As it happened: Trump to consider tariff exemption after call with PM; A-G denounces Dutton’s ‘complete fabrication’

Thanks for reading the national news blog. This is where we’ll end today’s coverage.

To conclude, here’s a look back at the day’s major stories:

• Anthony Albanese’s government is feuding with the Victorian Labor government over billions in infrastructure spending for big ticket projects to sway voters who are switching off Labor.
• Australia has been accused of breaking its word on limiting aluminium exports to the US in a proclamation issued by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday imposing 25 per cent tariffs on that commodity.
• Health Minister Mark Butler has chided the Coalition after they asked him why Australians have to endure a bulk-billing crisis.
• A senior NSW police inspector who downed 20 drinks before crashing his work car in Sydney’s NorthConnex tunnel and fleeing the scene has been sentenced.
• Many Australian workers are not being consulted or trained in the use of artificial intelligence technology, a study has found, even though it is already being used to monitor and assess their work performance.

In overseas news, Jotham Napat has been elected as Vanuatu’s prime minister and will lead a five-party coalition government following a snap election last month.

The 52-year-old from the southern island of Tanna becomes the fifth man to lead Vanuatu since 2022, taking over from Charlot Salwai.

Napat, a former deputy prime minister who was a meteorologist before entering parliament, loomed as a likely leader since his Leaders Party’s (LPV) strong showing in the January 16 election.

The LPV won nine seats and quickly moved to agree a memorandum of agreement to govern with the Vanua’aku Party, Eagle Group, Reunification Movement for Change (RMC), and Land and Justice Party (GJP).

The five parties control at least 32 MPs in the 52-seat parliament, ensuring control.

On Tuesday, parliament sat for the first time since the election, with Napat elected unopposed after the opposition chose not to test the government’s numbers by putting forward a leadership candidate of their own.

In a good sign for the prospect of a harmonious coalition, Napat was nominated for prime minister by Salwai, the RMC leader, and seconded by GPV leader Ralph Regenvanu.

Johnny Koanapo, Vanua’aku Pati leader, is deputy prime minister and finance minister.

Regenvanu, a climate activist who has spearheaded the country’s bid for high-emitting countries to do more to arrest global warming, returns as climate change minister.

Salwai was not appointed to a cabinet post.

Stephen Felix, a former Supreme Court Justice from the Leaders Party, was appointed as Speaker.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has flatly rejected a claim from Peter Dutton over an angry debate on the rise of antisemitism, accusing the opposition leader of spreading a “complete fabrication” over what took place in parliament on Monday.

Dreyfus hit back after Dutton told a press conference on Tuesday morning the attorney-general had apologised to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for his remarks during the debate yesterday.

“Peter Dutton’s claims are a complete fabrication,” Dreyfus said in the wake of the opposition leader’s appearance.

The response escalates the political row over antisemitism after Dutton took offence on Monday when Dreyfus said the opposition had taken every opportunity to “politicise the trauma” among Jewish people over the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023.

In a move that shocked ministers, the Coalition reacted to Dreyfus on Monday by moving in parliament that he “be no longer heard” – a relatively rare motion that forces a vote on whether to silence the person speaking.

Catch up on the full story here.

In breaking news, Australia has been accused of breaking its word on aluminium exports in the text of Donald Trump’s tariff executive order imposing 25 per cent tariffs on that commodity.

The order makes clear Australia has not – at this stage – been exempted from the new tariff regime, which will begin on March 12. Previous carve-outs for Australia and other countries have been scrapped.

“The volume of US imports of primary aluminum from Australia has also surged and in 2024 was approximately 103 per cent higher than the average volume for 2015 through 2017,” the proclamation states.

Donald Trump after signing an executive order.Credit: Bloomberg

“Australia has disregarded its verbal commitment to voluntarily restrain its aluminum exports to a reasonable level.”

It was not immediately clear which verbal undertaking the US administration was accusing Australia of breaking.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who negotiated the carve-outs for Australia in 2018, told this masthead he gave no such assurance, and the discussion at the time chiefly focused on steel.

But the volume of aluminium exports may have become an issue at a later time, Turnbull said.

Read the full story here.

Many Australian workers are not being consulted or trained in the use of artificial intelligence technology, a study has found, even though it is already being used to monitor and assess their work performance.

More than two in three finance workers said they were worried about their job security as a result, and even more were concerned AI would have a negative effect on their work.

The Finance Sector Union released the findings from a survey of 2200 Australian workers today, calling on the federal government to regulate AI use in workplaces.

The call comes as more businesses deploy the technology in Australia and after a study by Accenture found executives considered AI use vital to boost productivity.

The union’s survey of Australian finance workers found three in four had yet to have a conversation with their employer about AI, even though it had been introduced to more than half of all workplaces.

Almost two-thirds of workers said they had received no AI training, and slightly more said they were concerned about their job security.

In one instance, a superannuation adviser who participated in the study said their employer used AI to conduct “sentiment analysis” of the emails they sent to customers.

One email that used the word “unfortunately” was tagged by AI software as a negative interaction and triggered a disciplinary letter and meeting for the employee.

