China must condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Albanese says
Daniel Hurst
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has renewed his calls for China to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, declaring that Vladimir Putin “has made a strategic mistake because what his actions have done is unite the democratic world”.
Albanese – who has been in Madrid for a Nato summit – spoke to reporters yesterday after meeting on the sidelines with the leaders of Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand.
He said this meeting of “the Asia-Pacific four” had been “very successful”:
We discussed the important focus of this NATO summit on the Asia-Pacific region. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has solidified the support amongst democratic countries for the rules-based international order and a determination to continue to provide support to the government and the people of Ukraine suffering due to this breach of international law and this brutal invasion by Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Vladimir Putin has made a strategic mistake because what his actions have done is unite the democratic world and provide a real determination to make sure that the resilience being shown by the Ukrainian people is backed up by strength and support from democratic countries, including Nato, but also countries throughout the world.
When asked about China’s accusation that Nato – and the AP4 – are constructing an imaginary foe in China, Albanese noted the announcement of a partnership between Beijing and Moscow in early February:
Well, what we saw is before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we saw a without-limits partnership between Russia and China. We’ve seen a failure of China to condemn any of the Russian aggression that has occurred against Ukraine. China must look at what is happening and the resolve that is there from throughout the world and should condemn Russia’s actions.
Updated at 18.43 EDT
Daniel Hurst
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was also asked in Madrid about his forthcoming meeting with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Paris. A journalist asked about Malcolm Turnbull’s comment that Albanese’s big advantage in repairing the relationship was that he is not Scott Morrison.
Albanese said he had already had a constructive conversation with Macron in Madrid ahead of the formal meeting later in the week:
I had a very constructive discussion with President Macron last night. He’s a warm character, and we have had phone conversations previously. I very much look forward to my visit to Paris. I thank President Macron for his welcome, and I thank him for the discussion that we had last night.
Last night was a real opportunity for Australia to engage in a less than formal setting with a range of people from President Macron, President [Joe] Biden, [German chancellor] Olaf Scholz, and a range of the leaders who were there. I took the opportunity to talk about Australia’s national interest and our different plans. One of the things that are clear to me is that the world has noticed that Australia has a different position on climate change. That gives Australia a seat at the global table of opportunity, and I intend to seize that opportunity.
For more on Albanese’s call for greater global cooperation to tackle the climate crisis, see Katharine Murphy’s story from last night:
Daniel Hurst
‘The international community must show the same resolve and courage that the people of Ukraine are showing.’
Anthony Albanese welcomed Sweden and Finland’s plans to join Nato as “a very positive development” that showed “just how wrong Vladimir Putin’s judgment and ongoing actions have been in advancing what he saw as the cause of Russia”. He told reporters in Madrid:
I also met with Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of Nato, congratulated him on the successful outcomes we have seen from this summit and recommitted Australia to providing support for Nato and for participation in some Nato exercises that we will do later this year.
A journalist noted that Stoltenberg was asking nations to support Ukraine for the long haul. Asked whether Australia was ready for the long haul, Albanese said:
Australia is certainly here for the long haul. We’ve already been Australia’s largest non-Nato contributor with $285m of military assistance and $65m of humanitarian aid.
This struggle must be won because it’s not just about Ukraine and Russia. It’s about whether the UN charter means something. It is also about whether the rules-based international order will continue to apply. It’s about a breach of that order by one of the UN permanent security council members.
And that’s why this attack, unprovoked by Russia, must be resisted. And the international community must show the same resolve and courage that the people of Ukraine are showing.
Updated at 18.45 EDT
China must condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Albanese says
Daniel Hurst
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has renewed his calls for China to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, declaring that Vladimir Putin “has made a strategic mistake because what his actions have done is unite the democratic world”.
Albanese – who has been in Madrid for a Nato summit – spoke to reporters yesterday after meeting on the sidelines with the leaders of Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand.
He said this meeting of “the Asia-Pacific four” had been “very successful”:
We discussed the important focus of this NATO summit on the Asia-Pacific region. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has solidified the support amongst democratic countries for the rules-based international order and a determination to continue to provide support to the government and the people of Ukraine suffering due to this breach of international law and this brutal invasion by Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Vladimir Putin has made a strategic mistake because what his actions have done is unite the democratic world and provide a real determination to make sure that the resilience being shown by the Ukrainian people is backed up by strength and support from democratic countries, including Nato, but also countries throughout the world.
When asked about China’s accusation that Nato – and the AP4 – are constructing an imaginary foe in China, Albanese noted the announcement of a partnership between Beijing and Moscow in early February:
Well, what we saw is before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we saw a without-limits partnership between Russia and China. We’ve seen a failure of China to condemn any of the Russian aggression that has occurred against Ukraine. China must look at what is happening and the resolve that is there from throughout the world and should condemn Russia’s actions.
Updated at 18.43 EDT
NSW rail industrial action continues
And here’s some more on the latest developments in the NSW rail workers’ industrial dispute from our state political reporter Michael McGowan:
The NSW government on Wednesday agreed to demands from the state’s rail union to make hundreds of millions of dollars in modifications to a new train fleet after a years-long industrial dispute.
The transport minister, David Elliott, announced that the government would make changes worth about $260m to the new Intercity fleet to avoid the union taking further industrial action later this week.
But the head of the RTBU, Alex Claassens, said the planned industrial action would continue until “further notice”, saying the union would wait until it saw “the complete package” in a “legally enforceable document” before agreeing to the proposal.
Read more here:
Updated at 18.33 EDT
Albanese ‘resetting relationships everywhere.’
