As it happened: PM to call Trump about US tariffs on Australia; Closing the Gap report finds only five targets on track

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:

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will set out an economic and strategic case to persuade United States President Donald Trump to spare Australia from punishing new tariffs on steel and aluminium, as the two leaders schedule a crucial phone call on the looming trade crisis.

• Partisan tensions have erupted in parliament as Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, the nation’s most senior Jewish politician, blasted the federal opposition for trying to silence him as he spoke about his work to tackle the surge in antisemitism.

• The prime minister today revealed in the Closing the Gap statement that the plan to reduce First Nations’ disadvantage continues to fall short of its goals.

• In NSW, more than 20 people have been rescued from floodwaters after a severe thunderstorm drenched Sydney with almost 100 millimetres of rain and caused traffic chaos.

• In Victoria, logistics boss Paul Little and wife Jane Hansen, the chancellor of the University of Melbourne, have sold their grand mansion in Toorak, reportedly smashing the state’s house price record.

• In Queensland, a court has heard that a Gold Coast man who allegedly sedated his sick stepfather in the months before his death was motivated by potential financial gain, and later offered to pay $100,000 to have the investigating detectives killed.

• In Western Australia, the long-awaited trial of four people accused of murdering 15-year-old schoolboy Cassius Turvey has begun.

• In business news, three climate protesters who targeted the home of Woodside boss Meg O’Neill have been slapped with more than $6000 in fines over the incident, which was filmed by an ABC crew.

• In sport news, Sydney’s Jordan Mailata has become the first Australian to play in a winning Super Bowl team after the Philadelphia Eagles upset reigning champions the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in New Orleans today.

• In world news, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has suggested a new Palestinian state could be established in Saudi Arabia, triggering outrage among Arab leaders.

Thanks for your company. Have a good night.

Independent MP Kylea Tink has farewelled federal parliament after being forced out following just one term in office.

The member for North Sydney’s seat was abolished in 2024 in an Australian Electoral Commission redistribution. Flanked by electorates held by other independents, Tink could not run in a neighbouring seat without risking splitting the vote.

Independent MP Kylea Tink delivers her valedictory speech.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Delivering her valedictory speech in the House of Representatives on today, Tink said she felt deep gratitude for the “surreal” opportunity to serve her community.

“We did the unthinkable and turned up on mass to take our parliamentary voice and vote back, rather than simply handing it over, yet again to an unresponsive and disrespectful party system,” she said.

Tink urged other community independents to “go get ’em” and thanked teal MPs for their friendship and partnership in securing change.

“You’ve got this next election – our country needs you, so please hold the line,” she said.

AAP

Paul Fletcher, a minister in the last Coalition government, has used his valedictory speech in the House of Representatives today to call for rational policymaking over emotional politics.

Fletcher, who holds the Sydney seat of Bradfield for the Liberals, will leave parliament after a career that included ministerial appointments in the former Turnbull and Morrison governments.

Liberal MP Paul Fletcher delivers his valedictory speech.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

In his farewell address, he remembered wanting to be a “voice for rational policymaking” when he entered parliament. In assessing his performance today, Fletcher said: “In the marking scale that was used when I was a student at Sydney University in 1980, I would not give myself a high distinction or even a distinction. But I think it’s probably worth a credit. I was lucky to work on some issues where I had relevant expertise.”

Fletcher then said several initiatives during his time as communications minister had taught him three valuable lessons:

First, well-designed, competitive selection processes are a good way to get value for money for the taxpayer.

Second, you should aim to have government intervene just enough to get the outcome needed, but no more. [...]

Third – and most importantly – in politics, we are often seeking to deliver emotionally important outcomes, but the more work you put into developing a rational and carefully designed policy, the better your chances of getting the outcome you seek.

The retiring moderate and Coalition frontbencher said he was a “strong believer” in the diversity of opinion in the party.

“The Liberal Party is at its best when both our conservative and small ‘l’ traditions are respected,” he said.

“Most Liberal Party members, and overwhelmingly our voters, have zero interest in factions and arcane internal ideological squabbles. They simply want to see a strong, capable, sensible centre-right government.”

Fletcher said he was proud of the discipline the Coalition had shown under Peter Dutton’s leadership.

“We are a real prospect for government, which seemed a most unlikely thing two and a half years ago,” he said.

