Australian news and politics recap: NATO boss Mark Rutte says Donald Trump is ‘totally committed’ to alliance
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Key Events
PM says he’s focused on ‘running a good government’ not Liberal review
Anthony Albanese says Labor will continue to focus on “running a good government” as the the Liberal party “keep fighting each other”.
The Prime Minister was asked about Opposition leader Sussan Ley’s upcoming review of the party’s diabolical election loss on May 3.
“My job will be to focus on going forward,” he said.
When referencing the net zero targets, he said it would allow the Liberal Party “to keep fighting each other”, the Nationals “to keep fighting each other”, and “the Liberal Party to keep fighting the National Party”.
Albanese says Donald Trump ‘stated his view pretty abruptly’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said US President Donald Trump has “stated his view pretty abruptly” and didn’t need any further analysis.
Speaking in Tasmania on Wednesday, the Prime Minister was asked what he made of Mr Trump’s fiery spray which included a curse over a breached ceasefire in the Middle East.
“Well, I think that President Trump made some pretty clear statements,” the PM said.
“I don’t think it needs any further reflection. I think that he stated his views pretty abruptly, and I think they were very clear.
“We want to see peace in the region. We want to see a ceasefire. We want to see de escalation.
“And that is consistent with the very clear comments of President Trump.”
Anthony Albanese says safety of Australians is a priority in the Middle East
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said Australia will continue to monitor the situation in the Middle East and work to get Australian’s out.
Speaking in Tasmania on Wednesday, he said 118 Australians were evacuated overnight from Tel Aviv and further contingency plans were underway.
“Our hope is that Australians are kept safe. At the moment there are, of course, no flights out of Iran.
“Overnight, we were able to have 118 Australians… airlifted out of Tel Aviv on a Royal Australian Air Force flight.
“We think that is very good news. We will always prioritize the safety of… Australians.”
Australian cost-of-living improves by 2.1 per cent
Australian inflation has dipped to 2.1 per cent in the year to May, a figure that would boost hopes that further interest rate relief will be on the way within months.
That was down from 2.4 per cent in the previous month, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Wednesday morning.
Core inflation — which strips out volatility — was also lower, at 2.4 per cent for the year to May.
The Reserve Bank will brush off the monthly data as it provides only a partial guide to inflation — preferring the fuller snapshot published every quarter.
Chalmers defends Trump f-bomb as Mideast crisis grows
US Preisdent Donald Trump publicly dropping an F-bomb after both Israel and Iran violated a US-brokered ceasefire “reflects the gravity of the situation”, Jim Chalmers says.
Israel’s military said it shot down two Iranian missiles launched shortly after the ceasefire came into effect on Tuesday (AEST) and returned fire.
Iran has denied firing a missile and analysts have suggested it could have been a timing accident or a rogue unit.
Speaking to reporters, the US President blasted Israel for its response, saying the Middle East ally needs “to calm down now”.
Lattouf wins landmark ABC unfair sacking case
Antoinette Lattouf has won her landmark case against the ABC, with the Federal Court ruling her termination unlawful following her social media posts about the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The journalist, who was taken off air just days into a casual radio stint, argued her dismissal was motivated by her political opinions and possibly her race.
Greens leader urges international leaders not to forget aid crisis in Gaza
Amid the US backed Israel-Iran conflict, Greens leader Larissa Waters has urged international leaders not to forget about the need for unimpeded access for aid to reach Gaza.
“The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran is welcome, but we cannot forget Gaza,” she said in a statement to X.
“We need a peace with justice across the region, including Palestine, where starvation and genocide is ongoing.”
Chalmers to lobby US counterpart on trade tariffs in talks today
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is expected to lobby his US counterpart Scott Bessent on trade tariffs when they speak later today.
“I think it is an important opportunity to talk about areas of mutual interest, to raise concerns that we have, for example, with developments on trade and tariffs,” he told Nine’s breakfast program.
Mr Bessent met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the G7 summit last week alongside US trade representative Jamieson Greer and US President Donald Trump’s key economic advisor, Kevin Hassett.
The meeting was organised after Mr Trump had to scrap his scheduled meeting with Mr Albanese due to escalating conflict in the Middle East.
The Treasurer said he would also discuss international tax arrangements and critical minerals on the call with Mr Bessent.
Chalmers says several contingencies are in place to get Aussies out of Middle East
Following the first repatriation flight out of Israel overnight, Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the Government will continue to work around the clock to get Australians out of harm’s way in the Middle East.
The Treasurer told ABC News Breakfast that once the airspace opens, there will be several contingencies in place to bring people to safety.
“We’ve got defence planes, we’ve got private charters, so when the airspace does open up, we can get people out so they can organise an onward journey.”
Mr Chalmers was also pressed on Australia’s travel insurance policy after many stranded tourists have found out the hard way their policy doesn’t cover acts of war.
“There will be a time to think about all those sorts of issues around insurance, but…the primary focus is getting as many of those thousands of Australians who have registered to get out, to get them out.”
Australia childhood vaccination rates lag behind US
Australia had the sixth highest number of unvaccinated children in 2023 among high-income countries, according to alarming new data released on Wednesday.
While the United States had 166,306 “zero-dose” children in the same year, in percentage terms Australia’s 92.9 per cent coverage lagged behind the United States’ 95.4 per cent, the UK’s 94.2 per cent, was only marginally ahead of neighbouring New Zealand’s 92.5 per cent.
The fresh statistics will stoke rising concern about a steady decline in childhood vaccination rates since the Covid-19 pandemic, which have dropped below the coverage needed to maintain herd immunity from some diseases.
The analysis, conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, was published by the Lancet and showed 20,938 Australian children had not received any vaccinations in 2023.
