The Nightly LIVE blog: Wong, Farell seek tariff meeting with US government ‘as soon as humanly possible’
Donald Trump is on a worldwide offensive, Albanese and Dutton continue to square off and Australia is battling a natural disaster.
Stay up to date with all the news in our live blog below.
Key Events
Aussie share market open and plunging after Trump tariff announcements
The Aussie share market has started the week deep in the red, plunging almost 2 per cent as investors weigh the impact of US President Donald Trump’s savage wave of tariffs imposed on Mexico, Canada and China.
The ASX200 dived 1.8 per cent in the first 30 minutes of trade, coming off last week’s record highs, to sit at 8378.10 points at 7.30am.
Not one sector was spared in the sell-off, with real estate, banking, health care, consumer and discretionary and miners taking the full brunt of Investor jitters.
Police arrest after another weekend of anti-Semitic abuse
After yet another wekeend of ant-Semitic behaviour, police have moved quickly and made an arrest in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
A man will face court on Monday charged with intimidation following and alleged antisemitic abuse in Bondi.
Officers attached to Strike Force Pearl were patrolling the Bondi area at about 7.40am on Saturday, when they were flagged down by a woman reporting antisemitic abuse by a man allegedly seen in the yard of private premises.
Following inquiries, a 21-year-old man was arrested at a unit on Bondi Road, Bondi at on Sunday and adds to a bulging list of offenders facing charges for offences in recent months.
BREAKING: Labor outstrips Libs as biggest political donors revealed
Ellen Ransley is repohave rting that political parties and candidates received a share of hundreds of millions of dollars in political donations in the last financial year.
The figures, released by the Australian Electoral Commission, show teal backer Robert Keldoulis and his investment firm Keldoulis Investments Pty Limited were among the biggest donors of 2023-24 — giving Climate 200 a combined $1.1 million of its total $5.99 million in 2023-24.
Visy chairman Anthony Pratt was also a prolific donor, handing Labor $1 million through Pratt Holdings Pty Ltd.
Clive Palmer, a notable presence on the last few annual returns, was absent on this year’s list after his political party was de-registered.
The two major parties, meanwhile, received a share of at least $130 million in donations.
Coalition pressures Albanese government over anti-Semitism attack response
Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume has said the nation’s anti-Semitism crisis will be a “priority issue” as parliament returns for what may be the last sitting before the Federal election.
Antisemitic attacks were designed to “intimidate, threaten and to terrorise the Jewish community and to break up social cohesion in Australia,” she told Sky News.
The Coalition is expected this week to go on the attack against the Labor Government about its record in handling a spike in anti-Semitic crimes in recent months, including the firebombing of a synagogue, childcare centre and the discovery of a caravan laden with explosives and containing anti-Jewish messages.
“We’ve been very concerned to hear about more attacks over the weekend in Perth and, again, in Melbourne,” Ms Hume said on Monday morning.
“It’s about time that the Albanese government took a leadership role and stamped out anti-Semitism in this country,” she added.
Labor kicks off Dutton ‘attack ads’ ahead of election call
Labor have launched the first of their Peter Dutton ‘attack ads’ with the federal oppisiton leader firmly in their sights as the run the the 2025 election heats up.
The ad states “You’ll be worse off under Dutton” and goes on to list a raft of measures that the coalition have voted down.
Cost of living was a focal point in the ads that began airing nationally on Sunday night.
Wong confirms nature positive doesn’t have support and will be parked
Senior cabinet minister Penny Wong has confirmed the controversial nature positive laws have a lack of support and will be parked for this term of parliament.
The idea of a federal environmental protection body was briefly back on the table last week before the PM took them off again.
Senator Wong told ABC News on Monday that the Government was clear the laws “don’t have sufficient support across different stakeholders” and would not be proceeding.
She acknowledged the Government needed to take another look at how it approaches the issues including how it worked with stakeholders.
“We understand the importance of making sure these sorts of reforms are dealt with in a way that engages stakeholders and which some of the misinformation and concerns about them can be dealt with properly,” she said.
Cabinet colleague Murray Watt also said the laws would not happen this term, although he left the door open for Labor trying again should it win the election.
‘As soon as humanly possible’: Government seeks urgent meeting with US on tariffs
Australia is in a strong position to deal with the economic fallout of US President Donald Trump’s steep 25 per cent trade tariffs on Canadian and Mexican products and ten per cent on goods from China, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Monday.
The Albanese Government has stepped up measures to reassure the business community after the tariffs were announced at the weekend, with Trade Minister Don Farrell seeking talks “as soon as it humanly possible” with his US counterpart, the AFR reports.
“We are obviously concerned about this development. Given that Australia is a trading nation, there’s about one in four Australian jobs that depend on trade, and we have a very strong trade relationship with the US that we want to see remain intact,” said Employment Minister Murray Watt.
Trump’s Secretary of State warns Panama over China canal control
Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino has stressed that sovereignty over his nation’s namesake canal is not up for debate, after talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but he outlined the possibility of repatriating more migrants.
The canal has emerged as a flashpoint between the two nations, as US President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that the United States must retake the waterway key to global trade due to his claims of undue Chinese influence.
“We cannot allow any foreign power - particularly China - to hold that kind of potential control over it that they do,” Rubio said.
“That just can’t continue.”
Netanyahu has left Israel for first Trump meeting
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has left Israel for a meeting with US President Donald Trump and will be the first foreign leader to visit Mr Trump since his inauguration in January.
Netanyahu will look to strengthen the US/Israel ties as the ceasefire in Gaza holds with negotiations aimed at a second phase expected to begin this week.
“The decisions we made in the war have already changed the face of the Middle East,” Mr Netanyahu said at the airport before his departure on Sunday.
“Our decisions and the courage of our soldiers have redrawn the map.
“But I believe that working closely with President Trump, we can redraw it even further and for the better.”
Trump ordered airstrikes kill at least 46 militants in Somalia
At least 46 militants from the Islamic State group were killed in a US air strike on their positions in northern Somalia after Donald Trump ordered the attack.
“Among them are 12 foreign fighters,” said General Mohamed Ahmed, the military spokesman for the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, where the attack took place on Saturday.
“We believe they come mainly from Arab countries.”
US President Donald Trump wrote on Saturday on X that he had ordered the air strikes.
