Australia news live: Chalmers talks tariffs in US; Labor urged to scrap ‘epically self-defeating' uni fees scheme

The Guardian

25-02-2025

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Police in New South Wales said last night that the search for a man missing from a recreational fishing vessel has been suspended.
Police were alerted on Sunday afternoon that Paul Barning had fallen overboard during a fishing competition off the coast of Port Stephens.
Crews from the NSW police marine command, PolAir, Marine Rescue NSW and Westpac rescue helicopter responded to the area, about 55km off the coast.
The search for the 58-year-old continued during daylight hours on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday but he has not been found. The search was suspended at 5pm yesterday and will not resume today. Share Caitlin Cassidy
Universities are receiving almost $1bn less for student places a year under the controversial jobs-ready graduates scheme, a new report has found.
The package, which hiked the costs of arts degrees to fund an expansion of places for 'in-demand degrees', was introduced by the Coalition in 2021.
The education minister has deferred reforms to higher education to the yet-to-be-established Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec), due to operate in an interim capacity from July.
Addressing the National Press Club today, the chief executive of Universities Australia, Luke Sheehy, will say the scheme has cost almost $1bn annually, the equivalent of 33,000 fewer places per year.
The report also warns government investment in research has never been lower and most universities are in deficit, with 'once reliable' international student enrolments now trending downwards due to federal government reforms.
Sheehy will call jobs-ready 'epically self-defeating', urging the next federal government to scrap the package and set new funding rates that are fairer for students.
My question today to the prime minister and the leader of the opposition is simple. If getting our universities match fit isn't a first-order national priority, how are we going to deliver all our other national priorities?
Our universities have everything to do with building Australia's future – they are an essential ingredient and should be treated as such. Share
Jim Chalmers was in Washington DC overnight.
The Australian treasurer was there for talks, and to hear US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent deliver his first major economic policy address since taking office.
Reuters reports that in the wide-ranging speech at an investment conference hosted by the Australian embassy in Washington, Bessent said his goal was 'to re-privatise the economy'.
Bessent said Trump's planned tariffs were a tool to correct and manage internal imbalances in other economies, and deter excess production and supply from other countries, such as China.
In deciding on reciprocal tariff rates, Trump's administration, including the Treasury, will examine a wide range of factors, including other countries' tariff rates, non-tariff barriers and currency practices, Bessent said.
Asked about how Australia, which has a US free-trade agreement, was doing in this regard, Bessent said, 'so far, so good, but I'm not [US official trade agency] USTR.'
He said he discussed Australia's request to be exempted from Trump's restored 25% global steel and aluminium tariffs during a meeting with Chalmers. He added however that that was a matter for the commerce department and USTR to decide. Share
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with some of the top overnight stories before Emily Wind takes you through the day.
The boss of Creative Australia has conceded at a late-night Senate estimates hearing that the Australian Pavilion at next year's Venice Biennale may remain empty following its decision to rescind the contracts of the artist and curator it chose to represent the country. But Adrian Collette and the chair Robert Morgan told to Senate estimates last night they would not resign over the fiasco. More coming up.
The chief executive of Universities Australia will warn in an address to the National Press Club today that Labor's ''jobs-ready' graduate scheme is self-defeating on an epic scale. Luke Sheehy says the scheme has cost almost $1bn annually, the equivalent of 33,000 fewer places per year, and will use his speech to urge Labor to scrap the program introduced by the Coalition in 2021. More details coming up.
Fourteen members of 'the Saints' religious group will be sentenced today over the manslaughter of eight-year-old diabetic, Elizabeth Struhs. She died after the cult members, including her two parents and brother, withheld her insulin treatment. More coming up.
And the treasurer was in Washington DC overnight, arguing for an exemption to the US's broad new tariffs on steel and aluminium. Did he succeed? We'll soon find out. Share