Penny Wong opens up about the 'daunting' experience of being the first Asian-Australian minister
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has given a rare and unvarnished account of how she's grappled with racial discrimination and self-doubt in public life.
Stephen Dziedzic is the ABC's Foreign Affairs (Asia Pacific) reporter, based in the Parliament House bureau. He covers foreign policy and Australia's relationship with countries in the Asia Pacific region. Stephen has worked for the ABC since 2007, and spent five years covering federal politics.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has given a rare and unvarnished account of how she's grappled with racial discrimination and self-doubt in public life.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announces Australia and Indonesia have finalised negotiations on an upgraded defence agreement which the federal government is hailing as the "most significant" pact the two countries have ever signed.
The Prime Minister says Australia and New Zealand have agreed to disagree over the fraught issue of criminal deportations after sitting down with Christopher Luxon for high level talks in Canberra.
New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon vowed to press Anthony Albanese over Australia's criminal deportations policy when the two leaders sat down for official talks in Canberra.
Fiji's prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, says he will "apologise" to fellow Melanesian leaders later this month after failing to secure agreement from Indonesia to visit its restive West Papua province.
The federal government is on the brink of signing a new defence pact with Indonesia that's been framed as the most strategically significant bilateral agreement between the countries in almost two decades.
A prominent PNG minister says the story was "false", and that the nation has no intention of selling off its power assets to a foreign bidder.
The Australian Defence Force has announced that it will join another military drill in the contested waters of the South China Sea, where there have been a series of increasingly dangerous confrontations between China and the Philippines.
Accessing banking services in the Pacific is difficult, and it could soon become worse.
Australians have been urged to leave Lebanon immediately as the foreign minister emphasises the Beirut airport could close if the situation worsens.
France has sharply rejected accusations that it undermined decolonisation in New Caledonia and says it's still deciding when a high-level Pacific delegation will be permitted to visit the territory.
Pacific leaders are ramping up pressure on France over tensions in New Caledonia, pressing Paris to allow a "high-level" Pacific delegation to visit the troubled territory before a critical regional meeting next month.
The leader of independent MPs in Solomon Islands is demanding the country's prime minister provide more information about a budget rescue package from China.
Jeremiah Manele praised China and indicated his country was keen to extend security and policing partnerships with the regional power — but will his words translate to more deals?
China has handed over a massive newly-built presidential palace to Vanuatu days before the Pacific nation's prime minister is expected to visit Beijing.
The Pacific's new top diplomat says it will be "hard" for the region to deal with China if Beijing behaves aggressively, or disregards the sovereignty of smaller island countries.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele says he has asked Australia to help his country expand its police force to 3,000 officers after sitting down with Anthony Albanese for bilateral talks in Canberra.
After years behind bars Julian Assange has faced court in a US territory in the Pacific today but it isn't a total surprise.
Now a few more details about what was (and wasn't) said behind closed doors are starting to emerge, bit by bit.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has weighed in in defence of Australian journalist Cheng Lei after she was obstructed by Chinese embassy officials.
Anthony Albanese is expected to use a speech in front of China's Premier Li Qiang to declare that while the countries have some "competing views" there are opportunities to be found.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has arrived in Canberra after an earlier visit to Adelaide Zoo, where he confirmed China would lend the facility two new giant pandas.
Australia looks to set up a 200-strong cohort of highly trained Pacific islands police officers to be sent to regional hotspots, under an ambitious initiative designed to strengthen the government’s strategic position in the region.
A Pacific patrol boat has run aground on its maiden voyage in Fiji, just a few months after it was handed over by the Australian government.
A new opinion poll shows Australians regard China with wary distrust, while their faith in the United States is ebbing in the lead-up to November's presidential election.