Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Australian Department of Health and Aged Care

We continue to receive reports of lead poisoning linked to imported or unregistered Ayurvedic medicines contaminated with heavy metals.

Source: Australian Department of Health and Aged Care

Pharmacists can dispense 200 mg tablets during the shortage.

Source: Australian Executive Government Ministers

Subjects: Optus; Strengthening Australia’s Counter-Terrorism Framework; Commonwealth Parole Board; Mandatory Minimum Sentences; Syria.

Source: Australian Executive Government Ministers

Speech – Parliament House, Canberra, 8 October 2025

Source: Australian Government – Minister of Foreign Affairs

Thanks very much for having me here, on this very warm Sydney day.

To excellencies, to friends can I say thank you very much for the opportunity to be with you.

Can I first acknowledge the traditional owners of these lands, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and I pay my respects to the elders and to any First Nations people here today.

I want to start with a personal story. I just wanted to acknowledge a long-term member and a former president of the South Australian division of the United Nations Association of Australia, Lidia Moretti.

She had years of dedicated service to your organisation. She was also a member of the Committee for the Adelaide International Women’s Day Breakfast – it’s a breakfast I have hosted now for 23 years – I started very young! – and it is the largest IWD event in Australia so we’re very proud of it.

Lidia passed away last month. I know she is missed by so many who had the pleasure of knowing her and working with her.

And people like Lidia are what makes this great association. I pay tribute to all of you for all that you do to help Australians understand and engage with our United Nations.

And I do want to thank you for inviting me to help frame your discussions at the conference – and I thank Gabriel for cutting his speech short. Sorry about that.

Well let’s start with where we were I think just under a month ago.

The world’s eyes were fixed on New York, where the leaders gathered for High Level Week at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly.

Nearly two years of concerted effort by countries to create the space for peace which culminated in the New York Declaration…

Which amongst other progress saw the Arab League condemn Hamas and reject its involvement in Palestine’s future.

And we saw many countries, France, Portugal, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia recognise Palestine, to encourage new momentum for a two-state solution.

And we saw the pivotal meeting between President Trump and the leaders of the Arab and Muslim nations that helped land the terms of the 20 point peace plan that is now being implemented.

The United Nations was not an accidental setting for these big developments.

It still has unmatched convening power.

It still remains deeply meaningful to the vast majority of the world’s countries and peoples – and it still carries weight as a place where peacemakers can come together.

But we can’t kid ourselves: the UN is in crisis. It faces a budget reduction of 30 per cent, exacerbating its ongoing liquidity crisis.

And the UN’s image today is too often one of falling short.

And there are many reasons for that.

Confidence is being undermined across all three pillars of the Charter – peace and security, development and human rights.

In sum, the world is becoming less equal, more unstable and more dangerous – and sadly there is little faith the UN system can meet the geostrategic circumstances that define our times…

The changing way major powers are engaging and asserting themselves…

The trend away from rules towards the exercise of power.

Many of us have observed we are living in the most difficult strategic circumstances since World War Two.

And as you know it is the settlement of that conflict which gave rise to modern multilateralism and the rules-based order…

A system predicated on the understanding that peace is built by the many, not only the great powers…

The understanding that each nation must make its own choices, exercising its agency to decide its destiny.

And that we must always seek to strengthen our multilateral engagement, because choosing to work together is central to preserving, and demonstrating, our sovereignty.

As central as it is, the United Nations ultimately exists in service of this purpose – it’s not in itself the purpose.

And today’s changing circumstances have more countries asking anew how we ensure we can live in a world where every country has a voice. Where no country dominates, and no country is dominated.

In particular, countries with substantial economies and capable tools of statecraft are determined to play a greater role in shaping regional and global international relations for the better – not content to leave our future world for the major powers to solve and decide alone.

As the Prime Minister said in his national statement in the General Assembly last month:

The creation of the international rules-based order owes much to the post-war leadership of the United States of America.

For the region Australia calls home, that stability has underpinned a generational economic transformation.

But we cannot ask – and should not expect – any one nation to uphold the rules or guarantee the security on which all of us depend.

The Prime Minister is right. Our changing circumstances are demanding more.

And you can expect that assertive middle powers, like Australia, will correspondingly work harder in existing and in new coalitions.

You see, building coalitions is central to our ability to assert our interests. They are diplomatic force multipliers.

This is clear in how much of Australian diplomacy is multilateral: not only through the UN, but also through the Pacific Islands Forum, ASEAN, G20, APEC, and the burgeoning minilateral groups like the Quad, CANZ (Canada-Australia-New Zealand), and MIKTA – which Australia is chairing in the year ahead.

We are strengthening our traditional partnerships – including just this week with our closest ally and principal strategic partner, the United States…

And we are also evolving the traditional concept of likemindedness, as our interests are affected by the changes we are experiencing.

And we are pursuing new alignments to better assert ourselves.

We are moving into a new era of amplified middle power diplomacy.

This will continue as we seek to work for our interests in an ever-more contested world – and as middle powers seek strategic balance in a multipolar world.

Countries well comprehend that while our interests are collectively served by working together to solve global problems, not every global problem we face can have a UN institutional solution.

And where the UN can offer the solution, we must ensure it is equipped to deliver it.

There has long been a need for reform. And that need has become starkly urgent as the UN now responds to its budget crisis.

So today in this room, a room of Australians with a deep interest in the United Nations, I want to begin a conversation with you about the future of the United Nations, and Australia’s vision for it. And I want you to be part of that discussion.

You see as we celebrate 80 years, we can’t revel in nostalgia.

We have to grasp the opportunity of this crisis, and of amplified middle power diplomacy, to shape the UN’s future.

Because if we want the UN to have another 80 years, which we do – or even another ten years – we must reform it.

And I want to start this discussion about reform by underlining again how deeply invested most countries are in the multilateral system.

You see countries are making purposeful efforts to safeguard the rules and norms that underpin it.

And I want to demonstrate that point by telling you about something that happened on the Sunday before High Level Week.

I stood that day on the North Lawn of the UN Headquarters to launch the new Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel.

A Declaration a year in the making. I initiated it at last year’s High Level Week, because respect for international humanitarian law is being severely undermined.

And I want to thank all who were involved in bringing it to fruition, including Angela from DFAT who is here today.

2024 was the deadliest year on record for humanitarian personnel. More than 380 killed and hundreds more wounded and kidnapped. 2025 is on track to be worse still.

Australia felt this deeply with the IDF strike last year against World Central Kitchen vehicles, which killed Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues.

So what is this Declaration about?

The Declaration renews international commitment at the highest political level to upholding international humanitarian law and protecting aid workers.

And on that Sunday, before High Level Week, the first day we opened the Declaration, 104 countries signed up – an extraordinary response.

And with me on the North Lawn that day were the foreign ministers and senior representatives we had worked with in developing this Declaration, from Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Sierra Leone, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

And we were joined by ministers, ambassadors and senior representatives of a hundred countries; the UN humanitarian chief; dozens of humanitarian and civil society leaders including the secretaries-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of the Red Cross.

It was actually very moving, because as I stood up on that podium – and looked across the sea of faces from across the world, and listened to the remarks of my colleagues, one after another rededicating their country to upholding international humanitarian law – I was left in no doubt.

So many of us want to protect what we have built together.

And we see our interests in a world that operates by agreed rules.

A world that respects sovereignty and protects civilians.

This Declaration has been the most important Australian multilateral initiative since we were on the UN Security Council eleven years ago…

When we set a new standard for what an elected member can achieve, including by securing consensus on a resolution authorizing an independent investigation into the downing of Flight MH17, without a Russian veto.

And we will again demonstrate what middle powers can do, should we be successful in our candidacy for the Security Council for 2029-30.

The Declaration reminds us what Australian multilateralism can be, and the Declaration reminds us of what the world wants us to protect – countries working together with many stakeholders – the UN, international organisations, NGOs and civil society, to achieve a common purpose.

To affirm our common humanity.

Yet there is much more that we need to defend.

In my first speech to the General Assembly, I reminded that forum of why the multilateral system makes people’s lives better in really practical ways.

