Josh Butler

Albanese has worked out a way to deal with Trump – even if there are areas where they don’t see eye to eye The warmness shown by the US president was held up as vindication of the PM’s foreign policy acumen, and the nerve he had shown in not begging for an earlier meeting

Outside the White House cabinet room hangs a fan-fiction painting of Donald Trump flanked by Abraham Lincoln & Ronald Reagan, proudly displayed amid a gallery of other Trump tributes

Some colour from a few hours inside Trump's gaudy and gilded White House
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Albanese hints US could still seek changes to Aukus agreement amid review Speaking in Washington, the prime minister downplayed US comments about ‘ambiguity’ but conceded he knows that the Pentagon want some updates

Asked if Trump’s govt had told him about changes they wanted, Albanese replied: "Yes, but we don’t make announcements about AUKUS and structures at a press conference like this"

Comes after US naval secretary "clarify some of the ambiguity" in AUKUS
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Albanese at the White House: Trump endorses Aukus, signs $8.5bn rare earths deal and calls PM ‘great leader’ President says US has no better friend than Australia but tells ambassador Kevin Rudd “I don’t like you’

Trump meeting:
- endorses Aukus
- praises Albanese as a "great" PM
- signs multi-billion critical minerals deal
- tells Rudd "I don't like you" (but appears to have forgotten past criticisms)

Big morning in Washington DC, hello Australia
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Labor government announces major changes to superannuation tax proposal, in a big backdown

$3 million super threshold to now be indexed up to $10m

Also increasing the low-income super tax offset - says changes will "better target superannuation concessions for large balances"

Sussan Ley fights for conservative airtime as she struggles to hold together a fractured opposition | Josh Butler Strip away the pinball machines and photo booth props at Cpac, and the scale of Ley’s challenge in simply keeping the Coalition alive, let alone making it competitive again, becomes clear

The major theme from a lineup of Liberal rightwingers boiled down to: please don’t abandon the Coalition, especially for One Nation, or start a new party

My report from conservative political conference CPAC in Brisbane, and what it means for the opposition

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Sussan Ley fights for conservative airtime as she struggles to hold together a fractured opposition | Josh Butler Strip away the pinball machines and photo booth props at Cpac, and the scale of Ley’s challenge in simply keeping the Coalition alive, let alone making it competitive again, becomes clear * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Aside from one crude caricature distributed in the crowd, Liberal leader Sussan Ley’s name was almost entirely absent from the rightwing Conservative Political Action Conference in Brisbane. But stripping away the sideshow attractions – Pauline Hanson’s pinball machine, George Christensen’s photo booth props – the thread running through the two-day event was the challenge Ley has to simply hold her party together amid a volatile fracturing of the conservative landscape, let alone for the Coalition to be competitive again. Continue reading...

Sussan Ley fights for conservative airtime as she struggles to hold together a fractured opposition | Josh Butler

Tony Abbott implores Cpac to give Liberals ‘one last chance’ and condemned party’s ‘factional warlords’ Former PM, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and conference chair Warren Mundine among speakers urging conservative voters to unite

Tony Abbott asks CPAC conference to give Liberals "one last chance" - urging against UK Reform-style new conservative party

Abbott calls for “reform” of Liberals & “factional warlords”

Other Coalition MPs urge against shift to right-wing minor parties

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Sussan Ley says she ‘misspoke’ after comments that Coalition doesn’t believe in setting climate targets Liberal leader later clarifies she doesn’t support setting targets while in opposition Liberal leader Sussan Ley has indicated the Coalition won’t set a 2030 or 2035 climate target unless they one day return to government, saying her colleagues didn’t back locking in an emissions goal while they remained in opposition. It came as Ley had to clean up her own error, claiming she “misspoke” after initially saying her party “don’t believe in setting targets at all from opposition or from government”. She later clarified she only meant in opposition, prompting ridicule from Anthony Albanese who claimed the opposition “changes its policies from hour to hour”. Continue reading...

Sussan Ley says she ‘misspoke’ after comments that Coalition doesn’t believe in setting climate targets

“It’s very simple Brian. The Coalition believes in targets. We believe we have a target of having coming up with a target if we ever get back to running the government. Which of course is in of itself another target, which we have targeted to achieve sometime after 2050.”

Sussan Ley says she ‘misspoke’ after comments that Coalition doesn’t believe in setting climate targets Liberal leader later clarifies she doesn’t support setting targets while in opposition

Sussan Ley indicates Coalition won’t set 2030 / 2035 climate target unless they return to Govt

Comes after a gaffe (since walked back) that Coalition "don’t believe in setting targets at all"

PM Albanese says Oppn “changes its policies from hour to hour”
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Government announces billions in new climate/energy funding

- $5b Net Zero Fund for decarbonising, renewables, manufacturing
- $2b for Clean Energy Finance Corporation
- $1.1b for Clean Fuels
- $40m for EV charging
- $85m to help household and business
- $50m for sports clubs

🚨PM Albanese confirms Australia's 2035 emissions reduction target is a range of 62-70%

