask mandate for hospitality and retail workers was eased at 11.59pm on Friday, following the Victorian government’s announcement on Wednesday. Patron vaccination checks and close contact isolation requirements were also scrapped.
Bec Moore, owner of café Tinker on High Street, Northcote, delivers a coffee with a “hospo smile”.Credit:Scott McNaughton
Meg Funston, a shop assistant at gift shop The Phoenix and Turtle, said after some initial safety anxiety, she was relaxing into serving customers mask-free.
Coalition defends Morrison’s decision not to call Solomon Islands leader
By Anthony Galloway and Farrah Tomazin
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is resisting calling his Solomon Islands counterpart despite a top-level delegation from the United States arriving in the country to warn it against allowing China to establish a military base.
The White House said on Saturday it would expedite the opening of an embassy in the Solomon Islands and warned the Pacific nation that it would “respond accordingly” if steps are taken allowing China to set up a permanent military presence.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne have faced questions over their handling of the Solomon Islands-China deal.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Days after the Solomon Islands sent shock waves across the Pacific by signing a security cooperation pact with Beijing, the American delegation – led by National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator, Kurt Campbell, and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Daniel Kritenbrink – met with members of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s government for 90 minutes to discuss their concerns.
Germany, Spain, Portugal urge French voters to reject ‘extreme-right’ Le Pen
By Rob Harris
Paris: When Emmanuel Macron published his book, Révolution, just six months before he pulled off a stunning 2017 presidential election victory, he wrote that if the French people did not wake up to themselves then the far-right would soon be in power.
That prospect, although the less likely of scenarios from Sunday’s vote, is however closer to reality than at any point in the Fifth Republic’s 64-year history. And it is sending a wave of concern through Europe.
French President and centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron speaks during a campaign rally in Marseille on April 16.Credit:AP
The leaders of Germany, Spain and Portugal made a barely disguised appeal to French voters this week to reject Marine Le Pen, a 53-year-old lawyer on her third attempt to reach the pinnacle of power after unsuccessful campaigns in 2012 and 2017.
Gallery: Federal election campaign 2022: Week 2
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese covered a lot of ground during the second week of the federal election campaign. There will be plenty more photo opportunities in the weeks to come before Australia chooses its next government.
Click here to see the full gallery.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and partner Jodie Haydon during a visit to the Byron Bay Bluesfest in Byron Bay, NSW, on April 17. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison holding a model of the Ghost Bat Drone. Credit:James Brickwood
Albanese shares vision of home office
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has tweeted a picture of his home office as he enters day two of isolation after testing positive for COVID-19.
Albanese’s dog Toto also made a cameo in the picture.
This is what you want on climate action. What you get runs cold
By Nick O'Malley
The disconnect is jarring when you look closely. After years of drought, fire and flood – and in the wake of a series of United Nations reports spelling out in terrible detail the catastrophic costs of inaction – Australia’s major political parties are running cold on climate action.
On Wednesday, in the first leaders’ debate of this election campaign, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese did not mention climate change once. The issue was raised only in oblique terms after an audience member asked about electric cars.
The climate policies of both major parties fall short, according to experts.Credit:Matthew Absalom-Wong
Both parties have embraced emissions reductions targets out of step with Paris targets, although Labor’s remains more ambitious.
Good afternoon
G’day everyone. It’s Roy Ward here and I’ll be leading our election blog for the rest of the day.
Thanks to Ashleigh McMillan for an excellent shift this morning.
We still have more election coverage to come this afternoon so enjoy the hours to come.
Handing over
By Ashleigh McMillan
Thanks so much for joining me today, I’ll be handing over the blog to Roy Ward to guide you through the rest of the afternoon’s news.
Here’s a quick recap of the main stories of the day:
‘Anti-Liberal groupies’: Former PM Howard savages independent candidates
By Matthew Knott
Former prime minister John Howard has savaged the high-profile “teal” independents running in once safe Coalition seats as “anti-Liberal groupies”, urging traditional Liberal voters to stick with the party even if they feel disgruntled.
Howard was speaking at a campaign event in his former seat of Bennelong, which Labor is targeting as a prime pick-up opportunity after the retirement of long-time Liberal member John Alexander.
Former prime minister John Howard, campaigning for the Liberal Party in his former seat of Bennelong.Credit:Renee Nowytarger
“These men and women are all posing as independents,” Mr Howard said of independent candidates such as Allegra Spender in Wentworth, Kylea Tink in North Sydney and Zoe Daniel in Goldstein. All are backed by businessman Simon Holmes à Court’s Climate 200 fundraising group.
“They’re not independents, they’re anti-Liberal groupies,” Howard told a crowd of Liberal supporters at the Ryde-Eastwood Leagues Club. “I say that because they’re not running in any Labor seats.
“If they were genuinely independent why would they not be running a candidate against Anthony Albanese in Grayndler or Tanya Plibersek in Sydney?”
“Their aim is to hurt the Liberal Party, not to represent the middle ground of their electorates.”
Independent Zali Steggall speaks to her constituents in Warringah on Tuesday.Credit:Jessica Hromas
Independent Warringah MP Zali Steggall returned fire, saying that Howard’s words were “appalling sexist language”.
“It explains a lot of the culture of the Liberal party and it’s [sic] problem with women,” she said on Twitter.
“Women in politics shouldn’t be denigrated with this type of language.”
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2022-04-23 07:47:01Z
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