Tag Archives: oceania

Billionaire packing giant Anthony Pratt, chairman of Pratt Industries and Visy, was Labor's largest individual benefactor in the previous financial year after donating $1 million to the ALP.

Pratt's donation was the biggest among either party for the 2023-24 period, while the Liberal Party's largest donor was Meriton Properties, which donated $590,000 across the federal, NSW and Victorian Liberal party branches.

Meriton Properties is owned by billionaire real estate developer Harry Triguboff.

The Coalition was also handed $500,000 from mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, who became the party's second-biggest donor through donations made to multiple party accounts via her company Hancock Prospecting.

All up, Labor received $1.3 million in reportable donations while the Coalition lagged only slightly behind at $1.2 million.

The Nationals were given around $1 million in donations.

Labor and the ALP weren't the only parties to enjoy six-figure donations over the period.

The Greens were given a total of $575,000 across various branches from famous Gold Coast gambler and mathematician Duncan Turpie.

Teal-backer Robert Keldoulis and his investment firm Keldoulis Investments Pty Limited gave the biggest donation of the year, with a cool $1.1 million donated to Climate 200 during the financial year.

Meanwhile, the largest individual donor for Pauline Hanson's One Nation was stockbroker Angus Aitken, who gave $50,000.

Aitken also gave $230,000 to Liberal Party vehicles.

The donations were made public today in filings released by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), which tracked reportable donations made to political parties.

The AEC receipts also include public funding and other payments which aren't donations.

The Coalition took in $11 million worth of receipts during the 2023-24 period, while Labor raked in just over $15 million.

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Music’s biggest stars hit the red carpet for Grammy Awards

2025-02-03 FreeNews

The 67th Grammy Awards are finally here, and the biggest names in Hollywood are hitting the red carpet at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

With no shortage of glitz and glamour, here are the best fashion moments from the night.

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US’s top diplomat threatens action over Panama Canal in visit

2025-02-03 FreeNews

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Sunday that the Central American ally must immediately reduce Chinese influence over the Panama Canal area or face potential retaliation from the Trump administration.

Rubio, on his first foreign trip as America's top diplomat, held face-to-face talks with Mulino, who has resisted pressure from the new US government over Panama's management of a waterway that is vital to global trade.

Mulino told reporters after the meeting that Rubio made "no real threat of retaking the canal or the use of force."

Speaking on behalf of President Donald Trump, who has demanded that the canal be returned to US control, Rubio told Mulino that Trump had made a preliminary determination that China's presence in the canal area violates a treaty that led to the US turning the waterway over to Panama in 1999.

That treaty calls for the permanent neutrality of the American-built canal, which Rubio planned to tour later Sunday.

"Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the treaty," the State Department said in a summary of the meeting.

The statement was unusually blunt in diplomatic terms, but in keeping with the tenor and tone Trump has set for foreign policy.

Trump has been increasing pressure on Washington's neighbors and allies, including the canal demand and announcing Saturday that he was imposing major tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

That prompted retaliation from those close allies, launching a trade war.

Mulino, meanwhile, called his talks with Rubio "respectful" and "positive" and said he did not "feel like there's a real threat against the treaty and its validity."

He acknowledged that China's role in the ports at either end of the canal has raised concerns with Washington. But the president said the consortium controlling them was being audited and that the canal authority would give Rubio a more detailed explanation.

Mulino did say Panama would not be renewing its agreement with China's Belt and Road Initiative when it expires.

Panama joined the initiative, which promotes and funds infrastructure and development projects that critics say leave poor member countries heavily indebted to China, after it dropped diplomatic recognition of Taiwan and recognised Beijing.

About 200 people marched in the capital on Sunday, carrying Panamanian flags and shouting "Marco Rubio out of Panama," "Long live national sovereignty" and "One territory, one flag" while the meeting was going on.

Some burned a banner with images of Trump and Rubio after being stopped short of the presidential palace by riot police.

Rubio also pressed Trump's top focus — curbing illegal immigration — telling Panama's president that it was important to collaborate on the work and thanked him for taking back migrants.

Rubio's trip, however, comes as a US foreign aid funding freeze and stop-work orders have shut down US-funded programs targeting illegal migration and crime in Central American countries.

In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece on Friday, Rubio said mass migration, drugs and hostile policies pursued by Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have wreaked havoc, and port facilities at the either end of the canal are run by a China-based company, leaving the waterway vulnerable to pressure from the Beijing government.

"The president's been pretty clear he wants to administer the canal again," Rubio said Thursday.

"Obviously, the Panamanians are not big fans of that idea. That message has been brought very clear."

Despite Mulino's rejection of any negotiation over ownership, some believe Panama may be open to a compromise under which canal operations on both sides are taken away from the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports company, which was given a 25-year no-bid extension to run them.

