Rudd criticises Trump’s film tariff plan as a ‘tax on Bluey’
Kevin Rudd has taken aim at the US proposal to put tariffs on screen productions, saying the world does not want a “tax on Bluey”.
Australia’s ambassador to the US was speaking at a Milken Institute event in Los Angeles, on a panel about the state of modern diplomacy.
The discussion turned to the diplomatic value of culture, and Rudd said cultural brands had the “power to capture the public imagination”.
He gave the example of the cartoon Bluey, which is set in Brisbane and became a global success, and added “by the way … I don’t think we want to see a tax on Bluey” – a reference to Donald Trump’s plan to add a 100% tariff to foreign-produced films
Rudd said:
What happens if we lock down our countries with competitive, punitive arrangements against each other’s movies? Movies are the way in which we kind of understand each other more.
Key events
Ben Smee
How Dutton’s election campaign in Dickson went horribly wrong
When Anthony Albanese visited Dickson on the first day of the election campaign, Labor strategists were still not expecting to mount a serious challenge in the Brisbane commuter belt seat, held by Peter Dutton for 24 years.
“I think the logic was to start the campaign on the front foot, in enemy territory, rather than anyone thinking too much that we could win Dickson,” a Labor source says.
Five weeks later on election night, Labor’s Ali France, a three-time challenger in Dickson, became the first person ever to unseat an opposition leader at a federal election.
The trigger for Labor to mount a final blitz in Dickson came from an unlikely source.
On 31 March and 1 April, Climate 200 conducted a poll in Dickson in the hope of positive news about support for community independent candidate Ellie Smith.
The UComms poll found the independent couldn’t win Dickson – her primary vote was about 10%. But the poll also showed Labor was in front in the seat, 51.7% to 48.3%.
Guardian Australia understands that Climate 200 then showed the poll results to Labor – which had not commissioned any previous polling in Dickson, and was unaware the seat was so close – on 4 April. The party quickly conducted its own survey, which showed Dickson as a dead heat.
On 9 April, Labor’s campaign director, Paul Erickson, sent an email to supporters headed: “We’re taking on Dutton in Dickson”.
Read this full story:
Jonathan Barrett
Shareholders target Woodside over climate credentials
Climate activists, pension funds and governance groups will try to unseat three directors at Woodside at its annual general meeting in Perth today as opposition intensifies over the oil and gas company’s plans to increase fossil fuel production.
Proxy adviser Glass Lewis, along with US pension giants CalPERS and CALSTRS, are among those recommending shareholders express their opposition to Woodside’s strategy by voting against several resolutions.
Some significant investors, including AustralianSuper and Hesta, declined to comment on their position.
Critics believe Woodside’s strategy is overly reliant on offsets, not aligned with Paris climate agreements, and does not seriously consider emissions produced by those using its gas. Woodside said in a statement:
We believe that Woodside has a significant role to play in the energy transition. Assessing and approving Woodside’s climate strategy is a key role of the board.
The company, headed by Meg O’Neill, has long argued that developing new supply is necessary to keeping “energy affordable and reliable as Australia transitions to a lower carbon future”.
Votes will be cast for three Woodside directors, including the former Shell executive Ann Pickard, who chairs the committee responsible for overseeing climate risk.
The former treasurer of Western Australia, Ben Wyatt, and former Anglo American executive Tony O’Neill, are also up for re-election. Will van de Pol, chief executive at climate activist group Market Forces, said:
Woodside has thumbed its nose at shareholders, responding to last year’s world record rejection of its climate plan by doubling down on gas expansion that will cause massive real-world emissions growth.
Rafqa Touma
Thank you to Martin Farrer for kicking off the live blog this morning. I’ll be rolling your news updates for the day – let’s go.
From inaccurate (and non-existent) polling to a years-long ground game by the Labor challenger Ali France, and from national factors to the impact of a local independent, our Queensland correspondent Ben Smee unpicks how Peter Dutton became the first opposition leader to lose his seat.
Read his article here:
And talking of polls, we look at how the really dubious thing was not so much getting the margin of Labor’s win correct but that all the surveys were very similar.
