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Albanese says ‘unwarranted’ tariffs announced by US on Australia came without warning
Anthony Albanese says new tariffs from the US on Australian goods announced yesterday are “unwarranted” and that the government has made its position on tariffs clear.
Speaking to the ABC’s AM program, he says no notice was given and that Australia has “robust, comprehensive and world-leading legislation addressing forced labour and modern slavery”.
Albanese says Australia hasn’t been singled out in this latest round – 54 countries have been included on the US’s list.
It seems there is an ideological disagreement where the United States administration has broken with what was decades-long understanding that tariffs are not positive for the country that is imposing them, that they increase the costs of goods and services in the country that is applying them to its consumers, and that free trade is in the interest of the global economy.
We continue to use every opportunity that we have to advocate that US tariffs imposed in Australia are unwarranted.
Key events
Minister defends controversial aged care assessment tool after review ordered
The government has been in hot water over an aged care assessment tool that determines financial support for elderly Australians and has no human override.
The aged care minister, Sam Rae, has continued to defend the process, and said the tool assesses data that is provided by a human who has done an assessment with an elderly person, and then a second human reviews the decision made by that automated algorithm (but critically, that second person can’t change the outcome).
In April, the health department revealed that it had received 834 requests for a review of tool’s assessments since it launched in November.
On RN Breakfast earlier this morning Rae said:
So the human being does the assessment, they’re a highly trained assessor. After that happens, the data goes into the integrated assessment tool. There’s then a second human being, that’s the assessor delegate, who then reviews the data against the notes that have been taken through the assessment process, makes sure that the input data is right.
Host Sally Sara asks him several times to confirm that the second person can’t override the outcome, but Rae won’t say the words.
She asks what the financial benefit has been of making a key part of this process automated. He replies:
This has not been based on any financial savings. This is based on getting the best outcomes … This is getting much better outcomes than the old system. We’re getting fairer outcomes for older people.
Yesterday the government said it had decided to review the integrated assessment tool.
Henry VIII powers on tax bill a ‘secret back door’, say Greens
You say godlike powers, I say Henry VIII powers, either way, the Greens and the Coalition have a problem with the discretionary powers that would allow the treasurer to make rule changes to CGT and negative gearing after the legislation passes.
As we’ve heard many times from the government now, they say it’s all standard practice, but the Greens are sceptical.
Greens senator David Shoebridge says the legislation needs “a really bloody close look”, as the party considers its position.
The term politically is Henry VIII powers, the ability to rewrite laws that have been passed by parliament … That didn’t go well for parliament at the time.
I can’t see how the government can say, well look these laws are really important, we’ve got to pass all these laws, but we want a sort of secret back door to write them off whenever we want, that’s what this bit of legislation says.
Patrick Commins
More than 50,000 permanent residents accessed 5% first home buyer deposit scheme
About 51,000 permanent residents have benefited from the government’s 5% first home buyer guarantee scheme, Housing Australia officials revealed at a Senate estimates hearing last night.
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has said he would restrict the program to citizens.
The 5% deposit scheme has been hugely popular with buyers struggling to build a deposit to get into our overpriced property market. Cotality has estimated it takes a typical couple 12 years to save a standard 20% home deposit.
The scheme allows eligible first home buyers to buy with 5%, and in some cases 2%, with taxpayers acting as the guarantor for the remaining 15-18%.
Housing Australia officials said there have been more than 310,000 first-home guarantees since the scheme was launched under the former Coalition government in 2019. A more expanded scheme under Labor has turbocharged demand, with 251,000 of those guarantees since 2022.
Experts say the popularity of the scheme has added to price pressures in entry-level properties.
Josh Taylor
Meta criticises news media bargaining incentive as ‘poorly designed’ and ‘grossly unfair’
Meta has said the federal government’s proposed news media bargaining incentive as a “discriminatory tax” that is “poorly designed” and “grossly unfair”.
The incentive is designed to force Meta, Google and TikTok to make commercial deals with Australian media outlets or they will be forced to pay a dedicated 2.25% levy on local revenues.
Meta published its formal submission to the draft legislation on Thursday morning, and said it would insulate publishers from competitive pressures by guaranteeing revenue. The company again argued that news organisations share their content on Meta platforms for free because they get commercial benefits.
