PM doesn’t rule out taking US to World Trade Organization
Asked if he would take the US to the World Trade Organization, Albanese did not rule it out – but said he didn’t want to preempt the US’s decision on tariffs:
We’ve seen some level of unpredictability in the decision making process in the United States. We’ll await that decision, and then we’ll have a calm, considered calibrated response, which is in Australia’s national interest.
Key events
Sarah Basford Canales
Pocock critical of Dutton’s ‘tough guy’ act on Canberra
David Pocock jokingly suggested Peter Dutton is a “tough guy” for targeting Canberra-based public servants who can’t legally defend themselves.
In a Sky News interview this afternoon, the independent ACT senator was referring to rules around neutrality that apply to the more than 200,000 federal public servants around the country. Those rules say it’s “not appropriate” for bureaucrats to make public comments, even in an unofficial capacity, that could be seen as impartial or “harsh or extreme” against a particular political party or politician.
Pocock told Sky News:
Public servants are real people, and what a tough guy to pick on a group of people who are actually legally obliged not to say anything … so you’re punching down on people and saying 41,000 Canberra public servants, that’s 60% of the public service in Canberra – so either he’s going to put the ACT straight into recession, or he’s cutting public servants from Geelong, Toowoomba, Townsville, all the places where public servants are actually serving their community.
The senator also said Dutton should stop “punching down” on Canberra by attacking the public service, which makes up between a quarter and a third of the working population.
We have a whole bunch of Fifo [fly-in, fly-out but Pocock is referring to federal politicians here] workers that fly in every now and then, make decisions, get back to the electorates and blame Canberra for things.
Queensland premier rejects UN criticism over human rights
Andrew Messenger
Queensland’s premier, David Crisafulli, has condemned the United Nations over its criticism of his government’s human rights record. He pointed to “commentary overnight from the United Nations” about its youth justice legislation, and said:
I say to the United Nations, with the greatest of respect, this place will govern its laws. This place will determine how we keep Queenslanders safe, and this place will be accountable to Queenslanders, not United Nations boffins.
That’s what will happen in this place. And when I talk of human rights, I talk about the rights of someone to put their child to bed at night and know they’re safe. When I talk about human rights, I talk about the right of someone to go in the morning and get in a car and go and earn a living. And when I talk of human rights, I talk about the ability for young offenders to turn their life around.
They are the human rights we’re focused on on this side of the house. We stand up for Queenslanders, not unelected officials a long way from this place.
It’s not entirely clear what commentary from the UN the premier was referring to, but many human rights groups – including the state’s human rights commissioner – have criticised various youth justice policies of his government.
Crisafulli introduced a second round of so-called “adult crime, adult time” laws yesterday which are contrary to the state human rights act.
Victorian premier hails hate law revamp as toughest in the nation
Without the Coalition’s backing, Victoria’s Labor government has struck a deal with the Greens to amend and pass its anti-vilification and social cohesion bill through the upper house.
As AAP reports, under the changes a requirement has been retained for police to obtain the director of public prosecutions’ consent to charge people. Decision-makers must consider the social, historical and cultural context of parties in criminal cases.
An expanded religious exception was also narrowed to protect LGBTQI and other marginalised groups, the Greens said.
The amended bill passed the lower house this afternoon, with the Liberals and Nationals voting against it.
It extends vilification protections for race and religion to the characteristics of disability, gender identity, sex and sexual orientation, and creates new criminal offences making it easier to prove serious vilification in public, private or online.
Premier Jacinta Allan said the laws mean every person in the state would be “free from hate” regardless of who they were, prayed to or loved.
This is the strongest framework of any jurisdiction in this nation.
Benita Kolovos
Reaction to Labor pledge to save Victorian childcare centre
Sam Vale, the director of the centre, welcomed the commitment:
This announcement is so important because WCCC is one of the last remaining community-run, not-for-profit services in a suburb dominated by for-profit providers. Its survival means keeping public land for education, protecting high quality early learning and a place that families rely on for care, connection and support.
Parent Romi Goldschlager said it gave her hope her child will continue to attend the centre:
A home away from home, where we feel safe leaving her each day so we can go to work, knowing she’s deeply cared for, supported, and thriving.
Benita Kolovos
Federal Labor intervention to save Victorian childcare centre
Josh Burns, the federal MP for the inner Melbourne seat of Macnamara, has promised if Labor is re-elected to provide $4.3m to help save a local childcare centre from being sold off.
Burns was joined by the minister for social services, Amanda Rishworth, to announce the funding commitment to ensure the future of Windsor community children’s centre.
