Your super fund isn't ready for the world's biggest trade
It's tempting to dismiss the White House's decision to review the $386 billion AUKUS pact as a political story. But the implications for Australia's economy and the nation's investors could be seismic.
Rabobank global strategist Michael Every says the review could mean 'the D for Decision Day I have long warned of may finally loom Down Under after years of have-your-cake-and-eat-it-ism. At the very least, the US seems to be insisting that Canberra pledges to use any US subs against China in a potential war over Taiwan. Do that and maybe Australia can keep AUKUS – yet they will likely pay a high price elsewhere, including on trade.
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West Australian
40 minutes ago
- West Australian
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese under heavy pressure to pull off meeting with Donald Trump at G7 summit
Anthony Albanese will fly into Canada this weekend wary of more than rogue bears getting into the mountainous Kananaskis Village. The Prime Minister is laden with heavy expectations that have little to do with the G7 summit he is attending. If all goes well, Mr Albanese will have another warm and productive discussion with Donald Trump, secure the future of the AUKUS defence pact and make headway on trade talks. But at the time he left Australia on Friday morning, Mr Albanese was yet to lock in a meeting with the mercurial US President. Nor had any leaders from the G7's member countries, according to Australian officials. The weight of expectations for Mr Albanese's trip to Fiji, the US and Canada has been growing over the past week. He took the approach during the election, and since then, of declaring he wouldn't be pushed around by the US President or anyone else. 'Australia should decide what we spend on Australia's defence. Simple as that,' he told the National Press Club this week. Australians were the second most likely in the world to have an unfavourable opinion of the US, with 71 per cent thinking poorly of the superpower, research from the Pew Research Center this week showed. That was an 11-point increase from a year earlier. More than 90 per cent of Australians labelled Mr Trump 'arrogant' and 81 per cent said he was 'dangerous'. Nevertheless, the probable first face-to-face meeting between Mr Albanese and Mr Trump is overshadowing the rest of the G7 agenda for Australia. The Lowy Institute's foreign policy program director, Ryan Neelam, said Australians 'have to be realistic about what we what we expect of that, given how recent meetings with Trump have gone'. The American has had several high-profile showdowns with other world leaders in the Oval Office. '(Mr Albanese) will need to press the case for why AUKUS is in the US' interests, and make that case to Trump directly about the value of Australia as a security ally in the region that sees similar threats and also wants to balance the prospect of Chinese military aggression,' Mr Neelam said. 'On tariffs … I'm sure he will continue to make the case that, as he said — I'm sure he won't put it in these words directly to Mr Trump — that these are not the actions of a friend, and that there are good reasons why Australia should not be subject to US tariffs.' Mr Albanese has had three previous phone conversations with Mr Trump, which he characterised as warm. But he is yet to meet the President in person. Nor did he meet Vice-President JD Vance when they both attended the papal inauguration in Rome. His Government is facing multiple pressure points over Australia's vital US alliance, including trade, defence spending levels, its sanctions on two far-right Israeli ministers, and the leaked news of the American review of the AUKUS deal. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles earlier this month that he would like to see Australia's budget lift to 3.5 per cent of GDP. The pair discussed AUKUS at the same meeting. At that point, the Australian Government knew about the review of AUKUS, but the fact wasn't made public until this week. Mr Albanese played down the review when asked about it in Fiji on Friday, en route to the G7, pointing out his Government and that of Keir Starmer in the UK has also reviewed AUKUS after they won office. 'We are very confident, though, that AUKUS is in the interests of all three of our nations and that it will play an important role in peace, security and stability around the world at a time when that is absolutely necessary,' he said. Two-thirds of Australians back the plan to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, according to polling from the Lowy Institute released on Friday. Compounding tensions, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week lashed out at Australia, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Norway for imposing sanctions on Israeli ministers, telling them not to forget who the real enemy was in the Gaza conflict. 'The Prime Minister is a very experienced international negotiator and I certainly won't preempt what he might want or have to say, but obviously this is an important meeting,' Foreign Minister Penny Wong said. Former home affairs boss Mike Pezzullo said Mr Albanese should go into any meeting with Mr Trump not with an offer but an opening, despite the President's penchant for deal-making. 'He needs to say, Donald what we're doing adds to your combat capability,' Mr Pezzullo said. 