Meta said the news bargaining incentive is:
A discriminatory, retroactive tax targeting a handful of foreign companies while competitors offering comparable services face no equivalent obligation.
Meta claimed it “plainly violates” the US and Australia free trade agreement.
The company said it wasn’t a plan to save journalism but “a tax on innovation dressed up as media policy” and Meta said it is “vehemently opposed” to the legislation.
Meta said most people now come to its platforms for “creator-driven video content” and it’s not the role of digital platforms to pay to rescue public interest journalism.
Hockey endorses plan for three used submarines
Hockey, who last month at the national press club said he had some concerns around Australia receiving three Virginia class submarines, says that the change to buying three second-hand, instead of two used and one new, has allayed some of his fears.
He says that the deal has played out almost exactly as he had predicted under the Trump administration (remembering that the Aukus deal was originally signed under the Democratic Biden administration).
I was repeatedly asked about how Donald Trump would react to the Aukus deal. And I said at the time, he’ll confirm the deal, but say don’t give him the new ones. Now, that’s played out exactly as I predicted. And look, from a military perspective, I think it works well that we have a single platform.
Hockey adds that whether new or used, the Virginia class submarines are “a massive improvement on the Collins class subs”.
Joe Hockey says he’s ‘argued personally’ with Trump over tariffs
There were no surprises for Joe Hockey, the former Liberal treasurer and ambassador to the United States, when the Trump administration yesterday slapped on a new round of tariffs on 54 nations including Australia.
Speaking to the ABC’s RN Breakfast this morning, Hockey said he’d argued personally with Trump over tariffs, but the US president is “not for moving”.
Hockey would know, having served as ambassador from 2016 to 2020, during the first Trump administration.
He says that the US is “running out of money and they need to get it from somewhere”, and Trump believes that somewhere is foreigners paying tariffs (but in fact its American consumers that get hit with the higher prices).
The president of the United States is absolutely convinced that tariffs are great. I’ve argued personally with him on the issue, and he’s just not for moving. He just can’t see the inflationary impact and the negative impact on American consumers. And it just goes to show how the world’s on its head when a leftwing Labour prime minister is trying to convince a rightwing Republican president that free trade is actually the right way to go.
‘We’ll fight against these rotten tariffs’: Angus Taylor
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has also joined the fight against the Trump administration’s latest round of tariffs announced yesterday.
He’s doing a doorstop in Canberra, and says the US shouldn’t put tariffs on a friend like Australia, and promises to fight against them.
Not being in government might mean it’s a little tricky for the opposition leader to engage in diplomatic battle against the administration, but at least it’s a bipartisan stance.
Taylor says:
They’re a great friend, and they shouldn’t do it to a friend. We’ve fought with them in every war, every major war. They shouldn’t be imposing tariffs. It’s not what we want to see, and we’ll fight against these rotten tariffs.
‘Nothing good faith’ about tax negotiations, says Paterson
Liberal frontbencher James Paterson has slammed “godlike” discretionary powers in the government’s tax legislation and said the treasurer can’t be trusted to make changes to the reforms once they’ve passed.
Jim Chalmers earlier called the characterisation of the powers being godlike as a “beat-up” and said it was standard practice for several tranches of legislation to make and then refine the rules.
Speaking to Sky News, Paterson says it’s not standard practice when “fundamental questions still can’t be answered about how [the rules are] going to apply”.
[There’s] certainly nothing good faith about the way in which the government has gone about this. As the prime minister admitted himself, he lied to the Australian people on 50 occasions about CGT, negative gearing and trusts.
So, these are not people to trust with godlike powers to make changes at the stroke of a pen after legislation has passed. They should actually get the legislation right.
Tariffs unwarranted and unjustified, says Chalmers
Chalmers also gives a strong rebuke of the Trump administration’s 12.5% tariffs for countries allegedly importing goods made by slave labour, announced yesterday. The administration named 54 countries including Australia.
The treasurer says Australia has world-leading legislation to combat modern slavery, and says the government will “continue to take every opportunity” to fight the levy.
These tariffs are unwarranted, they’re unjustified, and they’re inconsistent with our free trade agreement with the US, and we’ve made that case repeatedly.
