Anthony Albanese’s recent response to China at the Pacific Island Forum revealed two things.

One, he knows how to screw nice, diplomatically, when he needs to.

“The ‌Pacific Islands Forum determines what happens here, not any other country,” he said.

“This is primarily a gathering of the Pacific family … and I look forward to the engagement.”

China wasn’t named of course – it rarely is. But in diplomatic terms, Albanese was telling Australia’s most important trading partner, and constant strategic burr in its side, to back off.

China has made it clear it isn’t happy with Taiwan being included in the forum as its own nation, and has warned of consequences. In the Pacific, that matters. And when it comes to China, Albanese – who has made the mantra “agree where we can, disagree where we must” the nation’s diplomatic personality – has no qualms with pushing back.

Which comes to the second revelation – it’s a choice not to apply this attitude to other areas where it’s needed. That includes the United States and, domestically, One Nation.

Others have written on how Australia is failing to meet the moment with the US much more eloquently (for those interested in more on that, the recent conversation between Bogan Intelligentsia founder Joel Jenkins and Un-Diplomatic host Van Jackson is very much worth a listen).

On the day Labor lost a “safe” state seat to One Nation,........

© The New Daily