It promotes economic development, it makes trade more fair – together supporting job creation, overcoming poverty, and enabling small and medium countries to resist coercion.

It guards against the spread of nuclear weapons.

It sets the standards that keep food safe.

It assigns the satellite orbits that take the internet to the most remote reaches.

It mandates the rules for the maritime domain – and we have raised this week our concerns with China’s unsafe and unprofessional intercept of a RAAF P-8 aircraft.

The UN sets the standards that keeps thousands of flights and 12 million passengers safely in the sky every day.

It seeks to prevent and address conflicts in peacekeeping, peacebuilding and political missions.

It advances gender equity and the position of women and girls in societies around the world.

It coordinates global action on climate change, including through the Conference of the Parties, which we seek to host with the Pacific next year.

And each year it saves more than 350 million children from malnutrition.

But we must face hard truths – the UN of tomorrow will and must look starkly different to the UN of today.

As I have said, the world’s changed – and the UN faces a budget reduction of 30 per cent.

This is such a confronting statistics – of the top ten donors, we expect to see decreased contributions from six. And this compounds the budget issues caused by delayed and unpaid dues in previous years.

And cumulative funding cuts are expected to amount to 29 billion since 2023.

So, reform is essential. Because we don’t want a UN that simply contracts. We don’t want a UN that becomes increasingly dysfunctional and is at risk of capture.

We don’t want a blunt 30, 40 or 50% slashing of each UN agency.

Because where that will lead is only ‘shell’ or ‘zombie’ agencies, doomed to fail because they can’t deliver basic functions.

As it is, UN agencies are already too siloed, too duplicative and spread too thinly, on account of the thousands of meetings and mandates they are burdened with.

We don’t want the critical, but often invisible, functions we all rely on – like disaster early warning systems or preventive healthcare that enables global health security – to simply degrade on our watch.

We don’t want poverty entrenched, humanitarian crises unaddressed, human rights abuses to go unchecked until they spill over into regional instability, driving transnational crime and irregular people flows around the world.

We do not want a dysfunctional UN that can be manipulated by those who mean to dismantle it or to take it over for their own national, or often autocratic, aspirations.

And we don’t want smaller or more vulnerable countries to go back to being overlooked, including in the Pacific.

So most fundamentally, we don’t want reform to be a process without a vision.

I fear that this is, in part, what the approach has been.

We’ve got working groups meeting. We’ve got ‘clusters’ established. We’ve got intergovernmental negotiations being kicked off. We’ve got debates on boards. Papers being issued to merge different agencies.

But you know the key question we have to keep in our mind: What is the purpose? Because that tells us where we are going, and it is informed by what we want.

We want – Australia wants – a UN that helps the world solve the biggest problems of the day, delivering for the people who need it most. The standard-bearer for rules that keeps us talking – rules that keep us talking instead of fighting.

We want a UN that fulfils its promise of safeguarding sovereignty by promoting international peace and security, sustainable development and human rights.

Because – if you will excuse the expression – these are three sides of the same coin; each essential and mutually-reinforcing.

Australia wants a United Nations that can deliver reliably what we need most – global public goods that we know can only be achieved multilaterally, and that we know the world relies on.

Fundamentally, we want a modern, functional, forward-looking organisation, so that it can help with tomorrow’s challenges – technology including AI, climate change, modern conflicts and people movement.

So Australia is for bold, ambitious UN reform: we are for vision, not process.

And we will test ideas, and we will put initiatives on the table, we will bring energy and pragmatism. And we will work with global partners.

And we want change on three levels.

First, UN leadership with the vision and weight to deliver, and with the courage to make the UN more efficient and effective.

Second, we want a UN structure fit for the coming decade.

We all have individual agencies we care about, but we can’t afford overlapping mandates and duplication. We have to focus on purpose and critical functions, not structure.

Meaningful reform will demand that we all look deeper, that we all focus on what we can do without, but also what we must preserve and what we must grow, rather than just trying to do things as we have in the past.

But thirdly, we need members of the United Nations to embrace their role.

As I said in my first statement to the General Assembly three years ago:

“It is up to all of us to create the kind of world to which we aspire – stable, peaceful, prosperous and respectful of sovereignty.”

