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Anthony Albanese and Xi Jinping meet on sidelines of G20
Chinese-Australian links are improving after a turnaround in relations, Xi Jinping has told Anthony Albanese while acknowledging “some twists and turns” in the past, AAP reports.
The prime minister met the Chinese president, in their third formal encounter, on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in Brazil. Before the talks between the two started in Rio de Janeiro overnight, Xi recalled visiting Australia in 2014:
Ten years ago today, I was on a state visit in Australia. And on this very day, during which our two sides agreed to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Stabilising Australia’s relationship with China is in the interests of both our countries.
Dialogue is critical, and we’ve made encouraging progress.
Trade is flowing more freely.
⁰And that brings benefits to both countries, and to people and businesses on both sides.Our… pic.twitter.com/o5LlmcwGE8
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 18, 2024
Xi addressed the parliament in Canberra at the time and was hosted by then-prime minister Tony Abbott. Xi told Albanese:
And over the past decade, we have made some progress in China-Australia relations and also witnessed some twists and turns. That trajectory has many inspirations to offer.
Now, our relations have realised a turnaround and continues to grow, bringing tangible benefits to our two peoples.
So, this is the result of our collective hard work in the same direction, and should be maintained with great care.
Key events
Australia’s social cohesion at record low, but 70% believe migrants make country stronger
The Middle East crisis has tested the strength of Australia’s multicultural society and it has weathered the storm – so far.
At least that’s according to the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute’s annual survey, Mapping Social Cohesion, which is out today.
The survey of 8,000 randomly selected people was carried out in conjunction with the Australian Multicultural Foundation and the Australian National University. It found support for multiculturalism remains mostly positive, with 85% agreeing it has been good for Australia generally and 82% saying it is good for the economy.
The lead author of this year’s survey report, Dr James O’Donnell, said he had expected to find that social media use might be fuelling polarisation of attitudes including towards faith groups. But he said:
In fact, the social media users were less likely to have a negative attitude towards Jewish and Muslim people, irrespective of where they were on the political spectrum.
You can read the full article here:
Australia expected to sign up to UK-US deal on civil nuclear technology
Graeme Wearden
Britain and the United States have signed a new agreement to collaborate on civil nuclear technology at the COP29 summit, and Australia is expected also to sign up.
The agreement, signed by UK energy secretary Ed Miliband and US deputy secretary of energy David Turk today, aims to pool billions in research funds and share information on advanced nuclear technologies.
The goal is to speed up the development of new technologies, such as advanced modular reactors, to help decarbonise industry and boost energy security. The new agreement will come into force from 1 March 2025.
Miliband said nuclear would “play a vital role in our clean energy future.”
That is why we are working closely with our allies to unleash the potential of cutting-edge nuclear technology. Advanced nuclear technology will help decarbonise industry by providing low-carbon heat and power, supporting new jobs and investment here in the UK.
The UK government says the agreement builds on a pledge made last year at COP28 to triple nuclear energy capacity globally by 2050.
It expects this new agreement will also be signed by Australia, as well as Canada, France, Japan, Republic of Korea, Republic of South Africa, China, Euratom and Switzerland.
Good morning
Emily Wind
Emily Wind here, signing on for blogging duties. Thanks to Martin for kicking things off for us this morning.
It’s shaping up to be another very busy day in Canberra, and we’re only at day two of the final parliamentary sitting fortnight. You’ll have the whole team bringing you the latest today – Karen Middleton, Paul Karp, Josh Butler and Sarah Basford Canales.
And you can always get in touch with any tips or feedback via email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Let’s get started.
Speaking of Trump, our latest Essential poll has been canvassing opinions about what his re-election might mean for Australia.
It has found that more people think the new Trump administration will be bad news for the global economy (42% said negative, 38% said positive), “resolving global conflicts and promoting peace” (41% to 37%) and America’s influence on global affairs (44% to 37%).
