Latest news with #BobCarr
The Guardian
19-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Labor to cut medicine costs, Bob Carr's Aukus warning, Rowling sparks Harry Potter feud
Morning everyone. It feels like the campaign for an election that hasn't even been called yet is in full swing. Labor is unveiling plans to slash the cost of medicines in next week's budget and Coalition MPs are pleading with Peter Dutton for a cost-of-living policy to sell on the stump. We also have a fascinating insight into the social trends and attitudes that will shape the election, Bob Carr condemns the Aukus pact as risking a 'colossal surrender of sovereignty', and we reveal the winner of this year's hot cross bun taste test. Aukus 'surrender' | Australia faces a 'colossal surrender of sovereignty' if promised US nuclear-powered submarines do not arrive under Australian control, former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr has said, arguing the US is 'utterly not a reliable ally' to Australia. Medicinal benefit | A re-elected Labor government would reduce the price of PBS-listed medicines to no more than $25 a script in a major election pledge coming in next week's budget. It comes as Peter Dutton faces internal pressure to match Labor's budget giveaways as Coalition MPs hope to neutralise a potentially potent Labor attack during the campaign. Tasmania | Anthony Albanese plans to rush through contentious legislation next week to protect Tasmania's salmon industry from a legal challenge over the industry's impact on an endangered fish species. Exclusive | Victoria only awarded one new crime prevention grant in the past financial year and several programs supporting young people at risk of reoffending will be cut unless the government increases funding. Energy | High gas prices and a shift towards running homes and businesses on electricity has put off a forecast gas shortage in Australia's southern states until 2028, a government agency says. 'War on the rule of law' | Donald Trump has 'declared war on the rule of law in America' and is pitching the country into a constitutional crisis, a prominent former conservative federal judge has said. The comments come as Trump's press secretary called a federal judge who has blocked the deportation of immigrants a 'Democrat activist'. Follow developments live. Elon Musk is claiming, without evidence, that Democrats have been using welfare fraud to attract immigrants and win more votes. Zelenskyy hope | Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine is ready to implement a limited ceasefire on attacks on energy infrastructure after a 'frank' telephone call with Donald Trump. Israel has launched a fresh wave of airstrikes in Gaza on the second day of its resumed offensive in the Palestinian territory. Expelliarmus | Harry Potter author JK Rowling appears to have criticised the three leading actors of the eight-film franchise in a post on social media after falling out with them over trans rights. Migrants missing | Six people have died and 40 are missing after a boat carrying migrants from Africa sank off the Italian island of Lampedusa on Tuesday. Gaza war | Israeli forces have launched a 'limited ground operation' to retake the Netzarim corridor in a new escalation of its new offensive in Gaza. The UN called for an investigation after a staff member was among 20 people reportedly killed in renewed airstrikes. The fake terrorism plot and the real threats to free speech Nour Haydar speaks to Jordyn Beazley about why pressure is now mounting on the New South Wales government to repeal laws rushed through after the discovery of the caravan filled with explosives. Sorry your browser does not support audio - but you can download here and listen $ With the election looming, researcher Rebecca Huntley looks at social trends and finds that Australians have lost hope in the concept of the 'fair go' and place more value in security and personal freedom. She finds that driving this change is the unaffordability of housing and declining engagement with politics, and has some suggestions about how to fix the problem. When it comes to supermarket hot cross buns, shoppers should stock up at Coles according to Australian consumer group Choice, which evaluated 19 traditional, chocolate and gluten-free varieties in its annual taste test. In a finding that may horrify purists, a bun containing choc chips received the highest overall score. Sign up to Morning Mail Our Australian morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Football | As the Socceroos begin a crucial series of World Cup qualifiers against Indonesia in Sydney tonight, we look at how the race to the USA is panning out across the world. Rugby union | Faster games, tighter margins and law changes in Super Rugby Pacific are boosting crowd attendances, TV ratings and greater success for Australian sides – and could help the Wallabies beat the Lions. Tennis | The legal battle threatening to engulf tennis comes after years of increasing tensions between the players and the governing bodies. The Sydney Morning Herald claims in an exclusive that a CFMEU-aligned fund has received $5.5m in federal money to encourage women in construction. Geelong's mayor says anti-war protests of the kind seen in Melbourne won't be tolerated at the Avalon airshow, the Herald Sun reports. The Australian says a new TV series will be used by Tourism Australia to promote the country to the world. Sydney | Peter Dutton speaks at the Lowy Institute at 10.45am. Economy | Unemployment figures released at 11.30am. Enjoying the Morning Mail? Then you'll love our Afternoon Update newsletter. Sign up here to finish your day with a three-minute snapshot of the day's main news, and complete your daily news roundup. And follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland. And finally, here are the Guardian's crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword If you have a story tip or technical issue viewing this newsletter, please reply to this email. If you are a Guardian supporter and need assistance with regards to contributions and/or digital subscriptions, please email
The Guardian
19-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Bob Carr says Aukus a ‘colossal surrender of sovereignty' if submarines do not arrive under Australian control
