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Pacific diplomacy

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Anthony Albanese, a South Sydney Rabbitohs fan, has used the NRL as a diplomatic lever in the Pacific.

Pacific leaders lobby Australia for rugby cash splash after NRL deal

The $150 million sports diplomacy deal is being sought by Fiji, Tonga and Samoa as the Albanese government bankrolls rugby league in the region to counter China.

  • Chris Barrett and Iain Payten

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The Ile d’Yeu ship laying undersea cable off the coast near Maroubra.

Two huge ships are floating off the coast of Sydney. This is what they’re doing

One of the ships will be gone within 24 hours. What they leave behind could be vital for Australia’s future.

  • Jack Gramenz

Trump has just sacked 30 ambassadors. The consequences for Australia are profound

In the past year, we have seen a wholesale change in how American power works, and these ambassadorial changes are an emblem of the president’s foreign policy.

  • Cory Alpert
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the flight deck of HMAS Canberra in Sydney, where they announced a defence pact last week.

As the Coalition self-immolates, Albanese strides the world stage

One of the challenges for an Australian prime minister is getting the Indonesians interested. And Prabowo Subianto is interested.

  • Zach Hope
Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong.

‘We will not stand still’: Wong sets out foreign policy vision for contest with China

The government is moving to strike security deals with Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu following landmark recent agreements aimed at crimping China’s influence.

  • Matthew Knott

If Australia does not host COP31, it’s a strategic surrender

The Coalition and the Herald say money spent on an expensive summit should go to something more useful for Australians. They’re wrong.

  • Tina Latif
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Top public servant Derek Elias has blown the lid on alleged corrupt payments.
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Paying for services that didn't exist: Reality of Pacific spending exposed

Top public servant Derek Elias has blown the lid on alleged corrupt payments.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape failed to sign the pact last month in PNG.

PNG approves landmark defence treaty with Australia before Marape’s NRL visit

The treaty was delayed after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his PNG counterpart failed to sign the pact last month, but it is back on track.

  • Matthew Knott
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump.

Airbus Albo finds international diplomacy harder in term two

Albanese is pursuing a more independent foreign policy for Australia, but the US will probably remain the cornerstone of Australian foreign policy for years to come, no matter who is in the White House.

  • James Massola
US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping in 2019.

‘Xi is watching’: How Trump’s aid cuts have left Australia ‘holding the bag’

It was the end of January, just a week after Donald Trump returned to office, when the email arrived in the inboxes of FHI 360.

  • Michael Koziol