Rudd criticises Trump’s film tariff plan as a ‘tax on Bluey’
Kevin Rudd has taken aim at the US proposal to put tariffs on screen productions, saying the world does not want a “tax on Bluey”.
Australia’s ambassador to the US was speaking at a Milken Institute event in Los Angeles, on a panel about the state of modern diplomacy.
The discussion turned to the diplomatic value of culture, and Rudd said cultural brands had the “power to capture the public imagination”.
He gave the example of the cartoon Bluey, which is set in Brisbane and became a global success, and added “by the way … I don’t think we want to see a tax on Bluey” – a reference to Donald Trump’s plan to add a 100% tariff to foreign-produced films
Rudd said:
What happens if we lock down our countries with competitive, punitive arrangements against each other’s movies? Movies are the way in which we kind of understand each other more.
Albanese pledges to deliver environment protection agency
Sarah Basford Canales
Anthony Albanese has pledged to deliver an environment protection agency that can protect the environment while also standing up for jobs and the mining sector.
In an interview with ABC’s 7.30 last night, the prime minister said he would sit down with “sensible people” across the sectors to determine another way forward on the failed environment watchdog.
In the final months of the Albanese government’s first term, a proposed federal EPA was dumped amid a major backlash from Western Australia. The proposed body would have been able to make approval and regulatory decisions and impose beefed-up penalties with Environment Information Australia to provide data, information and analysis.
Albanese promised to deliver a different model in his second term as prime minister. While he didn’t offer any details about the new model, Albanese told 7.30:
“We need to make sure that there is more sensible decision making. That’s something that I’m committed to. It’s something as well that conservation groups want to see where a project clearly doesn’t stack up. There should be an easier way to make decisions.”
Asked about whether the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, had done a good job with creating the initial model, Albanese deflected to blame the Senate.
“She was dealing with a Senate that was a Senate of blockers, whether it be the Greens or the Coalition, not wanting to look for solutions, looking to play politics.”
Plibersek had struck a deal in writing with both the Greens and the independent senator David Pocock on supporting the nature positive legislation before Albanese vetoed it hours later in a private meeting with Adam Bandt and Sarah Hanson-Young.
Plibersek is expected to be moved out of the environment portfolio after the caucus meets on Friday.
Pioneering Australian scientist dies aged 68
Prof Rinaldo Bellomo, a medical science pioneer who has been hailed as “one of the world’s most influential scientific minds”, has died aged 68.
Bellomo completed his medical degree at Monash University after arriving in Australia from Italy in 1980 and served as a professor in the medical faculty where his contributions focused on improving intensive care – particularly in the management of acute renal failure, to which he dedicated much of his life.
In a statement last night, the university said it acknowledged his passing with “deep sadness and profound respect”, describing him as “a towering figure in Australian and global intensive care medicine, and a cherished member of our academic community”.
It said his “scientific achievements are almost without parallel. Professor Bellomo was named one of the world’s most influential scientific minds for seven consecutive years (2014–2021) by Clarivate Analytics, recognising his prolific contributions to medical science”.
He was, the university noted, the most published and most cited medical researcher in Australian history.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with some of the top overnight stories and then Rafqa Touma will be your guide.
Anthony Albanese might have won an election victory for the ages but his problems aren’t going away. MPs on both sides of the factional divide are lobbying furiously for representation in the prime minister’s new cabinet, we’re reporting this morning, with Victorian MPs demanding that what they consider as a bias towards the NSW right faction be corrected. And speaking on 7.30 last night, Albanese pledged to deliver an agency that can protect the environment while also standing up for jobs and the mining sector. More on that – and all the news on the seats still too close to call, and the Liberals’ leadership fight – coming up.
The academic and medical world is paying tribute to one of Australia’s greatest ever scientists this morning. Prof Rinaldo Bellomo, of Monash University, considered “one of the world’s greatest scientific minds”, has died aged 68 with the university saying in a statement that he was “a towering figure in Australian and global intensive care medicine, and a cherished member of our academic community”. More coming up.