With AAP

The documents that detail the rationale and economic case for demolishing dozens of high-rise public housing estates across Melbourne will remain secret after a Victorian Supreme Court ruling this afternoon.

Justice Andrew Keogh ruled that a dossier of 26 cabinet documents – including engineer assessments, consultants’ reports and building surveyor advice – would be granted public interest immunity.

One of Melbourne’s public housing towers.Credit: Photograph by Chris Hopkins

The court ruled the documents are immune from disclosure because they are likely to reveal cabinet deliberations and the positions taken by ministers and senior government officials.

The push to retrieve the documents came from tenants who are suing the Victorian government over its plan to redevelop 44 towers that have long been part of Melbourne’s skyline and replace them with community housing and private housing over the next 30 years.

The lawsuit claimed the government did not adequately consider tenants’ human rights when it made the surprise announcement about the plan in September 2023, shortly before Daniel Andrews stepped down as premier. Tenants were hoping to retrieve the documents to ascertain whether refurbishing the current buildings, or constructing new buildings around the existing buildings, was considered when the government made the decision.

Inner Melbourne Community Legal, representing the tenants, said their lawsuit would continue despite today’s ruling on the documents.

Labor MP Maria Vamvakinou has farewelled the House of Representatives, using a valedictory speech to champion multiculturalism and warn against intolerance.

Vamvakinou, the MP for Calwell in Melbourne’s north-west, was first elected in 2001 and is in the Left faction of the Labor Party. She announced her intention to retire at the upcoming election last June, paving the way for her former staffer Basem Abdo to become the first Palestinian-Australian federal politician.

Labor MP Maria Vamvakinou delivers her valedictory speechCredit: Alex Ellinghausen

Vamvakinou has long been one of Labor’s most sympathetic Palestinian supporters, chairing a cross-party group known as the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine.

“I’ve been critical of the State of Israel over the years, as anyone and everyone who believes in human rights and international law should be, but I have a great affection for the Jewish people, and the current wave of antisemitism in our country is a great concern to me,” she said in her farewell speech.

“The horrors of civilians deaths in Gaza and the destruction of Gaza cannot go unnoticed, and it begs outrage, and rightfully so. But we cannot ignore the extremities that are happening in our own community. These acts are conducted, as usual, by anonymous cowards who harbour dark intentions that have little to do with Palestine.

“Equally, those who seek to exploit antisemitism for their own interests, should exercise restraint, responsibility and civil diligence. For they sow the seeds of hate and division.”

A mother was killed in what police described as a “sustained, violent and horrific” attack in Alice Springs at the weekend, prompting Northern Territory police to call for help to end domestic violence.

NT Police said they found the 41-year-old woman’s body at a home in the Warlpiri town camp in Braitling at 8am on Sunday. A 39-year-old man was arrested and is expected to be charged soon.

Acting Commander Drew Slape told ABC Radio today that the dead woman was a mother who had “died a violent, horrific, domestic violence-related death, and it never should have happened.

“We believe the conduct that caused the victim’s death occurred throughout the night ... it was a sustained domestic violence attack and terrible for the victim and the victim’s family and the community,” he said.

Last month, a 51-year-old woman was found unresponsive near a river in Alice Springs. Her 49-year-old partner has since been charged with murder.

“The fact that a town like Alice Springs – which has a population of less than 30,000 people – can sustain two [alleged] domestic violence homicides within the period of a month is completely unacceptable,” Slape said.

The NT has the highest rates of domestic violence in the country.

AAP

The Australian sharemarket sank on Monday as miners retreated after President Donald Trump announced the US would impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 28.6 points, or 0.3 per cent, lower at 8482.8 points, as tech and telco stocks dragged the bourse lower. Gains in consumer staples, utilities and healthcare stocks helped mitigate the losses.

The ASX ended Monday in negative territory.Credit: Louise Kennerley

Star Entertainment Group was the biggest lifter, storming 13.6 per cent higher after it confirmed that it is in talks with its Chinese partners to sell its Queen’s Wharf casino precinct provided it gets the best price.

JB Hi-Fi jumped initially, but finished 4.6 per cent lower as investors digested its half-year results – a 10 per cent rise in group sales was overshadowed by declining gross margins and increases in the cost of doing business.

Rio Tinto (down 1.2 per cent), BHP (down 1 per cent) and Fortescue (1.5 per cent) deepened their losses at the end of Monday’s trading session. BlueScope Steel, which is heavily invested in the US, finished 1.8 per cent higher.