Because ultimately the United Nations won’t change if we don’t change.

And ultimately this will need to be driven by and envisioned by middle powers and smaller countries, because as Australia knows we have the greatest interest.

Just as this was the case for Doc Evatt at the San Francisco Conference.

So we will focus our engagement in UN reform to maximise impact.

We will seek to promote our goals with chairing roles and we will advocate for the appointment of Australians to positions in the system.

We will use our candidacy for the Security Council to champion what we think matters most, like conflict prevention, peacebuilding, the protection of civilians.

And we will work in our coalitions, with partners traditional and partners new.

Championing initiatives like the Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel, that reinforce rules and make a difference on the ground.

We will prioritise a United Nations doing what only it can.

A UN that enhances our sovereignty and our agency; and that operates in the service of multilateralism.

Because we understand that that is in service of our common humanity.

And we will do all of this, including with your help, because our country helped create the United Nations, and we want to help create its future.

Source: Australia Government Statements 2

Kieran Gilbert, host: Welcome back to Newsday. Let’s go live to the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, Matt Thistlethwaite. Matt, thanks for your time. It has been quite a few months in the making. The meeting’s come and gone. Is there a sense of relief within the official ranks government that it did go smoothly, that meeting with Donald Trump?

Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade: G’day, Kieran. We’re certainly very pleased with the way the meeting went between the Prime Minister and the President. It has been a long time coming, but I think it was worth the wait in terms of the outcome, obviously, to see that the US administration is fully committed to AUKUS. Full steam ahead, in the words of the President, that’s welcoming news for the Australian Defence Force. It means that we can get on with the job of delivering what will be the largest capability uplift in the Australian Defence Forces history. And an historic agreement, a framework agreement between our two nations on rare earths to cooperate on the extraction and processing of critical minerals that are going to be vital to both of our defence forces and to advance technology into the future. So, the perfect meeting between our leaders from our perspective.

Gilbert: When you, when you look at defence spending, the President’s been very critical of, of partners, allies like NATO and others really putting the heat on them to lift defence spending. There was a feeling that that might be the case here. Has the government given the President a sneak peek as to what else would be coming in an upcoming defence review that we expect next year? Is there some other information here that we’re not privy to publicly?

Assistant Minister: No. We’ve demonstrated to the President that we have lifted defence spending. We’ve lifted it by $50 billion over the course of the next decade. And it’s resulted in the largest capability uplift that we’re going to see in the Australian Defence Forces history through AUKUS, through the missile technology that we’ll be able to develop here, an important upgrade to our surface marine fleet. Basically all of the frigates and patrol vessels will be upgraded. And importantly, Kieran, I think we were able to demonstrate to the President the cooperation that’s been going on over the last decade between Australia and the United States in terms of the training that we’re doing together and the reinforcing of the bases of Australia’s Defence Force to the north of Australia. And a lot of that has been to ensure that we can cater for a larger style of US defence aeroplane to be able to operate out of Australia should it need to. And those sort of commitments that we’ve made, I think, have demonstrated to the US that we have uplifted our capability and we are investing in our defence force.

Gilbert: When it comes to Kevin Rudd, there are those who, like Dennis Richardson, who says that this clears the air. And regardless of what you thought of his previous remarks, advised, ill advised, or however you see Kevin’s commentary on Trump previously, Sussan Ley says he should go, the Prime Minister should pull him out of Washington. What’s your reaction to that? Should he continue to serve and indeed have his term extended?

Assistant Minister: Well, I don’t agree with Sussan. I thought that that was a rather desperate comment. I think that what you want from a good Ambassador is someone that is effective. And I think Kevin Rudd has proven that he’s very effective. And that’s evident in the organisation that went into the preparation for today’s meeting. The behind the scenes work that Kevin Rudd and his team have done, and not only securing the meeting, but also working together with the US administration to put together that framework agreement is pretty important. And it’s a historic day for Australia and the United States to be cooperating on an area of industrial policy that is vitally important to the future of our nations in our region is an historic day. And Kevin Rudd deserves some credit for that. I’ve been in the United States with Kevin Rudd. I’ve seen the access that he has to both Republican and Democrat congressional leaders, the access he has with civil society, and I think he’s doing a great job.

