‘No wonder the ASX lost $20 billion': Trump flags tariffs on pharmaceuticals
This comes amid today's blow to the ASX of around $20 billion.
'I think it's much worse news for Australia than other tariffs – after all, pharmaceuticals are one of those few areas beyond the mining … where we really have a comparative advantage,' Mr Switzer told Sky News host Chris Kenny.
'Our innovators do a tremendous job of converting complicated technology into commercial success.
'No wonder why the ASX today lost $20 billion – even more reason for Canberra to have greater access to Washington to try to cushion the blow.'
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Sydney Morning Herald
29 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
China gibes prove Coalition is out of step with diplomatic reality
The accusations of Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie that Anthony Albanese's trip to China has just been a shallow photo opportunity shows how little the Coalition has learnt from its own failures in the Morrison years (' Great photo ops, not a lot of tangible outcomes ', July 17). Julie Bishop, one of Australia's most successful foreign affairs ministers, realised that diplomacy involved both the establishment of warm relationships as well as engaging in hard negotiations. Under Bishop, our relationship with China prospered. It was no surprise that when Bishop was replaced by the less subtle Marise Payne, serving under the self-confessed 'bulldozer' Scott Morrison, our relations with China (as well as France) fell apart. The proof that a charm offensive works is evidenced by the fact that Australia's exports to China are booming again thanks to the expert way Anthony Albanese, Penny Wong and Don Farrell have played the diplomatic game. Mike Reddy, Vincentia No matter what we may think or report about China, history shows you do not get a reception like the one received by our PM unless you are highly regarded and respected (' China and Xi give Albanese a warm welcome ', July 16). Anthony Albanese has done his research and hit just the right behavioural and responsive notes to Chinese cultural sensitivities and expectations. No one since Whitlam has blazed this trail, and no one could have done better and accomplished more to recalibrate our relationship with the Middle Kingdom. Frederick Jansohn, Rose Bay After a rare private dinner with Xi Jinping, I see some media outlets going on and on about how Anthony Albanese has not met Donald Trump, as if this is a bad thing. What upside is there for him to meet Trump? Like other world leaders who have met him, Albanese is likely to be confronted with a series of questions and questionable facts from Trump, leaving him to accept what is said and be humiliated, or confront Trump and end up doing more harm than good. The next best time for an Australian PM to meet a US president will be in February 2029, after the next election. Christopher Noel, Cremorne Point Portly dispositions I am intrigued at how the federal opposition recently pressed Anthony Albanese to be transparent in his discussions with China's Xi Jinping when negotiating the return of the Port of Darwin, now in the hands of Chinese company Landbridge (' Albanese says Taiwan 'status quo' remains ', July 17). As it turned out, the issue was not raised between the two leaders. China's Premier Li Qiang, however, has expressed concerns about Albanese's commitment to end Landbridge's ownership of the port. It was Tony Abbott's government that set the ball rolling a few days before he was toppled by his own party in September 2015. The Northern Territory was encouraged to proceed with a 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin to Landbridge, owned by billionaire Ye Cheng, who has close links to the Chinese Communist Party, for the sum of $506 million. This agreement was strongly opposed by the Labor Party at that time. Neil James, a former executive director of the Australia Defence Association, called it 'an inexcusable stuff-up'. It is therefore clear that we would not be even having this conversation if the Coalition had not gotten us into this mess in the first place. The upshot is that there is no doubt the Chinese leadership will side with Ye Cheng, who has expressly stated the port is not for sale. Frank Carroll, Moorooka (Qld) Defence is theft In the argument about defence (Letters, July 17), President Dwight Eisenhower's speech about defence expenditure is often quoted. Perhaps we might reflect on his comments, made in 1953: 'Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.' Says it all, really. John Crowe, Cherrybrook Friends with PBS benefits I never thought I'd see the day when I'd appreciate something Donald Trump has done. But now, thanks to him, we have a rare moment of what I've long hoped for: both sides of parliament working consensually on an issue (' Trump's pharma threats unite Labor and Coalition ', July 17). It is so good to see the opposition shifting from its standard operating procedure of bagging the government to one of bipartisanship in defence of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, resulting in a rare moment of public unity. Of course, at the same time the opposition spokesman couldn't resist bagging the prime minister. And since that was for still not having secured a meeting with President Trump, we'd have to ask what on earth would that achieve for Australia, in light of all that we've seen about the outcomes of such meetings when other world leaders have met him, cap in hand. Anne Ring, Coogee Card sharks Your correspondent Stein Boddington makes good points about surcharges added to card users at point of sale (Letters, July 17). As a matter of principle, I do not apply card surcharge in my business (more than 95 per cent of turnover is paid by card). I regard the cost as a business expense and price my product accordingly. However, I have never understood why the alleged card service cost imposed by the bank is levied as a commission, or percentage on the sale. In what way is their cost tenfold for a $200 transaction compared with a $20 transaction? As for cash, clearly there are substantial costs in handling cash, with Armaguard being extended a further large lifeline to transport cash. Now we are also charged to deal with tellers at a bank. Card transactions or cash transactions, banks should just do their