Election 2025 dwell: Trump confirms Australian beef on tariff menu; PM dines with Greg Norman as nation braces for tariffs

Albanese to reply to Trump’s tariff announcement

The press pack following Anthony Albanese has arrived on the Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces (CPO) in Melbourne’s CBD, the place the prime minister will quickly reply to Trump’s tariffs announcement.

Now we have seen the complete chart that Donald Trump was holding earlier.

Trump talked about there can be a minimal 10% reciprocal tariff, and in line with that full chart, Australia will incur the ten% tariff.

Anthony Albanese is because of converse quickly this morning, and can reply to Trump’s announcement.

This week he mentioned there can be no negotiations with the US over altering the PBS, bio-security legal guidelines or the information bargaining settlement.

Ben Doherty

Trump has moved on to the opportunity of exemptions …

In Trump’s first administration, Australia secured exemptions from tariffs after arguing that Australia ran a commerce deficit with America, had a signed and ratified free commerce settlement, and was a dedicated ally and safety associate.

However Trump’s second administration has repeatedly mentioned the president regrets the exemptions he gave to Australia in his first time period, significantly for the precedent they set for different nations claiming related carve-outs.

He mentioned this morning:

To the entire overseas presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, ambassadors, and everybody else, who will quickly be calling to ask for exemptions from these tariffs, I say: terminate your individual tariffs, drop your obstacles, don’t manipulate your currencies … and begin shopping for tens of billions of {dollars} of American items.

Trump says tariffs to be positioned on prescription drugs

Trump says he’ll be setting up reciprocal tariffs on prescription drugs, at half the speed “they have been charging us”.

Trump calls it a reduced reciprocal tariff, fairly than a “full reciprocal” which he says would have been “tough” for lots of nations.

He’s acquired a print out chart and goes down an inventory of particular person tariffs for nations together with China, Vietnam, the UK, Switzerland and extra.

Australia hasn’t been talked about down the checklist (he didn’t learn the entire thing) however Trump says there can be a minimal reciprocal tariff of 10%.

Australia has gotten it’s first point out – Trump says Australia has banned American beef, however the US imports $3bn of Australian beef.

The ban on US beef was imposed in 2003 after America circumstances of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow illness).

He hasn’t but mentioned what penalty will apply:

Australia … they’re great folks, and great every thing, however they ban American beef. But we imported $3bn of Australian beef from them simply final 12 months alone. They gained’t take any of our beef. They don’t need it as a result of they don’t need it to have an effect on their farmers and, you recognize, I don’t blame them however we’re doing the identical factor, proper now beginning at midnight tonight, I’d say.

Beef is a major Australian export to America – Australian lean beef is added to fatty American meat to make hamburgers.

Trump hails ‘the day America’s future was reclaimed’ in tariff announcement

Ben Doherty

Donald Trump has stepped into the rose backyard on the White Home and declared “liberation day” will make America rich once more.

The US president is saying reciprocal tariffs. “That means they do it to us and we do it to them. Simple.”

April 2, 2025, will perpetually be remembered because the day American trade was reborn, the day America’s future was reclaimed, and the day that we started to make America rich once more.

For many years our nation has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations close to and much, each buddy and foe alike.

Trump claims the tariffs will carry jobs and factories again to the US.

This can be certainly the golden age of America.

You’ll be able to observe our US politics weblog right here for all of the updates from Trump’s announcement.

Labor’s ‘identical job, identical pay’ legal guidelines will ship $920m pay rise for employees, examine says

Dan Jervis-Bardy

The Albanese authorities’s “same job, same pay” legal guidelines will ship a mixed $920m annual pay rise for employees, in line with new evaluation that Labor will use to warn of the dangers to wages if Peter Dutton rolls again the regime.

Legal guidelines got here into pressure final 12 months permitting labour-hire employees to use to be paid the identical quantity as instantly employed employees doing the identical job.

Unions are already utilizing the bargaining software, with a whole bunch of Qantas flight attendants set to obtain pay rises of as much as $20,000 per 12 months after the airline reached an settlement with the Flight Attendants’ Affiliation of Australia.