'We're a good ally that contributes to American security by things like support for your bombers, your submarines that are going into the city of Perth, fuel installations in Darwin, and this is critical for your own defence.' Speeding up the overhaul of WA's Henderson Defence precinct — which is planned to have multiple docks where the large nuclear-powered submarines can be serviced — would also mean Australia could effectively become a fifth maintenance site for US boats, meaning it could get them back into service more quickly. Mr Pezzullo said that would strengthen Australia's argument that it is already helping the US speed up its production lines. Canadian PM Mark Carney has laid out three priorities for the core G7 discussions: security including foreign interferences and migration, the energy and digital transition including fortifying critical mineral supply chains, and long-term economic security and prosperity including trade. Leaders gathered in Kananaskis will be working to 'gently shape Trump's approach', Mr Neelam said, conscious that their perspectives on the agenda items diverge sharply from the US administration. 'The US is a key member of the G7, it's a key power in the world. There's no getting around the fact that we have to work around and with the Trump administration on these issues,' he said. Former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien urged leaders attending to avoid engaging any 'crazy' from Mr Trump. The summit also offers leaders — particularly those from countries like Australia which are not core members of the forum — to have talks on the sidelines and coordinate action on a range of issues. Australia is not a G7 country but has been invited to attend the leaders' summit six times previously, including the 2020 summit Mr Trump hosted that had to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr Albanese has lined up bilateral meetings with other leaders in Kananaskis including Mr Starmer, Japan's Shigeru Ishiba, new Korean President Lee Jae-myung and host Mr Carney. He is expected to also meet the heads of NATO, the European Union and the European Commission. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also headed to the summit with a special invitation, meaning if Mr Trump does attend, the leaders of all four Quad countries will be present. On the way to Canada, Mr Albanese will also stop in Seattle to meet business leaders and discuss how the US and Australia can work together to take advantage of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.
9 News
10 hours ago
- 9 News
Expert says Australia's 'chronically over-budget' warship project should be scrapped
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Chronically over-budget, significantly delayed and lacking firepower - that's the expert assessment of a major warship project they say should be scrapped. The Hunter Class frigate project is already seven years behind schedule and many billions of dollars more expensive than initially anticipated. In 2018, British company BAE Systems won a $35 billion tender to build nine frigates, or $3.8 billion each, with the first scheduled to be in service by 2027. Australia's next Hunter-class frigates will be based on this British design. (Nine) By 2020 the price tag had blown out to $45 billion or $5 billion a piece, and Defence is now estimating it will cost $27 billion to build just frigates, or $9 billion each, with the first to be in service by 2034 - seven years late. BAE Systems is the company that will build Australia's AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines. Strategic Analysis Australia director Michael Shoebridge said the Hunter Class project was the "high point of decadence" in Defence decision-making. He said Defence adjusted the original BAE British design with a series of add-ons, including different combat and radar systems - which made it massively more expensive. "That frigate program is beyond scandalous - It's entered ludicrous mode for a wasteful use of taxpayer money and a very slow, small contribution to Australian military power," Shoebridge said. Australia's next Hunter-class frigates will be based on this British design. (Nine) He said the Hunter had just 32 missiles, which was a third of the weaponry of the Chinese cruiser that circumnavigated Australia in March. "We're in a very dangerous world and a very dangerous period in the world, and waiting to the mid-2030s and into the 2040s for three frigates for this amount of money, makes no sense. "We could go to the Japanese or the South Koreans and get a properly armed cruiser much faster than BAE is delivering this program." Defence analyst Dr Marcus Hellyer was equally scathing of the Hunter frigate, saying Navy's adjustments to the design had not only significantly increased its cost, but the frigate's weight, taking it from 8000 tonnes to more than 10,000 tonnes, making it slower. "It is monstrously expensive," Hellyer said. "And I would say, if you're in a hole, stop digging. "The government itself has decided it can't wait for the Hunter Class frigate, so it has kicked off a new frigate program and it is considering a competition between a German design and a Japanese design. "So the government itself has pretty much said we need to do something different - in a sense, they're halfway there already." Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the Hunter frigate project would not be cut despite its problems. "I wish I had a time machine to go back to 2016 and avoid the mistakes that the Coalition government made, but we've moved on," Conroy said. "We've got the project on track. Steel is being cut right now, we've signed the contract, there are about 2500 people working on this project right now. "The fastest way of delivering new capability for the Royal Australian Navy, is following through on this, building this project, now that we've fixed up many of the mistakes the Coalition government made." navy Australia defence national CONTACT US Auto news:Is this the next Subaru WRX? Mysterious performance car teased.
