Australia news LIVE: Trade tussle awaits PM at APEC meeting in Peru; Trump’s appointment spree continues

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has borrowed campaign terminology popular in US politics, as he suggests Australians are not better off than they were before the last election.

While it’s a popular campaign question, Seven’s Sunrise drew a direct link between Dutton and Trump’s use of the line, as incumbents around the world are knocked from power amid tough economic conditions.

“Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” was a common Trump campaign refrain, while at a press conference yesterday in Queensland, Dutton said, “I don’t think any Australian can say they’re better off today than they were 2.5 years ago”.

The phrase was first brought to prominence by former US President Ronald Reagan, in his 1980 presidential campaign where he decisively defeated one-term president Jimmy Carter amid similarly difficult economic settings.

Responding to the parallels, Coalition senator Jane Hume humorously suggested that “Donald Trump’s probably taking a page out of Peter Dutton’s book there”.

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“You’ll be seeing a cost-of-living report coming from a Coalition-led Senate inquiry because this has been the number one issue for Australians for a long time now,” she said.

Meanwhile, Housing Minister Clare O’Neil said she isn’t “that concerned” about the politics of it all.

“The truth is that in the last couple of years, we experienced a really significant issue with the cost of living, not just in our country but actually right around the world. The important thing is that it has been the number one focus of our government.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirms he brought up trade with President-elect Donald Trump during their first phone call.

After Trump’s election win last week, Albanese had his first interaction with the incoming president.

The prime minister told ABC Sydney radio this morning that he brought up trade between Australia and the US as one of the incoming president’s major pledges is to put global tariffs in place.

I pointed out that Australia has, or the United States has, a trade surplus with Australia.

So it’s in the United States’ interest to trade fairly with Australia, but it’s also obviously in Australia’s interest. The United States is a major investor here in Australia.

I met one of the heads of a major US corporation just last week at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry dinner. They’re looking at a multi-billion dollar investment in Australia that will create jobs here and so we welcome constructive investment, because it’s all about our economy.”

After confirming he supports women’s right to choose, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has attempted to pre-emptively dismiss a potential federal debate on abortion.

“Of course I do [support abortion], and I support a woman’s right to choose,” Dutton told ABC’s RN Breakfast.

“I’ve been in very difficult circumstances, where, as a detective working in the sex offender squad, I’ve dealt with women who have been raped. Ultimately, that’s a choice and a decision for that individual to make, and that’s the position I support.”

The questioning comes as the Greens bid to keep abortion on the federal election agenda with a $100 million funding pledge to give public hospitals more resources to perform terminations.

Dutton said the Coalition’s support for abortion access meant it would be wrong to politicise the issue.

“If Labor chooses to use the issue of abortion at the next election, people know that it is probably the cheapest, most crass political effort in our recent history because abortion laws are not an issue for the Federal Government”.

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Dutton was questioned on the bill put forth by Coalition senators Alex Antic and Matt Canavan that would require medical professionals to provide healthcare to fetuses described as “born alive” after an abortion has been performed.

The opposition leader said it was an issue for the states, and that he would not advocate for them to withdraw their bill as senators have the right to put private member’s bills forward, noting that in “99 per cent” of cases they don’t go forward unless there is support from the government.

“If the government is playing games, then that’s an issue for them,” he concluded.

Last week, Peter Dutton ordered Coalition MPs to abandon their push for a federal abortion debate, which will provide Labor with grounds to attack the opposition on the hot-button issue.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says industrial relations policy needs to strike the right balance to support workers and ensure businesses can survive, as he continues his push to frame the Coalition as the “party of the worker”.

Speaking to ABC’s RN Breakfast, Dutton was asked about his approach to industrial relations given his claim that Labor no longer represents workers.

He said that there were no jobs for workers if industrial relations practices “send businesses to the wall”.

Dutton said there’s been a three-fold increase in the closure of manufacturing businesses, arguing some have gone bankrupt while others have moved overseas because it’s too expensive to do business in Australia.

“We lose the economic productivity, we lose the jobs, and nobody wins in that scenario,” Dutton said.

“So we want an industrial relations system which protects workers but also makes the relationship workable between employers and employees.”

Dutton said the government’s sweeping industrial relations reforms “create a tension where there was no tension in existence before”, claiming the government is “obviously beholden to the union movement”.

“My view is that we need to get a balance right and provide that support for workers as well as make sure that businesses can survive,” he said.

But Dutton refused to confirm if an expansion of the definition of a small business from 15 to 25 employees, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was part of the Coalition’s industrial relations plan.

World leaders including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are converging in Peru but the man who is stirring most of the discussion won’t be in attendance.

Albanese is seeking to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping within days to shore up a $327 billion economic relationship, as the United States election result triggers fears of global trade wars.

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He will hold talks with global leaders at two summits in a bid to cement free trade agreements despite the prospect of mammoth tariffs when Donald Trump takes office as US president in January.

Leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region will gather in Peru from Thursday for an annual economic summit, followed by a G20 summit in Brazil early next week.

While US President Joe Biden will attend both summits, Trump will overshadow the talks as world leaders brace for the impact of his stated trade policies, such as 60 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods.

President-elect Donald Trump is starting to fill key posts in his second administration, putting an emphasis so far on aides and allies who were his strongest backers during the 2024 campaign.

After naming Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, Stephen Miller as her deputy, and Tom Homan as his ‘border czar’, Trump made two more appointments overnight.

Trump will nominate former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel, the president-elect announced Tuesday (US time).

Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align US foreign policy more closely with Israel’s interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah.

“He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.”

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Trump asked Mike Waltz, a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran considered “hawkish” on China, to be his national security adviser.

The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah.

“Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump’s statement said, “and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!”

AP

Good morning and welcome to the national news blog from The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. My name is Josefine Ganko, I’ll bring you all the key news updates through the first half of the day.

It’s Wednesday, November 13.

Here’s what you need to know this morning.

• Leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, will gather in Peru from Thursday for an annual economic summit, followed by a G20 summit in Brazil early next week.
• Every Australian household could be $5000 better off under a federal plan to offer states a share of $900 million to rip up red tape that is propping up high prices.
• The Greens will keep abortion on the federal election agenda with a $100 million funding pledge to give public hospitals more resources to perform termination.
• In the UK, the Archbishop of Canterbury has resigned after intense pressure over his role in the Church of England’s failure to intervene to stop a serial abuser.