Australian news and politics live: Treasurer Chalmers backs new stock exchange as ASX faces fresh competition

West Australian

2 days ago

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The White House announced Wednesday that it is imposing an additional 25 per cent tariff on India, bringing the total levies against the major United States trading partner to 50 per cent.
'I find that the Government of India is currently directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil,' President Donald Trump said in an executive order.
'Accordingly, and as consistent with applicable law, articles of India imported into the customs territory of the United States shall be subject to an additional ad valorem rate of duty of 25 percent,' the executive order reads.
The new tariffs are set to go into effect in 21 days, according to the order, while the previously announced 25 per cent tariffs are set to take effect on Thursday.
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A helicopter crash in Ghana, has killed eight people including the West African nation's defence and environment ministers, the government says.
The military says the helicopter took off on Wednesday morning from the capital, Accra, toward Obuasi, a gold-mining area in the Ashanti region, but went off the radar.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were killed alongside the vice-chair of the National Democratic Congress ruling party, a top national security adviser and crew members.
Ghana's government described the crash as a 'national tragedy'.
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A man accused of fatally shooting two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington outside a Jewish museum has been indicted on federal hate crimes charges.
The indictment, filed in federal court in Washington, charges Elias Rodriguez with nine counts, including a hate crime resulting in death.
The indictment also includes notice of special findings, which would allow the Justice Department to potentially pursue the death penalty.
It accuses him of carrying out a hate crime resulting in death motivated by the 'actual and perceived national origin of any person'. Rodriguez also faces charges of first-degree murder and murder of a foreign official.
Elias Rodriguez, 31, is accused of gunning down Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, as they left an event at the museum in May.
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Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has urged caution regarding Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan's plan to enshrine the right to work from home into law, advising that the government should 'get their constitutional advice spot on' before proceeding further.
The proposal has drawn criticism from legal experts and academics, who argue it presents significant constitutional challenges and would be difficult to enforce. Meanwhile, business groups warn the law could encourage companies to relocate to other states.
This debate follows the federal Coalition's unsuccessful attempt to limit remote working during the recent election campaign, a move that was abandoned amid widespread public opposition.
Though Mr Bragg conceded the Coalition's handling of remote work issues had been 'not well handled,' he stressed the importance of ensuring any legislation is legally sound.
'My view is that work from home is very good, I do it myself and it should be facilitated,' Mr Bragg told ABC Radio National.
'The Victorian government needs to get their right constitutional advice in order, and they need to make sure that whatever they're proposing to legislate, that would actually work … we're very happy to facilitate it, but that's really a matter for the Victorians and their constitutional advice.'
Australia's $3 trillion stock exchange looks set for a new competitor as the corporate watchdog readies to approve a bid by Cboe to expand operations Down Under.
Cboe Global Markets — which owns the Chicago Board Options Exchange — wants to launch a new platform for local companies to list their shares in direct competition with the Australian Securities Exchange.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission revealed on Wednesday that it was in the final stages of considering the plan, which would give businesses a new place to raise cash.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers talked up the benefits of the plan after talks with regulators and big investors on Wednesday.
'Making our markets more competitive will make our economy more prosperous and productive,' he said.
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Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie has urged the introduction of new regulations to protect songwriters and creative artists from the challenges posed by artificial intelligence.
This follows an interim report by the Productivity Commission which suggested that current Australian copyright laws may act as a 'barrier to building and training AI models.'
The report claimed that existing regulations 'does not adequately facilitate the use of copyrighted works,' drawing criticism from arts bodies who are concerned this will take away the last existing protections artists have.
'I have concerns about artificial intelligence and its impact on humanity, and rather than adopting it, holus bolus and rolling it out en masse across our country, we do need to understand the risks,' Ms McKenzie told Nine on Thursday morning.
'Particularly to our songwriters, our creative artists, to make sure that they're not bearing the cost. We need to protect our artists, and that means putting some regulation in place,' she said.