Australia faces a 'colossal surrender of sovereignty' if promised US nuclear-powered submarines do not arrive under Australian control, former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr has said, arguing the US is 'utterly not a reliable ally' to Australia. 'It's inevitable we're not getting them,' Carr told the Guardian, ahead of the release of a report from Australians for War Powers Reform that argues the multibillion-dollar Aukus deal had been imposed upon Australia without sufficient public or parliamentary scrutiny. 'The evidence is mounting that we're not going to get Virginia-class subs from the United States,' Carr said, 'for the simple reason they're not building enough for their own needs and will not, in the early 2030s, be peeling off subs from their own navy to sell to us.' Under 'pillar one' of the planned Aukus arrangement, it is proposed the US would sell Australia between three and five of its Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines in the early 2030s before the Aukus-class submarines were built, first in the UK, then in Australia. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email However, the US has already forecast it might not have capacity to spare any of its Virginia-class boats, the Congressional Research Service instead floating a proposal in which: 'instead of … them being sold to Australia, these additional boats would instead be retained in US Navy service and operated out of Australia'. Carr said that alternative would leave Australia without Australian-flagged submarines and no control of when, and to where, those boats were deployed. 'It involves the total loss of any sovereign submarine capacity and, more than that, a colossal surrender of Australian sovereignty in general.' Australia, Carr said, needed to look past the 'cheerful flag-waving propaganda' of the proclaimed Aukus deal, saying the alternative likely to be presented by the US would leave Australia 'totally integrated in American defence planning and we'll be hosting even more potential nuclear targets'. Australians for War Powers Reform, a group that advocates for parliamentary oversight of the decision to send Australian troops to war, launched a report on Thursday morning arguing that the Aukus deal – signed by the Morrison government in 2021 and adopted by its Albanese-led successor – had been instituted without any public or parliamentary scrutiny. 'The public and the national parliament have been kept in the dark every step of the way,' the report argues. 'The Aukus pact has become a textbook example of how to disenfranchise the community, providing almost no transparency or democracy in a sweeping decision which will affect Australia for decades.' Aukus and the Surrender of Transparency, Accountability and Sovereignty argues the multi-decade, multibillion-dollar Aukus deal was presented to the Australian public without any discussion, consultation, and without parliamentary debate. The current forecast cost of 'pillar one' of Aukus – to buy US Virginia-class submarines and build Aukus subs – is $368bn to the 2050s. The report raises concerns over vague 'political commitments' offered by Australia in exchange for the Aukus deal, as well as practical concerns such as where and how nuclear waste would be stored in Australia. 'Aukus has no legitimate social licence because the public has been shut out of the process, and as a result, scepticism and cynicism have increased.' Dr Alison Broinowski, AWPR committee member and a former Australian diplomat, said Australia's agreement to the Aukus deal was manifestation of a structural flaw in Australia's democracy, where decisions to go to war, or to make consequential defence decisions, were not subject to parliamentary scrutiny or public debate. Broinowski said Aukus was acutely significant because of its size and potential consequence 'and yet the same failure to be frank with the people characterises every government this country has had, during every war there's been'. She argued Australia had no control over Aukus. 'We don't know what Trump's going to do and we have no control over what he does. And so we're left hoping for the best, fearing the worst and with absolutely no way of controlling or influencing what happens, unless we first get ourselves out of Aukus.' The Australian Submarine Agency's Aukus strategy, released this month, said the optimal Aukus pathway would see US boats sold to Australia 'from the early 2030s'. The strategy argues Australia's acquisition of conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines would represent 'one of the most consequential endeavours' in Australia's history, 'at a time when our nation faces the most challenging strategic circumstances since the second world war'. 'An Australian submarine industrial base capable of delivering a persistent, potent and sovereign multi-class submarine capability is vital to the defence of Australia.' Welcoming a rotation of US marines to the Northern Territory this week, the defence minister, Richard Marles, said the Australian defence force continued to work closely with the US: 'The power of our alliance with the United States is a testament to our shared dedication to fostering a secure, stable and inclusive Indo-Pacific.' But Carr, the foreign affairs minister between 2012 and 2013, said the Aukus deal highlighted the larger issue of American unreliability in its security alliance with Australia. 'The US is utterly not a reliable ally. No one could see it in those terms,' he said. '[President] Trump is wilful and cavalier and so is his heir-apparent, JD Vance: they are laughing at alliance partners, whom they've almost studiously disowned.' Carr said America had been fundamentally altered by Trump's second administration and that American leadership of a rules-based international order was 'not returning'. 'The speed of America disowning allies to embrace a new world order where it cuts deals with Russia and China has been so astonishing that people are struggling to grasp it, especially in this country, where people just cannot contemplate a world where America treats so lightly its alliance with Australia.'