job, charge their customers appropriately and stop extorting them by charging commissions on card sales. John Affleck, Sydney Housing solution While Premier Chris Minns searches for new housing solutions following the Rosehill Metro collapse, developers' enthusiasm for Woollahra's potential as a transit-oriented development proves that stations attract investment (' Developers circle Woollahra ghost station ', July 17). As a qualified planner, I've repeatedly urged the Minns Cabinet (since opposition) to follow what became their own Metro West Review's recommendation to reopen the case for Lilyfield. As it stands, the completed Metro West tunnel now passes just north of Leichhardt Oval, and while that iconic ground shouldn't be sold, the surrounding suburb is ripe for a strategic upscale to medium and high-density apartments, as well as a new local centre, connected to neighbouring areas. A Lilyfield Metro West station could support such development, greatly increasing the chance of meeting inner Sydney housing targets. If a mere fraction of that $5 billion previously offered to Racing NSW for Rosehill were put toward completing and backfilling a basic station cavity in Lilyfield by the line's projected opening in 2032, then like Woollahra now, developers could handle the rest whenever the city was ready. One thing I'm sure of – in a century, no one will question such a decision. But the existing 4.5-kilometre gap between new stations in Five Dock and The Bays? The fact this was left unaddressed so close to the CBD in still low-rise, car-dependent suburbs will no doubt be condemned. Nathan English, Balmain Considering that all Chris Minns has achieved with his housing projects is to raise current house prices around all proposed 'transport orientated development' sites by 10 per cent, I don't know why the current residents of Woollahra would object to opening a train station and the subsequent developments that follow. Todd Hillsley, Homebush Tiny home, big potential While I applaud the effort to produce approval-ready plans for the state government's Housing Pattern Book, they completely missed a trick by not coming up with a proper definition of a 'tiny home' so that people could apply to build them legally, instead of having to work around the issue of non-approval by building them as a 'caravan' on a trailer. This method compromises the height and the room width, making them less habitable under National Construction Code standards. A carefully considered tiny home standard that would provide certainty for both DIY and factory builders of these gems would put affordable housing at the fingertips of many more people than the government's plan book ever will, and enable local councils to approve them as dwellings, not just as caravans. Then they could be used for permanent accommodation, not just temporary, which is the restriction for normal caravans. If you've never seen one, understand that tiny homes are nothing like a caravan, except they sometimes have wheels under them. Affordable? Yep! A really nice tiny home could be built for less than $150,000 on your own land or in a factory and towed to your land. Mark Walker, Kempsey Your correspondent David Rohr makes an excellent point regarding residential housing block infill in light of the state government's Housing Pattern Book initiative (Letters, July 17). Utilising even modest backyard space for granny flat-style homes would immediately add to the housing supply rather than sacrificing perfectly adequate structures in the name of newness. Many a backyard could benefit from such additions – it would just take a similar design initiative for modest one- and two-bedroom dwellings with the corresponding streamlining of the local government approvals process. Macquarie Street might also consider what incentives might be offered to homeowners and builders to encourage this repurposing of the traditional housing block — even in space-deprived inner-city suburbs. Mid- and high-rise projects should not be the only glittering answer to the housing crisis. Bradley Wynne, Croydon Credit to Husic Ed Husic deserves credit for joining the growing chorus of lawyers, academics and civil society voices warning against the overreach of the special envoy's report on antisemitism (' Former minister breaks ranks on antisemitism report ', July 17). 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The born-to-rule attitude has always stained the Liberal and the National parties, and the current stances, for instance, of Angus Taylor and Michaelia Cash, who demand that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese follows their directions on relations with China and the crumbling USA, proves that their drubbing at the recent election has not altered this in the slightest. Ian Usman Lewis, Armidale Terror not the truth Ever since the awful Wolf Cree k movies, I have decried their contribution to the brutalisation of the beautiful outback, where the isolation is rendered as threatening, whereas in reality it is very affirming. Peter Falconio's murder in 2001 contributed to this fearful perception, but such events are very rare, especially when compared to our cities (' Killer's death brings no solace to victim's family ', July 17). 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Sky News AU
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Strikes on Damascus aimed at deterring Syrian military from ‘massacring Druze population'
Former foreign minister Alexander Downer says Israeli strikes on Damascus were aimed at stopping the Syrian military from massacring the Druze population, while further adding that any critique of Israel's strikes would 'boil down to antisemitism'. 'Why don't people criticise the Syrian military and the Syrian President for killing Druze?' Mr Downer told Sky News host Chris Kenny. 'There are a lot of Druze in Israel, about 150,000 Israeli Druze, and many of them are in the Israeli defence force … they're completely integrated … into Israeli society. 'The Israelis are stopping the Syrian military from massacring the Druze in Syria, and to criticise the Israelis for doing that, that pretty much boils down to antisemitism.'
Sky News AU
29 minutes ago
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Albanese's ‘private conversations' with Xi Jinping would have been ‘important'
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