Key posts
- US must have ‘skin in the game’ to compete with China in Asia-Pacific: Wong
- Albanese asks states to cut coal price in half to tackle energy crisis
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US must have ‘skin in the game’ to compete with China in Asia-Pacific: Wong
The United States must lift its game and step up its economic engagement with the Asia-Pacific if it wants to compete with China, Foreign Minister Penny Wong will tell Australia’s closest ally in a speech in Washington.
In a blunt warning to the Biden administration, Wong will say investing more in regional free trade agreements and foreign aid needs to become a “core alliance priority” for the US and Australia.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Washington this week.Credit:AP
Wong’s first ministerial speech focusing on the US-Australia alliance comes a day after she and Defence Minister Richard Marles agreed to strengthen defence and foreign policy ties with the US in meetings with their American counterparts.
“US policy needs to be based on a clear understanding of what the rest of the Indo-Pacific wants,” Wong will say in a speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace at 6am on Thursday (AEDT).
“The region sees development, connectivity, digital trade and the energy transition as vital domains in which consistent US leadership and influence would be welcome.”
Australia and the US, according to Wong, need to demonstrate to countries in the region that “we want to do business and create wealth with them”.
“Second, we need to demonstrate that we have interests we want to nurture beyond security interests,” she will say.
“That their interest in stability and development is an interest we share – that we have skin in the game.”
Albanese asks states to cut coal price in half to tackle energy crisis
The federal government is scrambling to close a deal on the energy crisis after asking the states to cap the price of coal at $125 per tonne – less than half the market rate – in a move that has escalated claims for billions of dollars in compensation across the energy sector.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra earlier this week. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The proposal seeks to ease pressure on household bills next year but has galvanised concerns in NSW and Queensland about the financial impact on power companies, coal producers and state budgets that are due to collect more than $10 billion in coal royalties this year.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is hoping to secure a deal in an online national cabinet meeting on Friday after telling state leaders his government would put price controls on gas – with a draft cap of $13 per gigajoule – but would expect states to enact the changes in the coal market.
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This morning’s headlines at a glance
Good morning and thanks for your company.
It’s Thursday, December 8. I’m Ashleigh McMillan and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.
Here’s what you need to know before we get started.
- The federal government is scrambling to close a deal on the energy crisis after asking the states to cap the price of coal at less than half the market rate. David Crowe has the full story.
- Foreign Minister Penny Wong is set to tell the United States today it must lift its game and step up its economic engagement with the Asia-Pacific if it wants to compete with China.
- Bali bomb maker Umar Patek has been released from jail in Indonesia having served less than 12 years of a 20-year sentence, Chris Barrett and Karuni Rompies write.
- Germany on Wednesday detained 25 members and supporters of a far-right group that the prosecutor’s office said was preparing a violent overthrow of the state to install as national leader a prince who had sought backing from Russia.
- Former prime minister Scott Morrison was warned at the outset of the illegal robodebt scheme that it required a change in the law for the program to go ahead.
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