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Sky News AU
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Anthony Albanese should have cut China visit short to fly past US and see Donald Trump, says former home affairs boss
Former home affairs boss Mike Pezzullo has claimed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should have cut his China visit short to fly past the United States to meet with President Donald Trump on his journey back to Australia. Mr Albanese on Friday wrapped up his six-day visit to China where he held talks with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and other senior leaders in Beijing earlier this week. While Mr Albanese has touted the trip as "another important step in the Australia-China relationship", he has come under fire for not pressing President Xi on more serious foreign policy issues. The Prime Minister has also copped heat for prioritising a second official visit to China before he nails down a face-to-face meeting with President Trump in Washington DC. Speaking to Sky News Australia, Mr Pezzullo said he would have advised Mr Albanese to do a shorter visit in order to free him up to stop past the US, or another country, on his way home. "I would've had a day and a half, maybe two days in Beijing," the former home affairs boss said on Friday. "I think he had three options. He could have gone to a combination of one or more of Seoul, Tokyo and Manila. That's one option. "He could have gone to Washington. He's got a VIP jet, he could have gone across to Washington and had the same discussion with President Trump. "Above tariffs, and pharmaceuticals and all the rest of it, the key discussion that he's going to have with the President is about security in Asia." Mr Pezzullo, who was the secretary of the Home Affairs Department from 2017 until 2023, said he also would have advised Mr Albanese to rein in the nostalgia. During his trip, Mr Albanese hiked The Great Wall of China in similar scenes to former Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam - the first Australian leader to visit the country in 1973. Mr Albanese then toured a panda breeding and research centre in Chengdu, almost four decades after former prime minister Bob Hawke famously visited the zoo in 1986. The Prime Minister was also serenaded by local musicians who played renditions of Australian rock classics, including Midnight Oil's hit Power and the Passion. "I wouldn't have done the six days with the pandas and all the rest of it, with iconic shots that compare to Bob Hawke and the rest," Mr Pezzullo told Sky News. "I would have had a shorter, sharper visit. The engagement with the President is important, President Xi, the leaders' dialogue with the Premier is also important." Mr Pezzullo emphasised the importance of also holding frank discussions about peace regarding Taiwan, and Australia's position on the matter. "Behind closed doors I would have had the hard discussion about Taiwan," Mr Pezzullo said. "I would have said, 'Look, we support the status quo, we believe in, we uphold the One China principle, however, war would be devastating for everyone, for you, for the Americans, for the Taiwanese ... and for ourselves, because we'd all get dragged into it.' I'd have that blunt discussion." Another option for Mr Albanese could have been stopping past the Northern Territory on his way back to Australia for the opening of military exercise Talisman Sabre, Mr Pezzullo said. Earlier this week, Mr Albanese reaffirmed Australia's "long-standing bipartisan position that has supported the One China policy". "By definition, we don't support any unilateral action on Taiwan," Mr Albanese said. In a statement concluding his diplomatic visit, Mr Albanese said the trip "marks another important step in the Australia-China relationship". "A stable and constructive relationship with China is in Australia's national interest," he said on Friday. "We will cooperate where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest. "Strengthening our security and economic interests with our largest trading partner will boost Australian jobs and support Australian businesses." Mr Albanese said he used his talks in China to also "advocate for Australia's interests including on trade, consular, human rights and regional and global issues".
Sydney Morning Herald
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Whitlam, Nixon, Albanese: PM uses Great Wall to place himself in history
China has failed to democratise in the way many in the West had hoped in Whitlam's time. Albanese admitted he was dealing with a different beast, but said the best way to manage differences was to build as much trust as realistically possible. Loading 'We don't shout with a megaphone,' he remarked, referring to his predecessor Scott Morrison's confrontational diplomatic style that drew China's ire. If chumminess is the name of the game, China knew which buttons to press when Albanese came to town. The pub-rock-loving PM was treated to Chinese covers of Powderfinger, Paul Kelly and Midnight Oil at dinner in Beijing's Great Hall on Tuesday. Power and the Passion was the Oils' song played, according to Albanese. The lyrics from the activist band's hit are pro-Whitlam and make jabs at 'Uncle Sam' and the Pine Gap intelligence facility – all made in the context of paranoia around the US' role in Whitlam's 1975 dismissal. Albanese and Xi were splashed on page one of the China Daily, a state media publication. Russia's foreign minister, who met Xi on the same day as the PM, was relegated to page three despite Russia's 'no limits' relationship with China. 'They did the full kit and caboodle. And so, it was a splendid occasion,' Albanese said. It's hard to see how China's wooing of Albanese makes ambassador Kevin Rudd's job any easier in Washington as he works to preserve the AUKUS pact in talks with the China hawks in the Trump administration. The Great Wall, usually jammed with tourists, was cleared for Albanese's visit. Freeways across Shanghai and Beijing were also closed off for the prime minister's motorcades, with Australian flags lining the streets. Loading After a short press conference – decked in his Rabbitohs cap and tennis shoes – Albanese went for a walk up the wall with a tour guide and his fiancee Jodie Haydon. Once the money shot was in view, he took off his Ray-Bans, asked the guide and translator to move aside, shooed reporters and assorted hangers-on out of the way, cleared the path ahead of him for what he clearly expects will become an iconic photo in the same stretch of the wall as Whitlam. Even while feeling the weight of history, Albanese had his nuptials on his mind after photographers captured the scenic shot. 'Anyone here a celebrant?' he asked with a smirk.
