News

Tesla has agreed to buy nickel for its batteries from BHP, the world’s largest miner, as it looks to lock up supplies of the metal not controlled by China. The electric carmaker will buy nickel from BHP’s Nickel West plant in Western Australia, which is among the lowest-carbon producers of the battery metal, according to …

[Nikkei Asia/ Japan] Tesla signs nickel deal with BHP to secure non-Chinese supply Read More »

The final Australian diplomats, military, and intelligence officers only left the country on 18 June. Security analysts say Australia should move quickly to re-establish a presence in Afghanistan amid reports the government is looking at a potential return to monitor the resurgence of the Taliban. Concerns have been raised about the threat posed by Taliban …

[SBS News/ Australia] Australia must consider returning to Afghanistan to monitor Taliban resurgence, analysts say Read More »

There’s the failure to procure sufficient vaccine and an accompanying over-reliance on the AstraZeneca vaccine. The complications with rolling out the latter have exposed the shortage of supply of the Pfizer vaccine. While other international leaders personally lobbied Pfizer executives for supplies, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Health Minister Greg Hunt were inexplicably passive. Public …

[The Conversation/ Australia] Is the COVID vaccine rollout the greatest public policy failure in recent Australian history? Read More »

• The U.S. has made the Quad, a framework for cooperation with Japan, Australia and India, a centrepiece of its Asia policy. To make the de facto encirclement of China more effective, Washington must gain the cooperation of the ASEAN countries, the geographic centre of the Indo-Pacific region.• While ASEAN is concerned about its growing …

[Nikkei Asia/ Japan] US must urgently regain Southeast Asia’s trust Read More »

The government of Australia looks to support a bid by domestic telecom Telstra to buy a leading South Pacific mobile phone business reportedly eyed by a Chinese suitor, as Canberra works to limit Beijing’s influence in the region. Last year, Australian media reported that state-owned China Mobile was interested in buying Digicel Pacific. It also …

[Nikkei Asia/ Japan] Australian alliance eyes bid for Pacific telecom to block China Read More »

This week’s Newspoll, conducted July 14-17 from a sample of 1,506, gave Labor a 53-47 lead, a two-point gain for Labor since the previous Newspoll three weeks ago. This is the biggest Labor Newspoll lead for this parliamentary term. Primary votes were 39% Coalition (down two), 39% Labor (up two), 10% Greens (down one) and …

[The Conversation/ Australia] Labor gains clear Newspoll lead during Sydney lockdown, but will the economy save the Coalition? Read More »

The U.S., Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the European Union and NATO on Monday accused China of a “pattern of malicious cyber activity,” linking Beijing to an attack on Microsoft Exchange email servers discovered in March. The coordinated response marks a new phase in U.S.-China tensions, with Washington widening its efforts to isolate Beijing over alleged …

[Nikkei Asia/ Japan] US and allies accuse China of cyberattacks in new stage of tensions Read More »

Australia wants to hash out its disputes with China through dialogue, but is willing to be “patient,” Canberra’s trade minister said in an exclusive interview. Since Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government in April 2020 called for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19, Beijing has imposed crippling tariffs and unofficial import bans on a …

[Nikkei Asia/ Japan] Australia wants China talks but will be ‘patient’: trade minister Read More »