Donna Demaio: Australia Correspondent on the Chinese research ship passing through Australian waters

Australian officials are closely monitoring a Chinese vessel that's passing through its waters, after completing a joint mission with Kiwi scientists off the coast of Fiordland. 

The high-tech Chinese research ship is carrying a deep-sea submersible that's capable of exploring extreme depths. 

It's following the route of Australia's deep-sea submarine cable, off the southern coast, weeks after Chinese warships carried out live drills in the Tasman Sea. 

Australian Correspondent Donna Demaio told Andrew Dickens that when asked, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says there's not much Australian can do about it. 

Albanese says they'd prefer it wasn't there, but it's able to pass through, just like Australia is able to have vessels in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
After Australia we go down at Tomato. Good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:04):
So ALBERNIZI has been responding about that Chinese research ship
which is traveling in your waters.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Yes, well, Australian agencies and now monitoring this high tech
Chinese research ship which actually also operates a deep sea
submersible vessel. Now where is it now? It's making its
way through southern Australian waters, So tracking websites and agencies
as I mentioned, have tracked the ship passing the Victorian

(00:30):
coastline recently. Now it did just complete joint surveys with
New Zealand, as we know. The Prime Minister was asked
about the ship while he was visiting Perth and his
response was he'd prefer the ship wasn't in Australian waters,
but suggests that China isn't breaking any international laws. And
he also says that, as he put it, we live
in circumstances where just as Australia has vessels in the

(00:53):
South China Sea and vessels in the Taiwan Strait, this
vessel is here. He also says he will make sure
that we represent Australian interests as he said it, and
has every confidence, and he repeated that every every confidence
in our defense force and security agencies. Now this comes
just a few weeks after China's navy conducted an unprecedented

(01:16):
circumnavigation of much of Australia.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
It's the fine out of brickmanship. Now you have a
growing diabetes epidemic.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yes, well, how many Australian adults have diabetes? New data
has been released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics Health
Measures Survey, and I think this is quite a army.
One in fifteen Australians have diabetes. Now, that is an
increase of about one point five percent compared to a
decade ago, so that makes it oh more than well,

(01:45):
I think it is about one point three million Aussies
have diabetes. Men more likely to have diabetes than women.
Adults living in the most disadvantaged areas are more likely
to have diabetes. And interestingly, I found that Diabetes Australia
Chief Executive Just King says there's actually a stigma around
even speaking about it. So some people are very uncomfortable

(02:07):
about saying that they have diabetes. Hence they're not getting
the support and the treatment that they may need. So
she's saying we need to ditch the stigma. And the
data also showed that there's a growing number of Elsie's
with high cholesterol and also vitamin deficiencies.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
And I thank you donand Tomay for more from Early
Edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live to News Talks it
Be from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.