Calls it "a responsible target supported by science and a practical plan to get there and built on proven technology"

Calls it right for environment, jobs and national interest

great moments in press conference transcript history:

Breaking: PM Albanese says ASIO has evidence the Iranian government "directed at least two" anti-Semitic attacks in Australia

Government expelling Iranian ambassador - and will list IRGC as a terror organisation

News live: Albanese announces Australia will recognise Palestinian statehood in September Follow live

Albanese says Australian recognition is predicated on Palestinian Authority commitments including:
- no role for Hamas in future Palestinian state
- recognising Israel's right to exist in peace and security. - demilitarise
- hold general elections

follow live:
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🚨breaking: PM Albanese says Australia will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN general assembly next month

‘Turned inside out with disgust’: Australia must sanction Benjamin Netanyahu, Bob Carr urges Former Labor foreign minister says Canberra must seek to be a world leader – not wait for the US or UK – and recognise a Palestinian state

former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr says Australia should sanction Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and move quickly to recognise Palestinian statehood, saying it would send “a message that we are turned inside out with disgust" over Gaza
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major statement from PM Albanese on Gaza, Australia's strongest condemnation yet:

"The situation has gone beyond the world’s worst fears"

"Israel’s denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored"

Australia condemns Israel for ‘indefensible’ Gaza deaths as it joins coalition of countries denouncing Israel Australia and 27 other countries said it was ‘horrifying’ that over 800 Palestinians were killed while seeking aid

"It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid. The Israeli Government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable.”

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‘Gross overreach’: Labor group urges Albanese to reject key parts of antisemitism envoy plan Exclusive: Labor Friends of Palestine concerned by Jillian Segal’s recommendation government adopt IHRA’s contested definition of antisemitism

New: A “groundswell” of Labor members are urging the government to reject key recommendations from the federal antisemitism envoy

Labor MPs & members say they're concerned over wider adoption of IHRA definition of antisemitism
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Universities and artists face funding threat under antisemitism plan being considered by Australian government Antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal also urges Labor government to bolster education and seek new powers to deport visitors

Jillian Segal's plan to Labor Govt on anti-semitism (yet to be adopted) suggests:

- cancelling visas
- “report card” on uni campuses
- tearing up grants to academics & arts orgs
- “monitor" media outlets "to avoid accepting false or distorted narratives"
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Labor to move quickly on special envoy’s plan to combat antisemitism Jillian Segal to present recommendations urging government to take stronger action against abuse towards Jewish Australians

Albanese and Jillian Segal to make anti-semitism announcement this morning. A package of suggestions, developed by Segal with with Jewish community groups, likely to include issues around online abuse and better education around modern face of antisemitism
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This is just an incredible clip and quote amid everything going on right now. This will be played on repeat for a long time to come

Iran and Israel "fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the fuck they're doing"

YouTube should not be exempt from Australia’s under-16s social media ban, eSafety commissioner says Julie Inman Grant has urged the Albanese government to rethink its decision to carve out the video sharing platform from new rules which apply to other apps

YouTube should be included in under-16s social media ban, eSafety Commissioner says, urging the government to cancel a carve-out

Julie Inman Grant also says the under-16s ban should address social media features like stories, streaks and AI chatbots
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Australian government backs US strikes on Iran but urges ‘peaceful settlement from here’ Penny Wong refuses to say whether Pine Gap communications facility in NT was used in US bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites

Penny Wong says Australia supports the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities - but refused to say whether Pine Gap was used in the bombing, and said the US has not asked Australia to get involved in any future military engagement

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"ADF personnel and aircraft are being deployed to the Middle East... to help Australians, they are not there for combat" foreign minister Penny Wong says

emphasises a 2nd time the Defence deployment "is to assist Australians & not for combat purposes. It is part of contingency arrangements"

PM Albanese's office says it's "understandable" Trump is going back to Washington, and that Australia is concerned about Middle East situation

A meeting with Trump at the G7, before the President leaves today, is now not expected by Australian officials

Australian government downplays ‘natural’ decision by Pentagon to review Aukus defence pact Australia’s minister for defenc says there is still strong support for the trilateral agreement in Washington

Defence minister Marles downplays Trump review into Aukus, says it was “natural” the US would review it

Former US ambassador & Liberal treasurer Joe Hockey says Trump is “transactional” and says PM Albanese has "something to trade" when they meet
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Pentagon launches review of US-UK-Australia Aukus security alliance Future of $240bn defense pact in doubt as Trump administration reviews it to see it aligns with ‘America first’ agenda

🚨 Breaking: US and Trump reviewing Aukus deal

Pentagon: "department is reviewing Aukus as part of ensuring that this initiative of the previous administration is aligned with [Trump's] ‘America first’ agenda"

Australia has already paid the USA $800m
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Australia sanctions two ‘extremist’ Israeli ministers for inciting violence against Palestinians Foreign minister Penny Wong says ministers were proponents of ‘unlawful and violent Israeli settlement enterp

Wong on Gaza: "I’m sending a message from the Australian government, alongside the overwhelming majority of the international community, that you are obliged to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza for civilians"
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