Gina Rinehart named Western Australian of the Year – as it happened

That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today – thanks so much for joining us. Here is a wrap of the day’s main news:

• The Australian government has played a leading role in supporting the inclusion of binding measures to limit the production of plastics in a draft global plastics treaty.

• The Australian defence minister, Richard Marles, met his Chinese counterpart and called for “safe and professional interactions” between military planes and ships in the Indo-Pacific region.

• The Greens called for national rent freeze after the party’s announcement they will offer a compromise on Labor’s stalled housing bill.

• The government responded cooly – saying while it would work “constructively across the parliament” to try to secure passage of the $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund legislation, it will not support “proposals that won’t work, are not backed by evidence and would only make our housing challenges worse”.

• Marles said understands the defamation ruling in the Ben Roberts-Smith case “will be evoking a lot of feelings around the country” but that the ADF must be held to the “highest standards”.

• Voice advocate Noel Pearson accused the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, of “being a bit duplicitous” in his claims that the proposed change to the constitution “will re-racialise our nation”.

• The NSW transport minister warned of “massive disruptions” every weekend for at least a year for already weary and longsuffering rail commuters across Sydney.

• Mining magnate Gina Rinehart was awarded the Western Australian of the Year by the nonprofit Celebrate WA. Australia’s richest person was recognised for her “outstanding contribution to the state and national economy” at the awards, which have run for 50 years and are sponsored by BHP, the WA government and Lotterywest.

• Australia will deliver a $105m package to aid Vietnam in its clean energy transition. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese announced the package will support sustainable infrastructure planning, stimulating private investment in clean energy infrastructure, and deliver technical assistance to develop Vietnam’s critical mineral sector.

Don Farrell to head to France for OECD ministerial council meeting

The trade minister, Don Farrell, will then head on to France where he will lead Australia’s delegation at the annual OECD ministerial council meeting, alongside the assistant minister for trade, Tim Ayres.

In advocating for Australia’s interests in the rules-based multilateral trading system, he says he will raise the important role that open international markets play in addressing major global challenges including rising food and energy insecurity, and climate change.

While in France, Farrell and Ayres will also host Australia’s annual informal gathering of key World Trade Organization ministers to shape expectations ahead of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in February 2024.

Farrell says Australia will continue to advocate for the restoration of the WTO dispute settlement system, after longstanding blockages as the US vetoes appeal judge appointments.

In more international relations news, the minister for trade, Don Farrell, has announced he is heading to Belgium this coming week to progress negotiations for a trade agreement with the European Union.

Farrell will meet European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, as well as the EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski in Brusells. He says:

A trade agreement with the EU that strengthens our trade relationship and supports economic growth, investment, and Australian jobs is a top priority for the Australian Government.

Taking questions, Albanese is asked about the tensions in the South China Sea and across the region more broadly. A journalist asks about the latest incident in which the US military said a Chinese destroyer had cut across the bow of the USS Chung-Hoon in the Taiwan Strait. Albanese replies:

One of the things I spoke about in Singapore in the Shangri La dialogue was the need for proper rules to operate, for there to be that engagement and dialogue. And these issues are of concern.

I spoke there about a misadventure or miscalculation having consequences.

We need to make sure that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea applies. We need to make sure that all operations – maritime and aviation – in the region are able to operate safely.

Albanese is wishing his own political class around the globe would learn a bit more from the sports pitch:

Wherever you are in the world, sport brings people together by playing on the same field, abiding by the same rules, competing in a spirit of mutual respect.

What team sport does and shows us is the way that we want international relations to work as well – working towards that common interest with common rules with mutual respect.

And that’s why I think team sport can be a bit of a microcosm for the way that we want to see international relations operate throughout the world.

Australians underestimate how big FIFA Womens World Cup event is, PM says

Albanese is speaking to the media following that press conference in front of a soccer pitch in Hanoi where the qualifiers for the Asian Cup are taking place.

Having changed out of the formal suit he wore to the Presidential Palace, and that earlier press conference, Albanese is spruiking the FIFA Womens World Cup which Australia will be hosting this next month:

That will be a big event. I think some Australians underestimate just how big it is.

It is the third most watched event in the world, after men’s football World Cup and after the Olympic Games, and it will be a real opportunity for the Matildas led of course by the wonderful Sam Kerr, who represented Australia so well as the flagbearer at the coronation, to represent Australia with the Matildas in the World Cup, where Australia have a real shot of great success in our home finals.