The Age
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Whitlam, Nixon, Albanese: PM uses Great Wall to place himself in history
China has failed to democratise in the way many in the West had hoped in Whitlam's time. Albanese admitted he was dealing with a different beast, but said the best way to manage differences was to build as much trust as realistically possible. Loading 'We don't shout with a megaphone,' he remarked, referring to his predecessor Scott Morrison's confrontational diplomatic style that drew China's ire. If chumminess is the name of the game, China knew which buttons to press when Albanese came to town. The pub-rock-loving PM was treated to Chinese covers of Powderfinger, Paul Kelly and Midnight Oil at dinner in Beijing's Great Hall on Tuesday. Power and the Passion was the Oils' song played, according to Albanese. The lyrics from the activist band's hit are pro-Whitlam and make jabs at 'Uncle Sam' and the Pine Gap intelligence facility – all made in the context of paranoia around the US' role in Whitlam's 1975 dismissal. Albanese and Xi were splashed on page one of the China Daily, a state media publication. Russia's foreign minister, who met Xi on the same day as the PM, was relegated to page three despite Russia's 'no limits' relationship with China. 'They did the full kit and caboodle. And so, it was a splendid occasion,' Albanese said. It's hard to see how China's wooing of Albanese makes ambassador Kevin Rudd's job any easier in Washington as he works to preserve the AUKUS pact in talks with the China hawks in the Trump administration. The Great Wall, usually jammed with tourists, was cleared for Albanese's visit. Freeways across Shanghai and Beijing were also closed off for the prime minister's motorcades, with Australian flags lining the streets. Loading After a short press conference – decked in his Rabbitohs cap and tennis shoes – Albanese went for a walk up the wall with a tour guide and his fiancee Jodie Haydon. Once the money shot was in view, he took off his Ray-Bans, asked the guide and translator to move aside, shooed reporters and assorted hangers-on out of the way, cleared the path ahead of him for what he clearly expects will become an iconic photo in the same stretch of the wall as Whitlam. Even while feeling the weight of history, Albanese had his nuptials on his mind after photographers captured the scenic shot. 'Anyone here a celebrant?' he asked with a smirk.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Rock musician battling cancer has had almost ‘every treatment known to man'
The drummer for a revolutionary Australian rock band has opened up about his battle with pancreatic cancer. Rob Hirst, who co-founded Midnight Oil in the 1970s, said he has been battling the disease for two years in a recent interview with The Australian. 'So it's ongoing,' he told the newspaper. 'I've had pretty much every treatment known to man — every scan, ultrasound, MRI. I've kind of had 'the works.'' Hirst said he was diagnosed 'early' and that the cancer was at stage 3 when he found it. The drummer then underwent months of chemotherapy before having an unsuccessful, eight-hour surgery to remove his tumor. Hirst is still getting both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Cancer Australia reports that the survival rate for men with pancreatic cancer between 2016 and 2020 was 12% for men. 'Coming up to two years, I thought I just need to get this, literally, off my chest,' Hirst told The Australian. 'Also, I think that lesson for me — and maybe why I've lasted this long — is because, if you do have any of that kind of symptom, where there's something that you feel is wrong, just go and get a simple blood test. It could be life-changing, and life-extending.' Midnight Oil is multi-platinum-selling, award-winning band whose material has brought 'a new sense of political and social immediacy to pop music,' according to AllMusic. The band's 1987 single 'Beds Are Burning,' which advocates for Indigenous land rights, is regarded as a landmark of Australian music. The song peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at No. 6 in Australia. The band first formed in Sydney in 1972 as Farm, before changing its name to Midnight Oil in 1976. Midnight Oil released three albums before the band's breakthrough project, '10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,' arrived in 1982. The album peaked at No. 3 in Australia and contained the top 10 single, 'Power and the Passion.' Midnight Oil's next three albums — 1984's 'Red Sails in the Sunset,' 1987's 'Diesel and Dust' and 1990's 'Blue Sky Mining' — all topped the Australian charts. The latter peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard 200 chart. Midnight Oil earned two more chart-topping albums with 2020's 'The Makarrata Project' and 2022's 'Resist,' which was released just one week before longtime bassist Bones Hillman died of cancer at the age of 62. The band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006. Rock icon has been engaged to longtime partner for 'two or three years' '90s rock singer says he was 'high 24/7′ while making band's biggest hits Country music legend snaps picture with worker at Dairy Queen drive-thru Drummer 'surprised and saddened' by firing from legendary rock band Trump admin 'tried every trick' to stop rock legend's US citizenship
