Australia is reinforcing links with its northern neighbors to secure fuel supplies and bolster defense ties in order to compensate for a US administration that’s increasingly preoccupied with, and potentially weakened by, the war in Iran.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his senior ministers have been hitting the phones and racking up air miles across Asia to corral key trading partners into maintaining shipments of diesel and gasoline at a time of global supply disruptions. Albanese, who is in Singapore for talks with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday, is expected to travel to Brunei next week.