Read the whole story here:
‘Authoritarianism and chaos’
In the lead-up to his return to the White House, president-elect Donald Trump has quickly assembled a new team of loyalists including Elon Musk, a Fox News host and a vaccine sceptic. While his cabinet nominees will still need approval from Congress, the controversial list is already raising alarm bells.
For today’s Full Story podcast, Washington DC bureau chief David Smith speaks to Nour Haydar about what these latest announcements tell us about Trump’s plans for his second term as president.
Spending survey
As mentioned, we have a story this morning about a Commonwealth Bank survey showing that Australians aged between 18 to 29 have cut back on their spending due to the cost-of-living crisis more than older people who are shopping more.
The survey also picked up some geographical differences, with Western Australia “really outperforming” the rest of the country in how much residents had spent.
Here’s the full article:
More on that Xi-Albanese meeting, via AAP:
Anthony Albanese, who visited Beijing a year ago, said there had been “further encouraging progress in the stabilisation of our relationship” and that trade was “flowing more freely” between the countries.
China is Australia’s largest trading partner and total two-way trade hit a record $327bn in 2023.
Chinese authorities introduced sanctions – since lifted – on some Australian products in 2020 after the government of then-prime minister Scott Morrison called for an international inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic. Albanese said:
We continue to explore opportunities for practical co-operation in areas of shared interest, including on our energy transition and climate change.
We live in the fastest growing region of the world in human history – and the rise of China has contributed to this while lifting the living standards of hundreds of millions of people through increased economic activity.
Anthony Albanese and Xi Jinping meet on sidelines of G20
Chinese-Australian links are improving after a turnaround in relations, Xi Jinping has told Anthony Albanese while acknowledging “some twists and turns” in the past, AAP reports.
The prime minister met the Chinese president, in their third formal encounter, on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in Brazil. Before the talks between the two started in Rio de Janeiro overnight, Xi recalled visiting Australia in 2014:
Ten years ago today, I was on a state visit in Australia. And on this very day, during which our two sides agreed to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Stabilising Australia’s relationship with China is in the interests of both our countries.
Dialogue is critical, and we’ve made encouraging progress.
Trade is flowing more freely.
⁰And that brings benefits to both countries, and to people and businesses on both sides.Our… pic.twitter.com/o5LlmcwGE8
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 18, 2024
Xi addressed the parliament in Canberra at the time and was hosted by then-prime minister Tony Abbott. Xi told Albanese:
And over the past decade, we have made some progress in China-Australia relations and also witnessed some twists and turns. That trajectory has many inspirations to offer.
Now, our relations have realised a turnaround and continues to grow, bringing tangible benefits to our two peoples.
So, this is the result of our collective hard work in the same direction, and should be maintained with great care.
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Emily Wind with the main action.
Anthony Albanese has met China’s president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil overnight with Beijing trying to promote Australia as a model for trading with China in a Trump era. Albanese said there had been “encouraging progress in the stabilisation of our relationship”. We’ll have more details coming up soon.
Our latest Guardian Essential poll taken in the wake of Donald Trump’s election win finds that almost half of voters want the Australian government to review Aukus and the acquisition of nuclear submarines. The poll also finds that most of those asked think his presidency will be bad for the global economy and conflict resolution.
It’s a busy day for surveys. Almost half of Australians (49%) believe immigration is too high but the large majority (71%) still think that migrants make the country stronger and that multiculturalism has benefited the nation (85%). These are perhaps contradictory findings from the Scanlon Foundation Research Institute’s annual survey, Mapping Social Cohesion, out today. One of the lead authors said that despite the stresses caused by the Middle East crisis, the findings “speak to the resilience” of Australian society.
The minutes of the Reserve Bank’s last monetary policy meeting will be released this morning and should shed some more light on the thinking behind keeping rates on hold. We’ll be across the news when it breaks at 11.30 but we also have some more context with a study showing that the cost-of-living crisis is affecting young people much more than older cohorts.