Trump says US will ‘sell so much’ beef to Australia – but some disagree
The US president, Donald Trump, has posted on his Truth Social account that the US will “sell so much” beef to Australia following the federal government lifting biosecurity trade restrictions on the import of the meat from the US and Canada.
While the move has led to criticism from the Coalition in the past day over its “suspicious” timing, Trump praised the decision. He said:
After many years Australia has agreed to accept American Beef! For a long time, and even though we are great friends, they actually banned our Beef. Now, we are going to sell so much to Australia because this is undeniable and irrefutable Proof that U.S. Beef is the Safest and Best in the entire World. The other Countries that refuse our magnificent Beef are ON NOTICE. All of our Nation’s Ranchers, who are some of the hardest working and most wonderful people, are smiling today, which means I am smiling too. Let’s keep the Hot Streak going. IT’S THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA!
Whether this happens in practice is another thing. As we have reported, Australia produced 2.5m tonnes of beef last year, of which just over one-fifth was consumed onshore.
In addition to that, the US beef industry has not currently been meeting its own internal demand. The US cattle herd is at a 74-year low due to prolonged drought conditions. In 2024 the US imported 525,980 tonnes of Australian beef to fill the gap.
Meat & Livestock Australia yesterday assessed the impact of the lifting of the restrictions to be minimal.
The potential for US beef to be imported into Australia in large volumes is minimal, given the high demand for beef in the US, the low US cattle herd, the strength of the Australian dollar, our competitive domestic supply, and most importantly Australians’ strong preference for high-quality, tasty and nutritious Australian beef.
It is expected the concession will help pave the way for the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to argue Australia should be given exemptions from the US’s 50% tariff on steel and aluminium, and a potential 200% tariff planned for pharmaceuticals.
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Updated at 03.48 BST
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Aussie shares fall as volatility set to continue
The Australian bourse has moved lower despite tech industries spurring the US market to modest overnight gains, AAP reports.
Near noon on Friday the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 0.52%, while the broader All Ordinaries had dipped by 0.5%. Overseas, the US market lifted after Google’s parent company, Alphabet, spurred the technology sector, securing a $1.5bn deal with software firm ServiceNow.
Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP
In Australia, nine of the ASX’s 11 sectors were down near midday, lifted only by energy climbing 1.17% and with health care almost flat.
With a few hours of trading left, the ASX200 was on track to fall 1.1% for the week after breaking records multiple times the previous week.
Volatility in the local market looks set to persist as traders eye upcoming inflation data and the local earnings season, experts say.
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Updated at 05.14 BST
Graham Readfearn
Fortescue axes two green hydrogen projects after Trump administration’s shift on renewables
The iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue company has cancelled two major green hydrogen projects, laying some of the blame on the Trump administration’s shift away from renewable energy.
Fortescue’s decision to cancel the two ventures in Queensland and Arizona are the latest in a run of canned hydrogen projects in Australia and elsewhere that will raise further questions about the future of the clean fuel.
Andrew Forrest. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA
Gus Pichot, the chief executive of growth and energy at Fortescue, said a “shift in policy priorities away from green energy” in the US had “changed the situation” for its reported US$550m green hydrogen production plans in Arizona. Pichot said:
The lack of certainty and a step back in green ambition has stopped the emerging green energy markets making it hard for previously feasible projects to proceed.
Read more here:
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Updated at 05.04 BST
Opposition echos Albanese’s concerns on Gaza, but places blame on Hamas
Michaelia Cash, the shadow foreign affairs minister, said the Coalition shared the prime minister’s strong concerns about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. But Cash said the opposition was disappointed Anthony Albanese hadn’t directed his outrage at Hamas. Cash said in a statement:
Any moral outrage about the situation in Gaza should be directed at Hamas. Hamas and its allies have tried to disrupt the flow of aid into Gaza and have stolen humanitarian aid for their own purposes.
This war began because of Hamas’s abhorrent attack on Israeli civilians, where over 1200 were murdered in cold blood, and they bear responsibility for the continuation of this conflict. …
Hamas could end the suffering of the people of Gaza by freeing the remaining Israeli hostages and laying down their weapons.
Michaelia Cash: ‘Hamas could end the suffering of the people of Gaza by freeing the remaining Israeli hostages.’ Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Cash went on to say the Coalition “acknowledges” the delay in aid entering Gaza is “unacceptable and that the Israeli government needs to urgently work with international bodies to allow aid to flow freely to those that need it”.
However, the right system must be in place so that it can be distributed without Hamas intervening in the process.
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Updated at 04.43 BST
Jordyn Beazley
Protesters who occupied the PM’s office have left
A pro-Palestine protest at Anthony Albanese’s Sydney office has dispersed after police issued a move-on direction.
More than a dozen people had occupied the prime minister’s electorate office and were banging pots and pans to draw attention to their demands for the government to sanction Israel in response to the starvation of civilians in Gaza. A protester who was part of the demonstration, which began at 10am, told Guardian Australia that around 30 protesters had also gathered outside the office.
NSW police said in a statement that the group was issued a move-on direction to exit the office. The order was complied with and no arrests were made.
Protesters at the electorate office of Anthony Albanese in Marrickville, Sydney. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAPShare
Updated at 04.24 BST
Albanese’s statement follows French pledge to recognise Palestinian state
Overnight, French president Emmanuel Macron said his country would recognise a Palestinian state in September at the UN general assembly, a major move by a world power.
The French president announced the decision on X on Thursday evening, saying he hoped it would bring peace to the region. Macron published a letter sent to the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, confirming France’s intention to become the first major western power to recognise a Palestinian state. The French president said:
True to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the state of Palestine.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron: ‘France will recognise the state of Palestine.’ Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images
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Updated at 03.53 BST
PM says ‘every effort’ must be made to safeguard innocent life
Albanese also condemned Hamas and said Australia would continue to call for the immediate release of all remaining hostages. He went on:
We continue to support all international efforts to facilitate a ceasefire, recognising that an immediate and permanent ceasefire gives the best hope of bringing hostages home and easing the agony of their loved ones.