So, we will continue to take every opportunity that we can to stand up for Australian exporters and to stand up for the workers and businesses in those industries.
Parliament to vote on tax changes
Jim Chalmers’ budget bill will face debate and a vote in the House today, and he poses the legislation as a “really simple choice” for the Coalition.
As we know, the government has set up the bill as a wedge for the opposition, by including both tax changes to CGT and negative gearing and tax cuts for workers.
Chalmers is doing a mini doorstop at the House of Representatives doors outside parliament.
A little note here: the “doors” are when the media set up a camera and a couple of reporters to talk to pollies as they walk in, generally backbenchers. Chalmers can use the ministerial entrance to get into parliament and avoid the cameras, so he clearly wanted to have a chat this morning and get his face on the morning bulletins.
Really simple choice in the parliament today: Labor lower taxes on workers, a fair go for first home buyers. The Coalition opposing both of those things.
On criticisms over the discretionary powers in the legislation that would allow Chalmers to amend the rules – the treasurer calls the concerns a “beat-up”.
Yet another beat-up about the sensible, commonsense tax reforms at the core of the budget. Not unusual, as I said, for definitions to be settled this way, and the parliament can disallow them if they want.
Tom McIlroy
Farrell rebukes Trump administration’s latest tariffs
The trade minister, Don Farrell, has pushed back on Donald Trump’s latest round of sanctions, telling his US counterpart the targeting of Australian imports is unjustified.
Australia is among dozens of countries facing a 12.5% trade tariff from the Trump administration for allegedly failing to prevent imports of goods made by slave labour.
Farrell is in Paris this week leading Australia’s delegation at the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting and met with the US trade representative, Jamieson Greer.
Farrell used the talks to reinforce Australia’s position that any tariffs are unjustified and that Australian has a robust legislative framework and a world-leading approach to addressing modern slavery.
These tariffs would replace the US global 10% temporary import surcharge when it expires on 24 July this year.
Australia understands the latest announcement is just a proposal from the US not a determination.
Key Australian exports that have previously been exempt from tariffs are still exempt from these proposed tariffs – including beef and gold.
Coalition and One Nation ‘moulding into one point of view’, says Albanese
Anthony Albanese isn’t looking at a radical shift in the Labor party to counter the growing influence of One Nation, despite support for the minor rightwing party surging among women and city voters – according to new polling in Nine Newspapers.
Albanese claims the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation are “openly discussing being a rightwing partnership”. While speculation has been rife, when asked, members of each party say said they wouldn’t form a coalition with the other side.
Recently, Labor MPs have said its up to the government to highlight the “risk” of Pauline Hanson and her policies to the cost of living.
But Albanese takes a broader stance:
The Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation are openly discussing being a rightwing partnership. Increasingly, we see them mould into one point of view.
For the Labor party, we will always give voters respect and we’ll always look towards how we can deliver higher wages, how we can decrease their income taxes, how we can be a party of reform.
Australian dream shouldn’t only be in history books, says Albanese
Anthony Albanese says Angus Taylor and his Coalition will have a clear choice today to vote for tax cuts or oppose them – as they did on Labor’s tax cuts ahead of the last election.
Albanese has been facing an uphill battle trying to sell Labor’s budget both inside and outside parliament, despite pitching it as a game-changer for young people to get into the housing market.
He says that the Senate inquiry looking at the legislation will soon report back, which will be considered by the government.
We are engaging respectfully, as we always do, right across the parliament. My door is always open, as is the door of the treasurer and our Senate team. Of course, we will have the inquiry before the Senate sits in a few weeks’ time. That will be an opportunity as well for people to put forward their views, and we welcome that.
I don’t want the Australian dream to be something that is written about in history books of owning your own home. I want everyone to have that opportunity, aspiration.
Albanese says ‘unwarranted’ tariffs announced by US on Australia came without warning
Anthony Albanese says new tariffs from the US on Australian goods announced yesterday are “unwarranted” and that the government has made its position on tariffs clear.
Speaking to the ABC’s AM program, he says no notice was given and that Australia has “robust, comprehensive and world-leading legislation addressing forced labour and modern slavery”.
Albanese says Australia hasn’t been singled out in this latest round – 54 countries have been included on the US’s list.
