Wong off to Washington

Foreign minister Penny Wong is off to Washington in order to chat with her Quad counterparts.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong is the latest Albanese Government minister to go to break bread with her counterparts in the same portfolio overseas.

She will attend the Quad Meeting of Foreign Ministers in Washington DC with a media statement issued early this morning.

“This will be the second Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting within six months, reflecting the importance of our partnership and the strategic circumstances confronting our region and the world,” Wong said. “I look forward to engaging with my Quad counterparts as we strengthen cooperation to ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.”

She’s not merely going to chat with them all at once. Bilaterial chatter is also on the agenda.

“While in Washington DC, I will also meet separately with each of my counterparts, Secretary of State Rubio, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and Foreign Minister Iwaya, to progress bilateral cooperation,” she said.

“The United States is our closest ally and principal strategic partner. Our alliance contributes to the peace, prosperity and stability of our countries and the region we share.”

Whispers in the wind

There is a fair amount of talk going on around the backrooms of Canberra and elsewhere about the composition of committees with a new parliament to be convened towards the end of July.

One of the challenges for the government will be who to place in certain committee roles given the elevation of some Senators and Members of Parliament to ministerial roles.

One example of this is the inclusion of Jess Walsh in the Ablanese ministry. Walsh chaired the economics committee in the Senate but her elevation to the ministry means that the role of chair is vacant.

There are also mutterings in corridors about what homework the committees should set themselves with ideas being thrown around, but none of that is possible without have the final committee compositions in place.

Getting perspective

There is some disturbing noise kicking around on social media about the way in which the Prime Minister has cut back the numbers of staff for opposition and cross benchers.

I understand from contacts about the place that some folks think cutting back personal policy staff for shadow ministers is justified.

Anybody that thinks that way needs to reflect deeply on the state of democracy if an opposition or cross bench is starved of resources.

Keeping government accountable is a necessary task and depriving cross benchers and others of staff means that there will not be as much hard work done on policy or keeping the government accountable.