‘Performative' Welcome to Country ceremonies have ‘lost their meaning'
Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume says Welcome to Country ceremonies are 'important' but can become 'performative'.
This comes as from Donald Trump to Welcome to Countries – Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton traded barbs at the fourth and final debate.
'It does become a little bit ridiculous, and that's when they lose their meaning,' Ms Hume told Sky News Australia.
'We want to see Welcome to Country ceremonies performed at those ceremonial events when it is important, but at the same time, we want to make sure that they are meaningful.'
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ABC News
17 minutes ago
- ABC News
Albanese should forget Trump's tariff war and prepare for a tax assault
If there was anything remarkable about the explosive split between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, it was that it took five months since the presidential inauguration. First, the uncomfortable scenes in the Oval Office as Musk stood behind the president while son X mocked Trump on camera, an unsubtle hint that Musk saw himself as the presidential puppeteer. Then followed the increasingly unhinged behaviour of the world's richest man, chainsaw held aloft, and his ultimate failure to deliver on the promised savings of his Department of Government Efficiency rampage. And then there was the brutal backlash from consumers for his Tesla cars, all of which pointed to an inevitable demise in the relationship. The sensational personal attacks last week, culminating in Musk highlighting the president's former relationship with the disgraced Jeffrey Epstein, attracted most of the headlines. But the damage to the Trump administration and America's reputation runs far deeper. While a temporary ceasefire in hostilities between the pair has held for several days, Musk's stinging criticisms of Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, a sweeping budget measure that will slash taxes and blow out America's already-strained financial position, has focused attention on the Administration's economic ineptitude. Trump's much-vaunted trade and tariff policy has degenerated into an uncertain and confusing mess that has backfired politically and economically. Rather than shoring up the US economy, its chaotic implementation has only served to slow global growth and, disturbingly, cast doubts about America's role as the centre of international finance. To compensate, the administration has launched a new weapon in its war against the Western alliance. This time, Australia is likely to be a major casualty. They sat there in hallowed territory at the Inauguration right behind the podium, unelected either by the people or the Senate, but in the same exalted territory as Trump's hand-picked cabinet. The four giants of the tech world, modern-day Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the unconventional presence of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Sandar Pichai was a statement of power and the power of money. While all the focus of Trump's first 100 days in office has been on trade and tariffs, another T word has quietly loomed large in the background. Tax. Each of the four will benefit hugely from the Big Beautiful Bill, that will slash taxes for the wealthy. But with the failure so far to deliver a coherent policy on trade, the Trump administration is about to shift weaponry in its bid to exact revenge or retaliation on nations it deems treat the US unfairly. High up on that list is Australia. Forget steel, aluminium, beef or even pharmaceuticals. The big beef from American businesses has been the trail-blazing role Australia has taken when it comes to forcing multinationals to pay tax. In the past, it was the big resource groups like Chevron. In more recent times, Australian attention has swung to tech companies like Amazon, Meta — the owner of Facebook and Instagram — and Google. In 2018, Amazon pulled in more than $1 billion in Australian sales but paid less than $20 million in tax. The following year it forked out $100 million to the Australian Tax Office but booked almost $4.8 billion in advertising revenue through its Singapore subsidiary. It's not just Australia's aggressive attitude to tax enforcement either. Australian governments have gone on the front foot demanding the tech giants pay for the journalism they plaster across their search engines and websites, an agreement Mark Zuckerberg recently junked. And don't forget the groundbreaking legislation to protect children under 16 from the excesses of social media, a development the rest of the world is eyeing intently. The tech bros, otherwise known as the broligarchs, aren't impressed. And while Trump may have fallen out of love with Elon, he's mindful of just how much influence the other three carry. It's taken a few days to surface, but buried in Trump's Big Beautiful Bill is a new line of attack on what he deems to be unfriendly nations. Section 899 of the Bill deals with "retaliatory taxation". Companies and investors from "discriminatory foreign countries" buying or investing in the US could be slugged with escalating increases in US federal income tax and withholding tax. The tax penalty will rise by up to 5 per cent a year to a maximum of 20 percentage points above existing treaty rates. That has put Australian super funds and big corporations into a mild state of panic. 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ABC News
28 minutes ago
- ABC News
Last time a president sent in the National Guard, it was to protect protesters
