
Basil Zempilas: Burswood Park racetrack is a project with no business case and a waste of $220 million
2. This week in Parliament I asked the Premier what is the point of community consultation if that community consultation is going to be ignored? That is precisely what is happening with Rita's racetrack at Burswood Park. This is a project with no business case, no community support and no transparency. The WA Liberals do not support this reckless, wasteful use of $220 million of taxpayer money on a project which simply does not stack up.
3. For 24 years Ken Gibbons has run the Community Cinemas at Burswood Park. He's been told he has to move the much-loved summer favourite to a new location, which he says won't work, to make way for changes associated with the ill-conceived racetrack. A racetrack prioritised over community, that's what's happening here.
4. Eleven weeks after the election, finally the big day has arrived for the five new members of the Liberal's Legislative Council team. Congratulations and welcome to Anthony Spagnolo, Michelle Boylan, Phil Twiss, Michelle Hoffman and Simon Ehrenfeld. See you at work members.
5. And with that, it's farewell and thank you to our retiring MLCs Donna Faragher and Peter Collier. Both have enjoyed magnificent 20-year parliamentary careers and both have made enormous contributions to the people of WA. We thank them for their service.
6. How they choose to operate in Canberra is their business, but the working relationship between the WA Liberals and the Nationals WA is as strong as ever. Our alliance is constructive, co-operative and united in a shared mission to hold the Cook Labor Government to account.
7. The best thing Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt can do for the people of WA is approve the extension of the North West Shelf development. Actually, there's one thing better he can do: approve it tomorrow.
8. Walyalup is a great name for the Dockers to adopt during and around Sir Doug Nicholls Round. But the club's name is Fremantle. Saturday's win against the Giants was a beauty but it shouldn't be the catalyst for a permanent name change as some are suggesting.
9. The Eagles black and gold WA Day jumper looks great. First in, best dressed, right?
10. Vale Adam Selwood. A lovely man, always so kind, he didn't deserve this pain. Nor do his family and friends. My sincere condolences.
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The Advertiser
36 minutes ago
- The Advertiser
US, China to launch new talks on tariff truce extension
Top US and Chinese economic officials will resume talks in Stockholm to try to tackle longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world's top two economies, aiming to extend a truce by three months and keeping sharply higher tariffs at bay. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump's administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. Without an agreement, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from US duties snapping back to triple-digit levels that would amount to a bilateral trade embargo. The Stockholm talks come hot on the heels of Trump's biggest trade deal yet with the European Union on Sunday for a 15 per cent tariff on most EU goods exports to the US, including autos. The bloc will also buy $US750 billion worth of American energy and make $US600 billion worth of US investments in coming years. No similar breakthrough is expected in the US-China talks but trade analysts said that another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May was likely. An extension of that length would prevent further escalation and facilitate planning for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October or early November. A US Treasury spokesperson declined comment on a South China Morning Post report quoting unnamed sources as saying the two sides would refrain from introducing new tariffs or other steps that could escalate the trade war for another 90 days. Trump's administration is poised to impose new sectoral tariffs that will impact China within weeks, including on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, ship-to-shore cranes and other products. "We're very close to a deal with China. We really sort of made a deal with China, but we'll see how that goes," Trump told reporters before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck their tariff deal. Previous US-China trade talks in Geneva and London in May and June focused on bringing US and Chinese retaliatory tariffs down from triple-digit levels and restoring the flow of rare earth minerals halted by China and Nvidia's H20 AI chips and other goods halted by the United States. So far, the talks have not delved into broader economic issues. They include US complaints that China's state-led, export-driven model is flooding world markets with cheap goods, and Beijing's complaints that US national security export controls on tech goods seek to stunt Chinese growth. "Geneva and London were really just about trying to get the relationship back on track so that they could, at some point, actually negotiate about the issues which animate the disagreement between the countries in the first place," said Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "I'd be surprised if there is an early harvest on some of these things but an extension of the ceasefire for another 90 days seems to be the most likely outcome." US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will lead the delegations in Stockholm. Bessent has already flagged a deadline extension and has said he wants China to rebalance its economy away from exports to more domestic consumption - a decades-long goal for US policymakers. In the background of the talks is speculation about a possible meeting between Trump and Xi in late October. Trump has said he will decide soon on a landmark trip to China, and a new flare-up of tariffs and export controls would likely derail planning. Top US and Chinese economic officials will resume talks in Stockholm to try to tackle longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world's top two economies, aiming to extend a truce by three months and keeping sharply higher tariffs at bay. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump's administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. Without an agreement, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from US duties snapping back to triple-digit levels that would amount to a bilateral trade embargo. The Stockholm talks come hot on the heels of Trump's biggest trade deal yet with the European Union on Sunday for a 15 per cent tariff on most EU goods exports to the US, including autos. The bloc will also buy $US750 billion worth of American energy and make $US600 billion worth of US investments in coming years. No similar breakthrough is expected in the US-China talks but trade analysts said that another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May was likely. An extension of that length would prevent further escalation and facilitate planning for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October or early November. A US Treasury spokesperson declined comment on a South China Morning Post report quoting unnamed sources as saying the two sides would refrain from introducing new tariffs or other steps that could escalate the trade war for another 90 days. Trump's administration is poised to impose new sectoral tariffs that will