Albanese to unveil defence funding as US reviews AUKUS agreement
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to announce new defence funding plans as the United States orders a review of its AUKUS pact with Australia.
Labor is reportedly seeking to ensure the US delivers on its promise to service nuclear submarines from 2027.
There are concerns AUKUS will deliver major defence capabilities to Australia, despite no commitment of support in a conflict over Taiwan.
The government says it is confident with the progress of the pact under the Trump administration.
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News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Marines ordered by Trump to LA start deploying
The first US Marines ordered by Donald Trump to Los Angeles will deploy Friday, the Pentagon said, raising the stakes in a standoff that pits the president against protesters claiming growing authoritarianism. The approximately 200 Marines are part of a group of 700 set to join 4,000 National Guard soldiers, while local police conduct a crackdown on unrest over Trump's sweeps for undocumented migrants. The Marines -- normally used as crack troops in foreign conflicts -- will be equipped with riot gear to guard a federal building starting from 12:00 pm (1900 GMT), Major General Scott Sherman told reporters. An intense legal battle is underway over Trump's authority to deploy troops on US soil, as the country braces for widespread protests Saturday, when the Republican will be overseeing a rare large-scale military parade in Washington. The parade celebrates the 250th anniversary of the US Army but also coincides with Trump's 79th birthday and will be the first time tanks and other heavy weaponry has rolled through the capital city in three decades. A "No Kings" movement has sprung up promising to stage protests in more than 2,000 places across the country in response. Trump dispatched about the California National Guard to Los Angeles last weekend following mostly peaceful, but occasionally violent protests against a surge in immigration raids in the second-largest US city. In a show of political force, Trump overrode the objections of Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom who usually would control the Guard. The president repeatedly exaggerated the scale of violence, claiming that without troops, Los Angeles would be "burning to the ground right now." Late Thursday, District Judge Charles Breyer ruled that Trump's actions were "illegal" and ordered that he return control of the guard to Newsom. Breyer said the LA unrest fell "far short" of the "rebellion" that Trump had described. However, a higher court quickly paused the order pending an appeal hearing with the Trump administration next Tuesday. The Department of Justice slammed Breyer's ruling as "an extraordinary intrusion on the President's constitutional authority as Commander in Chief." The dispute mirrors multiple other tussles over Trump's attempts to expand the limits of presidential power, but is the first to involve troops. The use of Marines is especially controversial, although those deploying Friday will be at a building nowhere near the site of last week's protests. - 'Voices for the people' - Many in Los Angeles are angry about immigration raids carried out as part of Trump's ambition to deport vast numbers of undocumented migrants around the country. Outrage at Trump's raids and the use of masked, armed immigration agents backed by uniformed soldiers has already sparked protests in other cities, including San Francisco, New York, Chicago and San Antonio, Texas. "What brings me out here? The people that were taken, people who don't have voices. We are the voice for the people," Jasmine, a protester in Los Angeles, told AFP on Thursday. Tensions hiked further Thursday when California Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat, was handcuffed and forcibly removed from a news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The incident "reeks of totalitarianism," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, calling for an investigation. The White House hit back, claiming despite video evidence to the contrary, that Padilla "lunged toward Secretary Noem."
West Australian
an hour 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.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Trump tells Iran to make deal or face 'more brutal' attacks
US President Donald Trump urged Iran Friday to make a deal or face "even more brutal" attacks, while keeping the door open for negotiations after Israel's deadly strikes on Tehran's nuclear facilities. Trump appeared to be sitting on the fence, a day after having publicly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off striking Iran only to see the key US ally go ahead anyway. The operation killed senior figures -- among them the armed forces chief and top nuclear scientists -- and Iran has called Israel's wave of strikes a "declaration of war." "There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end," Trump said on his Truth Social platform. "Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left... JUST DO IT, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE," he said. Trump said that he "gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal." He added that Israel -- which Trump has closely aligned with since his return to the White House -- has a lot of weapons thanks to the United States and "they know how to use it." Trump was attending a National Security Council meeting Friday in the White House Situation Room. - 'It's been excellent' - But Trump later appeared to be making a political calculation about how best to respond to Israel's attack. Less than a day earlier Trump had called on Israel to hold off an attack to make room for diplomacy, only for the key US ally to hit Iran as Trump was holding a picnic at the White House for members of Congress. By Friday morning, however, Trump was calling the Israeli offensive "excellent" during a round of phone calls with US media. "I think it's been excellent," ABC News quoted him as saying. "And there's more to come. A lot more." Trump also gave mixed signals about the extent of US involvement. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said Thursday that the United States was "not involved" in the strikes and warned Iran not to retaliate against any US forces in the region. Trump, however, said on Truth Social on Friday that Israel had acted because a 60-day deadline that he had set for Iran had run out, implying that the two acted in concert. His boasts about the "finest" US equipment that Israel had used -- a day before a huge parade in Washington on Trump's 79th birthday featuring US aircraft and tanks -- also muddied the waters. Trump earlier told Fox News he had been made aware of the Israeli strikes before they happened, and stressed that Tehran "cannot have a nuclear bomb." But at the same time Trump said Iran could have a second chance to negotiate. "They missed the opportunity to make a deal. Now, they may have another opportunity. We'll see," Trump told NBC. Trump also indicated that the Iranians were "calling me to speak" after the attacks to suggest they wanted to make a deal, without offering specifics. During Trump's first term, he pulled the United States out of a landmark agreement to relieve sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program. The United States and Iran have had several rounds of talks since Trump returned to the White House, but after initially striking an optimistic tone, they have foundered in recent days.
