Australian news and politics recap: Tuesday April 10, 2025

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ducked an invitation from China to “hold hands” against US tariffs, but says Canberra will seek more business around the world as trade dynamics rapidly shift.

Overnight, US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause for countries hit by higher US tariffs and authorised a lower rate of ten per cent during negotiations.

But a trade war with China dramatically escalated as Washington lifted tariffs on goods from China to 125 per cent, accusing Beijing of a “lack of respect” after it imposed tariffs of 84 per cent on US imports in a retaliatory move.

China’s Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, has appealed to Canberra and the wider international community to work together to defend the multilateral trading system.

“The only way to stop the hegemonic and bullying behaviour of the US in harvesting the whole world is to strengthen solidarity and collaboration and to jointly resist,” he said in the Sydney Morning Herald.

“Under the new circumstances, China stands ready to join hands with Australia and the international community to jointly respond to the changes of the world, resolutely uphold international equity and justice, defend the multilateral trading system.”

​Read the full story here.​

The Opposition Leader has repeatedly called the Prime Minister a liar at a press conference today, in an attempt to change the subject from questioning about a liberal candidate.

Peter Dutton has been asked about the vetting process of the Liberal party, after the candidate for the inner Melbourne seat of Wills, Jeffrey Kidney, pleaded guilty to obtaining financial advantage by deception last year, and was made to pay fines and compensation worth more than $10,000 to the Victorian Work Cover authority.

“I think Anthony Albanese has been out deceiving as many people for the last three years,” Mr Dutton said.

“He’s lied about the fact that power prices have gone up by $1300.

“He lied about falling off the stage, for some reason. It was caught on camera.

“He’s out there saying he will not form a government with the Greens. He is lying about that.

“We increased education funding in the Prime Minister is out there looking Australians in the eyes saying that we did the opposite. Numbers show that he has lied.

“He has not been convicted, but if he keeps going like this, you cannot trust the Prime Minister with anything that he says.”

The Opposition Leader has doubled down on his plan to not re-hire public service jobs if elected.

The Coalition plan is aimed at achieving $7 billion in savings over five years by cutting 40,000 public service positions with attrition, a move criticised by Labor as a threat to essential services.

“Australia has per capita one of the highest numbers of public servants in the world,” Mr Dutton said.

“We need to make sure we have an efficient public service, which we will do and we will make sure that that is the case.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has slammed the Greens plan to abolish negative gearing.

“If the Prime Minister and Adam Bandt introduced changes to the way in which negative gearing works in this country, that is a big asset class for people who are on the cusp of retirement or have retirement plans based on rental incomes,” Mr Dutton said.

“That would mean high rents. It would mean pressure on housing.

“If there is a Labor and Greens alliance, introducing a ban on the back of capital gains or in relation to negative gearing, that is going to be a disaster for our country.

“Labor cannot manage money and it has been demonstrated here in Victoria. The Albanese and Jacinta Allan alliance is on display for all Australia to see.”

An independent candidate for Monash has created a rap music video as part of her election campaign, as she tries to get young voters ahead of the May 3 vote.

In the video posted to Instagram Deb Leonard takes aim at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, calling them “old rich white man”.

Ms Leonard has captioned the post “try to connect with younger voters they said 😂”.

The 56-year-old has described herself as a mother and a fighter who won’t put up with “Canberra’s crap”.

The effects of rising costs are etched in the mind of Jen Touzel, a Lions Club volunteer who recently organised a pair of shoes for a man who wanted to attend a doctor’s appointment in something other than his slippers.

“I’ll never forget that,” Ms Touzel told AAP.

“We organised the shoes because that’s what put a smile on their face.”

It’s not the only example of Australians struggling to afford basic items, with one in five recently skipping buying clothing or shoes because they could not afford them, research from charity Good360 Australia has revealed.

Their figures show more than one-third of Australians say the cost-of-living crisis feels worse than it did a year ago, despite a decrease in inflation.

Other recently released data suggests credit card spending has reached a record high, with the average balance taking five months to pay off.

Read the full story here.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has arrived at a light industrial area in the suburb of Bayswater in Melbourne’s federal seat of Aston.

The Labor-held electorate is one Coalition hope to win back at the upcoming poll on May 3.

Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley and Victorian Senator Sarah Henderson will join him with the local candidate Manny Cicchiello on a tour of a laser-cutting and welding facility before holding a press conference.

It comes after Mr Dutton was in Queensland this morning to visit his sick father.

Mr Cicchiello asked Mr Dutton when he arrived how “Mr Dutton senior” was going, to which he responded that he was good and thanked him.

The US deputy secretary of state Christopher Landau has spoken with Jan Adams, secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to reassure Canberra of strong and valued bilateral ties, the state department has confirmed.

Mr Landau “thanked Australia for being a steadfast ally, friend, and partner in upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific and in promoting our shared interests globally,” said the state department statement.

“The two agreed on the importance of strengthening defense and security cooperation to meet an increasingly challenging security environment, and work together to deepen relationships with the Pacific Island countries.”

The call comes as Australian officials scramble behind the scenes to try to secure a carve-out from a ten per cent tariff on all exports to the United States – a decision that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last week was “not the act of a friend.”

Speaking in Queensland on Thursday morning, Mr Albanese said Australia’s approach to the tariff negotiations was to put forward a “considered, calibrated, clear position,” to achieve the “best deal” of a tariff of zero.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has outlined Australia’s strategy in dealing with US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement, following a pause on imposing tariffs across most countries including Australia for 90 days.

“Changes that have occurred from day-to-day, what they emphasise is the need for a considered, calibrated, clear position when negotiating over these international issues, including with the Trump Administration,” Mr Albanese said.

“The US administration changes its position on a regular basis, on that fact, we need to make sure that Australia is considered in the way that we go forward, will continue to argue the case.

“What I did was, after a contribution by President Trump that finished at 8pm, I was on my feet within minutes, literally, the first in the world to respond. We responded with a comprehensive plan.

“There were two options that we prepared for. The feedback we had from the US administration was that they were engaging, including with us, about exemptions.

“Their second option was to do a blanket position across the board and then try to pull some of them back.

“What we did was prepare for both scenarios. Of course it was not clear to people, including people we went negotiating with, precisely what would occur.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has vowed to take steps to close the gap on education, health and housing after being asked what he’ll do for Indigenous communities after the failed voice referendum.

“Indigenous communities, overwhelmingly, voted yes. And that’s not surprising, Mr Albanese said.

“We’ll provide practical measures going forward in closing the gap on education, on health, on housing.

“These are the measures that we’ve put in place through proper funding in our budgets going forward, of how do we make a difference so that the gap, which is far too wide and, in some cases, is widening?

“It is a national issue, and all governments have not done well enough. That is the truth. We’re committed to doing better in the future”.