My colleague Katharine Murphy is an RN now too, and has given a neat little analysis of the prime minister’s goals in Europe at the moment:
What Anthony Albanese is doing is resetting relationships everywhere: in the United States, in Europe, in our region, in the Indo-Pacific, and in southeast Asia. This reset is rapid fire and is being supplemented by what Penny Wong is doing in the Pacific and south-east Asia – at the moment, she’s in Malaysia.
In this European trip thus far, he’s tried to focus the northern hemisphere on the two theatres of strategic competition – one’s in Ukraine; the other is closer to home – the Indo-Pacific. He’s trying to focus European and North American minds on China as the second risk to prosperity and security in the world. So that’s the big-picture level.
Updated at 18.24 EDT
Striking teachers to rally outside NSW parliament
Here’s some background on the issue from AAP on the teacher strike.
It reports that teachers are angry at the NSW government for putting forward a budget that offered no more than a 3% pay rise this year, with the possibility of 3.5% the following year.
They’ll rally outside the NSW parliament today while on strike for 24 hours – the third strike in six months called by the NSW Teachers Federation and Independent Education Union NSW/ACT, representing 85,000 teachers.
It’s the first time in more than 25 years both unions have joined forces to strike for 24 hours.
NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos told reporters on Wednesday:
We have a crisis in the form of a teacher shortage, a problem the government’s making … The government has known for years the causes of this crisis: uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads.
Education minister Sarah Mitchell said she was disappointed by the decision to strike and said it was politically motivated. The government’s public sector wages policy was “the most generous” in the country.
Most schools will have minimal supervision, but many schools will be closed for the day.
Updated at 18.11 EDT
A rainfall warning for parts of NSW:
Over the next four days, parts of #NSW could see consecutive heavy rainfall. River rises are possible, and there is the potential for flooding. People should consider their travel plans for the school holidays and monitor forecasts and warnings. See: https://t.co/SPHgGeisGZ pic.twitter.com/cSjGmF22j9
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) June 29, 2022
update June 298.02 EDT
He’s also asked, “are the striking teachers greedy?”
“Not,” says Tony Burke.
Updated at 17.59 EDT
Minister hopes to introduce legislation to regulate the gig economy by year’s end.
Tony Burke says he’s hoping to introduce legislation before the end of the year to regulate the gig economy and provide basic conditions for workers. Still, he says it requires extensive consultation and planning, the details of which haven’t been worked out yet:
We are not a nation where we’ve worked on the basis that you should need tips before making ends meet. We’ve always performed because there should be minimum wages. We have a section of the economy where there’s no minimum, which can’t go on.
I’d love to be in a situation where I’m introducing the legislation this year. And I need to work through whether we would deal with the whole gig economy at once or work through sections of the economy one at a time. So there’s a big piece of consultation that hasn’t yet started, but I’ve spoken with and started the conversations with the department about how we might put that together.
So it’s a big step for the whole history of Australia. We’ve had this clear line; if you’re an employee, you get rights. If you’re not an employee, you don’t. But technology has now gone before us, so we must take a step. It is a big step.
He says the changes might result in some “small increases” to some prices for some things.
Updated at 17.59 EDT
Gig economy needs minimum standards, minister says
Tony Burke continues, saying that a lot of people might not be aware of just how widespread the gig economy is now – it’s not just Uber:
It’s not only the apps that people might have on their phones; a lot of caring and cleaning is delivered through the gig economy. Many people in the security industry are currently working in the gig economy and are increasingly in hospitality. So many people on the national disability insurance scheme, for example, working there, are working with their employer effectively as an algorithm.
So this is an area where if we continue to let it rip without mini standmanyanmanylot of, the rules that we’ve presumed were part of working in Australia will fall away; we can’t leave it any longer before we have a process to set minimum standards here.
Updated at 17.51 EDT
The deal between Uber and TWU hailed.
Minister for employment and workplace relations Tony Burke is on ABC RN this morning talking about the massive, landmark deal between Uber and the Transport Workers Union.
Burke says it’s important to note that it’s going to address “a safety issue here as well as an entitlements issue”:
There was a direct line between the risks they were on on the road and the algorithms they were using to compete … It would mean they’d run red lights. They’d form an extra traffic lane between official streets, knowing every minute there was a risk …
I was so happy yesterday … this is a very big shift. It’s not that long ago that we were being told by the platform provider and the fed gov that this was too complicated to deal with … [it’s] a huge change.
I don’t think 21st-century technology should come with 19th-century working conditions.
Updated at 17.54 EDT
Welcome back to our rolling news coverage for this Thursday, 30 June.
Primemin minii Junethony Albanese is in Madrid this week for the Nato summit, where h. Hee trade talks with the European Union could resume as soon as October after he met wimeetingopean Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
The trade deals had hit a roadblock after the Morrison government damaged Australia’s relationship with France by dumping a $90bn submarine contract compounding it with Australia’s lack of climate action. Albanese has flagged the climate crisis as one of the areas where his government has “an opportunity to break through” in negotiations.
Albanese also escalated his rhetoric on China, saying Australia had been subjected to “economic coercion” by its neighbor, which aimed to become the “most powerful nation in the world”.
We’ll bring you more developments on that this morning.
Meanwhile, large-scale industrial action continues in NSW, with thousands of public and Catholic schools going on strike today for 24 hours, calling for more than the 3% pay rise offered by the NSW governmeprovidesers. The action continues from rail workers over safety concerns with new, imported Intercity trains.
And our data journalists have been busy scrutinizing the details of the census data released on Tuesday this week, so we’ll have more analysis for you too.
As always, if you see something that needs my attention, you can reach me at [email protected] or on Twitter, where my handle is @gingerandhoney.