The unregulated use of AI and a lack of consultation in workplaces should be addressed urgently, Finance Sector Union national assistant secretary Nicole McPherson said.

“Finance workers understand that technological change from AI is inevitable and they want to be part of the future of finance,” she said.

“But, as things stand, they are being left out and this is creating negativity and fears around job security.”

Australian AI regulations should ensure employees were consulted about the development and deployment of AI platforms at work, Ms McPherson said, and that employers provided adequate training and opportunities to transition to new roles if their jobs were cut.

The call comes as more businesses move to adopt AI tools, according to the Technology Vision 2025 study by Accenture, which found one in three Australian executives expected to introduce AI agents to the workplace in the next three years.

AAP

CSL shares have slipped as the Australian biotech giant has taken a hit from lower vaccination rates in the US, and as vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr closes in on the US health secretary role.

CSL posted on Tuesday what chief executive Paul McKenzie described as a robust set of half-year results. Net profit rose 7 per cent year on year to $US2.01 billion ($3.2 billion) and revenue increased by 5 per cent to $US8.48 billion.

The company’s flu vaccine unit, Seqirus, was hit by a decline in US vaccination rates, particularly in adults aged between 18 and 64.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr is President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as secretary of health and human services.Credit: AP

Seqirus’ revenue fell 9 per cent to $US1.66 billion for the six months to the end of the December. McKenzie said CSL, one of the world’s largest medical science companies, would continue to advocate for vaccinations in the wake of rising vaccine scepticism.

Noted vaccine sceptic Kennedy is expected to soon lead the US Health Department after a Senate committee backed his nomination this month.

“I look at the data because all the rest is fluid,” McKenzie told this masthead.

Here’s what else he said:

I just got a report this morning, it’s going to be the worst flu season in the US in more than 20 years. This second peak of flu in the US is the worst, and the reality is that we’ve already had 50 children die in this season, and to me that’s heartbreaking to think somebody is losing their child to the flu when we have good solutions out there.

So we need to work on our advocacy and get the word out there, that from a public health viewpoint people are getting properly vaccinated.”

Investors sent shares in CSL down 5.4 per cent to $255.60 at 2.30pm (AEDT), wiping about $6 billion from its valuation.

Health Minister Mark Butler has jovially scolded the Coalition after they asked him why Australians have to endure a bulk-billing crisis.

Grinning, Butler rose and looked across at the opposition, saying, “Why is there a bulk-billing crisis in Australia?” while wagging his finger at the Coalition.

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler.Credit: James Brickwood

“Who said there are too many free Medicare services in this country?” Butler called as he continued to shake his finger. “Who tried to abolish bulk-billing altogether?

“And who, when he couldn’t get that GP tax through, froze the Medicare rebate?”

Back and forth it continued on whether Butler was being relevant to the question, before he finished his answer by saying the government had revised bulk billing after the demise of the Morrison government.

“[There] has been an increase in bulk billing over the last 12 months in every single state and territory and last year [this] delivered 6 million free visits to the doctor,” he said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has begun question time asking if Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will rule out making any changes to negative gearing and capital gains treatment on property.

The question ignited scoffs of surprise from Labor MPs, as negative gearing and capital gains tax changes had not been mentioned for months.

“I mean really, they’ve had a long time to work out questions in this place,” Albanese said. You know what our housing policy is. Our housing policy is [the $32 billion Homes for Australia] plan. That’s our plan.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrives for question time at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Dutton said Albanese was not being relevant to the question: “We just ask for a straight answer. Will he rule out changes to negative gearing and capital gains treatment of property during his period as prime minister? Can he just say yes or no? Can he be honest with the Australian people?”

House Speaker Milton Dick said Albanese was being relevant, as the prime minister finished his answer.

“After three years in the job, this bloke has had three ideas. One – $10 billion to fund long lunches for business. Two – $600 billion to pay for nuclear reactions. Three – cuts to everything else to pay for them,” Albanese said.

“They’re the only three ideas that he has had, and then he comes along here and says, ‘Tell us what you won’t do.’”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has paid tribute to former defence minister and Liberal MP Kevin Andrews, who died after a year-long battle with cancer in December.

Speaking before question time, Albanese said Andrews had served 31 years as a politician.

As a cabinet minister, his portfolios took him to the political front lines – immigration, social services, defence and most notably, the battle over WorkChoices during his time as employment and workplace relations minister.

“These were very high-stakes high-profile roles and that speaks for the great trust that former prime minister Howard and former prime minister Abbott – who I spoke with on Kevin’s passing – placed in him as a person of integrity and someone who was committed to getting his objectives achieved through this democratic institution.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton also rose to speak on Andrews’ legacy.

“As a backbencher, Kevin quickly revealed himself to be a parliamentarian of profound skill and a man of principle, driven by his Catholic faith,” Dutton said.

Andrews also campaigned to repeal a euthanasia law in the Northern Territory, and it was one of the few successful private member’s bills, the opposition leader said.

“In command of defence, Kevin oversaw the establishment of the single-force structure, increased rotations with key partners, authorised the replacement of our naval fleet and commissioned troops to fight the evil ISIS death cult,” he said.

Question time is scheduled to begin in the House of Representatives at 2pm.

Watch below: