Australia news and politics live: Trump says AUKUS is ‘moving rapidly’, signs critical minerals deal

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You can read tonight’s edition of The Nightly below:

The Federal Government’s long-awaited “cash mandate” legislation has been released, but one advocate warns the proposed rules would “green light the cashless society”.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers promised to introduce legislation protecting cash payments, but on Friday the draft proposal revealed businesses would have access to multiple exemptions.

For one, the mandate would exempt all small businesses with turnovers below $10m from having to accept cash. Further, the mandate would only apply to large fuel and grocery retailers.

Cash advocate Jason Bryce, speaking with 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Tuesday, slammed the proposed rules.

“This cash mandate is garbage. This cash mandate will herald the cashless society in Australia.”

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Fully electric cars only have an 8 per cent market share in Australia, but close to half of them are bought in a specific way that is saving Aussies, and businesses, thousands.

Many Australians only choose electric cars because of generous tax incentives, a salary packaging group says, as the Federal Government comes under political pressure to scale back subsidies projected to cost more than $23 billion over the coming decade.

Working Australians salary sacrificing to drive EVs on novated leases can claim running costs and finance as tax deductions, a policy being reviewed by mid-2027.

The number of electric cars bought with tax breaks during the past three years far exceeded Treasury predictions.

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Thousands of Australians have been locked out of their bank accounts after a major outage crippled ANZ’s mobile app and online banking system on Tuesday.

Both the ANZ app and internet banking portal were rendered inaccessible, leaving customers unable to log in, transfer money, or check their balances.

When users attempted to access the app, they were met with a message reading:

“ANZ App unavailable. We are working to have the ANZ App available again as soon as possible. We apologise for the inconvenience.”

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After his meeting with the US President, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shook hands with two key figures in the Trump administration.

The PM met with Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, to discuss Australia’s economic partnership with America.

“Creating jobs. Boosting the economy. Working hand in hand with the United States, that’s what we can achieve,” the PM wrote on X.

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Mr Albanese also met with a smiley Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state.

He said the meeting came amidst a commitment to “work together towards a better future for both our countries and the Indo-Pacific”. ‘

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A disgraced former MP will serve at least two-and-a-half years in jail for stealing $435,000 of public money that was meant to be spent on disadvantaged school students.

In September 2024, a South Australian District Court jury found Troy Bell guilty of 20 counts of theft and five aggravated counts of dishonest dealings for crimes committed between 2009 and 2013.

The ex-Liberal MP, who successfully ran as an independent after he was charged, stood emotionless in the dock as the judge imposed a five-year jail term with a two-and-a-half-year non-parole period.

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First Nations councils will advise Queensland’s cabinet under a landmark agreement that has been compared to the failed Voice to Parliament.

Almost a year after being told they had lost the trust of Indigenous people, the Queensland Government will provide 17 First Nations mayors direct access to ministers under the accord.

The mayors will be able to advise cabinet on major issues affecting their communities after signing the accord at the Local Government Association of Queensland annual conference on Monday.

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A $140,000 damages bill for a tweet by political outsider Mark Latham was not enough, a rival MP is due to tell an appeal court.

NSW independent MP Alex Greenwich was awarded the sum in September 2024 over the defamatory post sent days after the 2023 state election.

The tweet described the openly gay politician engaging in explicit sex acts and came as a response to Mr Greenwich describing Mr Latham as a “disgusting human being”.

As well as damages, the right-wing independent MP was also ordered by the Federal Court to pay an estimated $400,000 which covered a large portion of Mr Greenwich’s legal costs.

Read the full story here.

Anthony Albanese’s date with Mr Trump went so well, that he floated the idea of using their first get-together in his 2028 election ads.

The Australian Prime Minister basked in the the US President’s flattery as he blitzed his first trip to the White House since Mr Trump was elected, almost a year ago.

The trip was delayed and long-awaited but delivered both in substance, style and fireworks. Of those, there were plenty.

Mr Trump roasted Kevin Rudd in a humiliating exchange, forcing the ambasador to apologise in person for once calling him the most destructive president in history among other criticisms.

He turned his aim on two Australian journalists, telling the Sydney Morning Herald’s Washington correspondent Michael Koziol that he was “nasty” and The Nightly’s Latika Bourke that a question on Ukraine was ill-informed.

Read Latika M Bourke’s full story here.