Trump

For all the furore it generated, the prickly phone call between Donald Trump and Malcolm Turnbull was a blip in Australia’s alliance relations with the US. In the mid-1950s Canberra and Washington differed over how to respond to the communist threat in Indochina. In the 60s we were at odds over Indonesia’s claim to Western New Guinea (now Papua), the

Amongst the recent brouhaha about US President Trump’s late-night tweeting habits, a lot of people missed a major speech he delivered last week on energy policy which included details of a new six point plan to achieve “American energy dominance” (actual transcript here). Note already the difference with Australia – in America, the government is aiming for “energy dominance” whereas

While President Trump was last night finalising his Paris withdrawal announcement, in Melbourne the IPA was hosting an event on nuclear power  in honour of the visiting Director of Energy at The Breakthrough Institute in the US, Jessica Lovering. Jessica is currently on a brief tour around Australia courtesy of one of Australia’s most fearless and influential organisations, the Minerals

Free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs has welcomed this morning’s news that the Trump Administration will withdraw from the Paris Climate Change Agreement. “America has stood up, and it is now time for Australia to reconsider its own position,” said Brett Hogan, Director of Research. ‎ “As Bjorn Lomborg has pointed out if Paris commitments are met,

It’s every intelligence chief’s nightmare – a phone call announcing the unexpected disclosure of highly sensitive secrets. The stakes are high: intelligence methods potentially compromised; future access to vital intelligence on terrorist plots and other threats jeopardised; diplomatic relations with allies and partners strained; and, in some cases, the lives of agents put at risk. Alarm bells clearly rang at

Relief may be Malcolm Turnbull’s overwhelming emotion as he settles back for the long flight home from New York before a crucial budget. Returning to his home town and the inevitable protests for the first time since the inauguration, President Trump may have kept the PM waiting for a few hours. But it was worth it. Trump was welcoming, warm

Red tape costs the Australian economy $176 billion, 11 per cent of GDP, each year in foregone economic output. Similarly, in the US red tape is estimated to cost $2 trillion annually, or 12 per cent of GDP.1 On 30 January 2017, the Trump Administration released the Presidential Executive Order on Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs. The Order announced

Last week when he announced changes to the laws on Australian citizenship and foreign workers, Malcolm Turnbull spoke passionately about “Australian values” and the need to respect our culture and history. It was a long overdue foray from him into the debate about our changing national identity. Unfortunately many on the political left demean that debate by labelling it as

There are seminal moments in a US presidency, often sadly sparked by catastrophe. Recall the Srebrenica Massacre for Bill Clinton and 9/11 for George W Bush. Likewise, Tuesday’s horrific chemical weapons attack in Syria marked a turning point for Donald Trump’s nascent presidency and US global leadership more broadly. So, struck by the tragic images of dead and dying children

After just four weeks, the Trump administration finds itself beset by problems, many of them related to national security: the botched executive order on immigration; a gush of leaks from the intelligence community and the messy departure of national security advisor Lieutenant-General Mike Flynn; and concerns, increasingly shared by Republicans in Congress, about reported links between Trump’s circle and Russia.