Anthony Albanese and his top ministers have met with a slew of global leaders with the aim of resetting key relationships, countering China’s influence, and talking up the new government’s climate change ambitions
As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and French President Emmanuel Macron exchanged smiles and back slaps this week, Foreign Minister Penny Wong capped off a charm offensive through the Asia-Pacific with selfies in the Malaysian city of her birth.
The new government’s ascension to office has coincided with a busy diplomatic calendar, as well as heightened geopolitical tensions in Europe stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China’s increasing assertiveness, especially in the Asia-Pacific. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon enjoy the sunshine with French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte outside the Élysée Palace in Paris.“There is a significant effort [by Wong] to distinguish her travels from the last foreign minister, who was often criticised for not being out there enough and for, perhaps, not engaging in both the Pacific and South-East Asia as much as was needed for this geopolitical moment,” Kassam said.
The thaw between Australia and France following the spectacular fallout between Macron and former prime minister Scott Morrison last year over the aborted submarines deal has helped fuel the perception of a wide-ranging reset of Australian diplomacy. But Kassam said Morrison deserved credit for his foreign policy achievements, including reviving the Quad talks, and negotiating the creation of the AUKUS trilateral security pact between Australia, the UK and the US.