Australian news and politics live: Donald Trump’s new man in the UK says AUKUS is ‘vital to the world’

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will make a brief stop in Singapore today to meet with Lawrence Wong, the country’s newly re-elected leader, before returning to the political fray in Canberra.

The visit bookends his first international trip since Labor’s election triumph on May 3, signalling the ongoing importance of Australia’s ties with Southeast Asia.

“I look forward to meeting Prime Minister Wong. The close partnership between Australia and Singapore is underpinned by our shared interest in an open, stable and prosperous region,” Mr Albanese said in a statement.

The PM’s lightning visit to Singapore comes at the tail end of a whirlwind international tour that included high-level meetings in Indonesia and the Vatican.

He first met with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, before travelling to Rome to attend the historic inauguration of Pope Leo XIV and engage with fellow world leaders.

A security pact between the European Union and Australia would lead to a more stable Indo-Pacific region as critical trade talks continue, Germany’s ambassador to Australia says.

EU President Ursula von der Leyen raised the prospect of a formal defence agreement between the trading bloc and Australia during one-on-one talks with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Rome.

Mr Albanese said Australia would consider the proposal, but noted a similar agreement was already in place with other European countries such as Germany.

But German ambassador to Australia Beate Grzeski said a formal pact with the EU would be a significant development for the Indo-Pacific region.

“There is a broad understanding in the European Union that we have to work closely with strategic partners. It is very clear that Australia is a partner of choice and very important,” she told ABC Radio on Tuesday.

Donald Trump’s new ambassador to the UK has used his first public speech to back the AUKUS partnership with Britain and Australia.

Warren Stephens highlighted how “vital the US-UK relationship is to our countries and to the world” at an event in parliament attended by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday.

Stephens said the AUKUS partnership, which is developing a new fleet of nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarines for the UK and Australia, would help maintain a “free and open Indo-Pacific”.

The ambassador’s decision to make his first public address in support of the project is symbolically important, given it is a legacy of Joe Biden’s term in the White House.

The alliance, which also covers collaboration on other advanced technologies, is seen as an attempt to counter the influence of China in the region.

Read the full story here.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has presented Pope Leo with a bottle of Australian red wine that retails at Dan Murphy’s for $41 and an indigenous artwork after securing Australia’s first meeting with a pontiff in 16 years.

Pope Leo in return blessed the rosary beads that belonged to Maryanne Ellery, Mr Albanese’s mother who the prime minister told the Pope on Sunday would be ‘smiling down from heaven’ at their encounter.

The Vatican said the Pope discussed religious freedom.

“An exchange of views then took place on the socio-political situation of the country, focusing in particular on themes of mutual interest, including environmental protection, integral human development and the freedom of religion,” the Vatican said.

Mr Albanese formally invited the Pope to visit Australia in 2028 for World Ecumenical Day.

Read Latika M Bourke’s exclusive story here.

While Anthony Albanese enjoys the sun in Rome he might want to get an English lesson from UK Labour and in particular, Labour’s PM, Sir Keir Starmer.

The two have so much in common. Both crushed their opponents and had huge majorities after their recent elections. Starmer’s is now 10 months old, but still sees him hold 402 out of 650 seats in the Commons, on a par with Albanese’s own 94 from 151 in our own Parliament.

Both had gushing post-election headlines from a few notable national newspaper editors sucking up while playing catch-up. Both Starmer and Albanese were written as having won “two term elections” and both spoke of governing for all and wanting to be the natural party of government.

Well 10 months in, Starmer is in a flat out panic domestically. He is deeply unpopular and Labour lost a by-election in the previous “Red Wall” to Nigel Farage’s Reform Party on May 2.

At the same time, Reform won 677 of 1650 council seats contested nationally. It added eight new mayors to their ranks.

Read Cameron Milner’s full story here.

Home owners can expect more mortgage relief if the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates as widely expected but those looking to break into the housing market could see property prices rise even higher.

Traders are pricing in a 95 per cent chance the RBA board will cut its key interest rate to 3.85 per cent when its two-day meeting wraps up on Tuesday.

Nicola Powell, chief economist at property portal Domain, said it’s pretty much a given.

Underlying inflation moderated to 2.9 per cent in the first three months of the year, which will reassure the RBA that they can take some restrictiveness out of the economy.

Read the full story here.

Australia’s mortgage holders are holding their collective breath as the RBA is set to deliver an interest rate decision today.

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