Australia news live: PM takes aim at ‘economic self-harm’ of tariffs; ‘no silver bullet’ to solving childcare sector crisis, Clare says | Australia news

Key events

PM declines to play ‘rule in, rule out’ game on tax reform

Anthony Albanese is not playing the “rule in, rule out” game on tax reform, just as his treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has done recently.

The Sky News host Andrew Clennell asks the prime minister whether there’s consideration for lowering income tax and raising the GST and there’s a bit of back-and-forth.

Albanese: “We’re going to do interviews between now and August, where we get asked by you and others to rule things in or out.”

Clennell: “We’re not asking you to rule it out.”

Albanese: “Yes, you’re asking if you’ll consider it …

Clennell: “What’s your instinct about it?”

Albanese: “Well, you can ask it different ways, but it’s the same question, Andrew, and it’s the same headline that you’re looking for. And what I want is a mature –”

Clennell: “I’m actually curious, as is the audience, I’m sure, to what your view is about increasing the GST and lowering income tax.”

Albanese: “Well, no, it’s not something that, that we have given any consideration to. But if people want to put forward ideas, we’re not saying these are the conditions, you know, you can put them up. We, of course, will take into account the response, and I’m a supporter of progressive taxation.”

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Updated at 23.57 EDT

Rudd no barrier to Australia’s relations with Trump, says PM

Anthony Albanese says Kevin Rudd has not been a barrier to Australia’s relations with the Trump administration, adding he’s only had “very positive” feedback about the former prime minister turned US ambassador.

Speaking at News Corp’s Economic Outlook, Albanese said:

As much as people might have had a view about Kevin [Rudd] over a period of time, no one could doubt his capacity, his hard work, his ability to work strongly. The discussions that I’ve had have been very positive, nothing but positive in comments that have been made to me. So he’s not a bar to any phone call, any meeting.

In 2020, Rudd, before being appointed ambassador, described Donald Trump as “the most destructive president in history” in a now-deleted tweet.

Trump, when asked about Rudd’s comments in a British TV interview in March last year, said Rudd was “not the brightest bulb” and “nasty”.

“He won’t be there long if that’s the case,” Trump said.

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Updated at 23.43 EDT

PM quizzed about a possible face-to-face meeting with Trump

Following his keynote address, Anthony Albanese is answering questions from the Sky News host Andrew Clennell.

To no one’s surprise, the first question is on Donald Trump.

Clennell asks the prime minister whether he’s more confident his face-to-face meeting with Trump will happen after Penny Wong’s visit to Washington DC this week.

Albanese says:

I’m confident as well that we will be constructive, but we know that no country has a better tariff, if you like, level than 10% now. We’ll continue to put our case [forward] …

Clennell then asks Albanese about Trump’s consideration of exempting Australia from the tariffs in March but later deciding not to.

The prime minister responds:

You know, when you know, well, when you negotiate with someone – he did say that, but he has also said that ‘there’s no more beautiful word in the English language than tariff’. Now we have, we have a different view. That wouldn’t be that, that wouldn’t even be, not in my, to quote, top 10 lists of all the things at the moment in the Oz [The Australian newspaper] this morning, that wouldn’t be in my top million of words.

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Updated at 23.38 EDT

Prime minister addresses News Corp’s Economic Outlook event

Anthony Albanese says Australia “does not need to go looking overseas” for its economic model in a veiled reference to Trump’s America First policies in the US.

In a keynote speech at News Corp’s Economic Outlook event on Friday, the prime minister mirrored language in his election victory speech in May as he outlined his vision for Australia in his second term of government.

Albanese said:

In all of this, our nation does not need to go looking overseas for an economic model to copy. There is nothing for us to gain from a race to the bottom on wages and conditions. Or the economic self-harm of tariffs. We want to do this the Australian way. Not talking Australia down. Holding true to our values of fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all. Investing in our people, their ability to adapt to new technology and to develop it. And drawing out the potential of our whole country.

It comes as Donald Trump’s global tariffs placed on US imports are expected to resume next week. Australia has yet to lock in an exemption from the 10% baseline tariffs on Australian goods.

