The Latest Breaking News from Penny Wong

The secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Kathryn Campbell, has been replaced in a shake-up of federal departmental heads announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Internal emails reveal United States officials described the signing of a security pact between China and Solomon Islands as "very troubling".

The Albanese government has launched a concerted effort to nip in the bud a threatened resumption of the people smuggling trade, with a visit by Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil to Sri Lanka and a $50 million aid package for that economically-beleaguered country.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pledged to deepen economic engagement with region amid tensions with Beijing.

Bureaucrats in Canberra are expecting a shake-up of top jobs, with the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade expected to be replaced due to her role in the robodebt scandal.

The frequent use of the term “shared values” to describe developments in the Pacific tends to obscure a distinct shift in New Zealand and Australian relations with their Pacific partners over the past two decades.

Pacific islands urge new Labor government to support push for international court of justice to issue climate advisory opinion

Foreign Minister Penny Wong was no doubt expecting a cooler reception than her three previous visits to the Pacific when she touched down in Honiara last Friday. The Solomon Islands government website had not even listed the Australian minister’s visit – but it did note the first visit of a…

Australia welcomed reassurances from the Solomon Islands that it would not allow China to install a military base on its territory, helping to assuage concerns about Beijing’s growing influence in the Pacific region.