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The prime minister has been asked if Australia has any plans to join the EU, after the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, welcomed the offer of Canada becoming the EU’s first associate member.
Anthony Albanese says “we’re a long way from Europe, of course”, but after it is pointed out that Canada is too, he says:
Our relations, of course, are also in areas that Canada doesn’t have. So Asean, for example, and the centrality of Asean in our region is important. The Pacific Island Forum, where I was just a couple of weeks ago, is very important as well. Our priority when it comes to Europe and our engagement with the EU is, of course, Australia-EU free trade agreement.
It was never going to be perfect, but in the legislation that we passed just in the last sitting fortnight, I can tell you … that already the eSafety Commissioner has used that strengthening of the laws to require some of the social media organisations to provide information to it, so they’ve already been compelled.
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