Anthony Albanese speaks at the Australia’s Economic Outlook event in Sydney. Photograph: Max Mason-Hubers/AAPShare

Updated at 23.39 EDT

Greens urge Labor to take more action on price gouging

The Greens senator Nick McKim has called the prime minister’s economic agenda “a love letter to the Liberal party’s economic worldview”.

In a statement, McKim invites Labor to join a Greens push to make price gouging illegal and make big companies pay their fair share of tax:

The PM has today offered up a future where he cosies up to price gouging corporations to the detriment of ordinary people, climate and the environment.

Unlike the PM the Greens believe governments need to do more, not less, to address growing economic inequality and climate and environmental destruction. These challenges will not be solved by big corporations whose only agenda is to increase their profits.

The Greens will keep fighting to make price gouging illegal and make big corporations pay their fair share of tax so we can invest into social supports. We invite Labor to join us.

The prime minister is addressing the Australia’s Economic Outlook forum today, hosted by Sky News and the Australian.

Guardian Australia understands McKim’s comments were made before the prime minister’s speech took place.

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Updated at 23.35 EDT

Australian shares rise and edge toward new record high

The local share market has been edging higher after a stronger-than-expected US jobs report reaffirmed the strength of the world’s largest economy.

At noon today, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was up 14.2 points, or 0.17%, to 8,610.0 – less than 30 points from its all-time intraday high set three weeks ago, and on track to finish the week 1.1% higher than where it began.

The broader All Ordinaries was up 13.7 points, or 0.16%, to 8,847.3.

The gains follow another record-setting day on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite hit new records after the June non-farm payrolls report showed US employment rising more than expected.

– Australian Associated Press

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Updated at 23.14 EDT

Government pushes for federal childcare centre investigators to have authority to do spot checks

Jason Clare has said federal childcare centre investigators will have the ability to do spot checks and unannounced visits as part of new laws to be introduced in response to shocking allegations of child sexual abuse this week.

The education minister told Sky News on Friday that a new bill to be introduced in the upcoming sitting weeks will also allow the government to pull funding from centres who consistently fail to meet safety and quality standards.

The bill will also make sure that centres that aren’t meeting those minimum standards can’t expand and open another centre. But there’s another thing that the bill will do as well, and that gives the sort of people who work in my department, who investigate fraud in childcare centres, the ability to do spot checks, unannounced visits.

They won’t need a warrant. They won’t need the police to come with them when they’re investigating fraud in childcare centres.

Clare also flagged attorney generals around the country would meet to ensure criminal records are shared between jurisdictions in real-time but cautioned there was “no silver bullet”.

The truth is here there’s no silver bullet. There’s a whole bunch of things that we need to do, and this work will never end. There are always going to be more things that we need to do here, because there’s always going to be people who are going to try and break through the net to try to do the dastardly things that we’ve seen other people do.

The education minister, Jason Clare. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAPShare

Updated at 22.39 EDT

Jewish school security resemble ‘counter-terrorism’ squads

Jewish school principals say their security teams resemble counter-terrorism squads in an effort to keep students safe after a rise in antisemitism, AAP reports.

Giving evidence to a NSW parliamentary inquiry examining antisemitism in the state, leaders revealed schools had dealt with a barrage of incidents including frequent verbal abuse laden with Nazi references.

The inquiry was set up in February after a swathe of incidents in Sydney, including the firebombing of a non-religious childcare centre located near a synagogue and Jewish primary school in the city’s east.

That the centre was targeted for simply being near Jewish institutions highlighted the scope of the issue, Moriah College principal Miriam Hasofer said.

She said her school was spending $3.9m a year on security, an 86% increase compared with before 7 October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel. Moriah College has dealt with one security incident per week in 2025, Hasofer said:

Education is constantly disrupted, our teachers are drained, our wellbeing team is overstretched, our leaders are operating like a counter-terrorism unit, and this has become our normal.

A spate of high-profile attacks over summer included the targeting of a Jewish community leader’s former home and the spray-painting of antisemitic slurs in various prominent locations.

At a previous hearing, Jewish Australians labelled the inquiry “troubling” because it risks exacerbating antisemitism by focusing on just one form of racism.

Moriah College principal, Miriam Hasofer, says the school’s security costs have skyrocketed. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAPShare

Updated at 22.52 EDT

Albanese government to commit $432m towards Orica’s Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub

The federal government will provide $432m towards Orica’s Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub after Origin Energy backed out of plans for a hydrogen hub in the region.

