Afternoon Update: Albanese leaves PNG without treaty; Tasmanian stadium plan condemned; and Australia’s quietest cockatoo

Australia has failed to secure a defence treaty with Papua New Guinea but the two countries say work will continue. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Good afternoon. Anthony Albanese’s strategy of pushing back against China in the Pacific has been dealt another blow, with a major defence treaty with Papua New Guinea delayed amid concerns about sovereignty.

The so-called Pukpuk mutual defence treaty, which would commit Australia and PNG to defend each other in the event of a military attack and allow citizens of both countries to serve in the defence forces of the other, was to be signed in Port Moresby this week. Instead the two governments signed a joint communique and pledged to continue negotiations on the wider defence pact.