Key events
‘Two-way investment’ with south-east Asia central to trade fund, treasurer says
As Daniel Hurst reported, the federal government will set up a $2bn fund to “turbocharge” trade and investment in south-east Asia, with a focus on clean energy and infrastructure.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, was asked how the funding would work while on ABC News Breakfast just earlier:
What this new investment facility is all about is making sure that we can turbocharge that two-way investment, which is so important to the region, but also to our country, its employers and workers as well.
What you’ll hear from us today is really a big focus on investment, trying to get that two-way investment and trade as good as it can be, because we recognise that when the region is more secure and more prosperous, our people here in Australia are more secure and prosperous as well.
And how can Australian companies gain access to this funding? Chalmers said the government would “make clear all of those arrangements”, and added:
For the purposes of explaining to your viewers today, it’s a $2bn facility, it’s all about making sure that we can make this two-way investment more attractive to people, to investors, also de-risk it where we can. It’s in the interests of every Australian we get this two-way investment [and trade] happening the best it can be.
Women take up surf training amid spike in regional drownings
A grant provided to Surfing NSW has helped 150 women receive their coaching certificates, as almost 100 people drowned during summer, AAP reports.
Through the grant – one of 22 under the state government’s Investing In Women program – Surfing NSW targeted regional and remote areas that accounted for 60% of drownings along the coast, up 9% over the previous year.
Programs support officer Kathy Walton said:
Beaches aren’t patrolled all the time … we’re giving those skills to regional areas and surfers, then they’re able to use those skills when it’s an unpatrolled beach … It’s very beneficial to the community.
Gendered perceptions of surfing are improving on the back of Australian champions such as Layne Beachley, Stephanie Gilmore and Tyler Wright.
The grants also helped local businesses, with some participants filling roles at understaffed surf schools.
As Martin flagged earlier, the Liberal party overnight selected management consultant Simon Kennedy to contest the Cook byelection created by the resignation of Scott Morrison.
You can read the full story on this from Paul Karp and Amy Remeikis below for all the details:
As we begin the second day of the Asean summit, foreign affairs minister Penny Wong has shared these images of meeting with her Malaysian counterpart, Mohamad Hasan.
A warm welcome to Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan at the ASEAN-Australian Special Summit.
We had the privilege of exchanging four Memorandums of Understanding following the 2nd Australia-Malaysia Annual Leaders’ Meeting. pic.twitter.com/QTokO6EAKh
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) March 4, 2024
Wong wrote on X:
Australia and Malaysia will work even more closely together on shared challenges and opportunities including cyber security, higher education, sports, and nuclear non-proliferation.
Emily Wind
Good morning, Emily Wind here reporting for blogging duties. Many thanks to Martin for kicking things off! I’ll be bringing you our rolling coverage today.
See something that needs attention on the blog? You can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: [email protected].
Let’s get started.
Australian program to eradicate red fire ants is a ‘shambles’, Senate inquiry told
Our reporter Daisy Dumas watched yesterday as senators were given the shocking truth about the government’s national program to eradicate red imported fire ants.
It has received more than $1.2bn of federal and state funding taking it through to 2027 but the parliamentarians were told that the scheme was an “absolute shambles” beset by a lack of transparency and waste.
The eradication objective is so large, said Richard Shannon, who formerly worked on the program, that “it’s the equivalent of putting man on the moon”.
“We are further away from eradication than we were five or six years ago when I was part of the program,” he said, adding that it was “too clandestine”.
Read Daisy’s full story here:
Trade push to south-east Asia
Daniel Hurst
Australia will set up a $2bn fund to “turbocharge” trade and investment in south-east Asia, with a focus on clean energy and infrastructure.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will announce the fund in Melbourne on Tuesday when he addresses a gathering of 100 chief executives from Australia and south-east Asia.
Albanese will say in a speech that he is pursuing “the most significant upgrade of Australia’s economic engagement with Asean for a generation”, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
He will also promise to improve access to longer term visas for south-east Asian travellers, saying this “demonstrates unequivocally that Australia is open for business, tourism, and trade”.
The $2bn south-east Asia investment financing facility is to be managed by Export Finance Australia. It is expected to provide loans, guarantees, equity and insurance to increase Australian trade and investment in south-east Asia.
“The government I lead has made it clear: more than any other region, south-east Asia is where Australia’s future lies,” Albanese will tell business leaders, according to speech notes distributed to media in advance.
Read Daniel Hurst’s full story here:
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news blog. I’m Martin Farrer, bringing you the overnight headlines before Emily Wind takes the helm.
The Liberal party last night chose management consultant Simon Kennedy to contest the Cook byelection created by the resignation of Scott Morrison. Kennedy beat off competition from the mayor of Sutherland shire, Carmelo Pesce, and war widow and veteran family advocate commissioner, Gwen Cherne. But installing Kennedy, who failed to win Bennelong in 2022, means the party won’t boost its small number of women MPs.
Anthony Albanese will today focus on foreign and trade policy as he announces a $2bn plan to boost trade with south-east Asia with a speech to business figures at today’s session of the Asean summit in Melbourne. Improved visa access, better finance opportunities to boost trade and investment, and on-the-ground support for businesses in Indonesia and Vietnam have all been flagged to strengthen Australia’s standing in the region. More coming up.
And there was some shocking testimony at a Senate hearing last night into the government’s program to eradicate fire ants. Senators heard the plan had descended into “absolute shambles” and the country was further from getting rid of the destructive and potentially lethal insects than it was five years ago. The committee heard the impact of the invasive species could be worse than rabbits, cane toads, foxes, camels, wild dogs and feral cats combined.