It seems there is an ideological disagreement where the United States administration has broken with what was decades-long understanding that tariffs are not positive for the country that is imposing them, that they increase the costs of goods and services in the country that is applying them to its consumers, and that free trade is in the interest of the global economy.
We continue to use every opportunity that we have to advocate that US tariffs imposed in Australia are unwarranted.
Watt ‘confident’ tax legislation will pass parliament
The environment minister, Murray Watt, says the government is confident that the crossbench will support the government’s contentious budget bill after it passes through the House (likely today on Labor’s timeline).
Watt sits in the upper house which is where the government doesn’t have the numbers and will need at least the Greens support.
Speaking to the Today show earlier alongside Nationals frontbencher Bridget McKenzie, Watt says it’s “not unusual” for different parties to put forward different positions in the lead-up to legislation:
We’re confident, at the end of the day that the crossbench will see that our budget and legislation is about tax cut to every single working Australian.
McKenzie says she has some serious issues with the discretionary powers for the treasurer in the legislation.
It screams that they’re a bit like not letting us know what their plans were heading into the budget with the taxes they were going to impose that they don’t want to bring that to the parliament. And so they’re leaving that in Jim Chalmer’s back pocket for him to change at a later date …
The fact that you’re thinking that crashing the housing market is the solution to the housing [crisis].
Krishani Dhanji
Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you for the final day of the sitting fortnight, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.
The government expects its contentious budget legislation to pass through the House today – it’s not a terrible assumption seeing they have a huge majority but we can expect lots of amendments and divisions from the opposition and crossbench that will drag the vote out.
The government will have a much trickier time getting the Greens over the line when that legislation reaches the Senate. The Greens have concerns over the government’s sweeping discretionary powers in the bill.
We’ll also be keeping a close eye on estimates today and we’ll bring you that as it comes.
I’ve got my coffee, I hope you’ve got yours, let’s get cracking!
Youngest convicted murderer sent back to prison
Australia’s youngest convicted murderer has been handed more time behind bars after a judge found him to have had complete disregard for his release conditions, Australian Associated Press reports.
The man, known for legal reasons as SLD, has spent almost two-thirds of his life in jail after the then 13-year-old abducted and fatally stabbed his three-year-old neighbour Courtney Morley-Clarke on the Central Coast in 2001.
The now 39-year-old pleaded guilty to five counts of breaching his supervisory orders and two charges relating to child abuse material.
The 39-year-old will be eligible for parole in March 2028.
“The reality is that … he cannot last long in the community without breaching the terms of his extended supervision order,” Judge Johnson said in Campbelltown district court yesterday.
The sentence took into account a mandatory minimum of four years’ imprisonment for a repeat child sexual offence, the first being his 2002 murder.
The judge also remarked that, since the age of 13, the defendant had spent all but four months behind bars.
Bank expects home price reduction from budget to be more than twice government forecast
Contentious tax changes will have a larger drag on home prices than the government forecast in the budget, according to analysis from Australia’s largest lender, reported by Australian Associated Press.
Winding back negative gearing and the capital gains discount for established properties will weigh on home prices by 5%, compared with Treasury forecasts of a 2% drag, Commonwealth Bank senior economists Trent Saunders and Ashwin Clarke found.
A slowdown in the property market was already under way before the budget due to global uncertainty and rising interest rates.
But the quick response to the tax changes suggested the near-term impact will be sharper than expected, the duo said in a research note on Wednesday.
“We now expect national dwelling prices to be flat over 2026, down from a forecast of three per cent at budget and five per cent in March.”
Analysts still expects the Reserve Bank to hike interest rates one more time in August, despite Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing a slowdown in Australia’s economic growth rate in the March quarter.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live politics blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.
Australia’s youngest convicted murderer has been sent back to jail after a judge found him to have had complete disregard for his release conditions. The man, known only as SLD, stabbed to death his three-year-old neighbour Courtney Morley-Clarke on the Central Coast in 2001. More coming up.
And expect more debate today over the government’s plan to change capital gains tax and negative gearing. The Commonwealth Bank is forecasting they will make house prices 5% lower than they otherwise would have been – more than twice the difference that Treasury had modelled.
