Rubio spruiks Quad potential ahead of Wong one-on-one
US WANTS QUAD TO BE ‘VEHICLE FOR ACTION’
As Donald Trump celebrates the US Senate passing his “big, beautiful bill” and threatens to set DOGE on Elon Musk, his Secretary of State Marco Rubio is hosting Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong in Washington and stating he has big plans for the Quad alliance.
Speaking on Tuesday, local time, Rubio declared that he wanted to turn the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, consisting of Australia, the US, Japan and India, into a “vehicle for action”, rather than a place for “ideas and concepts”, The Australian reports.
“We are honoured to host them today in this very important partnership that has developed over the years and that I think has really taken wing in the last few months. Together we have a lot of shared priorities, a lot of things we care about in the world,” Rubio said.
“I think there are many global problems, but also problems that we face in our respective countries that can be solved by us cooperating together. One of the challenges with something new like this is turning meetings and gatherings where we talk about ideas and concepts into a vehicle for action.”
The AAP highlights the previously reported agenda for the discussions, including defence, trade and stability in the Indo-Pacific, with Wong then set to have her one-to-one meeting with Rubio. The newswire also repeats what’s been said for what now seems like forever, namely that the Albanese government is continuing to push for an exemption from the Trump tariffs despite the rest of the world having given up on the idea.
Semafor has highlighted that nations have “scaled down their ambitions for trade deals with Washington, barely a week before President Donald Trump’s tariff reprieve expires”. Trump’s 90-day pause on his tariffs expires on July 9.
The Financial Times reports India, which is part of the Quad meeting today, “is on track to seal an interim trade agreement with the US as soon as this week to avert Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs”.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports the European Union “is willing to accept a trade arrangement with the US that includes a 10% universal tariff on many of the bloc’s exports”. The piece adds that the EU does, however, want America to commit to lower rates on some key sectors, such as pharmaceuticals, alcohol, semiconductors and commercial aircraft.
Meanwhile, as we mentioned yesterday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reckons Australia should pay 0% tariffs.
So Wong enters her meeting with Rubio with a fair bit going on, although she may draw some comfort from the fact the US secretary of state said he was personally focused on “diversifying the global supply chain of critical minerals”, The Australian reports. It has long been reported that Australia has offered up access to its critical minerals in discussions with the Trump administration.
Speaking ahead of the talks, Wong declared: “Unfortunately, we meet against the backdrop of conflict and of escalating competition. So it has never been more important for us to harness our collective strength, peace and stability for prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and for all our peoples.”
Wong has already held bilateral talks with Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Takeshi Iwaya while in Washington and met with Australia’s ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd (although for some reason made no reference to him when sharing a picture of them smiling together).
The Australian, in a separate piece, makes the same point we raised yesterday, that Japan and Australia also enter the Quad meeting having both recently pushed back against the Trump administration’s demands for greater defence spending.
Before he began his very loud response to the Senate passing his spending bill (it now heads back to the House), Trump spoke in Florida about the upcoming visit to the White House by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Reuters reports the US president said he planned to discuss the war in Gaza and conflict with Iran with Netanyahu, adding that he “hopes to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza soon”.
The BBC earlier reported that more than 170 charities and other NGOs have called for the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid distribution scheme to be shut down.
A joint statement from the charities says more than 500 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid since the GHF controversially started operating in late May. Last week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the GHF’s aid distribution system “inherently unsafe”. “It is killing people,” he added.
The British broadcaster also highlights new research published in the medical journal The Lancet, which claims Trump’s decision to cut most of the US funding towards foreign humanitarian aid could cause more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030.
‘BOMB CYCLONE’ LURKS
The AAP reports this morning an “enormous clean-up awaits” as a severe weather system hits the east coast of Australia.
The newswire reports an area from Queensland’s Lockyer Valley to Bega on NSW’s south coast has been warned of severe weather, with residents ordered to evacuate amid threats of flash flooding, damaging wind and coastal erosion.
The ABC reports the NSW State Emergency Service has received more than 1,700 calls for assistance and conducted two flood rescues. The broadcaster adds that more than 40,000 homes and businesses remain without power.
The NSW SES said late yesterday that 23 active warnings remained across the state. The Bureau of Meteorology has suggested another low-pressure system may enter the storm’s path later on Wednesday.
Senior meteorologist Jonathan How said: “We see another low-pressure system, really dumb-belling around that first one, that will really intensify and reinforce some of those winds and rain across the south coast.” ABC News meteorologist Tom Saunders declared last night: “The worst weather is still ahead for many areas.”
The AAP this morning also focuses on the calls for a change to working with children checks.
The newswire states an overhaul of the checks “is among the safety changes desperately needed to protect kids from predators lurking in Australian childcare centres. That’s the verdict from leading advocates for children and abuse survivors after a childcare worker was charged with more than 70 sex offences against eight children aged under two.”
Guardian Australia also reports on “growing calls for a national inquiry into Australia’s childcare sector”.
The Australian has led overnight on its report which claims “Australia’s 17 highest-ranking public service mandarins will be paid combined remuneration packages valued at up to $16.3 million in addition to travel expenses and other perks”.
