Australian news and politics live updates: China accuses Australia of covering up RAAF’s ‘vile act’

Beijing is ratcheting up criticism of Australia following a weekend military confrontation over the South China Sea, accusing the defence force of distorting facts and covering up its own “vile act” of illegal intrusion.

This week the Albanese Government accused the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of “unsafe and “unprofessional” conduct after one of its fighter jets twice released flares close to an RAAF P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane near the contested Xisha Islands.

Initially the PLA hit back by accusing the Australian military of “illegally intruding into Chinese airspace “without the approval of the Chinese Government”.

Now a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) has described Australia’s statement as “a blatant distortion of facts” and said formal complaints have been lodged.

“It falsely accused China, attempting to cover up the vile act of its military aircraft illegally intruding into China’s airspace. We are strongly dissatisfied with this and have lodged stern representations with the Australian side,” Senior Colonel Jiang Bin said.

The MND spokesperson again urged Australia to “immediately cease its infringement, provocation and incitement” and “avoid undermining the relations between China and Australia and their militaries”.

“The Chinese military will continue to take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and security, and firmly uphold regional peace and stability,” he stressed.

Opposition leader Sussan Ley says Anthony Albanese missed the opportunity to alleviate Australia’s tariff burdens after skipping key discussions on trade while in the White House.

Despite concerns in the lead-up to the highly anticipated talks with Donald Trump that Australia’s pharmaceutical sector could be slapped with 100 per cent tariffs on all products which don’t have a US presence, the Prime Minister didn’t raise the issue.

Ms Ley on Wednesday also criticised the PM for coming home without securing lower tariffs for steel and aluminium exporters, who were targeted with 25 per cent tariffs by the Trump administration in March.

The Liberal Leader said while she welcomed his critical minerals deal and assurances around the AUKUS pact, she was disappointed Mr Albanese didn’t advocate for industry impacted by the US trade regime.

“There was no conversation yesterday in the Oval Office about relief from tariffs. Nothing about the tariff burden for our steel and aluminium sector,” Ms Ley said on Wednesday.

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Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who is the Australian ambassador to the United States, has shared a video on social media, congratulating Anthony Albanese for his “transformational” meeting with US President Donald Trump.

The video, which was taken at an event hosted in Washington DC on Tuesday (US time), shows Mr Rudd and Mr Albanese speaking about the Australian-US relationship and alliance.

“Prime Minister, you’ve had an extrodinary day yesterday,” Mr Rudd said.

“The President, backing in AUKUS, the endorsement of the criticial minerals and rare earhts framework agreement between Australia and the United States, which will be transformational.”

https://twitter.com/AmboRudd/status/1980765237239250956

The Prime Minister’s Office has shared a statement on the emergency landing of the plane bringing Anthony Albanese home to Australia.

It confirmed an incident had occurred and that an officer had been injured.

“The officer required medical assistance on the flight from Washington DC to Honolulu,” a spokesperson told the ABC.

A map on Flightradar24 shows the Prime Minister’s plane travelling west across the United States before making a sharp turn, diverting to St Louis Lambert International Airport.

It is understood someone has been taken to hospital.

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s plane has been diverted on his way home to Australia from Washington for a medical emergency.

The PM’s RAAF flight was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Missouri after a crew member was struck in the head with luggage from an overhead locker.

Flight ASY 343 stopped at St Louis Lambert International Airport so the injured person could receive medical treatment at the local hospital.

The PM had been due to fly from Washington to Honolulu before heading to Canberra.

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Sweltering conditions and weeks of dry weather have officials on high alert as Australia experiences a spring heatwave that could have catastrophic results.

As millions across the eastern seaboard in New South Wales, Queensland and into Victoria and South Australia prepare for blistering temperature surges on Wednesday and Thursday, accompanying storms and severe wind gusts have given emergency services cause to lift their alert rating.

Sydney-siders displayed some scepticism about the temperature spike on Wednesday morning, but as the cloud burned away as the day progressed, the mercury began to rise alarmingly fast, reinforcing the Bureau of Meteorology’s warnings.

Predictions are for a top of 38C on Wednesday, with Newcastle (39C) and Wollongong (36C) also in the firing line, with at least three dozen fires already burning across NSW and an extreme fire rating.

“We already have machines fighting fires on two fronts in the Hunter Valley and we are preparing for the worst in the Sydney area,” Sydney Helicopters Operations Manager Adam Schofield told The Nightly.

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When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump met in the White House, the US President ended fears over AUKUS’ future, saying the plan was “full steam ahead”.

Now, China has issued a blunt warning to the US, UK and Australia, saying the People’s Republic “oppose bloc confrontation”, also telling countries not to interfere with Taiwan’s reunification.

“China has made clear more than once its position on the so-called trilateral security partnership between the US, the UK and Australia designed to advance cooperation on nuclear submarines and other cutting-edge military technologies,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a press conference.

“We oppose bloc confrontation and anything that increases the risk of nuclear proliferation and exacerbates arms race.”

In another comment, Mr Gao warned others from interfering with Taiwan, something he stated was China’s “internal affair”.

“The Taiwan question is purely China’s internal affair and a matter for the Chinese ourselves to resolve. We stand ready to strive for peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and the greatest effort, but we will never ever allow anyone or any force to separate Taiwan from China in any way.”

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Foreign Minister Penny Wong – who is acting prime minister for the next day – has given a brief press conference where she defended Kevin Rudd’s work and said it was in Australia’s interest for there to be a good relationship between the Prime Minister and US President.

The Opposition has called for Mr Rudd to be recalled after Donald Trump’s remark on Tuesday that if the ambassador had said something bad about him, “I don’t like you”.

“The meeting was a great success and, in part, that great success was as a consequence of … Ambassador Rudd’s excellent work,” Senator Wong said.

“I think today is a day where the country together can say, look, that was a good outcome for Australia, and that’s what we should be focused on.”

In an “Australian first”, the NSW Minns Labor Government is introducing a new “cooling off” period for the fines system in a move to help avoid criminal convictions.

In NSW, if an individual chooses not to pay a fine, or dispute it in court, they are unable to reverse court proceedings being comenced, something that could not only turn out to be costly, but could also result in a criminal conviction.

“Individuals would have a 21-day ‘cooling off period’ during which they could withdraw their decision to contest a fine in court,” an announcement from NSW Minister for Finance Courtney Houssos said.

“The proposed 21-day cooling off period will give fine recipients time to seek legal advice and information about the risks and implications of going to court and give them an opportunity to withdraw their court election.”

The Minns Government will also make changes to the harship review board to better support individuals experiencing financial hardship.