Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo is on an official visit to Australia, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong welcoming Feleti to Adelaide. Feleti will also visit Brisbane and Tamworth and meet with Prime Minister Albanese and senior members of the government and the opposition. In a post to X, Wong said the pair will discuss the “ Falepili Union , our joint initiative to safeguard our collective peace, security and sovereignty”.
The Falepili Union is a landmark deal signed by Australia and Tuvalu that gives Australia effective veto power over possible security pacts with China, and provides a special visa pathway for the Pacific nation’s residents to escape the threat of climate change. There had been concerns for the future of the deal ahead of Tuvalu’s elections this year, given former PM Kausea Natano had been central to the signing of the union in November last year, but Feleti assured Australia he would stick with the security pact. In a press conference this morning, NSW Premier Chris Minns spoke about his decision to ban retail trading on Anzac Day, a move driven by the “creeping commercialisation” of April 25.
“I know that there will be some disruption and a bit of inconvenience for some members of the community but frankly, it is a small price to pay for ensuring that we place Anzac Day where it should be,” Minns said. Watch the clip of Minns comments here: Australia has some of the worst real wage growth of the OECD’s 38 member nations, lagging behind t.