Australia: News & Insights

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, addresses his fellow Quad Leaders, top to bottom, U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, from New Delhi on March 12. (Photo courtesy of Prime Minister's Office of India)

Indo-Pacific

Why Quad boosts India's vaccine diplomacy: 5 things to know

Group to make and distribute 1bn COVID doses to counter China's moves

22 March 2021

The offer was priced at A$11.85 per share, a premium of 20.2% to Crown's closing price of A$9.86 on Friday.

Travel & Leisure

Crown Resorts receives $6.2bn buyout offer from Blackstone

Australia's casino operator says its board had not yet formed a view on the bid

22 March 2021

The Quad leaders on a monitor during the virtual meeting, pictured in Tokyo on Mar. 12: India's partners seem unfazed with India turning into a China lite.

Opinion

What the Quad misses about India is that it wants to follow China

The one thing most Indians agree on is Beijing-style authoritarianism

21 March 2021

A barley crop in Canada. Chinese importers are responding to a high tariff on Australian barley by buying more from Canada, France, Argentina and Ukraine.

Agriculture

China tariff on Australia's barley reshapes global trade

Surging price hits brewers and livestock farmers while exporters shift to new markets

19 March 2021

The agreement with Facebook involves The Australian newspaper and metropolitan papers such as The Daily Telegraph in New South Wales.

Media & Entertainment

News Corp. agrees to 3-year deal with Facebook in Australia

Murdoch-run company declares victory in war over big-tech compensation

16 March 2021

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison participates in the Quad leaders meeting via video link in Sydney on Mar. 13: the biggest beneficiary was Australia.

Opinion

Quad leaders hand Australia a bigger stick to fend off China

Beijing's attempts to bully Canberra have been utterly counterproductive

16 March 2021

Politics

Australia sex assault protests pressure Morrison to deliver reform

Thousands join 'March 4 Justice' rallies as high-profile political scandals burn

15 March 2021

A police officer stands guard outside the Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, two days after the March 15, 2019, shooting attack by a lone Australian gunman.

Terrorism

Two years after Christchurch shooting, far-right haunts Australia

New Zealand attack by Australian gunman exemplifies growing security threat

15 March 2021

A U.S. pilot sits in the cockpit of an F-16 Fighting Falcon during sunrise at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, South Carolina. The leaders of the Quad committed to promoting a free, open rules-based order, rooted in international law in the Indo-Pacific at the inaugural summit on Friday. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force)

Indo-Pacific

The Quad comes of age: In pictures

Partnership has eye on China as it pushes for pandemic recovery

15 March 2021

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are scheduled to arrive in Tokyo on March 15. (Source photos by Reuters)

Your Week in Asia

Blinken and Austin in Asia, Toshiba EGM, Australia's #March4Justice

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

14 March 2021

Attorney General Christian Porter addresses the media in Perth on Mar. 3: he denied that the events happened.

Opinion

Rape allegations reveal Australia's toxic political culture

More than 40 women's protest marches are planned nationwide on March 15

13 March 2021

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at a virtual meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, from the State Dining Room of the White House on March 12.

Indo-Pacific

A new dawn: Quad leaders vow to define the Indo-Pacific century

Working group to help develop tech standards; in-person summit planned this year

13 March 2021

Yoshihide Suga, Joe Biden, Scott Morrison and Narendra Modi -- the leaders of the Quad nations -- are stepping up their efforts to counter China. (Source photos by Reuters and AFP/Jiji)

Indo-Pacific

Quad tightens rare-earth cooperation to counter China

Japan, India, Australia and US to collaborate in tech, funding and rule-making

11 March 2021

Left to right, Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, want to counter China. (Source photos by AP)

International relations

Quad leaders to agree on vaccine aid to counter China influence

Discussion will also touch on environment, Xinjiang and Myanmar

10 March 2021

An oil refinery in Melbourne: Australia will be left with just two refineries after BP and ExxonMobil shut their facilities.

Energy

Cheap Chinese petroleum drives refineries out of Australia

BP and ExxonMobil closures sound alarm for energy security

9 March 2021

The leaders of Australia, the U.S., Japan and India will meet online as early as next week for the first summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. (Nikkei montage/photos by Reuters)

Indo-Pacific

First Quad summit mirrors Biden's pivot to Indo-Pacific

Group of democracies converge as China expands defense budget by 6.8%

6 March 2021

More than 230,000 visitors have poured through the doors of the Australian Museum in Sydney since it reopened after a 15-month revamp on Nov. 28, double the rate before it closed. (Photo by Geoff Hiscock)

Arts

Visitor numbers soar after $45 million Sydney museum revamp

Australians flock to Tyrannosaurs exhibition despite pandemic

5 March 2021

A containership at Sydney's Botany Bay in October: Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Australian exporters faced escalating Chinese trade restrictions in 2020.

Economy

Australia's GDP bounce defies China's trade pressure

Exporters find alternative customers as Morrison's COVID response pays off

4 March 2021

Qarhan Salt Lake has helped make China's Qinghai Province a major producer of lithium. (Photo by Yusuke Hinata)

Climate Change

Who will be the battery powerhouse? China, Japan and the West compete

From lithium to assembly, a global dash is on to secure supply chains

2 March 2021

A Tesla dealership in Sydney. Electric vehicles in Australia have so far not taken off with consumers.

Automobiles

Electric car revolution fails to spark for Australia consumers

Resource-rich economy still heavily geared toward fossil fuels

28 February 2021

Ethiopians cross into Sudan in December 2020 as they flee the fighting in Tigray region.

Coronavirus: Free to read

Coronavirus: Week of Feb. 21 to Feb. 27, UN Security Council calls for ceasefires to allow vaccinations

Philippines logs highest case rise in 4 months; Indonesia authorizes private shot scheme

27 February 2021

Qantas Airways saw a sharp turnaround in its freight division as the lack of international flights created a temporary shortage of cargo space due to increased demand.

Transportation

Qantas and Air New Zealand see recovery despite 1H losses

National carriers say international travel to be down even after borders reopen

25 February 2021

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin receives the country's first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic in Putrajaya on Feb. 24.

Coronavirus

Malaysia starts COVID vaccines in crucial week for Asian jabs

Thailand and Vietnam take deliveries while South Korea prepares first shots

24 February 2021

Facebook has chosen to take a confrontational approach.

Opinion

Facebook's Australia tantrum shows why Big Tech must be reined in

Other nations likely to follow Canberra's lead with their own regulatory frameworks

24 February 2021

Australia and Facebook became locked in a standoff after the government introduced legislation that challenged the dominance of Facebook and Google in the news content market.

Media & Entertainment

Facebook to restore Australian news pages after legislation tweaks

Concession deal struck after a series of talks over the weekend

23 February 2021