Sydney Morning Herald
10 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Dump it, Trump, dump it! Save us the trouble.
Before we consider increasing the defence budget we should be looking at how this money would be better spent now (' AUKUS review a chance to rethink our alliances ', June 13). It's fairly obvious that AUKUS is a bad investment. Apart from the fact that our submarine delivery looks to be jeopardised by the US failing to meet the quota for its own fleet, according to experts, nuclear subs are not the type we need. The delivery time is too distant, and they are likely to be made obsolete by other defence technologies. We should cut our losses and ditch this dud deal. Roger Johnson, New Lambton Heights Trump's administration is reviewing the AUKUS deal to see if it meets the criteria for 'America First'. That says it all: America's interests will always be its primary concern. We need to rethink the AUKUS deal and create a defence strategy that maintains our sovereignty while we are still an active partner in the alliance with the United States. Australia cannot afford to plough billions of dollars into a strategy for an end product (nuclear submarines) that may never materialise, or be superseded by new technologies. Leo Sorbello, Leichhardt The longer Trump is president, the more Australia's ties with America become quicksand. If Australia is to have any chance of building a credible defence capacity, we jeopardise our security by putting our faith in the increasingly erratic and autocratic leader of a once-great ally. Trump's America-first agenda and contradictory political allegiances are plainly a serious threat to Western democracy. Do we really want to be America's vassal in such a precarious world? Bruce Spence, Balmain May I humbly suggest that our PM tells Donald Trump to keep his non-existent submarines and that we simply pretend we have some? Given they're supposed to be so stealthy and invisible, our non-existent enemies will never know. Thus, we get the deterrence effect and can now afford a truckload of public housing and other useful social services. Tim Parker, Balmain Disaster it is but ironic to say, 'It's time to recognise that since the AUKUS deal was announced, circumstances have changed'. No, they haven't. The circumstances under which AUKUS was announced involved a hubristic Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, desperately trying to salvage a reputation he had already trashed before the electorate finally woke up and voted him out of office. In America, we face the prospect of having to relate to an even greater threat to intelligent leadership, the world's biggest liar, egomaniac, self-absorbed buffoon, Donald Trump. No change. Just different individuals. Let's get us the hell out of AUKUS, away from a USA-dominant sphere of influence, and be 'the grown-up country'. Frederick Jansohn, Rose Bay Morrison and Turnbull are both in this paper talking about submarines. I'm sure if I looked hard enough I'd find Abbott bemoaning the end of Western civilisation or whatever cultural crusade he is on this week. I long for the days when the Letters page was filled with indignant outrage and calls for ex-PMs to be silent whenever Paul Keating had the temerity to comment on Sydney's architecture. Derek Elmes, Faulconbridge Something seems very wrong. The party (the Coalition) that claims to be the best economy managers has, in about two decades, saddled Australia with two massive white elephants. First, Tony Abbott ruined the NBN with his fibre-to-the-node scheme, which cost more than the original and left us with a horse-and-cart model. Not to be outdone, Scott Morrison left us with a World War II defence plan that focused on submarines. We can only hope Trump cancels it with a child-like stamping of his feet. Meanwhile, the Coalition is still focused on keeping Trump happy in an equally childlike display. Philip Dowle, Wickham We can only hope and pray that Trump scraps the nuclear submarine deal. It would save us the embarrassment of having to cancel it ourselves. I suspect most Aussies would prefer not to be tied to the untrustworthy Trump regime, on this or any other deal, for that matter. Let's face it, subs will probably be useless war machines by the time they are delivered. Should the deal survive, it will probably cost us twice the original estimate and take twice as long to complete too. Unsurprisingly, the Coalition already has its knickers in a knot over the review. Without the AUKUS subs deal, they'd have to come up with another thought bubble – and vision isn't one of their strong suits. Graham Lum, North Rocks Rumour has it that Donald Trump thinks AUKUS is the month before September. Brian Roach, Westleigh I reckon this might be at least the 250th letter today opposing AUKUS and the submarines deal, but we will still be stuck with this horrible deal made at the whim of Scotty and Boris. I'd back the combined wisdom of Herald letter writers. Tom Lockley, Pyrmont Offer for Albanese James Massola muses (' Albanese needs to make Trump an offer he can't refuse ', June 13) on what our PM needs to do to respond to Trump, AUKUS and all the other uncertainties with our US relationship. While I think most Australians worry about Trump, we can't ignore the fact that the US has run its economy into the ground being sheriff for democracies the world over. While it would be nice to spend more on aid than defence, that's wishful thinking. Maybe us grey nomads could endorse some tax reform to fund increased defence spending that keeps our kids and grandkids safe. After all, our fathers and grandfathers did much more by laying down their lives for us. It's time to act, not react. Brian Barrett, Padstow As James Massola reports on the 'big meet', the Trump administration demands the rest of the world do what Trump wants. This leaves Australia isolated in a fragile part of the world. Albanese expects (maybe) to get a sideline meeting with Trump at the G7 summit. What an insult to Australia. Despite our once close relationship, we obviously can't expect any favours from the world's No.1 bully. Time to review our strategic partnerships and call Trump's bluff. Denis Suttling, Newport Beach Don't seize, desist! So, the Liberals have 'seized' on the AUKUS review (' Turnbull, opposition seize on AUKUS review ', June 13). What hypocrisy! The 'deal' they instigated involves us paying the US a bucketload of money now in order that they may, if they feel like it, sell us a couple of submarines in future for an even more eye-watering sum. I hope the review ends it. Brenton McGeachie, Hackett (ACT) They told us Crown would not have pokies. We didn't bet on it If every other state in Australia can function without the ridiculously high number of poker machines that NSW has, then our state government can no longer fail to set targets to reduce gambling harm (' Crown ramps up push to allow 500 cashless pokies in casino ', June 13). The most recent audit incredibly predicts it would take 55 years for NSW to reduce its poker machine numbers to the national average. How did we get here? These symbols of greed and misery cannot be ignored indefinitely, nor indeed be added to the Barangaroo behemoth. Lorraine Hickey, Green Point It wasn't that long ago that we, the people of Sydney, were assured by the NSW government that poker machines would not be allowed at Crown Casino. It would be a classy joint, we were told. In 2013, then premier Barry O'Farrell said: 'Star City has 1500 poker machines. The VIP gaming facility at Barangaroo, should it proceed, will not have any. It's a high value, high worth individual enterprise. It's not a full-blown casino. It'll be restricted.' The cynics among us said: Sure, just give it a few years and see; before long, there will be pokies at Crown Casino. Perhaps the cynics were only realists. Politics, big business, property development and gambling – it's always a heady, if sadly predictable, mix in our fair state. Ross Duncan, Potts Point I might be the odd one out to say this, as I have never played a pokie in my life, but Crown casinos having cashless pokie licences is probably a lesser evil than the reluctance to introduce cashless pokies in all parts of the state. The government must stop pussy-footing and instead introduce drastic reforms to reduce harm from pokies on families, which has a domino effect on our health system due to depression, even suicide, and economically for families who lose their house and/or relationship. Giving Crown cashless pokies will be a boost, not that it is going to solve any problems, but at least other pokies in various clubs will be forced to follow the cashless methodology quickly. Mukul Desai, Hunters Hill If this passes, and poker machines are introduced into Crown Barangaroo, it will make a mockery of the original agreement and the trust that the people of Sydney and NSW had in the government to uphold it. Jenny Stephenson, Wollongong Free to air discontent Loss of employment through restructures, often driven by business decisions, is a fact of life, and dealing with it can be challenging; I know, I have been there twice (' TV pushed out by scary alternativ e', June 13). Waleed Aly has naturally sought to lay blame for the axing of his pet project on Channel 10's parent, US Paramount, along with a rapidly evolving alternative to traditional free-to-air station offerings for a diverse and highly discerning audience. Will I miss The Project? No. In all its 16 years I have never watched it. Allan Gibson, Cherrybrook Waleed