In a joint statement, the minister for climate change and energy, Chris Bowen, and the member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon, said the project would secure the future of ammonia and explosives manufacturing at Kooragang Island by reducing its reliance on gas.

Located on Kooragang Island in the heart of the Hunter region, they said the project would deploy a 50 MW electrolyser powered by renewable energy, producing around 4,700 tonnes of green hydrogen each year.

Delivered through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena), they said the funding would bring down costs and accelerate the uptake of renewable hydrogen in heavy industry.

This announcement follows the $814m awarded to Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ Murchison Green Hydrogen Project in Western Australia earlier this year.

Bowen:

This investment shows we can secure existing industries such as ammonia and fertiliser production by transforming how they’re powered – creating new clean-tech jobs and future-proofing the Hunter’s economic base.

Regional communities like the Hunter will lead the way in Australia’s transformation into a renewable energy superpower – and this project is a great example of what that looks like in practice.

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Updated at 22.24 EDT

Labor’s super tax plan ‘troubling’, says Philip Ruddock

Former attorney general Philip Ruddock has called Labor’s plan to increase tax on superannuation over $3m “troubling”.

The former federal Liberal minister told the Saturday Telegraph:

It’s a contributory scheme and people are required to pay a substantial part of their earnings.

The idea when people have been making those contributions over such a long period of time that you’d suddenly be stripped of those benefits is troubling.

If you’re then looking at trying to tax gains in value in assets that the fund might hold … the principle in my view is what’s flawed.

Philip Ruddock, pictured here in April 2021. Photograph: Joel Carrett NewsWire/AAPShare

Updated at 22.10 EDT

Man shot dead during siege after firing at police with alleged ‘homemade firearm’

Police were called to Menzies Drive in Daisy Hill following a report that a man discharged a firearm. There was a siege in the shed for several hours before the man discharged shots towards police, who returned fire, just before 10pm, the police statement said.

Watch the police update here:

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Updated at 22.11 EDT

Victoria will legislate for permanent First Peoples’ Assembly later this year

The Victorian government will introduce a bill to parliament later this year to make the First Peoples’ Assembly permanent, giving it authority to make decisions and set rules on issues directly affecting Aboriginal people in the state.

As first reported by Guardian Australia earlier this week, the Victorian government and the First Peoples’ Assembly have confirmed the statewide treaty bill will establish the assembly as an ongoing representative body to provide advice to government.

In a joint update to treaty negotiations, released on Friday morning, the two parties said the bill, if passed, would allow the assembly to “make decisions and rules about specific matters that directly impact First Peoples in the state”.

Read the full story here:

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Alleged victims of Melbourne childcare worker face ‘years of trauma’, says Sophie Scamps

Independent MP Sophie Scamps says the children who are the alleged victims of a Melbourne childcare worker charged with sexually abusing infants and children in his care will have “years of trauma”.

Scamps, who is a general practitioner, spoke on Nine’s Today program earlier this morning:

It’s going to have a huge impact for the children … There will be years of trauma that needs to be worked on. And for the families as well. Going forward, it will have a lifelong impact unless it’s dealt with now.

Independent MP Sophie Scamps. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The GuardianShare

Updated at 21.20 EDT

Police ‘attempted to negotiate’ with alleged gunman in Victorian siege before fatal police shooting

Victoria police are giving an update on a fatal police shooting in Daisy Hill last night.

Police were called to Menzies Drive following a report that a man discharged a firearm just before 3pm yesterday, police said in a statement.

Officers attended and ascertained shots had been fired inside a shed, police said in a live update.

A 39-year-old man “hid inside the shed when police attended, making threats to shoot those police and also indicating that he had a knife and bomb/explosives at his disposal,” police said. “He wasn’t keen at all on engaging with police, who attempted to negotiate with him but unfortunately could not.”

There was a siege in the shed for several hours before the man discharged shots towards police, who returned fire, just before 10pm, the police statement said.

“Unfortunately, a confrontation occurred just prior to 10pm, where the male exited the shed, produced a firearm and shot at police,” police said in the update. “Sadly, they were forced to respond, exchange gun fire with him and at this time he is deceased.”

No police or other members of community were injured.

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Updated at 20.53 EDT