Gilbert: On the praise for the Prime Minister. They’re not from the same political stripe, certainly Mr Albanese and Donald Trump, but President Trump, saying he’s a great Prime Minister, said he’s going to use that, obviously jokingly in his next ad campaign. It’s funny how things can move so quickly, given in the last election campaign, Labor was putting the boot into Peter Dutton for being too close to Donald Trump. Now, who’s, you know, the best friend of the President of the United States? It’s interesting how that has evolved over the last 9 to 10 months.

Assistant Minister: Kieran. Our approach has always been that regardless of who is in the White House, the relationship between Australia and the United States is so fundamental to both of our nations that it’s above politics. And I think that for me, that’s what really came through today. You’re right. Different political stripes, but two great leaders coming together to work together for the betterment. Of both of our nations, particularly the defence and security of our region. And that is above politics.

Gilbert: And I think you say above politics but you didn’t mind having a crack at Peter Dutton for being too aligned to Trump or bringing Trumpian sort of policies to Australia. That was pretty, pretty clear during the election campaign.

Assistant Minister: Well, Peter Dutton determined his policies and we determined our policies and we were very happy to stand at the election on our policies. And I think it was the fact that Peter Dutton had opposed our tax cuts, that he promised to cancel people working from home. They were the reasons why Peter Dutton lost the last election. We were very happy to stand on our policies and thankfully they’ve been endorsed by the Australian people. And now our focus is just getting on with the job and delivering those policy outcomes.

Gilbert: Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Matt Thistlethwaite, thanks. We’ll talk to you soon. Appreciate it.

Assistant Minister: Thanks Kieran.

Source: Australian Executive Government Ministers

Speech – Parliament House, Canberra, 8 October 2025.

Source: Australia Government Statements 2

Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade: Thank you for coming to Sydney Airport. Upstairs there would be many young Australians who are about to jump on flights, all excited on their trips overseas. Australians are adventurous. They like to travel and see the world, and our government wants to encourage that, but we also want to make sure that when they return, they come downstairs here safely into the arms of their families, and to ensure that we facilitate that. Each year, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Insurance Council of Australia survey young Australians regarding their travel habits and the risk that they’re taking whilst they’re traveling overseas. And I’m pleased to be joined by Andrew Hall, the CEO of the Insurance Council, to launch the findings of the latest survey. The survey indicates, once again, that young Australians between the ages of 18 and 29 are adventurous and love traveling overseas, and that’s something that we want to encourage, but we want them to return home safely. The survey results indicate that unfortunately, about a quarter of all young Australians travel overseas with absolutely no travel insurance whatsoever, and they are risking themselves and potentially catastrophic financial situations if they get themselves into trouble.

A GoFundMe page is no substitute for comprehensive travel insurance. When it comes to traveling overseas, for young Australians, they’re also taking risky behaviours. Unfortunately, about 30% of them will consume alcohol from unfamiliar labels. Many of them don’t understand that their insurance policy may be voided if they consume alcohol in risky circumstances. Many of them are traveling to risky destinations. About 40% of young Australians will travel to what is deemed a risky destination overseas. And alarmingly, 36% of young Australians will travel to a risky destination because they’ve seen that destination promoted on social media or in the media. And our message to those young Australians is, don’t perish for a post, take your advice from the Smartraveller website, not your Insta influencer, to ensure that you return home safely. Pleasingly, about 80% of young Australians visit the Smartraveller website and are aware of it. About 60% of them will visit the Smartraveller website prior to traveling overseas, and these survey results are a good indicator of what the government and the Insurance Council and insurers need to do to boost those numbers, we want to make sure that more Australians visit the Smartraveller website, are aware of the risk before they travel overseas and importantly, take out the appropriate travel insurance to ensure that they can return home here safely to their families. Now, I’m going to ask Andrew to say a few words.