Aly spells out how the rise of social media and streaming is destroying free-to-air television. Now with AI and the personal information that the tech bros control, the danger is to democracy itself as they line up behind Trump. It is encouraging to see, Michael Koziol ('Marines deployed as Trump says governor should be arrested', June 11), that the Californian governor is at last using words such as 'dictatorial' and 'shock troops out of control'. It has been plain to see for years that Trump plans to be a dictator. It may already be too late to protest. Gary Barnes, Mosman Online streaming and social media have changed how people consume news and current affairs, sadly resulting in free-to-air channels cancelling programs such as Q&A, The Drum and The Project. Social media undercuts traditional media. It is created at low or no cost by persons unknown and is rarely moderated or reviewed. The content often polarises opinion, as algorithms amplify existing bias and/or illusion. Trump's greater reach via social media contributed to his election win over the Democrats, even though the masses who elected him will experience worse outcomes under his regime. Free-to-air stations need to ensure they educate us with in-depth political, environmental and economic news and provide a platform for civil discourse for better policy formation, or we risk following the US down a rabbit hole. Anne Matheson, Gordon My children, born in the mid and late 1990s, never read newspapers and rarely watch TV, yet they are still tuned in to news events and current popular culture, which they get from other sources. Once us oldies go, there will be even less support for the traditional print and TV news outlets, which will possibly become an oddity. Con Vaitsas, Ashbury Supermarket planning Thank you, MP Kellie Sloane (' Lib calls for Rose Bay to be spared housing bid ', June 13), please add Roseville and Killara to your list of suburbs that have been unfairly targeted. Neither of these suburbs has a major supermarket. Margie Christowski, Roseville Aside from not being a town centre, Rose Bay is on a narrow peninsula. There are basically only two roads in and out. Irene Thom, Vaucluse He made life a beach The beauty and power of music is evident in Brian Wilson's life (' Pop music's genius composer Wilson rode waves of brilliance and torment in equal measure, dead at 82 ', June 13). Despite his damaged life, he created songs we love. Thank you. Music gives us joy, solace, dreams and memories, and touches every emotion and our souls. Today I am remembering Saturday night dances with fast feet, swinging skirts, many petticoats and big smiles. Bea Hodgson, Gerringong Postscript This week the first subject of note, which went on for days, was the King's Birthday Honours List. Honours lists normally bring in opinions, usually along the lines of 'Why are the lists so male heavy?' and 'Why do so many men get gongs for simply doing their well-paid jobs?' . We certainly got plenty of those this week, but nothing like the number of letters about Scott Morrison getting the country's highest honour, the Companion of the Order of Australia, just for being prime minister, or, officially, for his service to the public and the parliament (in other words, his well-paid job). The collective intake of breath was heard across the land, followed by the sharpening of knives. Yes, a few people wrote in saying that the honour was well-deserved because Morrison got Australia through COVID-19. The rest stopped choking only long enough to mention holidays in bushfire emergencies, hoses, handshakes refused, extra ministries and, most of all, robo-debt. Then there was discussion about sanctions being applied to two senior Israeli politicians. Opinion was generally in favour, although there were strong arguments against. Also, many questions about who deserves punishments in this world (spoiler alert: mostly Donald Trump). Trump always brings in letters, sometimes at the end of the week there have been so many high crimes and misdemeanours that it's hard to keep them in order. At the start of this week, it was Trump and the ongoing misery of Gaza. In the middle of the week, it was Trump and the Los Angeles troubles. And by the end of the week, it was all about AUKUS as Trump seemed to be vacillating about the agreement. The letter writers strongly advise walking away from AUKUS without a backward glance. There was also spirited discussion about illegal house building with the hope of forgiveness afterwards. There was, shall we say, no support at all for this. The last big story was mourning the Herald 's wonderful cartoonist John Shakespeare, who died this week at 63. Letters of lamentation poured in, remembering a lovely man. Harriet Veitch, acting letters editor