An audit into the suitability of that extension is already under way and could lead to a rebidding process.

What is unclear is whether Trump would accept the transfer of the concession to an American or European company as meeting his demands, which appear to cover more than just operations.

Rubio's trip, which will also take him to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, comes amid a freeze in US foreign assistance. The State Department said Sunday that Rubio had approved waivers for certain critical programs in countries he is visiting but details of those were not immediately available.

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‘Dumbest trade war in history’: Trump’s tariffs a $2.25 trillion gamble

2025-02-03 FreeNews

ANALYSIS: US President Donald Trump is on the verge of hitting America's three biggest trading partners with sweeping tariffs, a far more aggressive use of his favourite economic weapon than anything he did during his first term.

The looming import taxes on Mexico, Canada and China will be a major test of Trump's unorthodox use of tariffs, which he's described as "the greatest thing ever invented".

It's an enormous gamble, arguably a bigger one than any economic policy Trump enacted during his four-plus years in the White House. And this strategy has the potential to upend the thing many voters care about the most: the economy and the cost of living.

But Trump's tariffs pose a big risk: They could backfire, lifting already-high consumer prices at the grocery store, rocking the shaky stock market or killing jobs in a full-blown trade war.

"This may be the biggest own-goal yet," Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told CNN in a phone interview.

"This is a huge gamble. It's a recipe for slowing down the economy and increasing inflation."

The Wall Street Journal went a step further, publishing a scathing op-ed on Saturday titled: "The Dumbest Trade War in History."

The op-ed argued that Trump's justification for an "economic assault" on Canada and Mexico "makes no sense" and warned the strategy could end in disaster.

A very different world

Trump views tariffs as an almost magical negotiating tool, a powerful way to gain leverage over friends and allies.

He has argued that tariffs are necessary to address major concerns, including the trade deficit, illegal immigration and the flow of illicit drugs.

Trump and his supporters often point out, correctly, that tariffs during his first term did not cause problematic inflation.

But those were different tariffs, applied in a very different world at a very different time.

Trump set in motion tariffs on $US1.4 trillion ($2.25 trillion) of imported goods at the weekend.

That's more than triple the $US380 billion ($609.8 billion) worth of foreign goods that were hit with tariffs during Trump' first term, according to estimates from the Tax Foundation.

During Trump's first term, inflation wasn't really a problem.

Today, life is so much more expensive, at the grocery store, at the car dealership and almost everywhere else. Consumers, investors and Federal Reserve officials are far more sensitive to even moderate price increases now.

The flags of Canada and the United States fly outside a hotel in downtown Ottawa, on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Why 'burn your own house down?'

The White House has argued Trump's tariffs won't spell trouble for the US economy, but some economists and trade experts are deeply concerned because these levies are aiming at America's closest neighbours, Canada and Mexico.

During his first term, Trump threatened, but never pulled the trigger on, tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He was talked out of such moves by his advisers.

Hitting Canada and Mexico with blanket tariffs could cause supply chain chaos in the closely interconnected North American economy, leading to higher prices.

"To impose tariffs as high as 25 per cent on our closest trading partners risks decimating the North American economic powerhouse" — which the US relies on said Christine McDaniel, a former trade official in President George W Bush's administration who is now a senior research fellow at George Mason University's Mercatus Centre.

"Why would you want to burn your own house down?"

That's especially true in the auto industry, where parts often cross the border multiple time before a car arrives at the dealership. Wolfe Research has estimated the price of a typical car sold in the US could increase by $US3000 due to tariffs.

Grocery store prices at risk

The oil industry has pleaded with the White House to shield crude from the tariffs because Canada is the largest foreign source of oil. Analysts have warned that tariffs could increase petrol prices in the Great Lakes, Midwest and the Rockies.

That's why the White House trimmed tariffs on Canadian energy to 10 per cent, instead of the full 25 per cent.

Grocery store prices are a major pain point that weighed on voters this past election. But Mexico is America's largest foreign source of fruit and vegetables, while Canada is No.1 in grains, livestock/meats and sugar/tropical products.

Lovely said she is "very" confident the US tariffs will cause higher prices for consumers – especially at the grocery store and on building materials. She noted that shifts in the value of currencies could blunt some, but not all, of the price impact.

"It has to increase prices," said Lovely.

"There's no way you can just levy this tax and then suddenly, poof, this burden disappears – even though that's what he wants to convince us is true."

Tariff-driven price hikes won't happen immediately. Instead, they could play out in a drip-drip-drip fashion as the impact flows through complex supply chains.

"It's not like everyone will mark up their shelves tomorrow, and then it's done," said Lovely.