Clad in tactical gear and backed by armoured vehicles, the National Guard this week marched into Los Angeles on the orders of President Donald Trump. The 2,000 National Guard officers were there to "address the lawlessness that has been allowed to fester", according to the White House. The deployment marked a new stage of ongoing protests against an immigration crackdown which saw immigration officers raid workplaces in the city's downtown area. "I told them, nobody is going to spit on our police officers, nobody is going to spit on our military," Mr Trump told media. It was the first time a president had called in National Guard troops without a state governor's permission since 1965. At that time, president Lyndon B. Johnson stepped in, in an effort to protect civil rights protesters as they marched in Selma, Alabama. Violence against activists — including an attack by state police — in the days leading up to the march had been watched by millions. Standing before media at his Texas ranch, the president declared: "I have called selected elements of the Alabama National Guard into Federal Service." By the time Johnson called in the National Guard, tensions had been rising for almost two weeks. Civil rights organisations had converged for a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, calling for federal protection of voting rights. Americans, along with the rest of the world, had already been stunned by footage of state and county police firing tear gas and marching over the top of demonstrators. Sheyann Webb-Christburg was just eight years old when she joined the procession on March 7, 1965. She had left a note to her parents — saying she was sorry for sneaking out but that she had to march "for our freedom". Angry white residents of Selma abused the estimated 600 marchers, spat at them, and attacked them in an effort to halt their progress. At a bridge along the route, a wall of state police attempted to block their way. "The dogs began to push their way into the crowds as if we weren't human beings," an adult Sheyann, now in her 60s, told MSNBC in 2023. As the youngest participant in the march, she labelled the events "traumatic" and "devastating". "I remember running home … and the late [activist] Hosea Williams picked me up. "And I said to him in my childish voice, 'Put me down, because you are not running fast enough.'" Ultimately 17 marchers were hospitalised and dozens more were treated for injuries. The violence had unfolded in front of TV cameras and news media, blasted into the homes of millions of Americans. Tensions continued to rise. More marches were organised. By this time the president had spoken out publicly against attacks on demonstrators, and repeatedly attempted to convince Alabama's governor Geroge Wallace to offer them some protection. His attempts were unsuccessful. On March 20, 1965, Johnson sent a telegram to governor Wallace, stating "maintaining law and order" was a state and local responsibility. "On the basis of your public statements and your discussions with me, I thought that you felt strongly about this," he said. "I was surprised, therefore, when … you requested federal assistance in the performance of such fundamental state duties." Because of governor Wallace believing the state was "unable" to keep the peace, the president was calling in the Alabama National Guard. "These forces should be adequate to assure the rights of American citizens … to walk peaceably and safely without injury or loss of life from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama," he said. The National Guard is a section of the military with a unit in each state, which usually answers to the relevant state governor. One day after Johnson's federalising the National Guard, the march from Selma to Montgomery officially began. Under an official order by a judge, only 300 people were allowed to march while the procession was on the four-lane highway. More than 3,000 National Guard troops accompanied demonstrators along the route. By the time it reached the State Capitol Building in Montgomery on March 25, the march had grown to include 25,000 people. There, on the building's front steps, Martin Luther King Jr delivered what would come to be known as his "How Long, Not Long" address. Donald Trump's decision to deploy the National Guard did not, as it did in 1965, de-escalate the situation. The street demonstrations had been sparked by ICE agents arresting more than 100 immigrants across Los Angeles. As of Sunday night local time, about 300 National Guard members were already on the ground of the 2,000 deployed by the president. Hundreds more US Army Marines were on stand-by. As troops created a perimeter around the Metropolitan Detention Centre, protesters gathered to demand entry. They were met with military-style vehicles and riot shields. In 1965, the state governor could not be convinced to protect protesters. This time around, California Governor Gavin Newsom said the president did not even raise the topic with him beforehand. He has formally requested Mr Trump withdraw the order — warning they run the risk of further "inflaming tensions". "Indeed, the decision to deploy the National Guard, without appropriate training or orders, risks seriously escalating the situation," his office wrote to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. 'There is currently no need for the National Guard to be deployed in Los Angeles, and to do so in this unlawful manner … is a serious breach of state sovereignty that seems intentionally designed to inflame the situation[.]' He has since announced he will file a lawsuit against the Trump administration for deploying troops without his permission. "There's a protocol, there's a process," Mr Newsom said, labelling the move "unconstitutional".
