The Australian Federal Police has this week conducted two high-profile raids on journalists who have exposed government secrets and their sources.
On Tuesday, seven AFP officers spent several hours searching News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst's Canberra home, her mobile phone and computer. The AFP linked the raid to "the alleged publishing of information classified as an official secret".
Donald Trump and Scott Morrison to meet while at G20 to discuss US-China trade war
"Trump Administration Considered Tariffs on Australia [...] Some of President Trump’s top trade advisers had urged the tariffs as a response to a surge of Australian aluminum flowing onto the American market over the past year. But officials at the Defense and State Departments told Mr. Trump the move would alienate a top ally and could come at significant cost to the United States."
By national affairs correspondent Greg Jennett in Japan
Posted earlier today at 12:52am
Photo: The world leaders met at last year's G20 in Buenos Aires, months after Scott Morrison took office. (AP: Martinez Monsivais)
Scott Morrison will today deliver a direct plea to Donald Trump to bring an end to the US President's trade war with China.
Key points:
* The PM has secured a "working dinner" with the President in Japan on the eve of the G20 Summit
* The pair are expected to discuss "the strength and candour of the Australia-US relationship"
* Mr Morrison has been blunt in assessing the damage the US-China trade war is inflicting on the world economy
In his first Summit meeting since being re-elected last month, the Prime Minister has secured a "working dinner" with Mr Trump and his most trusted advisers in Osaka, Japan, on the eve of this year's G20 talks.
Soon after landing in Osaka, Mr Morrison, his Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham and Australia's ambassador to Washington Joe Hockey will enter their meeting to stress what Mr Morrison calls the "strength and candour of the Australia-US relationship".
The US President is expected to be flanked by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, trade representative Robert Lighthizer and national security adviser John Bolton.
Mr Trump's daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump is also due to attend the talks.
"The collateral damage is spreading," he said in a speech in Sydney on Wednesday.
"The impact of any further deterioration of the relationship will not be limited to these two major powers."
In the same speech, made before leaving Australia for the G20, Mr Morrison also signalled his intention to run a foreign policy that recognised its historical ties to Washington, but not to Beijing's exclusion.
"We will play our part. We will not be passive bystanders [on helping manage China-US relations]," Mr Morrison said.
On his talks with Mr Trump in Osaka, the Prime Minister intends to follow up that message with a reminder that "Australia and the United States have different but complementary roles to play in the Indo-Pacific".
Tariffs, Iran and North Korea could be on the agenda
Securing the Trump meeting — among the President's first in a hectic three-day schedule in Japan and South Korea — is diplomatic recognition of Mr Morrison's enhanced presence on the world stage and the validating effect his May 18 re-election victory has in the eyes of others.
The Prime Minister may choose to use it to advance other arguments too, including a request that Mr Trump not back down on his decision in April last year to exempt Australia from punitive steel and aluminium tariffs designed to protect American jobs in those industries.
Australian industry has been alarmed by recent US media reports that Australia's tariff-free status could be under review by the White House.
The presence of trade representative Mr Lighthizer offers an opportunity for Mr Morrison to make his case for ongoing exemptions, which would need to be weighed against the risk of arousing Mr Trump's strong protective instincts, especially towards the metals and manufacturing industries.
Both of these security flashpoints will be features of talks between all leaders at the G20-proper, held over Friday and Saturday.
At the end of the Summit, Mr Trump will travel to South Korea, where a presidential visit to the de-militarised zone (DMZ) between South and North is widely expected as a possible precursor to another round of talks between the US leader and dictator Kim Jong-un in the future.
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