Australia is a stable, democratic and culturally diverse nation with a highly skilled workforce and one of the strongest performing economies in the world.
The Government has made a $35 million commitment to continue the successful policing partnership between the Australian Federal Police and the Polícia Nacional de Timor-Leste (PNTL).
Minister for International Development and the Pacific, the Hon Pat Conroy MP will travel to Timor-Leste and Nauru to further strengthen our deep and longstanding partnerships with two of our closest partners.
This week the Government launched the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme family accompaniment pilot. This will offer 200 PALM scheme workers the opportunity to bring their family members to Australia.
Assistant Minister for Trade, Senator the Hon Tim Ayres will travel to Indonesia to reinforce our commitment to strengthening trade and investment with one of our closest neighbours.
Today we announce the appointment of Mr James Baxter as Australia's next Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva.
Australia has imposed further counter-terrorism financing sanctions on 12 persons and three entities linked to Hamas, Hizballah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.