"You'll see a slow pass-through to prices. One week it will be at the grocery store, another it will be at Home Depot."

The problem is that higher input costs, along with retaliatory tariffs, could hurt spending by both businesses and consumers – and alarm investors and Fed officials.

Trump's tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, along with those countries' retaliatory tariffs, could wipe out 1.5 percentage points from US gross domestic product growth (GDP) in 2025 and another 2.1 percentage points in 2026, according to estimates by EY chief economist Gregory Daco.

"Steep tariff increases against US trading partners could create a stagflationary shock—a negative economic hit combined with an inflationary impulse—while also triggering financial market volatility," Daco wrote in a report on Friday.

'Playing with fire'

A big wildcard is how the Fed will respond.

Although Fed chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues might be willing to overlook a one-time hit to prices, tariffs could force the US central bank to further delay interest rate cuts.

The real key for Fed officials will be how tariffs alter consumer psychology, if at all.

"If tariffs drive inflation expectations higher, the Fed may feel pressured to keep rates restrictive for longer, tightening financial conditions and weighing on growth momentum," Daco said in the new report.

Of course, it's still too early to say exactly how all of this will unfold. There are many variables, including how complex supply chains and consumers react.

It's entirely possible that a last-minute agreement is reached before the levies do real damage.

Still, spiking tariffs by this much on this wide a range of goods is a risky strategy, one that not even Trump tried in his first term.

"The administration is playing with fire," said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM.

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Arrest over online ancient artefacts auctions in Australia and elsewhere

2025-02-03 FreeNews

Authorities in Greece say they have arrested a suspect accused of setting up online auctions to sell ancient Greek artefacts across multiple countries, including the US, Britain, Canada, Australia, and Italy.

The suspect, a woman who described as a foreign national but was not further identified, was detained in Athens by police officers tasked with combating antiquities trafficking, the agency said on Friday.

Officers who searched her home seized multiple ancient relics including pottery fragments, figurine pieces, and a statuette of a satyr, a creature from Greek mythology.

The suspect was referred to a public prosecutor to be charged. No further details were immediately available.

Under Greek law, the transfer of ownership of antiquities without legal authorisation is punishable by up to two years in prison, with sentences of up to 10 years for more serious related offences.

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Trade war looms as Mexico and Canada retaliate to Trump’s tariffs

2025-02-02 FreeNews

US President Donald Trump has signed an order to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China, drawing swift retaliation from the country's North American neighbours in an emerging trade war.

The Republican president posted on social media that the tariffs were necessary "to protect Americans", pressing the three nations to do more to curb the manufacture and export of illicit fentanyl and for Canada and Mexico to reduce illegal immigration into the US.

The action fulfilled one of Trump's commitments to voters but threw the global economy and Trump's own political mandate to lower prices into turmoil.

The tariffs, if sustained, could cause inflation to significantly worsen, possibly eroding voters' trust that Trump could as promised lower the prices of groceries, fuel, housing, cars and other goods.

Trump declared an economic emergency in order to place duties of 10 per cent on all imports from China and 25 per cent on imports from Mexico and Canada.

But energy imported from Canada, including oil, natural gas and electricity, would be taxed at a 10 per cent rate.

The action provoked an economic standoff with America's two largest trading partners in Mexico and Canada, upending a decades-old trade relationship with the possibility of harsh reprisals by those two nations.

Mexico's president immediately ordered retaliatory tariffs and Canada's prime minister said the country would put matching 25 per cent tariffs on up to $US155 billion in US imports.

"We categorically reject the White House's slander that the Mexican government has alliances with criminal organisations, as well as any intention of meddling in our territory," Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote in a post on X while saying she had instructed her economy secretary to implement a response that includes retaliatory tariffs and other measures in defense of Mexico's interests.

"If the United States government and its agencies wanted to address the serious fentanyl consumption in their country, they could fight the sale of drugs on the streets of their major cities, which they don't do and the laundering of money that this illegal activity generates that has done so much harm to its population."

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country's government "firmly deplores and opposes this move and will take necessary countermeasures to defend its legitimate rights and interests".

China began regulating fentanyl-related drugs as a class of controlled substances in 2019 and conducted "counternarcotics cooperation with the US," the ministry said, calling on the US government to correct what it considers wrongful actions.

The Ministry of Commerce in China said it would file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organisation for the "wrongful practices of the US" and take measures to safeguard its rights and interests.Trump's order includes a mechanism to escalate the rates charged by the US against retaliation by the other countries, raising the spectre of an even more severe economic disruption.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canadian duties on $US30 billion in trade in American alcohol and fruit will take effect on Tuesday, when the US tariffs go into effect.

