Thread by @stephendziedzic

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/

Payne only spoke to her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi about 11pm on Tuesday night Canberra time. That's about 8 hours before the announcement, but AFTER the first reports started to circulate online 4/

Payne doesn't challenge this. Both she + officials basically blame leaks. Senior @dfat official Justin Hayhurst: "we didn't factor in media speculation or things like that." In other words- if it hadn't leaked out, Retno wouldn't have learned about the subs from media reports 5/

Which countries were meant to be officially briefed ahead of the AUKUS/ nuclear subs announcement? It's an interesting (though largely unsurprising) list: Japan, Indonesia, India, South Korea, New Zealand, France, Canada (plus the IAEA) 6/

Now a long back-and-forth over how we handled France + the decision to scrap the submarine contract. Wong points out that 15 days before the announcement we held a 2 + 2 meeting with France. Did Payne or Dutton indicated it might be scrapped? 7/ au.ambafrance.org/Inaugural-Aust…

Not really. Payne says Dutton did "raise the deteriorating strategic environment" in the region and emphasise that the Government was reviewing its military capabilities. But Government hadn't yet made a final decision to make the switch to nuclear subs 8/

Payne says she will meet the French Ambassador on Monday and she understands the depth of French anger - "I have heard acutely what they are saying, in two languages" (I think Payne might speak a bit of French) That draws huuuge scoffs from Wong 9/

Does the Biden Administration think we bungled the handling of announcement? Wong asks about an Axios article which says US was blindsided by French anger. This curious line suggests Australia had reassured the US we'd *already* made it clear to the French what was coming 10/

Payne won't really be drawn. Officials say they aren't aware of any discussions along those lines. Wong doesn't really get anywhere on this 11/

Now Wong goes to this piece from @Gallo_Ways which includes a quote from an unnamed Coalition MP saying the French "are just having a sook." Payne says it's an anonymous quote but "I don't think glib statements of that nature ... are helpful" 12/ smh.com.au/politics/feder…

OK. We have now moved on to discuss renovations at the charmingly named Stoke Lodge, which is the Residence of the Australian High Commissioner in London, currently George Brandis 13/

I'm not sure where Labor is going on this exactly, but @ayrestim says the renovations include a "walkway which is composed of glass that allows Mr Brandis to walk across the terrace and observe the kitchen staff below ... it's sort of Upstairs Downstairs plus, isn't it?" 14/

Officials don't seem on top of the details here, but Payne has some more info. She says the refurbishment included "repair and replacement" works for the roof, the parapets, windows and the balustrade. It was done to address non-compliance with health and safety regulations 15/

No more information on this mysterious "walkway" - they've gone to a break. We'll come back to this later 16/

We're back from the break. Greens Senator @janet_rice is asking about the story asserting that the CIA had plotted to kill or kidnap Julian Assange. She asks Payne if she's got any response to the allegation 17/ reuters.com/world/allegati…

Payne says she's aware of the article but takes on notice whether Australia has taken any steps in response. Has she raised it with her US or UK counterparts? Payne says no 18/

US authorities have told British judges that if they agree to extradite Julian Assange then he could serve any US prison sentence he receives in Australia. Rice asks Payne if this is on the table. Payne won't be drawn - she says it's before the courts, and she can't comment 19/

Rice asks if Australia has done everything in its power to help Assange. Payne says Australian officials have made 29 approaches to Assange to "provide consular assistance or assistance with medical support" and every offer has been either ignored or rejected 20/

Now Afghanistan. Rice moving at a rather relentless pace. She asks how we're helping Australians plus visa holders get out of the country. Officials say they secured 34 seats on a flight out of Kabul on 11 October 21/

96 Australians and 106 Australian permanent residents remain in Afghanistan, according to the Department's figures. Not clear how many Australian visa holders remain. People are continuing to depart, some across the land border 22/

Now Taiwan. What are the chances of conflict across the strait? Justin Hayhurst on the escalation of incursions into Taiwan's ADIZ- "we consider the risk of miscalculation higher than it was. There's more activity, more pressure - so we are concerned" 23/

Hayhurst confirms that Australia has raised concerns with China directly about the incursions - "we have made our concerns know about this to China, yes." Sounds like representations were made either to the Chinese Embassy in Canberra or via our Embassy in Beijing, or both 24/

"My next question is to Mr Hayhurst ... who has been doing very well today" says Wong, fixing him with a rather contemplative gaze. Sadly the camera didn't record his response 25/

Wong asks about Indonesia's push to close the "loophole" in the NPT which allows Australia to acquire nuclear powered submarines. Did we get advance notice from Jakarta on this? Officials say no, we didn't 26/ theaustralian.com.au/nation/politic…

(Which speaks to how uneasy Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is about AUKUS deal / nuclear submarines, and how irritated Retno Marsudi was by being blindsided by the announcement) 27/

Officials say they don't believe there is an NPT "loophole" here and Australia will remain compliant. We have "clarified" our position with the Indonesians "in great detail" (I bet we have) 28/

Now COVID-19 outbreak in PNG. No new figures here but it's grim. It's obvious there are massive numbers of cases but nobody knows the real number. Only 4.5% of adults in PNG have had at least one dose. About 2.6% double dosed. Lots of vaccine misinformation. Grim. 29/

There's lots of discussion about what Australia and PNG are trying to do to combat vaccine misinformation, help manage enormous strain on health system and boost roll-out. Officials say it's important to build health system capacity as well as respond to current emergency 30/

Back to the Stoke Lodge renovation. Right, clarity. The walkway ("flush glaze walk-on deck") was never built. It was included in an early feasibility study but removed from the final design to save money. Full renovation cost was approx $440,000 31/

Ayres is still going after Brandis. He says the High Commissioner has publicised several high profile meetings with conservative groups (and Government Ministers) but is relatively silent on his meetings with UK Labour figures. Is he in breach of the APS code? Payne says no 32/

Wong says Brandis is enjoying a "little sojourn in the mother country." Payne: "that's a interesting way to describe an appointment which has brought us the UK-Australia free trade agreement, just for starters" 33/

Some back and forth on COP26, but it doesn't really go anywhere. Lunch. Thanks to those following along and sending me messages - I'll start a fresh thread for the afternoon session. 34/

Postscript: for those asking about the "FlushGlaze walk-on roof light" which never was 35/