Read the full market wrap here.

Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie has called for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to take a muscular approach when dealing with US President Donald Trump’s tariff plan, suggesting Australia tell him: “We’re not playing this tariff game, mate.”

Senator Jacqui Lambie speaks at a press conference at Parliament House earlier this month.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Appearing on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing in the last hour, the crossbencher, without being asked a question, began to share her thoughts about whether Australian ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd could get Australia a tariff exemption:

Oh, you couldn’t make this stuff up this afternoon. He’s an ambassador! He’s an ambassador!

For God’s sake, we have a prime minister, a defence minister, here. Get them to do the job. Isn’t it supposed to be their job, wheeling and dealing?

Not to mention we’re supposed to be sharing information with [the US]. We’ve got all this going on, [and] we’ve only just paid them a billion dollars for submarines. Apparently, we’re helping over there with their submarine yards. And they’re saying we’ve got no pull? And by the way, they need Australia more than what we need them. And they need our critical minerals.

So if Trump wants to play with Australia, I suggest you start getting your cowboy hats on and start playing. Because quite seriously, we are worth a hell of a lot more than what they are to us. They need us. So you stand on him and tell him: ‘We’re not playing this tariff game, mate.’

There’s a lot going on here. And if you were talking about our national security and defence, I put that first instead of bloody tariffs.

This is way out of an ambassador’s hands. This has got to be dealt with by the prime minister and by the deputy prime minister, and they need to be staring him down the barrel.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles insists Australia is well placed to get an exemption from President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on steel and aluminium, pointing to meetings with senior American officials as evidence of the federal government’s strong advocacy.

However, he stopped short of declaring his confidence in Australia securing such a carve-out.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles.Credit: James Brickwood

Speaking to the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing program just before question time today, Marles was asked if the prospect of these tariffs was raised when he met with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington days ago.

“Secretary Hegseth and I have both made public statements about the meeting that we had, and I’m obviously not going to go into what was said in the meeting beyond those public statements,” Marles responded.

The defence minister then made two points in the interview aired just after 4pm: First, he said part of AUKUS was designed for smoother defence industry trade. Second, and more broadly, he said, “there is very much advocacy, on the part of our government, to the Trump administration around the question of tariffs”.

Marles later said Kevin Rudd was the right person to be Australia’s ambassador to the US, despite Rudd’s past criticism of Trump. He pointed to the number of upfront meetings Australian officials had already secured with their new American counterparts as evidence of the federal government’s effective lobbying.

But when asked whether he thought Australia would get a tariff exception like the one Malcolm Turnbull secured in 2017, Marles said: “What I’m saying is that we will continue to advocate for it.”

Federal Labor MP Graham Perrett, who has spent almost two decades representing the Queensland electorate of Moreton, has just given his valedictory speech in the House of Representatives.

Perrett, who was elected in 2007, announced in August last year that he would step down at the upcoming election.

Federal Labor MP Graham Perrett in 2021.Credit: Tony Moore

Striking a decidedly happier tone than the question time chaos that preceded him, Perrett began his final speech by remembering his first day in parliament, when then-prime minister Kevin Rudd apologised to stolen generations of Indigenous Australians.

Perrett said the first two words he heard in parliament were “welcome” and “sorry” and he now wanted to add a third: “Soon.”

“ ‘Soon’ is simply to reassure all First Nations mob that the Labor Party won’t ever forget you soon, because we believe in a nation with justice and dignity at its core,” Perrett said.

The Brisbane MP also had some unsubtle remarks for Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who said last year he would not stand in front of the Aboriginal flag if he became prime minister.

Perrett said today: “Where there is no vision, the people perish. What is right will always outlast the denial of our history. Fighting flags and other divisive culture wars are not the answer. This place doesn’t need any more flag inspectors.”

He then argued for Australia to become a republic soon, telling parliament, “I refuse to believe that no Australian is good enough to be our head of state.”

Later, he stressed the importance of the trade union movement to the Labor Party, adding, “If we ever lose this core purpose, we will be set adrift. I’ve seen up close what happens to a party when it is led by a souless shape-shifter with no moral core. That way, destruction lies.”

Perrett also warned against politics that demonised the transgender community. “Bullies and fascists always seek small groups to target,” he said.

He concluded by thanking family, friends, voters, staffers, politicians, unionists and the Labor Party faithful.