News extract from ABC The Federal Opposition has welcomed what it says is a "major U-turn" in government policy, with the Foreign Minister ready to sign ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations had indicated the only way Australia can obtain an invitation to the inaugural East Asia summit being held in Malaysia later this year is to ratify the document. The Foreign Minister is now expected to do that during a meeting with ASEAN leaders in Laos next week. Labor's Foreign Affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd says the reversal is the one of the "worst cases" of foreign policy mismanagement of Australia's relationships in Asia that he has seen. The mind change has been double-checked approved, ratified and blessed by the White House in Washington.