Thread by @stephendziedzic

Shadow Foreign Minister @SenatorWong is giving a speech to @LowyInstitute on Labor's foreign policy priorities. She opens by saying the ALP sees Australia as "an independent, multicultural nation confident of our place in the world"

Wong says the world and Australia is facing a disrupted global order. "The playbook of decades past may be of limited utility" in this new era.

Wong says if Labor wins power it will put the Pacific "front and centre" and offer "support and partnership" to the region. She also attacks the Coalition's cuts to foreign aid in the wider Asian region - "this will not serve our interests or our prosperity"

Now to China. Wong says Labor will bring a "more considered, disciplined and consistent approach" to the relationship

A fairly pessimistic tone from Wong here. She says the China relationship "may be harder to manage" in future years. Pressures will persist and "challenges may intensify"

Wong says that fundamentally the Australia China relationship is in "a new phase." The idea that we could bifurcate our economic and strategic interests was probably never accurate and "certainly it is not now"

Now Wong is laying out some of Labor's criticisms of the Coalition's foreign policy. She says the Govt's climate change policies and cuts to foreign aid have damaged our relationships overseas

Wong - if Labor wins, it will "restore our place as a collaborative and active member of the international community" committed to fighting climate change and cutting emissions

She also repeats her commitment that Labor will increase foreign aid every year if it wins the election. But she does not put a figure on how much that increase will be

Interesting. Wong says if she becomes Foreign Minister then she will become the first Asian Australian to have the job. She acknowledges that will have a powerful symbolic impact.

Wong- "narratives do matter, as do perceptions. Our history on race can be evoked in ways that are neither accurate or helpful." BUT - "just as historical negatives can be evoked so too they can be shifted"

A bit of news. Wong says if she becomes Foreign Minister then the first countries she'll visit are Indonesia and then Malaysia, the "country of my birth." There will be some symbolism in that visit too, if it happens

And Wong finishes by giving nativists in Australia a blast - "those who toy with the race card are not only eroding our national identify ... they also diminish our national power"

Lowy's @mfullilove asks Wong if Labor would remove some of the Govt's political appointees to diplomatic posts, including Joe Hockey. Wong plays cards close to her chest, just says Labor would "take a look" at all appointments

Now @mfullilove asks Wong what she means by "redefining" Australia's relationship with China. @SenatorWong says there needs to be a more nuanced conversation. Don't characterise it as a choice between the US/our security interests and China/our economic interests

Interesting again. @SenatorWong says at times the business community and the strategic community are simply talking at cross purposes on China - "People are not listening at all to each other. They are talking past one another"

So the plea from Wong is basically for a less strident debate on China. It is "far better if we have a more productive conversation about what lies between and beyond those extremes"

Now Wong returns to the Pacific. She says the Coalition's step up in the region has been fatally undermined by Australia's inaction on climate change- "you can’t have relationship Australia wants and needs with the Pacific, if you are so constrained on climate"

.@mfullilove asks Wong about Australia's relationship with Indonesia and how we can shape its priorities. She remarks that Australia's capacity to influence Jakarta is limited by the comparative size of our two countries- "let’s not lecture them too much”

Wong says if the ALP wins the election it will scrap the Government's plan to hand 17 million dollars to commercial TV to broadcast more Australian content -"I encourage (Free TV) not to spend any more money" on the initiative before the election

Now @SenatorWong is asked about Julian Assange. She makes it clear she's no admirer, and effectively endorses this article on him by Peter Greste - "Julian Assange is no journalist" smh.com.au/national/assan…

To be clear on that last tweet - that's not a quote of Wong, it's the title of the @PeterGreste article. Wong also adds that Assange is entitled to legal representation and due process in the UK

So, in summary. No bombshells in the speech. The only bit of hard news was the announcement that her first trip overseas (should Labor win) would be to Indonesia and Malaysia. But some interesting framing on the big foreign policy questions - particularly on China

And here's my brief online piece on the speech abc.net.au/news/2019-05-0…