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
California to sue Trump administration over National Guard deployment, LA braces for fourth day of protests
California's governor has said he will sue Donald Trump's administration after the National Guard was deployed to clamp down on protests in Los Angeles at the weekend. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said the order to send in troops was illegal, could have far-reaching consequences for other states and should be withdrawn. Sunday, local time, marked a third day of demonstrations against the administration's immigration raids, as protesters set fire to self-driving cars, blocked motorways and threw chunks of concrete and electric scooters at police officers, while police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. About a dozen National Guard members, along with Department of Homeland Security personnel, pushed back a group of demonstrators outside a federal building in downtown LA, video showed. The city was braced on Monday for a fourth wave of protests. "This is exactly what Donald Trump wanted," Mr Newsom said, in a post on X. "He [Mr Trump] flamed the fires and illegally acted to federalise the National Guard. The order he signed doesn't just apply to CA. It will allow him to go into ANY STATE and do the same thing. "We're suing him." Mr Trump hit back in a post on Truth Social, saying he made a "great decision" to send in the National Guard, as he accused Mr Newsom of being "incompetent". "We made a great decision in sending the National Guard to deal with the violent, instigated riots in California. If we had not done so, Los Angeles would have been completely obliterated," said Mr Trump. Later, he blamed "insurrectionists" for the unrest. "The people that are causing the problems are professional agitators and insurrectionists," Mr Trump told reporters at the White House. "They're bad people, they should be in jail," he added. Despite Mr Trump's language, he has not invoked the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that empowers a president to deploy the US military to suppress events such as civil disorder. He did not reply when asked several times by reporters whether he planned to invoke the act, nor give evidence as to why the street protesters were referred to by him as "insurrectionists". He went on to lash out again at Mr Newsom, who has been widely tipped as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, over the unrest. "He's done a terrible job. Look, I like Gavin Newsom, he's a nice guy — but he's grossly incompetent, everybody knows," Mr Trump said. At the weekend, Mr Newsom dared Tom Homan, the director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to arrest him. It came after Mr Homan said the governor and LA Mayor Karen Bass could face federal charges of trying to impede immigration agents. "I would do it if I were Tom," Mr Trump said when asked if his border tsar should arrest the governor. Mr Newsom called the president's response "an unmistakeable step toward authoritarianism". He posted on X: "The President of the United States just called for the arrest of a sitting Governor. "This is a day I hoped I would never see in America.I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican this is a line we cannot cross as a nation — this is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism." Meanwhile, the mayor blamed the Trump administration for inciting tension by sending in the National Guard. She also condemned protesters after some burned cars and hurled bottles at police "We do not want to play into the [Trump] administration's hands," Ms Bass said, adding the administration's actions in LA had 'caused fear and panic'. "What we're seeing in Los Angeles is chaos provoked by the administration. Deploying federalised troops is a dangerous escalation." On Monday, the US Northern Command said 300 members of the California National Guard had been deployed to three spots in the Los Angeles area. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CBS program Face the Nation that the National Guard would provide safety around buildings to people engaged in peaceful protest and to law enforcement. The unrest in LA has become a flashpoint in Mr Trump's signature effort to clamp down on illegal immigration. The Republican president has pledged to deport record numbers of people who are in the country illegally and to lock down the US-Mexico border, setting the ICE border enforcement agency a daily goal of arresting at least 3,000 migrants. The Trump administration's immigration enforcement measures have also included residents who are in the country legally, some with permanent residence, spurring legal challenges. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Saturday the Pentagon was prepared to mobilise active-duty troops "if violence continues" in LA, and Marines at nearby Camp Pendleton were on high alert. Vanessa Cardenas, the head of the immigration advocacy group America's Voice, accused the Trump administration of "trumping up an excuse to abuse power, and deliberately stoke and force confrontations around immigration". Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday condemned violent acts committed during the protests. Ms Sheinbaum, speaking at her morning press conference, also called on US authorities to respect the rule of law in migration processes. "It must be clear: We condemn violence wherever it comes from," she said. "We call on the Mexican community to act peacefully and not fall for provocations." She did not specifically call for an end to the protests. ABC/Reuters
