Politics

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during parliamentary question time on Feb.6: The risks of tunnel vision and overreach in Canberra are real.
Opinion

AUKUS focus carries risks for other areas of Australian security

Diversion of resources and attention could affect maintenance of Pacific order

12 March 2023
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, center left, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, center right, signed a reciprocal access agreement in January.
International relations

Japan defense pacts with U.K. and Australia move closer to approval

Troop visits and training facilitated with 'quasi-allies' as Chinese threat looms

1 March 2023
Chinese students gather for photos at the University of Sydney on July 4, 2020, after a graduation ceremony was cancelled during the COVID-19 outbreak. 
Economy

Australia banks on China tailwind as rate hikes threaten slowdown

Influx of Chinese students, tourists could help offset RBA's hawkish policy

20 February 2023
Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks with Nikkei Asia in Tokyo on Feb. 17. (Photo by Andrew Sharp)
Interview

Morrison says 'premature' for AUKUS expansion to include Japan

Former Australian PM welcomes NATO outreach to Indo-Pacific

17 February 2023
The use of psilocybin, a derivative from of magic mushrooms, is be legalized for specific mental health cases in Australia from July.
Politics

Australia approves ecstasy and magic mushrooms for medical use

Professionals will be able to prescribe the party drugs for PTSD, depression

15 February 2023
Australia's Woodside Energy Group has about a one-third interest in the joint venture for the Greater Sunrise gas fields in the Timor Sea.
Energy

Woodside and partners see path forward for East Timor gas field

Companies aim to move 'expeditiously' to settle dispute on LNG terminal location

14 February 2023
Australia’s ambassador-designate to Japan Justin Hayhurst after an interview on Feb. 3 in Tokyo. (Photo by Yuki Kohara)
Interview

China import ban won't squeeze Australia, says incoming Japan envoy

Canberra 'will continue to look to diversify markets': Justin Hayhurst

6 February 2023
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been accused ignoring the science in his decision to impose restrictions on travelers from China. (Nikkei montage/Getty Images/Reuters)
Coronavirus

Australia's curbs on travel from China slammed as unscientific

Critics claim Canberra's move was hasty, motivated by geopolitics

6 January 2023
Anthony Albanese in Bangkok on Nov. 18: Poll leads can turn around quickly for even the most popular governments.
Opinion

Albanese has let Australian voters down on COVID-19

Labor won kudos for states' virus management, but now is 'letting it rip'

5 January 2023
Kevin Rudd, Australia's new ambassador to the U.S., speaks to Nikkei Asia in Tokyo in early December. (Photo by Konosuke Urata) 
Politics

Kevin Rudd, Australia's new U.S. envoy, seen bringing change to China playbook

Sinologist seeks to 'engage and hedge' against 'ideological man' Xi

27 December 2022
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong meets Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Dec. 21.
International relations

Australia's Penny Wong raises trade curbs, detainees on China visit

Two sides agree to keep talking after marking 50 years of ties

21 December 2022
Julian Assange outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London in May 2017: The British authorities do not really know what to do with him.
Opinion

Albanese is right: It is time to close the case of Julian Assange

Australian prime minister's move may signal end is near for WikiLeaks legal saga

20 December 2022
A ship carrying liquefied hydrogen docks at an experimental terminal in Kobe, Japan. (Photo by Atsushi Ooka)
Environment

Green hydrogen booms in Asia as companies rush into projects

Denmark's Orsted in talks with POSCO, BP invests in Australian project

18 December 2022
Solar panels are installed on the roof of a factory in Indonesia.
Climate Change

Japan hosts 1st meeting for Asia zero-emissions initiative in March

Indonesia deal offers model to boost renewable energy and carbon-neutral fuel

15 December 2022
From left, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speak to reporters Tuesday.
International relations

U.S. to expand Australia military footprint with eye on Taiwan

Canberra will propose more trilateral exercises at 2-plus-2 meeting with Japan

8 December 2022
A secured transport arrives at the extra secure court in Rotterdam, on June 22, 2021, prior to the hearing on the extradition of Tse Chi Lop, who was one of the most wanted drug criminals in the world.
Society

Asia's 'El Chapo' to be extradited to Australia in weeks: lawyer

Tse Chi Lop's drug trafficking operation had global reach, documents show

6 December 2022
Anthony Albanese greets Fumio Kishida in Perth on October 22: Japan and Australia agreed at their annual leaders' meeting to seek bilateral consultations in the event of regional contingencies.
Opinion

U.S. will listen more to Australia and Japan if they speak together

Tokyo-Canberra partnership is about both managing Beijing and managing Washington

6 December 2022
Anthony Albanese, left, meets Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Bali on Nov. 15: What we are witnessing is a shift in China's tactics, but not its strategy.
Opinion

China and Australia are going back to business, without illusions

Mutual suspicions too great now for relationship to return to previous warmth

21 November 2022
President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, signalling in a speech that he wants to thaw frosty relations between the two countries.
Indo-Pacific

Xi sheds 'wolf-warrior' coat on return to world stage

Third term gives China's leader freer hand to chart new courses

15 November 2022
A B-52 Stratofortress prepares for refueling over Afghanistan during a close-air-support mission in this undated handout photo. 
Indo-Pacific

U.S. nuclear bombers find home in Australia as China tensions rise

War threat leads to upgrade of military ties between Canberra, Washington

12 November 2022
Made up of 80 small islands in the South Pacific, Vanuatu is at the forefront of destructive extreme weather events.
COP27

Vanuatu says cyclones, rising seas are 'human rights issues'

Climate envoy from small Pacific nation makes remark ahead of COP27

5 November 2022
The Royal Australian Navy's Fleet Base West on Sept. 30: There is a clear window of opportunity for the Canberra and Tokyo to take their security and defense engagement to a new level. (Handout photo from Royal Australian Navy)
Opinion

Australia-Japan relationship is not just business anymore

Albanese's hosting of Kishida in Perth highlights rising security ties

19 October 2022
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, second from left, with counterparts from the South Pacific in Tonga. He visited Papua New Guinea before the meeting, and will later head to Fiji. (Photo courtesy of Australia's Defense Ministry)
Indo-Pacific

Australia, South Pacific islands bolster ties as China's clout grows

Canberra ramps up diplomacy via regional defense chiefs' meeting and bilateral talks

19 October 2022
Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meet at Parliament House in Canberra on Oct. 18.
International relations

In skeptical Australia, Singapore PM says China 'good' for CPTPP

Lee and Albanese seal green deal to seize opportunities in clean energy

18 October 2022
As the race for talent heats up around the world, some experts argue the Albanese government will struggle to attract immigrants back to a country dubbed "Fortress Australia" throughout the pandemic for its hardline response to prevent the virus from hitting its shores.
Asia Insight

'Fortress Australia' seeks to become immigration nation again

COVID-induced labor shortages push Albanese to raise cap on migrants

18 October 2022