Daniel Flitton

Old trees and ageing farmers worsen outlook for top palm oil exporters Malaysian farmer Suratmen Mosman faces a dilemma that threatens to sap supply from the world's top palm oil exporters and drive up prices of the vegetable oil essential to billions of consumers worldwide in the next five years.

Good look at what is often a vexed debate about this industry. www.reuters.com/business/env...

Timor-Leste and navigating the ASEAN Way Upset from the generals in Naypyidaw is a further test of Dili’s mastery of regional diplomatic choreography.

“The regional game is subtle and layered. Timor-Leste will continue to deal with Myanmar, even more intensively and extensively, especially when it acquires full membership,” writes Flávio Simões in The Interpreter.
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/timor-leste-navigating-asean-way

This won’t go down well in Delhi. There is meant to be a Quad summit soon…

You should do this. (bottom of the page) www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpre...

The AUKUS stress test: Alliance pressures and Australia's strategic choices An Interpreter special series examining defence ties with the Trump White House and the nuclear-powered subs deal. (Getty Images Plus)

A storm has gathered around AUKUS in recent weeks - excellent media reporting revealing debates about the project and wider defence concerns. Here, I've gathered a @LowyInstitute thread with a range of perspectives on what it all means for Australia. www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpre...

US demands to know what allies would do in event of war over Taiwan Trump administration says it is trying to prevent war but raises eyebrows by calling for commitments from Australia and Japan

Should we expect the “don’t deal in hypothetical” response to journalist questions to get a work out - or will the Peter Dutton “inconceivable Australia will not join” answer be offered? www.ft.com/content/41e2...

Made a mistake here - missed Keith Pitt, sent to the Vatican in Feb. So 4 is the number, and not quite as long between. Still fewer than the previous govt.

Penny Wong makes her first political appointment to a diplomatic job in two-and-a-half years, sending former Labor MP Stephen Jones to be Australia's ambassador to OECD. The number of pollies at post is now 3, considerably lower than previous government. www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/pen...

Why Albanese is echoing Curtin’s call to America A wartime declaration was as much about the confidence to see the world through Australian eyes.

A luxury in my job to spot Anthony Albanese giving a weekend speech about Australia's wartime prime minister and have the foremost biographer of John Curtin write a quick comment for Interpreter offering essential context. Many thanks, John Edwards. www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpre...

Australian survivor of London 7/7 attacks marks 20-year anniversary with 'performance of a lifetime' After Gill Hicks was rescued from the wreckage of a tube train following London's 7/7 terrorist attacks in 2005, she was so severely injured her hospital identification wristband read, "One unknown — ...

Extraordinary resilience www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...

Meeting Xi before Trump? Why Albanese’s diplomatic calendar matters With pressure mounting at home over a Trump meeting and a forthcoming Beijing trip raising questions about alliance priorities, the PM must show relations run both ways.

We’re hostage to a handshake. The PMs first meeting with Trump already shaped as awkward - now delayed, opposition is grilling him for plans to see Xi first. Frustratingly for the govt the same questions will persist - “When is the meeting?” 📅 New from me www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpre...

Thai court suspends PM from duty pending case seeking her dismissal Thailand's Constitutional Court suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from duty pending a case seeking her dismissal, adding to mounting pressure on a government fighting for survival and under fire on multiple fronts.

Matters - Thai PM suspended www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

What if Australia ditched the "Dollar" for something uniquely ours?💸Today, as Donald Trump warns against challenges to the greenback's dominance and crypto reshapes money itself, could Australia make a statement by revisiting our currency's name? From me. www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpre...

Humpbacks are an Australian success story. They have two advantages that most whales don’t It’s peak hour on the humpback highway off the east coast of Australia – yet other whale species aren’t doing nearly as well.

Some good news, sorta. www.theage.com.au/environment/...

The red screen! I’d not seen that one.

Loved a chance to plug Interpreter authors in the latest @lowyinstitute.bsky.social podcast alongside Sam Roggeveen. We talk Russia’s show trial of Australian Oscar Jenkins, US troops in Korea switch focus from Pyongyang to Beijing, China, Taiwan, CPTPP, and more. open.spotify.com/episode/68eV...

Pete Hegseth’s impossible mission to reassure Asian allies at Shangri-La Whatever the Defence Secretary might say, it’s the actions of his boss that catch most attention.

A primer ahead of Shangri-La Dialogue this weekend, my counterpart William Choong from The Fulcrum writes for @lowyinstitute.bsky.social on the twin voices from America - who’s talking, and who is being listened to. www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpre...

China to host Pacific foreign ministers for first in-person summit in Xiamen Foreign ministers or reps from 11 islands that have diplomatic relations with Beijing will meet in Fujian province for the third China-Pacific Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

Watching brief. www.rnz.co.nz/internationa...

China shifts from developing world's banker to debt collector, says Lowy Institute The world's poorest countries are due to make record debt repayments to China in 2025 on loans extended a decade earlier at the peak of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, a report by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute think tank said on Monday.

China shifts from developing world's banker to debt collector, says Lowy Institute - Riley Duke has the numbers. www.reuters.com/world/china/...

The unprecedented scale of India's Maha Kumbh festival How millions amassed at the world's largest gathering

By the time you reach the size of Australia's population in this Reuters visualisation of the number of people at India’s Maha Kumbh festival - well, just wow. The scale is incredible. www.reuters.com/graphics/IND...

What an admission of failure says about North Korea's nuclear ambitions Kim Jong Un's public condemnation of the bungled warship launch was a rare admission of failure from inside North Korea, but experts say it says a lot about its bigger plans.

"unscientific empiricism" - not a phrase I've come across before. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05...

Had you played for Nirvana before though?

Koizumi, Japan’s New Agriculture Minister, Faces Soaring Rice Prices and Possible Surge in Imports from U.S. <p>Newly appointed agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi faces critical challenges, including addressing the rising price of rice and a possible increase in agricultural imports from the United States...

Koizumi gets the tough gig as Japan's Agriculture Minister in the midst of a rice price spike, after the former minister was forced to resign over comments that he never has to pay for rice. Could be the making or breaking for a scion of Japanese politics. japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/pol...

Is the Indonesia-Australia relationship still underdone? A fascinating comparative analysis by Greg Earl, contrasting Anthony Albanese's measured approach with the bold declarations of his Labor predecessor Paul Keating. www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpre...

Second China visit for Albanese as Xi seeks closer Australia ties The trip follows a warm letter of congratulations from China's leader following Anthony Albanese's election win.

A second China trip for Albanese. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05...

With riots since last year, tensions in New Caledonia are yet to be settled. But at least the parties are talking. Denise Fisher urges Australia not to lose sight of the region's most delicate flashpoint, via @lowyinstitute.bsky.social. www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpre...

You should do a little review essay with a few of these.

This was a fantastic read!

Good to hear!

I spy ISI, “Pakistan’s famous brand” as Abhijnan Rej observes in this fascinating read. Draws out the little known story of the Australian spymaster behind the scenes from the outset. Pleased to feature this perspective on Lowy Institute. www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpre...