Amazon mega deal underscores economic relationship with US, minister says
Amazon's $20bn investment into Australian data centre infrastructure underscores the economic relationship with the US ahead of Anthony Albanese's first face-to-face with Donald Trump, Labor's industry tsar says.
The Prime Minister announced the mega deal with Amazon at the tech giant's headquarters in Seattle overnight.
Speaking to media, Mr Albanese also said he and the US President had 'scheduled' a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 in Canada after Mr Trump confirmed he would attend the summit.
Pressure has been mounting on Mr Albanese to secure a carve out from sweeping US tariffs and shore up Washington's support for AUKUS after the Trump administration launched a review of the $368bn defence pact.
Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres said on Sunday the deal was 'not designed' to send a message to Mr Trump but that 'it certainly does underscore the depth of the economic and strategic and technological relationship' with the US.
'It's not just about trading in goods and services,' Senator Ayres told Sky News.
'It's about collaboration around science and research and development and in industrial terms.'
He singled out AUKUS as 'offering opportunities for Australian and United States firms … to invest in each other's economy', highlighting it as 'a real counterpoint to the position that the United States has adopted around tariff announcements'.
'They are not the act of a friend, as has been said repeatedly by me and my colleagues,' Senator Ayres said.
'They are not in Australia's interest, but they're not in the United States' interest either.
'Australian steel, for example, exported to the United States, feeds into American supply chains and supports competitive industry that provides good jobs for American workers.
'Why on Earth would anybody want to make Australian steel in the United States more expensive?
'That's what the tariff measures do.'
He said Mr Albanese would be putting that 'position directly to the President of the United States' when they meet next week.
'But the Amazon announcement does underscore how vital the direct economic relationship really is,' Senator Ayres said.
At his Seattle press conference announcing the deal, Mr Albanese said he would raise tariffs and AUKUS with Mr Trump.
Though he stopped short of saying the Amazon announcement was a message to the US leader.
'The US (Free Trade Agreement) has been important,' Mr Albanese told reporters.
'It's enjoyed bipartisan support in Australia and indeed in the United States.
'And so we welcome very much American investment in Australia.'
He added it was 'important to recognise as well that the United States has a two for one surplus when it comes to the trading relationship in not just in goods, but in services as well'.
'And we want to grow the economic relationship between our two countries,' Mr Albanese said.
'And I'm sure that when I have the opportunity to have discussions with President Trump, we will speak about the important economic relationship between our two countries, which is in the interests of both Australia and the United States.'
Under the deal, Amazon has committed to pumping cash into developing data centres in Melbourne and Sydney over the next five years, focusing on storage, networking, analytics, and secure services supporting cloud and AI.
The firm will build renewable energy sources to support its operations.
Speaking alongside Mr Albanese, Amazon Web Services chief executive Matt Garman dismissed concerns Australia's grid lacked the power needed for AI.
'I think definitely the explosion of AI requires a lot of power, so that's one of the things we're thinking about,' Mr Garman told reporters.
'I think here in the United States, we see nuclear as part of that portfolio.
'Our investments in Australia are wind and solar, but I think depending on the local setup and economies and other things, it's a global question, but there's no question that we will continue to need more and more power going forward.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Israel, Iran bombard each other as Trump flags easy end
Israel and Iran have launched fresh attacks on each other as US President Donald Trump says the conflict could be easily ended and warns Tehran not to strike any US targets. Israeli rescue teams and sniffer dogs combed the rubble of residential buildings destroyed in overnight strikes looking for survivors after at least 10 people, including children, were killed, authorities said. Iran said at least 138 people had been killed in Israel's onslaught since Friday including 60 on Saturday - half of them children - when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran. The Israeli military warned Iranians living near weapons facilities to evacuate on Sunday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump said Israel's attacks would intensify. An official said Israel had a long list of targets in Iran and declined to say how long the offensive would continue. Sites attacked on Saturday evening included two "dual-use" fuel sites that supported military and nuclear operations, he said. Trump, who has lauded Israel's offensive and denied Iranian claims the US has taken part, warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include US interests. "If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," he said on Truth Social. "However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict." The US had been negotiating with Iran to secure a commitment to severely restrict its nuclear program, which Iran says is civilian but Israel sees as an existential threat because of its weapons potential. Trump gave no details of any possible deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Israel's attacks had been aimed at sabotaging those talks, which were due to resume in Oman on Sunday before being cancelled. He said the offensive had the support of the US and Iran was acting in self-defence. Israel, which has not signed the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty and is thought to possess nuclear weapons, wants to stop Iran from developing atomic weapons and eliminate its ballistic missile capability. The International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday declared Iran in breach of its obligations under the treaty. Iran said Israel had attacked the Shahran oil depot in the capital but the situation was under control. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said Israel attacked an oil refinery near the capital on Sunday, and Iran's defence ministry was damaged. It also reported the arrest of two people accused of belonging to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency in Alborz province. The latest wave of Iranian attacks on Israel began late on Saturday night, when air raid sirens sent some one million people into bomb shelters in Jerusalem and Haifa. Residents in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were told to shelter early on Sunday amid another incoming missile barrage. The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control most of Yemen, said they had launched ballistic missiles towards Jaffa near Tel Aviv, the first time an ally of Iran has reportedly joined the fray. Conflict in the Middle East has decimated Tehran's strongest regional proxies - the Hamas militia in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon - reducing its options for retaliation. Israeli authorities said at least 10 people were killed in overnight missile strikes in northern and central Israel, including three children. At least six people were killed by an Iranian missile that hit a cluster of residential buildings in the town of Bat Yam. In the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel, four women were killed, including a mother and her two daughters. Israel and Iran have launched fresh attacks on each other as US President Donald Trump says the conflict could be easily ended and warns Tehran not to strike any US targets. Israeli rescue teams and sniffer dogs combed the rubble of residential buildings destroyed in overnight strikes looking for survivors after at least 10 people, including children, were killed, authorities said. Iran said at least 138 people had been killed in Israel's onslaught since Friday including 60 on Saturday - half of them children - when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran. The Israeli military warned Iranians living near weapons facilities to evacuate on Sunday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump said Israel's attacks would intensify. An official said Israel had a long list of targets in Iran and declined to say how long the offensive would continue. Sites attacked on Saturday evening included two "dual-use" fuel sites that supported military and nuclear operations, he said. Trump, who has lauded Israel's offensive and denied Iranian claims the US has taken part, warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include US interests. "If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," he said on Truth Social. "However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict." The US had been negotiating with Iran to secure a commitment to severely restrict its nuclear program, which Iran says is civilian but Israel sees as an existential threat because of its weapons potential. Trump gave no details of any possible deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Israel's attacks had been aimed at sabotaging those talks, which were due to resume in Oman on Sunday before being cancelled. He said the offensive had the support of the US and Iran was acting in self-defence. Israel, which has not signed the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty and is thought to possess nuclear weapons, wants to stop Iran from developing atomic weapons and eliminate its ballistic missile capability. The International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday declared Iran in breach of its obligations under the treaty. Iran said Israel had attacked the Shahran oil depot in the capital but the situation was under control. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said Israel attacked an oil refinery near the capital on Sunday, and Iran's defence ministry was damaged. It also reported the arrest of two people accused of belonging to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency in Alborz province. The latest wave of Iranian attacks on Israel began late on Saturday night, when air raid sirens sent some one million people into bomb shelters in Jerusalem and Haifa. Residents in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were told to shelter early on Sunday amid another incoming missile barrage. The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control most of Yemen, said they had launched ballistic missiles towards Jaffa near Tel Aviv, the first time an ally of Iran has reportedly joined the fray. Conflict in the Middle East has decimated Tehran's strongest regional proxies - the Hamas militia in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon - reducing its options for retaliation. Israeli authorities said at least 10 people were killed in overnight missile strikes in northern and central Israel, including three children. At least six people were killed by an Iranian missile that hit a cluster of residential buildings in the town of Bat Yam. In the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel, four women were killed, including a mother and her two daughters. Israel and Iran have launched fresh attacks on each other as US President Donald Trump says the conflict could be easily ended and warns Tehran not to strike any US targets. Israeli rescue teams and sniffer dogs combed the rubble of residential buildings destroyed in overnight strikes looking for survivors after at least 10 people, including children, were killed, authorities said. Iran said at least 138 people had been killed in Israel's onslaught since Friday including 60 on Saturday - half of them children - when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran. The Israeli military warned Iranians living near weapons facilities to evacuate on Sunday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump said Israel's attacks would intensify. An official said Israel had a long list of targets in Iran and declined to say how long the offensive would continue. Sites attacked on Saturday evening included two "dual-use" fuel sites that supported military and nuclear operations, he said. Trump, who has lauded Israel's offensive and denied Iranian claims the US has taken part, warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include US interests. "If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," he said on Truth Social. "However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict." The US had been negotiating with Iran to secure a commitment to severely restrict its nuclear program, which Iran says is civilian but Israel sees as an existential threat because of its weapons potential. Trump gave no details of any possible deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Israel's attacks had been aimed at sabotaging those talks, which were due to resume in Oman on Sunday before being cancelled. He said the offensive had the support of the US and Iran was acting in self-defence. Israel, which has not signed the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty and is thought to possess nuclear weapons, wants to stop Iran from developing atomic weapons and eliminate its ballistic missile capability. The International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday declared Iran in breach of its obligations under the treaty. Iran said Israel had attacked the Shahran oil depot in the capital but the situation was under control. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said Israel attacked an oil refinery near the capital on Sunday, and Iran's defence ministry was damaged. It also reported the arrest of two people accused of belonging to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency in Alborz province. The latest wave of Iranian attacks on Israel began late on Saturday night, when air raid sirens sent some one million people into bomb shelters in Jerusalem and Haifa. Residents in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were told to shelter early on Sunday amid another incoming missile barrage. The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control most of Yemen, said they had launched ballistic missiles towards Jaffa near Tel Aviv, the first time an ally of Iran has reportedly joined the fray. Conflict in the Middle East has decimated Tehran's strongest regional proxies - the Hamas militia in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon - reducing its options for retaliation. Israeli authorities said at least 10 people were killed in overnight missile strikes in northern and central Israel, including three children. At least six people were killed by an Iranian missile that hit a cluster of residential buildings in the town of Bat Yam. In the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel, four women were killed, including a mother and her two daughters. Israel and Iran have launched fresh attacks on each other as US President Donald Trump says the conflict could be easily ended and warns Tehran not to strike any US targets. Israeli rescue teams and sniffer dogs combed the rubble of residential buildings destroyed in overnight strikes looking for survivors after at least 10 people, including children, were killed, authorities said. Iran said at least 138 people had been killed in Israel's onslaught since Friday including 60 on Saturday - half of them children - when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran. The Israeli military warned Iranians living near weapons facilities to evacuate on Sunday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump said Israel's attacks would intensify. An official said Israel had a long list of targets in Iran and declined to say how long the offensive would continue. Sites attacked on Saturday evening included two "dual-use" fuel sites that supported military and nuclear operations, he said. Trump, who has lauded Israel's offensive and denied Iranian claims the US has taken part, warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include US interests. "If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," he said on Truth