The flags of Canada and the United States fly outside a hotel in downtown Ottawa, on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

He opened his address to Canadians with a message aimed at American consumers.

"It will have real consequences for you, the American people," he said, saying it would result in higher prices on groceries and other goods.

Trudeau channelled the views of many Canadians who were feeling betrayed by their neighbour and longtime ally, reminding Americans that Canadian troops fought alongside them in Afghanistan and helped them respond to myriad crises from wildfires in California to Hurricane Katrina.

"The actions taken today by the White House split us apart instead of bringing us together," Trudeau said, warning in French that it could bring about "dark times" for many people.

He encouraged Canadians to "choose Canadian products and services rather than American ones".

The premier of Canadian province British Columbia, David Eby, called on residents to stop buying liquor from US "red" states and said it was removing American alcohol brands from government store shelves as a response to the tariffs.

In a televised message, Eby deemed the Trump's administration decision as "a declaration of economic war against a trusted ally and friend" and that he will stand up for his citizens and all Canadians in general.

"Effective today, I have directed BC liquor sales to immediately stop buying American liquor from red states," he said.

"Liquor store employees will be removing the most popular of these brands from government store shelves."

The tariffs will go into effect on Tuesday, setting a showdown in North America that could potentially sabotage economic growth.

A new analysis by the Budget Lab at Yale laid out the possible damage to the US economy, saying the average US household would lose the equivalent of $US1170 in income from the taxes.

Economic growth would slow and inflation would worsen — and the situation could be even worse if the countries retaliate.

A senior US administration official, insisting on anonymity to brief reporters, said the lower rate on energy reflected a desire to minimise any disruptive increases on the price of gasoline or utilities.

That's a sign White House officials understand the gamble they're taking on inflation.

Price spikes under former President Joe Biden led to voter frustration that helped to return Trump to the White House last year.

The order signed by Trump contained no mechanism for granting exceptions, the official said, a possible blow to homebuilders who rely on Canadian lumber as well as farmers, automakers and other industries.

The Trump administration put the tariffs in place to force the three countries to stop the spread and manufacturing of fentanyl, in addition to pressuring Canada and Mexico to limit any illegal immigration into the United States.

The official did not provide specific benchmarks that could be met to lift the new tariffs, saying only that the best measure would be fewer Americans dying from fentanyl addiction.

The order would also allow for tariffs on Canadian imports of less than $US800.

Imports below that sum are currently able to cross into the United States without customs and duties.

"It doesn't make much economic sense,'' said William Reinsch, senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and a former US trade official.

"Historically, most of our tariffs on raw materials have been low because we want to get cheaper materials so our manufacturers will be competitive … Now, what's he talking about? He's talking about tariffs on raw materials. I don't get the economics of it.''

The Republican president is making a major political bet that his actions will not significantly worsen inflation, cause financial aftershocks that could destabilise the worldwide economy or provoke a voter backlash.

AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate in last year's election, found that the U.S. was split on support for tariffs.

With the tariffs, Trump is honoring promises that are at the core of his economic and national security philosophy.

But the announcement showed his seriousness around the issue as some Trump allies had played down the threat of higher import taxes as mere negotiating tactics.

The president is preparing more import taxes in a sign that tariffs will be an ongoing part of his second term.

On Friday, he mentioned imported computer chips, steel, oil and natural gas, as well as against copper, pharmaceutical drugs and imports from the European Union — moves that could essentially pit the US against much of the global economy.

It is unclear how the tariffs could affect the business investments that Trump said would happen because of his plans to cut corporate tax rates and remove regulations.

Tariffs tend to raise prices for consumers and businesses by making it more expensive to bring in foreign goods.

Many voters turned to Trump in the November election on the belief that he could better handle the inflation that spiked under Biden.

But inflation expectations are creeping upward in the University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment as respondents expect prices to rise by 3.3 per cent.

That would be higher than the actual 2.9 per cent annual inflation rate in December's consumer price index.

Trudeau said Canada is addressing Trump's calls on border security by implementing a $CDN1.3 billion ($US900 million) border plan that includes helicopters, new canine teams and imaging tools.

Trump still has to get a budget, tax cuts and an increase to the government's legal borrowing authority through Congress.

The outcome of his tariff plans could strengthen his hand or weaken it.

Democrats were quick to say that any inflation going forward was the result of Trump, who is about to start his third week back as president.

"You're worried about grocery prices. Don's raising prices with his tariffs," Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York posted on X.

"You're worried about tomato prices. Wait till Trump's Mexico tariffs raise your tomato prices. … You're worried about car prices. Wait till Trump's Canada tariffs raise your car prices," he wrote in a series of posts.

﻿A very different world

Why 'burn your own house down?'

Grocery store prices at risk

'Playing with fire'

A very different world