Australia is proud to have strongly supported the creation of the modern state of Israel. Then, as now, the global community envisioned two states: the state of Israel and the state of Palestine …
Australia is committed to a future where both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples can live in peace and safety, within secure and internationally recognised borders.
Until that day, every effort must be made here and now to safeguard innocent life and end the suffering and starvation of the people of Gaza.
You can read his statement in full below:
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Updated at 04.15 BST
Albanese calls on Israel to heed international law
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, just released a strong statement on the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling on Israel to end its blockade of aid and immediately comply with its obligations under international law. He said:
The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears. The position of the Australian Government is clear: every innocent life matters. Every Israeli. Every Palestinian.
This conflict has stolen far too many innocent lives. Tens of thousands of civilians are dead, children are starving.
Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel’s denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored.
We call on Israel to comply immediately with its obligations under international law.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese: ‘We call on Israel to comply immediately with its obligations under international law.’ Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
The number of people dying of starvation in Gaza continues to rise, with the UN and aid groups blaming Israel’s blockage of almost all aid into the territory for a widespread lack of food. The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said yesterday his frontline staff are fainting from hunger while trying to help Palestinians in Gaza.
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Updated at 04.33 BST
More on the Thailand-Cambodia border dispute: 100,000 Thai civilians evacuated
Thailand evacuated more than 100,000 people along the Cambodian border, it said on Friday, as the two countries fight their bloodiest military clashes in more than a decade.
The interior ministry said 100,672 people from four border provinces had been moved to shelters, while the health ministry announced the death toll had risen to 14.
People flee their homes near the Cambodia-Thailand border in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia during fighting with Thai forces over a disputed border zone. Photograph: Kith Serey/EPA
Both blamed each other for starting a morning clash at a disputed area of the border, which quickly escalated from small arms fire to heavy shelling in at least six locations 209km (130 miles) apart along a frontier where sovereignty has been disputed for more than a century.
Read more here:
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Updated at 03.32 BST
Trump says US will ‘sell so much’ beef to Australia – but some disagree
The US president, Donald Trump, has posted on his Truth Social account that the US will “sell so much” beef to Australia following the federal government lifting biosecurity trade restrictions on the import of the meat from the US and Canada.
While the move has led to criticism from the Coalition in the past day over its “suspicious” timing, Trump praised the decision. He said:
After many years Australia has agreed to accept American Beef! For a long time, and even though we are great friends, they actually banned our Beef. Now, we are going to sell so much to Australia because this is undeniable and irrefutable Proof that U.S. Beef is the Safest and Best in the entire World. The other Countries that refuse our magnificent Beef are ON NOTICE. All of our Nation’s Ranchers, who are some of the hardest working and most wonderful people, are smiling today, which means I am smiling too. Let’s keep the Hot Streak going. IT’S THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA!
Whether this happens in practice is another thing. As we have reported, Australia produced 2.5m tonnes of beef last year, of which just over one-fifth was consumed onshore.
In addition to that, the US beef industry has not currently been meeting its own internal demand. The US cattle herd is at a 74-year low due to prolonged drought conditions. In 2024 the US imported 525,980 tonnes of Australian beef to fill the gap.
Meat & Livestock Australia yesterday assessed the impact of the lifting of the restrictions to be minimal.
The potential for US beef to be imported into Australia in large volumes is minimal, given the high demand for beef in the US, the low US cattle herd, the strength of the Australian dollar, our competitive domestic supply, and most importantly Australians’ strong preference for high-quality, tasty and nutritious Australian beef.
It is expected the concession will help pave the way for the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to argue Australia should be given exemptions from the US’s 50% tariff on steel and aluminium, and a potential 200% tariff planned for pharmaceuticals.
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Updated at 03.48 BST
Pro-Palestine protesters occupy prime minister’s office
Jordyn Beazley
Over a dozen people are occupying Anthony Albanese’s Sydney office and banging pots and pans to draw attention to their demands for the government to sanction Israel, according to a protester taking part. The protester said:
The protest is calling for sanctions on Israel in response to the starvation of civilians in Gaza.
He said about 30 protesters had also gathered outside the prime minister’s electorate office in Marrickville since the demonstration began at 10am.
The protester said NSW police, who have been approached for comment, have officers at the scene. Albanese’s electorate office was picketed 24/7 by protesters for several months last year.
Protesters seen at Albanese’s electorate office in Marrickville in June 2024. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP
43 people died from hunger in Gaza over just three days this week. There had been 68 in total before that.
On Tuesday, Greens senator Mahreen Faruqi was sanctioned by the upper house after she held up a sign urging sanctions against Israel while the governor general, Sam Mostyn, addressed parliament.
Australia has joined with 27 other nations, including the UK and France, to condemn Israel for the “drip feeding of aid” and the “inhumane killing” of Palestinians.
The prime minister’s office has been approached for comment.
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Updated at 02.46 BST
Marles says Australia-UK relationship ‘one of the most important that we have’
Defence minister Richard Marles and foreign minister Penny Wong welcomed their British counterparts a few moments ago for the latest round of talks between the ministers. Marles said:
We have said this on many occasions that this is our oldest relationship, but with Aukus and a range of other matters we have a contemporary strategic dimension to the relationship which really has not been there for a long time.
It now means that a bilateral relationship is right up there and one of the most important that we have in the world.
Wong added the group shared ‘history’, ‘values’ and ‘interest’ and deeply valued the work together to contribute to world security.
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Updated at 02.44 BST