I do want to wish the Young Matildas best of luck while they’re here as well.

Albanese also thanks the Australian team from Unicef who were delivering a training clinic in Hanoi as part of Australia’s development, cooperation with Vietnam, “providing opportunities for some of the young girls who are getting to train with with these great young players from the young Matildas.”

9News’ federal politics reporter is in Vietnam with the PM and reports that a little an hour after the pageantry, framed photographs of the event have been delivered to the Office of the Vietnamese Government.

Staying with the PM in Vietnam, here are some images of his visit to the Presidential Palace in Hanoi earlier today:

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Albanese ends his speech affirming Australia and Vietnam’s shared commitments for an open and stable Indo-Pacific region:

The prime minister and I discussed our shared vision of an open, stable, secure, prosperous and resilience Indo-Pacific that is respectful of national sovereignty.

Australia sees and acknowledges the centrality of Asean, and next year in March, we will host in Australia a summit for Asean leaders and I of course, invited the prime minister to fully participate in that, but in addition, I am hopeful that the prime minister will be able to have a bilateral visit and a mutually convenient time in the future.

Both Vietnam and Australia want to see a continuation of the peace and progress our countries have enjoyed in the past half century.

We are committed to working together bilaterally and in concert with Asean countries and multilateral forums to further their vision.

It is indeed, a great honor for me to be here was Prime Minister Chinh as our to let nations work ahead through the next 50 years of friendship and progress.

Albanese says a comprehensive strategic partnership between Australia and Vietnam is in the works “as soon as possible”:

All of this connection and cooperation comes together in our plans to elevate our relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and the prime minister and I discussed today, how we can do that as soon as possible. To signal the trust that we each other, as top tier partners and enduring friends.

Good news for those hoping to make their way to Vietnam soon – Vietnam Airlines and VietJet have increased direct flights to Australian capitals.

Albanese goes on:

It is impossible to imagine modern Australia without the 350,000 Vietnamese people who have made a home there.

In the spirit of helping our people stay connected, I am especially pleased to acknowledge today the announcements by Vietnam Airlines and VietJet, of increased direct flights to Australian capitals.

And in the case of the VietJet, direct flights for the first time to beautiful Brisbane in the lead up to its hosting the Olympics in 2032.

My colleague Bertin Huynh wrote really beautifully about his family’s experience coming to Australia from Vietnam in this piece, if you didn’t read it when it came out in 2021:

Albanese yesterday also opened RMIT’s Hanoi Industry and Innovation Hub. He says more Australians and Vietnamese coming together collaboratively will forge the deepest bonds between our two nations:

The mainstay of our relationship is education. It is an area to grow for our economies but it is also important to develop those people-to-people relations that are so important to develop mutual understanding and cooperation.

Yesterday, I was so pleased to open RMIT Hanoi Industry and Innovation Hub and review their plans for its exciting next phase, including its $250m investment in its new, upgraded Ho Chi Minh City campus.

At that event, I was also pleased to acknowledge 60 new scholarships from Western Sydney University in Gough Whitlam’s name. The university that ranked number one in the Global Times higher education impact rankings in just the last week.

After all, it is through our people coming together that we are unleash our best ideas and we forge our deepest bonds.

Albanese announces a new agreement between Austrack and the state bank of Vietnam was also signed today in an effort to halt international money laundering in its tracks:

It will enable financial intelligence to be shared, to interrupt money laundering and terrorism financing.

The PM also says there will be an expansion of the program which allows Australia’s national science agency to collaborate with its Vietnamese counterparts:

I am also very pleased to announce the expansion of the Aus4Innovation program, under which Australia says CSIRO will collaborate with its Vietnam counterparts to build partnerships to commercialise joint science research in areas like applied agriculture and food research.

Australia will deliver a $105m package to aid Vietnam in its clean energy transition.

Albanese announces Australia wants to work together with its neighbour in the challenges of dealing with climate change:

I am pleased to announce that Australia will be stepping up our support for Vietnam’s energy transformation, with an important package of new overseas development assistance of $105 million for supporting sustainable infrastructure planning, for stimulating private investment in clean energy infrastructure, and delivering technical assistance to develop Vietnam’s critical mineral sector.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has stepped up to announce the outcomes of his meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Minh Chinh.

He says on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our two nations, the partnership has gone “from strength to strength”.

Across our economies, in education, agriculture, security and of course, in an investment and trade. It has grown tremendously in previous years, but will grow even further in the future.

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