Share this page!

Stephen Dziedzic Profile picture
Twitter logo
27 Oct, 5 tweets, 1 min read
Scott Morrison addressing ASEAN-Australia summit. Announces Australia will "share at least an additional 10 million COVID-19 vaccines from our domestic supply with ASEAN countries by mid next year" (I assume this will be drawn from 60 mil doses already announced, but checking) 1/
Morrison - "ASEAN members growth underpins regional stability and Australia’s prosperity. Your stability is fundamental to our own. Our health security is inextricably tied to yours" 2/
More details on ASEAN support package I flagged yesterday. It's worth $124 million. Will "fund projects jointly identified by ASEAN + Australia to address complex and emerging challenges" including pandemic recovery, terrorism, energy security 3/
Elephant in the room! Morrison raises AUKUS. PM says "I want to address this up front" because "transparency and communication" is important. He's in full reassurance mode. He says AUKUS "does not change Australia's commitment to ASEAN or the ASEAN outlook ...it reinforces it" 4/
Once again for those at the back. Morrison: "AUKUS does not change Australia's deep and longstanding commitment to nuclear non-proliferation. Australia does not want and will not seek nuclear weapons, as I've assured all ASEAN members." 5/

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Stephen Dziedzic

Stephen Dziedzic Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @stephendziedzic

Stephen Dziedzic Profile picture
27 Oct
Right! I'll be live tweeting @dfat #estimates today. There is a Frances Adamson shaped absence in the room, which is quite strange. The new(ish) @dfat Secretary Kathryn Campbell is making her first appearance in the role. Will be interesting to see how she goes 1/
Payne gives an opening statement. First off she hails the new Australia-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership, which he calls a "significant milestone." Here's my story on this from earlier this morning 2/ abc.net.au/news/2021-10-2…
Wong is grilling officials about handling of the AUKUS / nuclear subs announcement. Why were the Indonesians briefed so late? She asks senior official Justin Hayhurst what DFAT's advice was. She says she wants to know if their advice was bad or whether it was ignored (ouch) 3/
Read 34 tweets
Stephen Dziedzic Profile picture
27 Oct
Starting a new thread for those following defence #estimates this afternoon. Wong asks how much Defence is spending on contractors? Officials say they spent $1.873 billion last financial year. That figure has shot up over last few years 1/
Wong raises this study by @ASPI_org which suggests that on average a Defence contractor is being paid a salary of $283,000 - around double the average Defence APS salary of $121,000 2/
Officials say the ASPI calculation is not wrong but it's not entirely fair because it's not a "like for like" comparison. Still they agree that on the whole contractors are more expensive. They give several explanations: for eg, they bring a specialist skillset (eg ICT) 3/
Read 8 tweets
Stephen Dziedzic Profile picture
26 Oct
Defence #estimates on this morning. When will get the first nuclear submarine delivered under AUKUS? By 2040 as the PM has indicated? The head of sub taskforce says that is the "right hand marker" which he wants to "drag left." He wants "at least one boat" in the water by 2040 1/
Are we looking at leasing out US or UK submarines to help fill the gap given the Collins Class subs are coming towards the end of their lives in the 2030s? The head of the Defence Dept Greg Moriarty seems pretty definitive- he says no 2/
Labor's Penny Wong says the Govt is trying to "eke out the last years of an ageing platform" (Collins) in the hope of covering the gap before the nuclear subs theoretically arrive

Wong: "pretty risky don't you reckon?"
Moriarty: "The PM has said this is a high risk program"
3/
Read 10 tweets
Stephen Dziedzic Profile picture
26 Oct
Thread on the Ag Visa and Pacific labour schemes. It's a bit in the weeds, but it's worth digging into the subject because we're talking about - as the Ag Minister David Littleproud says - "the biggest structural reform to the agricultural workforce we have ever seen" 1/
First question. Will the Ag visa provide a pathway to permanent residency? This is what the Agriculture Minister said on Aug 23 - the new visa will "complement" Pacific schemes but "also provide a pathway to permanent residency" 2/ Image
But this is how officials from Home Affairs put it last night at Senate estimates. The Government is "exploring the options" for a pathway to permanent residency. One of these things is not (quite) like the other 3/ Image
Read 15 tweets
Stephen Dziedzic Profile picture
25 Oct
Thread. I've spoken to Telstra CEO Andy Penn about the purchase of Digicel. Will get to the China angle. But first, what might it mean for mobile users in the Pacific? Penn is emphasising more continuity than change. No immediate changes to Digicel's business model 1/ Image
Penn says Telstra will focus on improving mobile infrastructure and boosting capacity by laying down more submarine cables - "they are the sort of investments we would look to make ... out of our ongoing business operations" 2/
Might the Australian government back investments like that in the future through further support packages? Penn won't really be drawn, says it's a matter for government. But he also notes the government is keen to support development in the region 3/
Read 4 tweets
Stephen Dziedzic Profile picture
11 Oct
Back on this. We're once again in "constantly" land. Not only was @dfat "constantly" monitoring the security situation in Kabul, officials were also "constantly" assessing likely increase in applications from translators etc as Taliban approached Kabul. Not hugely specific 1/
This is more interesting and specific. The CDF says in the months leading up to the fall of Kabul the number of applications from local engaged staff and translators had actually fallen off (of course there was a surge later, as the Taliban approached the gates) 2/
How many Australian citizens/visa holders remain stranded in Afghanistan? DFAT says its "best estimate" is that 129 Australian citizens and 157 permanent residents (who have registered/requested assistance from the Australian Govt) remain in Afghanistan (as of 1 October) 3/
Read 8 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @stephendziedzic has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @stephendziedzic!

Read all threads by @stephendziedzic

:(