Andrew Hall, CEO Insurance Council of Australia: Thank you, Minister. It’s great to be here today at Sydney Airport again. As the Minister points out, it’s wonderful seeing people both leave on their holidays and return, but sadly, over a number of years now that we’ve been doing these surveys consistently, we’re still battling to get the message through to young people that when you travel offshore, when you leave Australia, the protections you have in this country may not and quite often do not, apply wherever you go overseas. Your Medicare card does not work overseas. You need to take care of your own medical costs when you’re overseas, even in countries with reciprocity with Australia, it will not cover the full costs of those medical incidences. So when you travel, think about what you’re going to be doing. If you’re going to Bali, if you go into Thailand and you may need to take a motorcycle taxi, make sure you tick that box on your travel insurance if you’re going to go skiing, if you’re going to take a cruise, make sure that that box is also ticked on your travel insurance policy. I see so many cases of people who incur financial devastating impacts when things go wrong overseas, eight nights in a hospital in Guam from a coral scratch from surfing is around about 80,000 US dollars. It’s very expensive. Travel Insurance is relatively cheap to be able to protect yourself for what you’re doing. And as the Minister said, check Smartraveller, go to safe countries and cover yourself with the risks and have a great time travel is about discovering the world, bringing home some cultures, not bringing home a bill that you can never get over. So take care. Think about what you’re doing if you’re preparing to go on school these in a couple of weeks’ time. Now’s the time to log on and shop around. Travel insurance is very easy to afford these days. It’s easy to compare online. The Insurance Council encourages you to shop around. Don’t just accept the first offer that’s given to you, but just make sure you’re covered for what you’re going to do when you go overseas, so that you can come back in one piece. Thank you.
 

Source: Australian Government – Minister of Foreign Affairs

Sabra Lane, Host: For more on that and the meeting at the White House, the Foreign Minister joined me a short time ago. Penny Wong, thanks for talking to AM.

Penny Wong, Foreign Minister: Good to be with you.

Lane: Could this meeting have gone any better for Mr Albanese?

Foreign Minister: Look, this meeting was a great success. The President said he loved Australia, he affirmed AUKUS and confirmed that we will get the subs, and of course, Prime Minister Albanese and the President announced an historic critical minerals deal worth about US$8.5 billion. So, this was a very good outcome and reaffirms the approach that the government has taken, a calm, mature approach in the national interest.

Lane: Until recently, the US had sort of a go-slow on Australia’s offer of a critical mineral stockpile and an agreement. China recently restricted export of those minerals. Did Beijing’s decision convince Washington to sign up?

Foreign Minister: We both have a clear national interest in making sure we can assure the supply of critical minerals. They’re important for energy security, they’re important for strategic issues, for weapons, for defence industries. So, of course we have a natural affinity in working with each other to assure the supply of these critical minerals. It’s good for Australia and it’s good for the global markets.

Lane: And China’s decision had no influence on this decision?

Foreign Minister: I think we all understand the importance of diversifying our supply chains when it comes to something as important as critical minerals.

Lane: What will a critical minerals deal mean for Australia?

Foreign Minister: It means that we will, with the US, invest in projects, we will have offtake agreements, we will invest in supply. It is about creating additional supplies of these critical minerals which are critical for the 21st century economy and which are so important for national security.

Lane: Mr Trump seems to have given a full-throated support for the AUKUS deal between the US, Australia and the United Kingdom, primarily for Australia to acquire nuclear submarines. How confident are you, given that he’s also acknowledged there’s been some slow progress on this, that Australia will gain the submarines on the timeline that’s previously been explained?

Foreign Minister: President Trump could not have been clearer on the submarines, he was very clear about his support for AUKUS, he was very clear that Australia will get the subs. He was also very clear that the project was on track and how much work we had done as both governments for this project. And let’s remember this is about a capability that Australia wants to ensure we can contribute to keeping peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

Lane: Just on that, China has again behaved in a very aggressive manner towards Australia’s defence forces over the South China Sea. This is the third worrying incident in 18 months. The timing of it, so close to this Trump-Albanese meeting, should anything be read into that?

