Australian news and politics recap March 13: US slams Australia as ‘dumpers’ amid tariff war of words

This concludes our live news and politics coverage for the day.

Scroll back through for a recap on Clive Palmer spruiking the plans of the new Trumpet of Patriots party, updates on power price hikes and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton putting the blame on Labor, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defending ‘doing his job’ in Australia while being grilled on US tariffs, the latest on AUKUS, plus more.

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A global tourism hub that makes $500 million a week may take a major financial hit after an ex-cyclone caused widespread coastal erosion, an expert says.

Work is under way to repair the Gold Coast’s beaches before the lucrative Easter holidays amid fears ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred’s impact may keep holidaymakers away.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has revealed 80 per cent of the glitter strip’s beaches have “gone into the ocean” after the former cyclone created monster waves up to 12 metres, decimating the coastline.

Dredging is set to begin with the local council setting an Easter deadline to return the iconic beaches to their former glory in time for the holiday rush.

The Queensland government has declared the state is “open for business” as the southeast mops up after a week of wild weather also brought widespread flooding.

But Mr Gschwind expected beach erosion to cost the Gold Coast significant tourism dollars.

“Tourism is a perishable good if the income isn’t generated on a day or the weekend, it’s not recoverable - it’s gone,” the Griffith University professor said.

Mr Gschwind also doubted whether beach erosion would be rectified by the Easter holidays.

“I think that (erosion) will have an impact on visitor numbers,” he said.

“I think people will be ready for a holiday and ready for a break for Easter, but it’s certainly not an ideal circumstance with the beaches that play such an important role in the promotion of Queensland and the attraction of the Gold Coast.”

The Easter holidays are usually a booming time for Queensland tourism, contributing $2.5 billion to the state economy last year alone.

-- Savannah Meacham, AAP

AUKUS is in better hands with the Trump Administration than it was under Joe Biden and does not need a plan B, but Australia must accept there are risks to the program, the co-lead of the Defence Strategic Review says.

Peter Dean, head of the US Studies Centres’ defence program and instrumental in the 2023 evaluation, said commentary conflating Donald Trump’s decision to not give Australian steel and aluminium imports a tariff exemption and the tri-lateral security pact was unhelpful and unfounded.

“The two things are not related, and people trying to conflate the two are on the wrong track ... people are grasping for straws at the moment,” he told The Nightly.

“Trade policy is trade policy and defence and security policy is defence and security policy. The two are not necessarily connected.

“AUKUS doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything.”

He criticised calls for a submarine plan B, put forward this week by former defence chief Chris Barrie and submarine expert Peter Briggs – and rebuffed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Defence Minister Richard Marles – as “not credible”.

“There is zero evidence that AUKUS is under any threat. In fact, the evidence so far is that AUKUS is better off under Donald Trump than it was under Joe Biden.”

Read the full story ​here.​

Anthony Albanese was quick to shut down concerns raised that the US may not be able to build submarines promised as part of the AUKUS deal when questioned by Perth reporters.

“We support AUKUS, and so does the United States.” he said.

“And that’s been confirmed, and discussions that I’ve had with President Trump, it’s also confirmed across the Congress and across the Senate in a bipartisan way, by Democrats and Republicans, and it’s supported here in a bipartisan way.”

He was confident the submarines would be delivered.

Still on the topic of tariffs, the Prime Minister was asked what he would do to protect the beef and pharmaceutical industries from being hit next hit by tariffs.

“Look these issues, where the US administration is choosing to go down this road, I’ve said very clearly, from Australia’s perspective, when it comes to tariffs, they penalise the country that’s imposing.

“This increases costs for Americans, and that’s why it’s not an issue.”

Perth reporters pressed Anthony Albanese on his past critical comments on the Morrison government’s relations with China, and their lack of communications in regards to tariffs.

“I’ll be very clear when it comes to China and the relationship, there were no phone calls between the Morrison government, any minister and any Chinese government minister during all of that time,” the Prime Minister said, defending his comments.

Also asked about his own discussions with US President Donald Trump, Mr Albanese replied:

“I have had two very constructive discussions with with the US president. They’ve been constructive and will continue to engage Australia.”

While visiting Mundaring for a health care policy, the Prime Minister was questioned on why he wasn’t instead on a plane to Washington to talk to Donald Trump about the current tariff situation.

“We’re in Perth… doing our job,” Anthony Albanese replied. “That’s what we’re doing.”

When pressed again on what was more important, Mr Albanese snapped back, “The most important place for me to be is doing my job as the Australian Prime Minister”.

“That’s the most important thing that I’m doing,” he reiterated. “And you know what the most important thing I was doing last week was? Dealing with the impact of the cyclone on Australians in south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales.

The questions were rolling in after the US on Wednesday refused to grant a tariff exemption to Australia on steel and aluminium imports to the United States, but Mr Albanese continued to defend his actions.

“Now one of the political leaders in this country had to be present during that period,” he continued, referring to the Cyclone Alfred.

“That’s what I was doing.”

In response to tariffs, Mr Albanese said the American government had been very clear that “they want these tariffs to apply across the board to every country”.