Social. "However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict." The US had been negotiating with Iran to secure a commitment to severely restrict its nuclear program, which Iran says is civilian but Israel sees as an existential threat because of its weapons potential. Trump gave no details of any possible deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Israel's attacks had been aimed at sabotaging those talks, which were due to resume in Oman on Sunday before being cancelled. He said the offensive had the support of the US and Iran was acting in self-defence. Israel, which has not signed the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty and is thought to possess nuclear weapons, wants to stop Iran from developing atomic weapons and eliminate its ballistic missile capability. The International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday declared Iran in breach of its obligations under the treaty. Iran said Israel had attacked the Shahran oil depot in the capital but the situation was under control. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said Israel attacked an oil refinery near the capital on Sunday, and Iran's defence ministry was damaged. It also reported the arrest of two people accused of belonging to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency in Alborz province. The latest wave of Iranian attacks on Israel began late on Saturday night, when air raid sirens sent some one million people into bomb shelters in Jerusalem and Haifa. Residents in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were told to shelter early on Sunday amid another incoming missile barrage. The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control most of Yemen, said they had launched ballistic missiles towards Jaffa near Tel Aviv, the first time an ally of Iran has reportedly joined the fray. Conflict in the Middle East has decimated Tehran's strongest regional proxies - the Hamas militia in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon - reducing its options for retaliation. Israeli authorities said at least 10 people were killed in overnight missile strikes in northern and central Israel, including three children. At least six people were killed by an Iranian missile that hit a cluster of residential buildings in the town of Bat Yam. In the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel, four women were killed, including a mother and her two daughters.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
More than one million Aussie homes at risk from fires, floods as housing crisis deepens
More than 1000 homes have been left uninhabitable by devastating floods on the NSW Mid-North Coast, a report has found, amid fears the climate crisis could put millions more at risk. The report by the Housing, Homelessness, and Disasters National Symposium last week found 1153 homes were left uninhabitable by the floods. Another 1831 homes were damaged. Some 23,000 Australians are displaced by floods, bushfires, and cyclones each year, with the report finding 5.6 million homes are at risk from bushfires as climate impacts accelerate. Homeless Australia CEO Kate Colvin said as climate disasters become more regular, there was a risk of a 'two-tiered society' in which housing security determined disaster survival. 'There is a gap between people who are best able to protect themselves and people who are least able to,' she said. Ms Colvin said renters were often limited to cheaper properties in more flood-prone areas and were less resilient to climate-related disasters, compared with higher-income earners. Renters also often had less access to government support and faced a 'superheated' rental market. 'They can't compete because all those people who had insurance often also get a special payments system to afford rent during the time when their home is not available,' Ms Colvin said. 'They then can't get a rental because you've got this superheated market, so you have another wave of homelessness just because of the housing market impact'. Ms Colvin called on the federal government to make renters or people facing homelessness a priority in future disaster responses, and include disaster resilience in its 10-year housing plan. 'In the planning phase, include the homelessness sector, include strategies around housing resilience … (and) in the response phase, be inclusive of people who are facing homelessness.' The symposium brought together more than 100 professionals across the housing, emergency management, and governmental sectors to examine how 'secondary crises' affect NSW. Factors included the prevalence of construction workers who flood disaster zones in the wake of climate events, inadvertently driving up rents for already struggling locals. The symposium found that in Australia, some 953,000 homes were vulnerable to flooding and 17,500 were at threat from coastal erosion, with 169,000 people on the public housing list. HowWeSurvive UNSW Sydney academic and co-author of the symposium report, Dr Timothy Heffernan, said climate disasters were already hitting 'housing-vulnerable' communities. 'When you have 6.5 million homes at risk from bushfires, floods or coastal erosion, and a housing system that can't meet demand, every disaster becomes a humanitarian crisis,' he said. 'Hotels and motels fill up immediately, caravan parks are often in flood-prone areas … We're asking an already strained system to absorb sudden surges of thousands of displaced people.' Social Futures general manager Martelle Geurts said the Northern Rivers housing system was 'already fragile' when it was hit by the 2022 flood disaster, damaging more than 10,000 homes. Despite extensive recovery efforts, the Northern Rivers accounted for about a third of rough sleepers in NSW in 2025. The most recent NSW Street Count - an annual audit of people facing homelessness - found 346 people sleeping rough in the City of Sydney. In the Northern Rivers, there were 654 people. 'Climate events are becoming more frequent and severe, and they destroy homes. So, climate change and homelessness are inextricably linked,' Ms Geurts said. 'People can't recover without stable housing. 'Disasters displace people and can cause lasting trauma. Some people experience PTSD, and the impact of that can be lifelong. 'What we know is that people can't recover psychologically unless they have a secure place to live.'
