Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says two Australian citizens who faced the death penalty in Vietnam have now been granted clemency.
Speaking exclusively to ABC's 7.30 program upon his return from an official visit to Vietnam, Mr Albanese said he had lobbied the Vietnamese government to intervene.
"I made representations to the prime minister yesterday morning. And by yesterday afternoon, the president had signed the clemency orders," he told 7.30.
The prime minister says the identity of the two Australians is not being revealed as their families have asked for privacy: "The families have been informed and they are very relieved."
Mr Albanese says Australia has a long history of strongly opposing the death penalty and to lobby diplomatically on behalf of its citizens detained overseas.
"We work whenever there is a death penalty imposed, Australia makes representation," he said.
"And I'm very pleased that the representations that we made in the lead up to my visit to Vietnam have [helped] in these two cases, seeing this successful outcome."
The families for the two unnamed prisoners had long advocated for their release but Mr Albanese puts down this week's breakthrough to improved relationships between Australia and Vietnam.
On Sunday, the two countries signed a $105 million package to help Vietnam decarbonise its economy and there's a push for a "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" which will bring Australia and Vietnam even closer.
Ahead of the prime minister's visit to Vietnam, calls were growing for the release of Australian citizens detained in that country, including retired Sydney baker, Chau Van Kham.
The 73-year-old remains in prison on terrorism charges. He was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City in 2019 and later sentenced to 12 years in jail.
Mr Albanese says his case is being handled separately.
"We ... have made representations on behalf of Chau Van Kham, who was convicted of other offences. That's a different case. There, we are after an international prisoner transfer and we're hopeful in that case."
Regional tensions
The prime minister has just returned to Australia after delivering the keynote address at the highly influential Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore at the weekend, where tensions between Beijing and Washington were on full display.
At the summit, China's Defence Minister Li Shangfu refused to meet with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, while accusing western powers of having a "cold war" mentality.
As a middle power, Australia finds itself in the unique position of having Beijing as its major trading partner and Washington as its most powerful military ally.
Anthony Albanese says that gives Australia a chance to help maintain peace and stability.
"I think we're having a role already, by the fact that we are meeting with our Chinese counterparts on a ministerial-to-ministerial level, but also on a leader level," he told 7.30.
"And of course, our alliance with the United States is one of the three pillars of our foreign policy along with regional engagement and our support for multilateral forums.
"Peace can't be taken for granted. It has to be built. It has to be nurtured."
During his speech, Mr Albanese also called on the international community to put "guardrails" in place to prevent the US and China from stumbling into war.
"What we know is that during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, there were systems set up so that a misadventure or miscalculation didn't lead to disastrous consequences. The concern here is that the guardrails aren't in place."
He told 7.30 war in the region was not inevitable and that dialogue between the super powers was key to avoid it.
"That's why the US administration's call for increased dialogue with China is so important," he said.
"It's one that we support, and it's one that we've encouraged China to participate in."
As proof of warmer relationships between Canberra and Beijing, the prime minister reiterated his intention to travel to China in the near future.
"I've been invited to China and I appreciate the invitation from president Xi [Jinping]," he told 7.30.
"I've said that I'm certainly up for travelling to China at some stage. And that would be a positive thing. We will welcome the assistant foreign minister here next month. And it's good that this dialogue is occurring."
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