“This is not Australia being singled out, every country, regardless of who has spoken to who, has these tariffs imposed,” he told media.

He said Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s accusations about mishandling of the tariff situation was his way of “playing politics” instead of “standing up for Australia”.

“He chooses politics,” Mr Albanese said.

“This is a time where, like we did when the Trump administration imposed tariffs before, and it was many months before they were exempted, we were on Team Australia’s side, not on the side of the Trump administration, who have chosen to do this to every country.”

Australia’s ambassador to the United States has promised to put his “shoulder to the wheel” to secure better trade relations with the US, despite backlash from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on his efforts so far.

Kevin Rudd vowed to push on and fight for Australia’s interests in an exclusive interview with 7.30 ABC, after the US refused to grant a tariff exemption to Australia on steel and aluminium imports to the United States.

Mr Dutton lashed out at Labor, accusing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Mr Rudd of having “had a shocker” on the issue, despite some political experts warning little could have been done to change Trump’s views on tariffs.

“The America we’re dealing with since the 20th of January, is a vastly different America from the past, and in fact, significantly different from the period of the first Trump administration,” Mr Rudd told 7.30 ABC.

“This administration is more nationalist on questions of foreign policy, more protectionist on trade policy, and much more transactional in its overall approach to international negotiations.

“These are deep-seated, fundamental changes in this different America, which every one of the 36 countries who negotiated tariff exemptions on steel and aluminium last time round, back in 2017, have had to contend with this time round.”

Rudd also warned negotiations with the man driving negotiations on steel and aluminium, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, would continue to be “rough”.

“The Lutnick negotiations are probably one round of about 10 sets of discussions we’ve had right across the US system, with Secretary Lutnick, who very much now carries the president’s mandate,” he said.

“So, it’s been tough and hard, but we have delivered our arguments as equally firmly back so far.”

He mentioned it was unlikely another phone call from Mr Albanese would have changed Mr Trump’s mind on tariffs.

“We’re up against a deep, ideological, strategic view of this Trump administration,” Mr Rudd said.

“An administration which has a very deep-seated view that tariffs are the way to the future.”

When it came to critical minerals, Mr Rudd said they were central to negotiations, adding Australia currently supplies 28 of the 50 the US needs for the future, and could supply up to 36.

“We are uniquely positioned to be able to do this,” he said.

Clive Palmer vows to bombard Australians with political ads for his Trumpet of Patriots party as the billionaire calls for a radical shake-up of the system.

Cost of living is at the centre of Mr Palmer’s pitch in a National Press Club address on Thursday, saying he would cut government waste and allow Australians to take 30 per cent of their super to pay for a house deposit.

The coalition supports allowing people to use part of their superannuation to pay for a house deposit but Labor and some economists argue that would only drive up house prices and drain young Australians of retirement savings.

The mining billionaire criticised Labor and the coalition as self-serving, vowed to seize on discontent with political elites and copy US President Donald Trump’s policies by putting Australia first and clearing out career politicians.

“I haven’t met a good politician yet ... that wouldn’t sell his mother and sister for re-election rather than do what’s better for the country,” he said.

“The simple reason the cost of living is so high is because Australians are being ripped off by the political system and the lobbyists that support them.”

Mr Palmer said there needs to be a 15 per cent licensing fee on iron ore exports, with the windfall used to pay down Australia’s debt.

-- Dominic Giannini, AAP

Anthony Albanese is in Perth to bask in the after-glow of Roger Cook, five days after WA Labor won its third landslide in a row.

The Prime Minister met the reelected Premier at Dumas House — where Mr Cook and his minister’s offices are located — on Thursday.

“Premier!,” Mr Albanese exclaimed as he shook Mr Cook’s hand, with the Premier replying “hey”.

The Prime Minister observed it was a “huge result” and said “we were all watching, up very late and then very early.”

He added “Freo is looking good” — a reference to the tight count in Fremantle where Labor minister Simone McGurk is now likely to hold off an independent challenge.

“The numbers are coming in slowly but they tend to be falling our way,” Mr Cook said.

The two leaders then discussed the Premier’s Made in WA plan.

“We’ve got another little announcement tomorrow you’ll enjoy,” Mr Albanese said shortly before media were ushered out.

Mr Albanese, who flew to WA from Sydney in the morning, planned to visit Perth in the last days of the campaign, but cancelled the trip as Cyclone Alfred kept his attention on the east coast.

The cyclone also meant the PM was effectively unable to call an election on Sunday for April 12, delaying the Federal poll to May.

After WA Labor won a bigger-than-expected victory on Saturday — keeping at least 42 out of 59 lower house seats and besting its 2017 showing— Mr Albanese will be hoping the result bodes well federally.

Federal Labor gained four seats in WA at the last election — Tangney, Hasluck, Pearce and Swan — and also notionally holds the new seat of Bullwinkel on Perth’s eastern fringe.

The Liberals are targeting all five as well as Curtin in Perth’s western suburbs, snatched by independent Kate Chaney three years ago.

The Albanese Government will need to put in a strong showing out west as it braces for heavy losses in Victoria, and to a lesser extent New South Wales.