News live: King Charles praises ‘ambitious’ Aukus and expresses pride in Australia in speech to US Congress | Australia news
King Charles praised ‘ambitious’ Aukus in his speech to the US Congress
King Charles’ speech to the US Congress was covered on our US politics blog (check it out here).
However, it is worth noting that in a section of the speech that emphasized the importance of defense ties between the US and the UK (and NATO more broadly), Australia drew attention, particularly its Aukus nuclear submarine programme.
The king said:
Our defense, intelligence and security ties are tightly intertwined, with relationships measured in decades, not years.
Today thousands of US service personnel, defense officials and their families are based in the UK, with British personnel serving with equal pride in 30 American states.
We are building F-35s together.
And we agreed on Aukus, the most ambitious submarine program in history.
And that’s what we do In partnership with Australia, a country I am immensely proud to serve as sovereign.
We do not all undertake these remarkable efforts out of sentimentality.
We do this because they build greater collective resilience for the future, thus making our citizens safer for future generations.
important events
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Projects will need to comply with proposed new national environmental standards, which government sources insist will be in place before bilateral agreements are negotiated.
Albanese has previously said the government wants a “single, clearer, faster, yes or no” one-step process that could act as a “circuit breaker” rather than a costly two-stage, two-way process.
The Prime Minister will address miners after reports last week that he ruled out introducing a new tax on gas exports in the May 12 federal budget, a policy fiercely opposed by the industry.
In his speech to the Chamber of Mines and Energy (WA), Albanese will describe the budget as the most ambitious and important since Labor came to power in 2022, at a time when the government is grappling with the impact of the Iran war and the global fuel crisis.
Albanese will say:
None of us here can determine when this war will end. But we can all choose how we respond to the economic challenges it creates. We can choose what to learn from this global crisis before it’s over. And as a country we can choose what to do differently. What we will build, change and reform so that Australia will do more than just weather this storm, we will emerge from this a stronger, fairer and more resilient country.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The federal government has promised new funding to help states and territories strike agreements that will allow them to assess and approve projects themselves under new federal natural laws.
Anthony Albanese He will make the four-year, $45 million announcement in a speech at a mining industry event in Western Australia, describing the deals as a “circuit breaker” that will accelerate mining, energy and housing applications.
The new “one-touch” regime was a feature of Labour’s rewrite of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act), which passed parliament last year under a deal with the Greens.
Labor has previously opposed giving federal environmental approval powers to state and territory governments, including a repeat of the policy put forward by the Abbott and Morrison governments.
If a deal is reached, states and territories will be able to greenlight projects without requiring separate state evaluation.
Markets are preparing for an inflation shock
Patrick Komins
Consumer price data released later this morning will confirm that the Iran war has brought a major inflationary shock to the economy due to rising fuel prices.
Economists at Westpac predict that inflation will increase by 1 point to 4.7% by March, based on monthly consumer price index figures.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is also reporting more accurate quarterly figures, with annual inflation on this measure set to jump to 4.2% from 3.6% in the December quarter.
Inflation was already too high for comfort before the US and Israel began their Middle East conflict on February 28, and the latest figures will underline the possibility of another rate hike by the Federal Reserve next Tuesday.
Economists say inflation will accelerate from here as higher fuel costs spread through the economy and lead to a broader rise in prices.
Westpac economists, for example, expect inflation to reach 5.8% in May and fall to just 4.7% by the end of this year.
For context, the RBA’s official target is 2.5%.
But central bank officials will be aware that the Iran war will crush economic growth, and the RBA board will weigh this against the need for further interest rate hikes.
Read more here:
King Charles praised ‘ambitious’ Aukus in his speech to the US Congress
King Charles’ speech to the US Congress was covered on our US politics blog (see here).
However, it is worth noting that Australia, and in particular the Aukus nuclear submarine program, drew attention in a section of the speech that emphasized the importance of defense ties between the US and the UK (and NATO more broadly).
The king said:
Our defense, intelligence and security ties are tightly intertwined, with relationships measured in decades, not years.
Today thousands of US service personnel, defense officials and their families are based in the UK, with British personnel serving with equal pride in 30 American states.
We are building F-35s together.
And we agreed on Aukus, the most ambitious submarine program in history.
And that’s what we do In partnership with Australia, a country I am immensely proud to serve as sovereign.
We do not all undertake these remarkable efforts out of sentimentality.
We do this because they build greater collective resilience for the future, thus making our citizens safer for future generations.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I Martin Farrer with the best night stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.
Consumer price data released today is expected to show the sharp shock to our economy (and wallets) from the US-Iran war.
King Charles also addressed the US Congress abroad, finding time to praise Australia and bring up the Aukus nuclear submarine programme, during which he touched on the importance of defense ties between the US and the UK.
More on these stories and more coming soon.