Under the plan, the federal government would provide a grant to the City of Stonnington which would also put in $4m to attempt to buy the land from its owners, Swinburne University.
As we reported earlier this year, the centre was given notice by Swinburne University to vacate the Union Street site it has occupied since 1997 by the end of 2025.
Swinburne said it was obliged to sell the land because it is no longer operating in the area, having closed its Prahran campus, and had offered it to the state, federal and local governments. It had been given the land by the state government in 2013.
Burns denied the federal government was bailing out the state government by stumping up the cash for the centre. He said:
There’s been an extraordinary amount of work. I’ve personally spoken to Swinburne on a number of occasions and they understand the importance of this community. They understand the importance of having really high quality early education centres. I hope those negotiations can happen in good faith, and I feel confident that they will. So we’ll let that play out, and we’ll see what happens in the election.
Chalmers says Coalition ‘lying’ by saying it won’t cut frontline services
Moving topics, Jim Chalmers was asked about the Coalition’s plan to cut 41,000 public sector jobs and accused them of “lying about not touching frontline services”:
You can’t cut 41,000 jobs without touching frontline services.
He took aim at the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, for not “coming clean” on where the cuts would be during his National Press Club speech today.
He was either unable or unwilling to do that … After an hour on his feet at the National Press Club the only thing that is clear is Labor is going to the election with an agenda for higher wages and lower taxes, the Coalition is going with an agenda for lower wages and higher taxes.
Chalmers says he doesn’t want to pre-empt government’s response to tariffs
Jim Chalmers was also asked whether Australia should take the US to the World Trade Organization if they do impose more tariffs tomorrow, and gave a similar response to that of the PM earlier.
The treasurer said:
We have said on earlier occasions that we believe in calling for resilience rather than retaliation, but I don’t want to pre-empt the government’s response beyond that …
How would Australia respond if further tariffs are imposed by the US?
Jim Chalmers was asked about the prospect of further tariffs from the US tomorrow morning, and how Australia would respond – maybe “an angry phone call to Donald Trump?”
The treasurer said if Australia is impacted, the nation would “not be uniquely impacted” – as was the same with the steel and aluminium tariffs.
It is something that has been applied and imposed on the rest of the world, we think in self-defeating ways. Our job is to make sure that in the face of these escalating trade tensions and all of this global economic uncertainty, that we make our economy even more resilient …
He said standing up for Medicare, the PBS and strong biosecurity arrangements would be the government’s priorities “whatever the decision announced out of DC in the next 12 to 24 hours looks like.”
Asked why Australia doesn’t know yet whether it will be impacted, Chalmers said all countries were in the same boat:
I think every country in the world is hanging on [for] the decision that will be announced out of DC before long. I think everybody recognises that at the end of the day, it is a decision for President Trump to make.
Chalmers continues to criticise Dutton for ‘taking cues from the US’ and being ‘very Doge’
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is also up on ABC Afternoon Briefing this afternoon – where he stood by his comments that Peter Dutton was being “very Doge”.
(He is referencing Elon Musk’s so-called department of government efficiency).
Chalmers said it was “self evident” that Dutton “takes his cues and instructions and policies from the United States”:
It is very Doge, what he’s been saying about cuts to health and education, cracking down on work from home, all of these policies are more or less straight from the Doge playbook so I think we are well within our rights to point [that] out. b
Because every time Peter Dutton proposes a policy which is straight from the US, it is a policy that would make Australians worse off.
Chalmers said he doesn’t want to see the “Americanisation” of Australia’s healthcare system or the “strengths” of the PBS “traded away”.
These are all of the non-negotiable … I think it has become really clear – not just in recent days, but in recent months, if not years – that a lot of what [Dutton’s] talking about is about importing American policies to Australia and that would make Australians worse off as a consequence.
UK high commissioner to Australia ‘confident’ US, UK and Australia’s shared principles will sustain through Trump administration
The UK’s high commissioner to Australia, Vicki Treadell, was also on ABC Afternoon Briefing this afternoon, where the issue of the Aukus alliance was raised.
Asked if Australia and the UK “need to go back to the drawing board” or if the long-term abiding principles between the US, UK and Australia will be sustained through the Donald Trump administration, she answered:
We have absolute confidence in will be sustained … The strategic importance, what we do share, on balance matters far more than where we may have momentary differences.
Any relationship needs to adapt and evolve and have currency and relevance. It is incumbent on all of us to rehearse and refresh that contemporary relevance. Where you started from and what appears to be a more contested world where there are increasing challenges, this relationship, these relationships, matter all the more.
