PM stares down US defence spending demand
Anthony Albanese says he won't be dictated to on defence spending, after the United States demanded Australia do more to support the US in the Indo-Pacific. The US administration has called on Australia to lift its defence spending to almost $100 billion a year "as soon as possible"
And the PM has been in South Australia touring farms affected by the drought. He says his Government is doing all it can to help farmers deal with the impacts of climate change, but the latest official quarterly data shows Australia's greenhouse gas reduction performance has tanked.
Patricia Karvelas and Jacob Greber break it all down on Politics Now.
Read PK's piece here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-02/lessons-keep-coming-for-liberals/105362148
Read Jacob's piece here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-01/emissions-australia-coalition-climate-energy-woodside/105354838
Read Annabel's piece here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-28/labor-refugees-coalition-climate-splits-structural-issues/105341780
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Daily Telegraph
an hour ago
- Daily Telegraph
Trump's tariff hike: New challenge for Aus construction sector
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News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Politics in front of people': Great in awe of ‘powerful words' as boss explains roadblock to Devils' stadium alternative
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SBS Australia
2 hours ago
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Victory House, the historic 1906 home of a Chinese-Australian goldfields family, has been restored and will reborn as a museum in Ballarat. Funds to first build the home were won in an early Melbourne Cup (sketch top right). Source: Supplied, AAP Victory House, built in 1906, was home to a Chinese mine manager family in Ballarat. After being saved from demolition, the house is being transformed into a Chinese heritage museum. Community leaders aim to revitalise the surrounding area into a Chinatown, restoring Ballarat's once-vibrant Chinese presence from the gold rush era. By 1858, Ballarat's Chinese population had peaked at nearly 10,000, accounting for about 25 per cent of the adult male population. Community groups say the restoration of a 120-year-old house is the first step towards establishing a Chinatown in Ballarat to mark the contributions of thousands of Chinese workers drawn to the area both during and after the gold rush. 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Zhang acknowledges that building a Chinatown is a bold and complex undertaking — one that will require significant support from local, state and federal governments. "Restoring one house can be done by one or two people. But rebuilding a Chinatown takes a whole team," he said. "It's not something that can be done just out of passion or impulse." Still, Zhang, now in his 70s, remains optimistic. "I hope that in my lifetime, I can devote my energy and ability to doing something meaningful for future generations of Chinese Australians — to keep our history and culture alive." The Victory House museum is currently awaiting council approval to open to the public. Ticket proceeds will go toward the museum's ongoing maintenance. For the first time since its renovation, sisters Denise Johnston and Julie Odgers returned to Victory House, their great-grandparents' former home in Ballarat. Walking past the thick cypress hedge in the front garden, Johnston, 77, said she no longer felt the fear she had as a child. "It was always dark … when the wind would come through, it was really like a haunted house," she recalled. But once they stepped inside, they were greeted warmly with open arms and homemade biscuits. "I felt really emotional when I entered. It has just brought us these beautiful childhood memories," Johnston said. The house was named after the 1902 Melbourne Cup-winning horse Margaret had picked. "Our great-grandmother (Margaret) loved horses. When we come to visit her, she'd be sitting here listening to her radio and reading the racing guide," said Odgers, 75. But sadly, no one in the family has won a race since, she added. The Wong Chung family's Australian story began with James's father, Ah Wong Chung, who migrated from Canton (now Guangzhou) in the late 19th century during the Victorian gold rush. He ran a general store in Linton, supplying goods imported from China to both Chinese and European miners. In 1868, he married Irish woman Mary Anne Baker. The couple had one son, James, the future builder of Victory House. James married Australian-born Margaret Ann Holderhead in 1896. After having six children in Linton, the couple moved to Ballarat in 1903, initially living in a small miner's cottage. At the time, James was managing the nearby Woah Hawp Canton Mine. In 1906, the family moved into the newly built Victory House and welcomed another six children. In 2022, Victory House narrowly escaped demolition when new landowners applied to redevelop the site. Four Ballarat councillors argued the home wasn't significant enough to preserve, given the city's abundance of historic buildings. But after an outpouring of support, including from over 120 Chinese-Australian organisations and descendants of the Wong Chung family, the house was saved and placed on the Ballarat Heritage Register. Mick Trembath, Odgers's son and a sixth-generation descendant, said the restored Victory House held meaning far beyond his own family. "There are very few things in Ballarat that are not only genuine reminders of Chinese culture, but any contributing culture, (including) the Croatian people, Polish people and the German people," Trembath said. "To have something like this … You can walk through it, touch it, and fill it with memories. It's a really important thing. "I was really happy that we were able to save it." Share this with family and friends
