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30 Nov, 5 tweets, 2 min read
Hmmmm. Thread. China's Foreign Affairs Ministry says that several countries - including Malaysia - joined its criticisms of AUKUS at the IAEA Board of Governors Meeting last week. Trying to track down records of the meeting to verify if this is true 1/ Image
There's a fascinating diplomatic tussle at the IAEA over this. China argues the transfer of nuclear submarine technology will undermine the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and is pressing the IAEA to set up a "special committee" to scrutinise the issue 2/ Image
Unsurprising, Australia and the UK/US are pushing back firmly on this. Australia's Ambassador in Vienna (and rep to the IAEA) @AusAmbVIE says the Chinese proposal "appears intended to politicise this issue" (no kidding) 3/ Image
Full statement here for those interested 4/ vienna.usmission.gov/trilateral-auk…
Anyway- I'm not sure where this all ended up last week, but I'll see what I can dig up and update the thread when I can. If @AusAmbVIE would like to provide further information in the meantime on this platform then that would be welcome of course!

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More from @stephendziedzic

Stephen Dziedzic Profile picture
30 Nov
OK! Kurt Campbell- "Joe Biden's Indo-Pacific Tsar"- is addressing a @LowyInstitute conference. The conference title is "the Indo-Pacific Operating System." Plenty of people like this phrase, but I think it's a little clunky. Anyway, should be interesting. I'll live tweet 1/
Good first question from @mfullilove - "what will it take the United States to break free and really develop an economic strategy for the region?" Campbell says elements of the new strategy are taking shape and "we want to take quick action moving forward" 2/
A brief (and not very original) comment: the Administration has *lots* on its plate but we are almost one year into Biden's first term and the Administration is only now in "the early stages of articulating" the strategy - so yep, they need to move quickly! 3/
Read 15 tweets
Stephen Dziedzic Profile picture
3 Nov
The French Ambassador to Australia is giving an address to the National Press Club. The speech has been widely described as "highly anticipated" which is a) a terrible cliche and b) entirely true. I'll live tweet excerpts of the speech and the Q+A 1/
The Ambassador begins by describing the future submarine program which was scrapped by Australia. He says the program was "unprecedented" and a hugely significant expression of trust because it involved the sharing of technology which was a "core national defence capability" 2/
The Ambassador now describes the "stab in the back." He says only Australia intentionally deceived France because it wasn't sure the AUKUS submarine deal would come to fruition. He points out only weeks before the 2 + 2 reaffirmed the importance of the program 3/
Read 15 tweets
Stephen Dziedzic Profile picture
2 Nov
Marise Payne heading to Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia (new ASEAN chair) and Vietnam. Top issues on the list: AUKUS and nuclear subs, Myanmar, the Australia-ASEAN CSP and (of course) the pandemic recovery abc.net.au/news/2021-11-0…
Meanwhile, this issue might pop up when Senator Payne is in Cambodia. Hun Sen is demanding Australia send its promised COVID-19 vaccines ASAAP, warning that if we don't deliver he will (wait for it, you'll be shocked) approach China instead
Full article here. The two million vaccines promised are from the UNICEF purchase which we are still trying to line up. But supply issues = delays smh.com.au/world/asia/cam…
Read 4 tweets
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 35 tweets
Stephen Dziedzic Profile picture
27 Oct
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/
Read 5 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

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