Penny Wong won’t go into the Australian efforts to secure the release of Oscar Jenkins who is being held by the Russians after he was captured while fighting for Ukraine.

On China’s efforts to build support across the south-east to counter the American tariffs, Wong says:

Wong:

I’ve said previously two things about tariffs – the tariffs that the Trump administration has put into place. The first is that we don’t agree with them. We think they are an act of economic self-harm. But the second point that has been made is obviously that this does alter American America’s relationships with countries around the world. You’ve seen that in Australia. And you are seeing that in our region. What we have to keep doing is to keep engaging and keep working at those relationships because, ultimately, Australia’s security and prosperity lie in our region.