7NEWS
2 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Israel, Iran trade strikes for a third day as nuclear talks called off
Israel unleashed airstrikes across Iran for a third day on Sunday and threatened even greater force as some Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defences to strike buildings in the heart of the country. Planned talks on Iran's nuclear program, which could provide an off-ramp, were cancelled. The region braced for a protracted conflict after Israel's surprise bombardment of Iran's nuclear and military sites on Friday killed several top generals and nuclear scientists, and neither side showed any sign of backing down. Iran said Israel struck two oil refineries, raising the prospect of a broader assault on Iran's heavily sanctioned energy industry that could affect global markets. The Israeli military, in a social media post, warned Iranians to evacuate arms factories, signalling what could be a further widening of the campaign. Explosions shook Iran's capital, Tehran, at around noon (6.30pm AEST) and again around 3.30pm. Semi-official news agencies close to Iran's Revolutionary Guard reported one strike in the area of Vali-e Asr Square downtown and another in a neighbourhood named for the air force, which is headquartered there. US President Donald Trump has expressed full support for Israel's actions while warning Iran that it can only avoid further destruction by agreeing to a new nuclear deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that if the Israeli strikes on Iran stop, then 'our responses will also stop.' He said the United States 'is a partner in these attacks and must take responsibility.' Explosions in Tehran Iran's UN ambassador said Saturday that 78 people had been killed and more than 320 wounded. There has been no official update since then. Israel says 13 people have been killed and more than 360 wounded in Iranian attacks. Iran has fired over 270 missiles, 22 of which made impact, according to official Israeli figures. The country's main international airport and airspace remained closed for a third day. Israeli strikes targeted Iran's Defense Ministry early Sunday after hitting air defences, military bases and sites associated with its nuclear program. The killing of several top generals and nuclear scientists in targeted strikes indicated that Israeli intelligence has penetrated Iran at the highest levels. In a sign that Iran expects the Israeli strikes to continue, state television reported that metro stations and mosques would be made available as bomb shelters for the public beginning on Sunday night. Death toll mounts in Israel In Israel, at least six people, including a 10-year-old and a nine-year-old, were killed when a missile hit an apartment building in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv. Daniel Hadad, a local police commander, said 180 people were wounded and seven are still missing. An Associated Press reporter saw streets lined with damaged and destroyed buildings, bombed out cars and shards of glass. Responders used a drone at points to look for survivors. Some people could be seen leaving the area with suitcases. Another four people, including a 13-year-old, were killed and 24 wounded when a missile struck a building in the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel. A strike on the central city of Rehovot wounded 42. The Weizmann Institute of Science, an important center for research in Rehovot, said 'there were a number of hits to buildings on the campus.' It said no one was harmed. Israel has sophisticated multi-tiered air defences that are able to detect and intercept missiles fired at populated areas or key infrastructure, but officials acknowledge it is imperfect. Urgent calls to deescalate World leaders made urgent calls to deescalate. The attack on nuclear sites set a 'dangerous precedent,' China's foreign minister said. The region is already on edge as Israel seeks to annihilate Hamas, an Iranian ally, in the Gaza Strip, where the war is still raging after Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brushed off such calls, saying Israel's strikes so far are 'nothing compared to what they will feel under the sway of our forces in the coming days.' Israel, the sole though undeclared nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, said it launched the attack to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The two countries have been adversaries for decades. Iran has always said its nuclear program was peaceful, and the US and others have assessed it has not pursued a weapon since 2003. But it has enriched ever larger stockpiles of uranium to near weapons-grade levels in recent years and was believed to have been able to develop multiple weapons within months if it chose to do so. The UN's atomic watchdog censured Iran last week. Araghchi, Iran's top diplomat, said Israel had targeted an oil refinery near Tehran and another in a province on the Persian Gulf. He said Iran had targeted 'economic' sites in Israel, without elaborating. Semi-official Iranian news agencies reported that an Israeli drone strike had caused a 'strong explosion' at an Iranian natural gas processing plant. The extent of damage at the South Pars natural gas field was not immediately clear. Such sites have air defence systems around them, which Israel has been targeting. An oil refinery was also damaged in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, according to the firm operating it, which said no one was wounded. Iran calls nuclear talks 'unjustifiable' A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive nuclear talks, said Washington remained committed to them and hoped the Iranians would return to the table. Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, said Saturday that the nuclear talks were 'unjustifiable' after Israel's strikes, which he said were the 'result of the direct support by Washington.' In a post on his Truth Social account early Sunday, Trump reiterated that the US was not involved in the attacks on Iran and warned that any retaliation directed against it would bring an American response 'at levels never seen before.' 'However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!' he wrote.
