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Taiwan has offered a message of thanks to Australia in the wake of Peter Dutton’s stern warning to China not to invade the small island nation or risk destabilising the entire region. Taiwan has also asked for closer relations with Canberra in an attempt to strengthen ties. In an interview with The Australian, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said he was thankful for the Australian government’s escalating concerns and said the comments were helping to de-escalate conflict in the region. He told the newspaper that while his country was capable of defending itself, Australia’s support for Taiwan was helping to preserve...

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has warned that all Australian major cities are within range of Chinese missiles and claims the conquest of Taiwan will be the first domino to fall in a campaign by Beijing to dominate the Indo-Pacific region. In the most aggressive anti-China speech by an Australian minister in decades, Mr Dutton said on Friday the world could not repeat the mistakes of the 1930s when Western powers ignored the rapid militarisation of Japan and Germany.

MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia’s defense minister on Wednesday won a defamation case over a six-word tweet that called him a “rape apologist.” Critics and experts said the court case exemplified the conservative government’s heavy-handed approach toward regulating damaging commentary on social media — what Prime Minister Scott Morrison called “a coward’s palace.” The case also represented a troubling shift as politicians bring more lawsuits against ordinary citizens, they said. The dispute began when Shane Bazzi, an advocate for refugees who has 13,000 Twitter followers, wrote a Twitter post in February about Peter Dutton, then the country’s home affairs minister and...

Australia has been warned of a heavy attack if it helps the United States defend Taiwan from China. It follows comments by Defence Minister Peter Dutton, that implied Australia would support America. Hu Xijin, the Editor-in-Chief of China’s state-run Global Times newspaper, tweeted the threat.

Here's what you need to know: * The PM has abandoned the emissions reduction target section of his National Energy Guarantee * Cabinet ministers have openly admitted this morning they were facing an outbreak of disunity within the party over energy * It's been suggested the Coalition's Longman by-election loss sparked a push for Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to challenge Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's leadership * The PM says Mr Dutton has given him "his absolute support" and Cabinet ministers maintain Mr Turnbull has the confidence of the party

Police in Melbourne have been slammed for making no arrests after residents of the city’s north-west suburbs were terrorised by gangs of African youths who bragged “police can’t touch us” and branded frightened families “racist”. Despite its sending dozens of armed officers in riot gear to Taylors Hill as more than 100 teenagers gathered “for war”, and telling residents to “stay inside and lock their doors” as rival gangs ran amok, police claimed there had been “no threat to community safety”. According to The Age, there was a heavy police presence at the scene for several hours, including cavalry officers...

South Africa has criticized Australian home affairs minister Peter Dutton’s offer to fast-track the visas of its white African farmers, saying his comments on the supposed threat to their lives and land were “sad” and “regrettable”. A spokesperson for international relations minister Lindiwe Sisulu, said: “There is no need to fear … we want to say to the world that we are engaged in a process of land redistribution which is very important to address the imbalances of the past. But it is going to be done legally, and with due consideration of the economic impact and impact on individuals.”

An Australian teenager who travelled to Syria has had his passport cancelled by the government, according to his lawyer. Oliver Bridgeman, from Toowoomba in Queensland, was reported missing by his parents in March 2015 after they thought he was spending time in Bali. Instead, the teenager journeyed on to war-torn Syria where his lawyer said he had been engaged in humanitarian work... Immigration Minister Peter Dutton defended the government's decision, telling ABC News those who travel to Syria put Australia's military staff and personnel at risk... The government has the power to cancel an Australian passport when a person "might...