What we learned, Friday 6 February
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. As always, thanks for reading. I hope you have a lovely weekend, wherever you are.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was in Jakarta, where he signed a new defence pact with Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto. Albanese described the treaty as “very significant”.
In political news back home, the Liberals and Nationals were yet to reach an agreement on a potential reconciliation. The Nationals MP Darren Chester said he was holding out hope the Coalition could reunite despite expectations the Liberals would reject the country party’s new peace deal.
Australia’s submarine agency insisted the Aukus agreement was progressing “at pace and on schedule”, even as sceptics of the $368bn deal argued the chances of the US ever selling promised Virginia-class submarines to Australia are increasingly remote.
In New South Wales, police launched an investigation after officers shot dead a man accused of stabbing a woman after he invaded a home on the mid north coast armed with a chainsaw and knife.
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, said it was “crazy” that the Newcastle writers’ festival would feature Palestinian author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, after its lineup was announced this morning.
Missing four-year-old Gus Lamont’s grandmothers released a statement through their lawyers, claiming they were “devastated” police had declared his disappearance a major crime.
Tony Mokbel – one of the key figures in Melbourne’s years-long gangland war – was set to walk free after prosecutors said they would drop a planned retrial on drug trafficking charges.
And Australian shares plunged, erasing $64bn in market value after all sectors fell due to growing investor unease.
Updated
PM calls new treaty with Indonesia ‘very significant’
Anthony Albanese says he wants Australia to assist Indonesia in developing defence training infrastructure in the south-east Asian nation.
The prime minister spoke to reporters in Jakarta a short time ago, after the signing of a new security treaty with Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto.
Albanese said:
We want to see more integration, more positive engagement with regard to Australian assistance in infrastructure here.
That is to be discussed between the relevant defence heads as we go forward, but it’s something where Australia, of course, has significant expertise in a range of areas.
Albanese said the treaty was “very significant” and that:
We are determined for Australian ideas, Australian products and Australian businesses to help Indonesia’s growth.
We want to build prosperity here, but we also want to create new jobs and opportunities at home. The work this week has done just that.
Updated
