Australian news and politics live: Albanese defends response to Chinese navy circumnavigating Australia
Anthony Albanese has defended his Government’s response to the Chinese naval fleet’s passage and military drills near Australian waters.
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Key Events
Labor faithful squeezing dollars in ‘make or break’ advertising push
Labor is shaking the donation can for an advertising blitz while Climate 200 had a staggering boost after a Liberal candidate’s climate comments.
National secretary Paul Erickson emailed party faithful on Friday morning asking for more than $43,000 by Saturday night “to stay on track with a major digital advertising push”.
The money would go towards promoting Labor’s health pledges as it seeks to promote itself as staunch supporters of Medicare in contrast to the coalition, regularly attacking Opposition Leader Peter Dutton for his time as health minister.
“This is make-or-break stuff. We’re up against huge spending from the Liberals’ biggest backers, but we know that when our message lands, we win,” Mr Erickson said in the email.
“This election is going to be decided by a few hundred votes in a few battleground seats and missing this target could mean we pull back just when we need to double down.”
The federal Labor Party spent almost $100,000 on Facebook ads in February that have been viewed millions of times, publicly available Meta advertising data reveals.
The ads have predominantly been seen by younger audiences aged between 18 and 44.
PM defends response to Chinese naval fleet
The Prime Minister has defended his Government’s response to the Chinese naval fleet’s passage and military drills near Australian waters.
“We made it clear … that we were monitoring between Australia and New Zealand by both sea and by air,” he told a Friday press conference.
“We also made it clear that we think that the information wasn’t given in a timely or appropriate way, and we made those protests, not just publicly, but directly to China,” he said.
The Government has come under fire from the Coalition this week, which has portrayed Labor’s reaction to Chinese “gunboat diplomacy” as weak.
“To be very clear, I have said about the relationship with China, we will cooperate where we can, disagree where we must,” said Mr Albanese, doubling down on the Government line that China has done nothing illegal.
“You can’t selectively support international law. The Chinese actions are within that but we’ve made it very clear that we expect more notice to have been given, and we have protested and made our position clear,” he said.
The Prime Minister said he had been advised by the Australian Defence Force that the Chinese vessels are currently 593km southwest of Adelaide, near the border of Australia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
“These Chinese vessels have been monitored and shadowed by Australia or New Zealand the entire time,” he said.
Federal government announces $25m solar funding for apartments
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pledged $25 million in funding to assist residents living in apartments make use of solar power.
The joint NSW, federal govermnment innitiative may save recipients around $600 a year Mr Albanese said.
“This could save residents up to $600 a year on their power bills so good for residents’ cost of living, good for reducing our emissions, good for the environment”.
“A win-win situation, rolled out by the Commonwealth and the state.”
Albanese gives update on Chinese warships circumnavigating Australia
The Prime Minister has been quizzed on his knowledge as Chinese warships continue to travel in international waters around the perimeter of Australia.
“Firstly, let me say I support the ADF,” Mr Albanese said on Friday.
“Secondly, let me say I support the ADF and, thirdly, let me say I support the ADF.”
Mr Albanese then gave an update on the status of the ships and the Australian response.
“We’ve made it clear that there was Chinese vessels, travelling down the Australian coast,” he says.
“We made it clear as well, that we will be monitoring Australia and New Zealand by both sea and by air.
“We made it clear that we think the information wasn’t given in a timely or an appropriate way.”
Albanese says Trump AUKUS slip was just a blip
The Prime Minister appears unfazed by a slip by US President Donald Trump who did not understand a question about AUKUS from a British reporter and asked what it was.
“There’s a lot of acronyms in this business. And you know, we all get thrown at them from time to time,” he said at a press conference on Friday.
Mr Trump made his gaffe while meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“He went on to speak about the really important, positive relationship with Australia. That’s consistent with the discussions that I’ve had with President Trump, that included, of course, talking about Aukus,” said Mr Albanese.
Labor downplays impact on Australia of additional tariffs on China
Assistant Minister for Trade Tim Ayres has sought to play down the potential impact on Australia of additional US trade tariffs on Chinese imports.
President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would impose an additional ten per cent tariff on Chinese imports while moving ahead with levies on Canada and Mexico next week.
“We’re absolutely focused on the bilateral questions between Australia and the United States,” Mr Ayres told reporters in Canberra on Friday when asked if the decision was ominous for Australia’s own bid to escape trade and steel tariffs due to be enforced next month.
“The Prime Minister has had two discussions with the President of the United States,” said Mr Ayres, also pointing to a superannuation summit this week in Washington that focused on “what Australia offers in trade and investment terms for the United States.”
Earlier this month, Trump already imposed a sweeping 10 percent tariff hike on imports from China, prompting Beijing to retaliate.
The new 10 per cent levy, which adds to the existing one, will be imposed because of“unacceptable” drug smuggling, said the President.
Starmer visit gives Albo a leg-up on how to deal with Trump
Keir Starmer’s trip to Washington was a masterclass and a demonstration of how confronting the challenges of office can be the making of a leader.
The UK prime minister has given Anthony Albanese a roadmap for how to deal with MAGA’s warrior-in-chief, as Australia too pleads for exemptions from tariffs and hopes to bed down Presidential support for AUKUS – a project the US President questioned the meaning of when asked directly about it for the first time.
Unlike the Australian Prime Minister who enjoyed a prolonged media and polling honeymoon, Sir Keir had a woeful start to government following his election in July last year.
The UK Labour leader has looked adrift in office, with little agenda, having run an Australian-like small target strategy to win power.
Star Entertainment shares halted as casino chain teeters
Embattled Star Entertainment has shocked investors with a pause in trade ahead of the release of its half-year financial report, with a repeated warning that without a white knight it may not be able to continue as a going concern.
The casino operator — which runs casinos in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast — has for months been desperately searching for a funding lifeline to stay afloat as it battles a liquidity crisis.
Star was due to release its six months accounts to the end of December this morning but instead entered a trading halt just before the Australian Securities Exchange opened.
Just 30 minutes after pausing trade in its shares — which have lost 75 per cent of their value over the past year — Star released a statement saying it was continuing to explore possible solutions “that might materially increase the group’s liquidity position”.
‘Starving ballerina’ parents fighting convictions over child neglect
The mother and father of Floreat’s “starving ballerina” are trying to overturn their convictions and hefty jail terms after ditching their lawyers from a District Court trial that gripped WA.
The couple, whose identity is suppressed, were each convicted of two counts of child neglect after both taking the stand during their four-and-a-half-week trial in November.
A jury found them guilty of both under-nourishing and infantilising their only child, and it’s understood to be the first time in the State’s history of a conviction on the second ground.
Their vegan, home-schooled daughter weighed just 28.1kg when she was forcibly hospitalised in 2021, days shy of her 17th birthday.
Urgent health alert as measles outbreak spreads locally
Measles is spreading locally within Australia after two people caught the highly contagious viral infection without travelling overseas.
Two people likely acquired measles in metropolitan Melbourne as they had no history of overseas travel or known contact with other cases.
“This means there is now local transmission of measles in the community,” Victorian Chief Health Officer Tarun Weeramanthri said in a health alert.
The cases were infectious when visiting 19 locations across greater Bendigo and metropolitan Melbourne.
They include the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Bendigo Hospital emergency departments, a Keilor East swimming pool, supermarkets in Epsom and Bendigo, a beautician in Aberfeldie and Timezone at Highpoint Shopping Centre in Maribyrnong.