Foreign Minister: Well, we are clear that this behaviour we regard as both unsafe and unprofessional. We know that China has been also clear in its intent to project its military power into the region. Australia remains very clear. We will continue to operate in accordance with international law, in accordance with our rights around overflight and navigation.

Lane: Previously, Australia has warned China that this is unacceptable behaviour, that it was dangerous and unsafe. These messages have been sent before, even personally via diplomats and I think the Chief of Army. Why does it keep happening?

Foreign Minister: China has been clear of its intent and we are clear about our position. We will continue to operate in accordance with international law.

Lane: How concerned are you that this will lead to an unforeseen hot take between both countries?

Foreign Minister: Part of our representations to China and part of our concern about this behaviour is not only that it’s unsafe and unprofessional and we are always concerned – our first concern is always for the safety of the Australian personnel – but we also know that there is always a risk of accident or escalation, which is why we will continue to make these representations. We do believe that asserting our rights under international law, as we have and will continue to do so, is in Australia’s national interest.

Lane: Just going back to the White House meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Albanese. On tariffs, the United States has subjected Australia to a 10 per cent tariff on exported goods to the US, is there any movement on that?

Foreign Minister: The first point I’d make is Australia is in the best possible position that we could be under the tariff regime that President Trump’s administration has put into place. As the President said, he described our tariffs as low in the meeting overnight with the Prime Minister. Having said that, obviously we have a different position, Australia will continue to engage with the United States in relation to the tariffs.

Lane: So, no movement at the moment?

Foreign Minister: Well, the US has a global position in relation to tariffs. We’re in the best position relatively that we could be, obviously Australia remains a country that does believe in open, predictable trading markets.

Lane: There was an awkward moment in the meeting with Mr Rudd. Kevin Rudd’s previously been a vocal critic of Donald Trump. Mr Trump said, “I don’t like you” to Mr. Rudd. Do you feel for Mr. Rudd?

Foreign Minister Look, I think those comments were clearly tongue-in-cheek. I’m very pleased that the meeting has been such a success. That is a good thing for our country. It’s extremely good to have this critical minerals deal backed in and it’s extremely positive for the country to have the President so supportive of AUKUS and the delivery of the submarines, which is an important capability for us.

Lane: So, water off a duck’s back for Mr Rudd?

Foreign Minister: Well, Kevin did an extremely good job, not only in getting the meeting, but doing the work on the critical minerals deal and AUKUS. And the meeting reflects, the success of the meeting reflects that work.

Lane: Minister, thanks for talking to AM this morning.

Foreign Minister: Good to speak with you, Sabra.

Source: Australia Government Statements 2

Australians under 30 are leading the way in adventurous travel, but new research reveals many are missing key steps to protect themselves from financial and health risks abroad.

A survey commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) shows younger travellers aged 18-29 are more likely to travel uninsured, engage in risky behaviours and overlook critical travel advice.
Key findings from the research include:

• 23% of young travellers went overseas without any travel insurance.
• While 83% of all travellers were aware of methanol poisoning, 30% of young travellers who drank alcohol on their trip consumed drinks with unfamiliar labels.
• 43% of young travellers visited a destination they perceived to be risky, while 5% travelled to a destination they would describe as very risky.
• 64% of young travellers were aware of the Smartraveller website, but only 37% reviewed destination-specific travel advice before their last trip.
• Despite being more likely to travel to a Level 3 or Level 4 destination, 58% of young travellers were not aware they may not be covered by travel insurance if travelling to these destinations.

The survey also shows that 45% of all Australian travellers were willing to take risks in pursuit of unique or memorable experiences, with 50% of those under 30 saying they had seen risky destinations promoted in a positive way by influencers or in the media.

Quotes attributable to the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Hon Matt Thistlethwaite MP:

“While the thrill of adventure and off-the-beaten-path travel is appealing, we’re urging Aussies to take official travel advice seriously and always travel with insurance.

“It’s encouraging to see that 88% of travellers who were aware of Smartraveller said its advice influenced their choice of destination, while 83% said Smartraveller advice influenced their insurance decisions.

“All Australians should visit Smartraveller before your next trip for advice on travel insurance and subscribe to your destination’s travel advice for free email updates.”