A brand new report from progressive suppose tank the McKell Institute estimated the brand new system would ship a wages enhance of as much as $920.3m every year to employees in industries akin to mining, aviation and retail.

The McKell Institute chief government, Edward Kavanough, mentioned:

The info tells a transparent story: the wage positive aspects are actual, they’re substantial, and so they’re being delivered with none adversarial affect on jobs or financial efficiency.

The Coalition has promised to evaluate the laws as a part of a wider rolling again of Labor’s industrial relations agenda, which features a promise to abolish the so-called “right to disconnect”.

The office relations minister, Murray Watt, claimed Dutton would scrap the legal guidelines in act of “pure arrogance”.

This may rip billions of {dollars} out of employees’ pay packets and the broader financial system, significantly in regional Australia.

Krishani Dhanji

Good morning,

Krishani Dhanji right here with you, because of Martin Farrer for getting us began this morning.

All eyes can be on the White Home in a matter of moments, as Donald Trump unveils his newest, extra wide-ranging set of tariffs.

There’ll be loads of response to it right here and abroad all through the day, and also you’ll little question see each Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton attempt to form the problem to their benefit.

Buckle up, it’s going to be an enormous one!

John Howard says ‘historical past is towards’ Coalition in election

Elias Visontay

Former Liberal prime minister John Howard has labelled the Coalition because the underdog within the federal election, however mentioned a unstable voters and Anthony Albanese being “out of his depth” might hamper Labor.

Howard, talking to Sky Information’ Chris Kenny on Wednesday night time, mentioned “history was against” the Coalition successful the election, pointing on the market hadn’t been a one-term authorities in Australia since 1931.

Howard mentioned:

The voters is extra unstable, however you’ll be able to’t ignore historical past. I’d have thought six months in the past if we’d have had this dialog, I’d have thought the Coalition had no hope of successful merely due to historical past, however within the final six months, I feel Peter Dutton has performed a unbelievable job.

The outline I’d make of the prime minister (Albanese) is that he’s out of his depth. Now, I as a Liberal chief, I disagreed with Labor leaders lots. I disagreed with Bob Hawke lots, however I by no means thought Hawke was out of his depth, I simply thought he was improper.

I disagreed much more with Paul Keating, who I believed was inferior to Hawke as a primary minister, however you might by no means say he was out of his depth depth, whereas I don’t suppose Anthony Albanese fairly is aware of what’s occurring round him, significantly in terms of Chinese language ships, he doesn’t appear to have a clue.

Howard additionally backed the Coalition’s proposed gas excise lower over Labor’s tax cuts unveiled eventually week’s finances, arguing the immediacy of affect of the excise lower will higher tackle value of dwelling challenges.

The previous PM additionally predicted that it might be more durable than anticipated for teal MPs to retain their seats. He mentioned:

I feel lots of people who voted for the teals did so as a result of they have been grumpy for one or one more reason with the Liberals. I don’t suppose that’s the case now. I feel they like Dutton.

I feel they see in Dutton an unexpectedly sturdy, severe chief. He’s a severe participant, and he gives the look of anyone who’s been round. He’s not stuffed with himself and does perceive the great and the dangerous in society.

Josh Butler

Peter Dutton to WA go to to vow street funding to assist mining

Peter Dutton is in Western Australia for his first go to to the mining state of this marketing campaign, and has come bearing a $600m announcement for roads that are vital to mining and agriculture.

He’ll spend the day in WA and Perth, earlier than it’s anticipated he’ll return to the east coast late tonight or early tomorrow.

The infrastructure pledge can be spent nationwide, however saying the cash in WA is intentional. In an announcement, Dutton mentioned “We appreciate the contribution that Western Australia in particular makes to Australia through the mining, resources and agricultural sectors.”

“We know that WA’s exports help pay for the nation’s roads, hospitals and schools,” he mentioned.

The large cash promise would, in line with the Liberal chief, “support our mining, resources and farming sectors by investing in infrastructure to upgrade agricultural and mining roads critical to getting product to domestic and export markets.”

“The Coalition will work with representatives of the trucking, farming and mining industries to identify the priority roads to be upgraded in each state to remove barriers to the growth of our resources and farming sectors.”

