Australia is reinforcing links with its northern neighbours to secure fuel supplies and bolster defence ties in order to compensate for a US administration that’s increasingly preoccupied with, and potentially weakened by, the war in Iran.
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(April 10): Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his senior ministers have been hitting the phones and racking up air miles across Asia to corral key trading partners into maintaining shipments of diesel and gasoline at a time of global supply disruptions. Albanese, who is in Singapore for talks with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday, is expected to travel to Brunei next week. “We have spent four years building relationships in our region, particularly with Asean leaders,” Albanese said Thursday. “Prime Minister Wong and Singapore, the relationship that we have is a critical one, and of course Singapore is a major supplier of fuel to Australia. So, I’m looking forward to that.” Albanese’s deputy and defence minister, Richard Marles, was in Tokyo this week to discuss fallout from the Middle East conflict and regional security challenges. Meantime, Australian diplomats in Indonesia appear to have convinced Jakarta to guarantee supplies of fertiliser and its component urea that ...