The paper points out new Treasury boss Jenny Wilkinson joins the “$1m club” alongside the new secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Steven Kennedy. The piece includes a handy graphic showing who is being paid what.
Finally, the Nine papers report that NSW Liberal members want party bosses to “fund a court challenge and indemnify Bradfield candidate Gisele Kapterian in a bid to have her failed election result overturned”.
The piece also flags that Climate 200 reckons its recent polling suggests teal candidate Nicolette Boele, who won by 26 votes after a recount, would actually increase her primary vote if a by-election occurred.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE…
Daniel Xu was planning some renovations to his new home in Melbourne’s northern suburbs and needed to inspect underneath the property.
Heading into the undercroft of the house, which is mostly raised as it sits above a carport, Xu was amazed to discover what SBS News calls “a train enthusiast’s dream”.
Under his new home was an enormous model train network complete with landscapes and multiple train lines. “I was shocked and I immediately asked my wife to come down to have a look — she was shocked. It’s unbelievable, so massive, so huge,” Xu said.
Apparently there had been no mention of the model train network during the open home inspections. Coincidentally, Xu happens to be a train enthusiast himself and works as a rolling stock engineer for a train construction firm.
He has since spoken to the previous owner, who revealed the network was built by their father in the 1960s and had not been used for years. Xu says he plans on restoring it to working order.
Say What?
We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.
Donald Trump
Another day, another series of threats and social media posts from the US president and the world’s richest man as they continue to slag each other off. All very grown up.
CRIKEY RECAP
Gaza protesters cop a beating while criminals run increasingly rampant: It’s Chris Minns’ NSW
The assault on Hannah Thomas under hardline NSW anti-protest laws at a pro-Palestine protest in Belmore should be seen against the backdrop of growing lawlessness in Sydney under the Minns government.
NSW Police — which was strangely reluctant to investigate its own actions during the protest at Belmore — appears powerless to stop near-routine gangland shootings in Sydney which increasingly harm either innocent bystanders or the wrong targets. According to the ABC, eight innocent people have been killed in gangland killings since 2020. There have been a dozen gangland shootings alone in Sydney since Christmas, invariably described in media reports as “brazen” given their public nature.
Mamamia MIA on Lattouf, ANU vice-chancellor’s shoe shine, and Bridget Archer makes hay
Among an increasingly crowded list, it’s fair to say Antoinette Lattouf’s unlawful termination case against the ABC would be right up there as one of the biggest media cases in recent memory.
It made headlines just about everywhere — except at Mamamia, ostensibly the country’s top women’s media outlet. Over the 18-month trial, nary a peep came out of Mamamia on the Lattouf trial, save for an item last in its twice-daily news podcast, The Quicky, mentioning the outcome. Other than that, the last time you’d find Lattouf’s name on the website is an article penned by Lattouf herself on the racism that forced Indigenous former ABC presenter Stan Grant to leave the national broadcaster.
It’s understood founder Mia Freedman retains a hands-on approach to editorial matters at the outlet that bears her name, so we asked her and head of content Eliza Sorman Nilsson what the go was with the relative silence. They declined to comment
I-MED now asking to use patients’ scans to train AI — after already handing over 100,000s of chest x-rays without consent
Australia’s largest radiology provider has quietly begun asking patients for permission to use their scans to train AI, but admits it cannot remove patient data that it has already used.
I-MED’s decision to start asking for consent comes as a Canberra law firm investigates a potential class action over the company’s handling of customer data.
Last year, a Crikey investigation revealed the company had handed hundreds of thousands of Australians’ chest x-rays, including those obtained from emergency room patients, to Australian health technology company harrison.ai without patient knowledge.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Brad Battin drawn into legal action over Pesutto loan (Herald Sun)
Elon Musk’s X wins ‘free speech’ fight against eSafety commissioner (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Super tax a ‘low political risk’ for Labor, says pollster (AFR)
Thailand’s prime minister suspended over leaked phone call with former strongman (CNN)
Spain and England record hottest June as heatwave grips Europe (BBC)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Roundtable revolt on Labor super tax hikes — Matthew Cranston (The Australian): Albanese is clearly on a different pitch to Chalmers.
The treasurer is using the collateral of Albanese’s historic majority election win to push through a policy that would bring in more than $40 billion in revenue over the next decade. Albanese knows this and is looking uncomfortable at the crease every time the super tax critics come out, especially when they ask how his defined benefit plan calculates it.
Keating’s first delivery this week was a warm-up. How Albanese and Chalmers play their shots when Keating is at full tilt will test their mettle and the integrity of the super tax plan altogether.
How can Australians make sure AI delivers on its hype? By proudly embracing our inner Luddite — Peter Lewis (Guardian Australia): Professor Nick Davis from the University of Technology Sydney’s Human Technology Institute describes the AI challenge as being like physiotherapy after surgery: “It only delivers if you put in the effort, follow the program and work with experts who know which muscles to strengthen and when.”
Placing Australian workers at the centre of the AI revolution, with a right to guide the way it is used, and the capacity to develop and enforce redlines and guardrails on an ongoing basis, is not some gratuitous nod to union power; it is the hard-headed path to national prosperity.
Proudly embracing our inner Luddite and demanding a seat at the table is the surest way of ensuring that this wave of technology delivers on its hype.