The cash would come over 4 years, and go towards sealing, widening and strengthening roads and bridges, in addition to flood resilience upgrades.

“I want Western Australia to continue to be the powerhouse of the national economy. But we need a government in Canberra that plays to WA’s strengths, not works against it,” Dutton mentioned.

Liberal candidate for Kooyong skips group discussion board to hit telephones with Angus Taylor

Henry Belot

The Liberal candidate for Kooyong, Amelia Hamer, skipped a group discussion board devoted to questions on local weather coverage on Wednesday night time, opting as an alternative to hit the telephones with Angus Taylor.

Textual content messages seen by Guardian Australia present Hamer was planning to carry a phone convention name with Kooyong voters alongside the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, at 7:30pm. The group discussion board started on the identical time.

This textual content message from “VIC LIBERAL” was despatched to Kooyong residents at 7:15pm: “Amelia Hamer here. I’ll give you a call at 7:30 tonight. It’s your chance to quiz me and the shadow treasurer about our plan to get Australia Back on Track.”

Organisers of the Kooyong Group Discussion board, Lighter Footprints, instructed the viewers that Hamer was a final minute cancellation and that consequently she can be represented by an empty chair:

All candidates have been made conscious that in the event that they weren’t coming tonight then they might be represented by an empty chair. This discover was given prematurely.

Lighter Footprints describes itself as “a local climate group committed to leading effective climate action”. The group described the occasion as an opportunity to “find out where the candidates stand on climate”.

In Hamer’s place, the organisers requested a member of the Kooyong Local weather Alliance, Alex Currell, to provide an evaluation of the Liberal’s environmental insurance policies:

The Liberals have did not announce a 2030 or 2035 emissions goal, committing solely to web zero by 2050. The destiny of the local weather can be decided by cumulative emissions, so this lack of quick or medium time period targets is deeply problematic.

The occasion’s presenter thanked Currell for “stepping in last minute”.

Anthony Albanese has revealed on social media that he met up with Greg Norman final night time.

“Great to catch up with Greg Norman tonight in Melbourne,” the PM wrote on Instagram, with a pic of the pair in white tops.

They reportedly had dinner collectively.

It’s fascinating timing, coming simply hours earlier than Donald Trump’s tariffs have been on account of be introduced.

Norman has beforehand been known as on to behave as a diplomatic bridge to the US administration, because of his occasional golf video games with the president.

He reportedly helped join then-PM Malcolm Turnbull and the president earlier than Australia secured a tariff exemption.

Earlier this 12 months Norman instructed the Australian Monetary Evaluate that he had performed golf with Trump simply earlier than the current election, and Trump had promised to provide him US citizenship.

Albanese was additionally reported to have had a “missed call” from Norman on Sunday morning,

Good morning and welcome to our dwell election protection. I’m Martin Farrer with the most effective of the in a single day tales to get us into gear earlier than Krishani Dhanji takes the wheel.

Former Liberal prime minister John Howard says Peter Dutton is the underdog within the federal election and that historical past favours Anthony Albanese as a result of there hasn’t been a one-term authorities since 1931. Talking on Sky Information final night time, Howard mentioned Dutton is taking the battle to Labor however he was up towards it. Nevertheless, he mentioned “a volatile electorate” made issues tough to foretell and he condemned Anthony Albanese as being “out of his depth”. Extra developing.

Dutton will proceed his “underdog” battle when he takes his marketing campaign to Western Australia for the primary time as we speak. He’ll announce a plan to spend $600m on roads throughout the nation, hoping that the promise of federal spending on infrastructure will enchantment to voters in a state the place transport hyperlinks are essential for the dominant mining and agriculture sectors.

Anthony Albanese can be anxious to point out he’s not out of his depth and that he can stand as much as Donald Trump if the US president’s tariffs hit the Australian financial system. There may be concern that Trump’s anticipated levies will harm Australian prescription drugs, meat and metals amongst different issues, and Albanese yesterday didn’t rule out the opportunity of countering the tariffs by taking a case to the World Commerce Organisation.

The PM revealed on social media that he dined with golfer Greg Norman final night time. It’s fascinating timing, as Australia braces for Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs.

We’ll have all of the political and market response to these tariffs because it occurs.