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October 16, 2026
China's new ambassador Liu Jinsong has declared relations with Australia are on "the right track" as a senior member of Angus Taylor's leadership team issued a fresh warning over the People's Liberation Army's aggression in the South China Sea and military exercises around Taiwan.
Opposition defence spokesman James Paterson urged officials to "tell Australians the truth" about threats facing the nation, particularly those linked to artificial intelligence deployed by countries such as China.
"Our intelligence agencies have publicly assessed that (China's) cyber actors including the ... Cyberspace Force and the Ministry of State Security's cyber teams, have for years been identifying and seeking to exploit vulnerabilities in our critical networks," he will tell an audience at the Centre for Independent Studies on Friday, according to a copy of his speech. "The simple truth is that AI can identify and weaponise network vulnerabilities faster and more effectively than humans ever could. Our only defence against AI-enhanced cyber attacks is even better AI-enhanced cyber defence."
His warning followed fellow Coalition frontbencher Ted O'Brien calling for a deal with the US on AI to be Australia's first priority in the face of emerging risks, arguing such an agreement was not "anti-China" but simply in the national interest.
However, the Opposition Leader sought to assure a Chinafocused business lobby on Thursday that the Coalition was equally aware of the importance of the economic relationship with Beijing, noting the majority of wool at his family's farm in southern NSW was "bought by China".
He added that his experience working with New Zealand's dairy industry and, later, with Australian iron ore companies made him highly tuned to China's heft as a market. "It is absolutely embedded in my DNA that this economic relationship is important," Mr Taylor said in an address to the Australian China Business Council at Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday.
Despite ongoing debate in Australia over how to manage security threats posed by Beijing while continuing to reap economic dividends came as China's ambassador to Australia credited his leader and Anthony Albanese for the improvement in diplomatic relationship.
In his first major address since arriving in Australia in late August, Xi Jinping's envoy said "relations have returned to the right track of stable and sound development".
The ambassador's comments were made weeks before Mr Albanese makes his third trip to China as Prime Minister to attend the APEC leaders' meeting in Shenzhen, which will be hosted by Mr Xi.
The Australian government and the diplomatic community in Canberra have been closely parsing the Chinese diplomat's public comments for clues on Beijing's approach to Australia. Speaking at the business council event, Mr Liu struck an optimistic tone.
However, he acknowledged disagreements. "China and Australia differ in national conditions, systems and stages of development. It's perfectly normal to have differences," he said.
The ambassador also alluded to Beijing's concerns with the Prime Minister's election commitment to end the ownership of the Port of Darwin by Chinese company Landbridge, which looms as a test to the Albanese government's "stabilisation" policy. "China is concerned with the interests of Chinese companies in Australia, particularly the need for Australian policies and laws to provide transparency, predictability, stability and non-discrimina tion," Mr Liu said. "These concerns must be addressed on an equal, balanced and amicable basis."
Graham Fletcher, Australia's former ambassador to China, said he thought the relationship was in a "sustainable" position despite it being vulnerable to "buffeting from geopolitics". "The relationship has stabilised and I don't think it's going to go backwards again any time soon," said Mr Fletcher, who is now a senior fellow at the Lowy Institute. "Australia ... has got a better handle of dealing with China sensibly than any other developed country."
Foreign Minister Penny Wong had been scheduled to speak at the Australian China Business Council's "networking day", but was replaced by assistant minister Matt Thistlethwaite. Mr Thistlethwaite did not mention China's recent ballistic missile test in the Pacific or any other points of tension, but he did note the increasing number of Australians owning Chinese EVs, "including the Trade Minister, who drives around in a BYD Shark". Trade Minister Don Farrell continued the upbeat message, noting that China was Australia's biggest trading and economic partner. "No other country is close," he said.
Senator Farrell who was recently in Shanghai where he met his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao for the 14th time said while the Albanese government continued to "diversify" trade, it also sought to "capitalise" on established markets, such as China.
He acknowledged "there are areas in our relationship where our views differ". "And in these areas, as in all areas, I assure you that the government will continue to prosecute Australia's interests," he said. Nationals leader Matt Canavan continued the charm offensive from the Coalition, which suffered a swing against it from a significant portion of Chinese-Australian voters at the last two federal elections.
He began with a story about being allowed to smoke inside a restaurant in Chongqing, a metropolis in China's southwest. "Who would have thought that I had to come to a communist country to feel free," he said.
The Nationals leader a trained economist said he was "proud" of Australia's "small role" in fuelling China's development, which he called "the greatest economic revolution in world history". He spoke more frankly than any of the other political figures about the breakdown in the relationship during the Morrison and Turnbull governments. "Things got a bit cloudy," he said.
"I tried to go to China twice [as resources minister] but was denied ... The relationship was a bit rocky when we were making decisions that were, I think, in our national interest. I think we're past that.
"We have to, as a country, be able to decide who will build our 5G network. What the laws are around political interference in this country. Things are in the rear view mirror now, so we have to move forward."
China's new ambassador made headlines on arrival in August when the embassy revealed he had travelled from Sydney airport to Canberra by bus. On Thursday, he revealed what type of bus, rebutting speculation that it may have been a specially chartered vehicle. "It was a Murrays coach," he said, holding up a plastic model of a bus.
He noted that the hybrid bus contained a number of Chinese components, but lamented the slow speed of the trip.
"Three hours, my god!" He said a similar length trip in China would take less than 30 minutes by fast train.