Australian news and politics live: China, not Australia gained more out of Albo’s trip: Opposition

Tanya Plibersek said the only time she remembers crying in her 27-year career in politics was when Mark Latham was elected as the leader of the Labor Party.

It comes as Ms Plibersek revealed discussions were underway about whether to remove Mr Latham’s portrait from a wall of photos of past leaders hanging in the Labor caucus room.

Ms Plibersek said the fact he has been described as a “pig” was “perfectly justified.”

“Do you know, I’ve been a Member of Parliament for a long time, and the only time I remember going home and having a little cry after work was the day that Mark Latham was elected as leader of the Australian Labor Party,” she said on Friday.

“And he is the guy that said of Rosie Batty, who was Australian of the Year, who suffered the most horrendous domestic violence murder of her son. He said she was waging a war on men. He’s the guy who said that men hitting women are doing it because they need a kind of stress release.”

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Shadow defence minister Angus Taylor has denied the Coalition has shifted its policy on Taiwan after he called for a joint commitment with the United States over security.

“Let’s face the real facts right now. We’re seeing a rapid military build-up by the Chinese Communist Party and other authoritarian regimes around the world. And of course, what we’re seeing with that military buildup is unprecedented,” he said on Sky News.

“We have a commitment, as does the United States, to the status quo in and around Taiwan.

“That means peace in the Taiwan Strait, that means a secure Taiwan. These are things we have long been committed to.

“That commitment is an important one to ensure that we continue to see peace into the future in our region.”

The Government has announced the next invitees to its upcoming roundtable for economic reform, including business leaders, major investors, and a mix of state and independent politicians.

The event, to be held from August 19 to 21 in the cabinet room at Parliament House, will focus on broad reforms to boost productivity, strengthen resilience and improve long-term budget sustainability.

“The latest round of invitees includes expert voices on economic policy, leaders with broad industry and policy experience, and important perspectives from regulators, the public sector and the states,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement.

“It’s an outstanding group of people who we believe will make a big contribution to the future direction of economic reform. They are thought leaders chosen for their ability to contribute meaningfully across a broad range of areas and over each of the three days.”

See who is on the invite list.

Mr Chalmers said it was the unpredictability surrounding the US tariffs that was really damaging confidence, “particularly investor confidence”.

“The fact that it seems like each week there is a new announcement around tariffs, and that’s feeding into these escalating trade tensions and creating a lot of uncertainty.

“So I think that really is the defining influence on the discussions here at the G20 – trying to get our head around the best way to find those reliable markets, those robust supply chains, and the best way to do that is with more engagement, not less.”

Speaking from the G20 meeting in South Africa, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said there was general agteement that Donald Trump’s Us tariff’s were harming global trade.

“Not good for the American economy or the global economy or for our own individual domestic economies round the world.

“People have been talking about that in relatively blunt ways. And that’s because we all recognise together that if you think about these four big economic shocks we’ve had in the last less than two decades, this one is a bit different to the first three because this one is imposed by policy, by policy decisions out of DC and elsewhere.

“So that does introduce a whole new layer of uncertainty and volatility that everyone has to deal with. And I think people are pretty upfront about discussing that here.”

Asked whether policy uncertainty over tariffs is now bleeding into the Australian economy and affecting decisions about whether to hire workers, Mr Chalmers said that was the feedback he was getting.

“There is a real sense that this volatility and unpredictability and uncertainty is really a defining and an ongoing feature of the global economy, and our own economy is not immune from that,” he said.

“So I think certainly people see this uncertainty and unpredictability as a new normal.

“That requires us to have a shift in our thinking. For example, here at the G20, I think there is a broad recognition that the best way to deal with this more or less permanent uncertainty is with more engagement, more collaboration, more secure supply chains, more reliable markets and also more ambition in our own economic policies at home.

“And for us that means making our economy more productive and more resilient and also making our budget more sustainable.”

Disgraced former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has walked free from John Morony prison in Sydney’s west after being granted parole, with strict conditions including he not associate with outlaw bikies.

Mehajer, 39, served just under five years of a seven-year and nine-month prison term for domestic violence offences against a former partner, as well as fraud for forging his lawyer’s signature.

He was jailed in November 2020 after he was found guilty of two counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of making a false statement under oath.

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John Stone, one of Australia’s most influential public servants, died on Thursday, according to a family friend.

The exact cause was not immediately disclosed, but the 96-year-old had been diagnosed in recent years with leukaemia.

Secretary of the Federal Treasury from 1979 to 1984, Mr Stone was regarded as one of the most outspoken and controversial figures in Australian public life and a fierce advocate of free-market policies and smaller government.

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Kevin Hogan said it was important Anthony Albanese went to China, but he wished he’d had the same “exuberance” to meet the US president.

“I think, initially, he didn’t put out too hard to have a meeting,” he told ABC radio.

“We have an important economic relationship with the US … (and) it’s important that he keeps continuing to reach out.

“But, he’s made unfortunate comments about Trump in the past as has Kevin Rudd. I’m sure that’s not helping.”

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler has spoken about the devastating toxic algal bloom in his home state of South Australia as new pictures reveal the scale of the disaster.

It follows accusations that “virtually nothing” has been done by the federal government about the bloom.

The algal bloom, called Karenia mikimotoi, is a naturally occurring but deadly phenomenon that has killed marine life in the southern state for months.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has been pressuring the government to declare the toxic algae a “national disaster”.

“If this was happening in Bondi, or on the North Shore in Sydney, the Prime Minister would have already been on the beach, talking to concerned locals and the affected industries,” Senator Hanson-Young said on Wednesday.

“But today, we’ve had virtually nothing from the federal government.”

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