PM LOBBIES ON AUKUS DEAL; ASIO WARNING

Prime Minister in US talks to lobby for AUKUS

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet with US President Joe Biden this week as Australia seeks to advance legislation enabling the AUKUS defence partnership through the US Congress and Senate. Mr Albanese will meet with Congressional and Senate members, as well as Vice-President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The PM said he would also seek to establish the benefits for Australia of the US Inflation Reduction Act, including the implications for both the domestic critical minerals sector and for clean energy transition.

ASIO chief takes aim at foreign intellectual property theft

Australia’s security and intelligence chief Mike Burgess has publicly accused the Chinese government of engaging in theft of intellectual property (IP) for military or commercial use. The ASIO Director-General told a Five Eyes summit in the US that the actions were the “most sustained, scaled and sophisticated theft of intellectual property and expertise in history.” Mr Burgess said stealing intellectual property was the first step, with talent programs, joint ventures and acquisitions used to harvest the expertise required to exploit the IP. He said ASIO had last month detected and disrupted a plot to infiltrate a prestigious Australian research institution, featuring a visiting professor who had been recruited by Chinese intelligence. According to Mr Burgess, the Five Eyes partnership (of Australia, the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand) was a major weapon to meet and defeat intelligence threats.

Port of Darwin lease to be retained

A Federal departmental review into the circumstances of the 2015 lease of the Port of Darwin has found that it was unnecessary to vary or cancel the lease by the Chinese-based Landbridge Group. The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet review said there was a “robust regulatory system” in place to manage risks to critical infrastructure, including the Port of Darwin. Existing monitoring mechanisms were sufficient and would be ongoing. The Federal Government has accepted the advice of the review. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese committed to review the circumstances of the lease following the May 2022 Federal Election.

China-bound PM hails wine tariff breakthrough

Two weeks before a planned trip to China, Anthony Albanese has announced a potential breakthrough in the standoff on wine exports to Australia’s largest export market. The Prime Minister said there would be a review of China’s position on tariffs imposed on Australian wine, with a suspension on actions before the World Trade Organisation. Mr Albanese said a resumption of wine exports to China would be worth more than $1 billion for Australian exports. The PM, due to visit China from November 4-7, said that in terms of exports, China was Australia’s most significant trading partner, larger than the next three trading partners – South Korea, Japan and the United States – combined.

Defence Minister acclaims Japanese defence relationship

Defence Minister Richard Marles has lauded Australia’s relationship with Japan, declaring that there was no country in the world with whom it had a greater strategic alignment. Visiting Tokyo for defence talks, Mr Marles said the “very best relationship” with Japan was central to Australia’s future national security. The Defence Minister underlined the importance of the Reciprocal Access Arrangement, with joint defence exercises between the two countries. Japanese Defence Minister Kihara Minoru said the growth of defence co-operation ranged from strategic collaboration, joint exercises and operational co-operation to space and cyber, and equipment and technology and beyond.

Rising oil prices threaten inflation target, says RBA

Ahead of the October 25 release of September quarter consumer price data, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has flagged the impact of rising oil prices on domestic inflation. Minutes of the RBA’s October monetary policy meeting noted that world oil prices were almost 30 per cent higher than at the end of June, delaying progress on reducing headline inflation. The RBA said inflation remained high across a range of services, reflecting still-high demand and domestic cost pressures, including labour costs. But it also noted that the labour market had reached a turning point, with worker supply picking up and demand moderating; the RBA still expected headline inflation to decline over the second half of 2023.