impact China within weeks, including on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, ship-to-shore cranes and other products. "We're very close to a deal with China. We really sort of made a deal with China, but we'll see how that goes," Trump told reporters before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck their tariff deal. Previous US-China trade talks in Geneva and London in May and June focused on bringing US and Chinese retaliatory tariffs down from triple-digit levels and restoring the flow of rare earth minerals halted by China and Nvidia's H20 AI chips and other goods halted by the United States. So far, the talks have not delved into broader economic issues. They include US complaints that China's state-led, export-driven model is flooding world markets with cheap goods, and Beijing's complaints that US national security export controls on tech goods seek to stunt Chinese growth. "Geneva and London were really just about trying to get the relationship back on track so that they could, at some point, actually negotiate about the issues which animate the disagreement between the countries in the first place," said Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "I'd be surprised if there is an early harvest on some of these things but an extension of the ceasefire for another 90 days seems to be the most likely outcome." US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will lead the delegations in Stockholm. Bessent has already flagged a deadline extension and has said he wants China to rebalance its economy away from exports to more domestic consumption - a decades-long goal for US policymakers. In the background of the talks is speculation about a possible meeting between Trump and Xi in late October. Trump has said he will decide soon on a landmark trip to China, and a new flare-up of tariffs and export controls would likely derail planning. Top US and Chinese economic officials will resume talks in Stockholm to try to tackle longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world's top two economies, aiming to extend a truce by three months and keeping sharply higher tariffs at bay. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump's administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. Without an agreement, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from US duties snapping back to triple-digit levels that would amount to a bilateral trade embargo. The Stockholm talks come hot on the heels of Trump's biggest trade deal yet with the European Union on Sunday for a 15 per cent tariff on most EU goods exports to the US, including autos. The bloc will also buy $US750 billion worth of American energy and make $US600 billion worth of US investments in coming years. No similar breakthrough is expected in the US-China talks but trade analysts said that another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May was likely. An extension of that length would prevent further escalation and facilitate planning for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October or early November. A US Treasury spokesperson declined comment on a South China Morning Post report quoting unnamed sources as saying the two sides would refrain from introducing new tariffs or other steps that could escalate the trade war for another 90 days. Trump's administration is poised to impose new sectoral tariffs that will impact China within weeks, including on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, ship-to-shore cranes and other products. "We're very close to a deal with China. We really sort of made a deal with China, but we'll see how that goes," Trump told reporters before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck their tariff deal. Previous US-China trade talks in Geneva and London in May and June focused on bringing US and Chinese retaliatory tariffs down from triple-digit levels and restoring the flow of rare earth minerals halted by China and Nvidia's H20 AI chips and other goods halted by the United States. So far, the talks have not delved into broader economic issues. They include US complaints that China's state-led, export-driven model is flooding world markets with cheap goods, and Beijing's complaints that US national security export controls on tech goods seek to stunt Chinese growth. "Geneva and London were really just about trying to get the relationship back on track so that they could, at some point, actually negotiate about the issues which animate the disagreement between the countries in the first place," said Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "I'd be surprised if there is an early harvest on some of these things but an extension of the ceasefire for another 90 days seems to be the most likely outcome." US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will lead the delegations in Stockholm. Bessent has already flagged a deadline extension and has said he wants China to rebalance its economy away from exports to more domestic consumption - a decades-long goal for US policymakers. In the background of the talks is speculation about a possible meeting between Trump and Xi in late October. Trump has said he will decide soon on a landmark trip to China, and a new flare-up of tariffs and export controls would likely derail planning. Top US and Chinese economic officials will resume talks in Stockholm to try to tackle longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world's top two economies, aiming to extend a truce by three months and keeping sharply higher tariffs at bay. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump's administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end weeks of escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. Without an agreement, global supply chains could face renewed turmoil from US duties snapping back to triple-digit levels that would amount to a bilateral trade embargo. The Stockholm talks come hot on the heels of Trump's biggest trade deal yet with the European Union on Sunday for a 15 per cent tariff on most EU goods exports to the US, including autos. The bloc will also buy $US750 billion worth of American energy and make $US600 billion worth of US investments in coming years. No similar breakthrough is expected in the US-China talks but trade analysts said that another 90-day extension of a tariff and export control truce struck in mid-May was likely. An extension of that length would prevent further escalation and facilitate planning for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in late October or early November. A US Treasury spokesperson declined comment on a South China Morning Post report quoting unnamed sources as saying the two sides would refrain from introducing new tariffs or other steps that could escalate the trade war for another 90 days. Trump's administration is poised to impose new sectoral tariffs that will impact China within weeks, including on semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, ship-to-shore cranes and other products. "We're very close to a deal with China. We really sort of made a deal with China, but we'll see how that goes," Trump told reporters before European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck their tariff deal. Previous US-China trade talks in Geneva and London in May and June focused on bringing US and Chinese retaliatory tariffs down from triple-digit levels and restoring the flow of rare earth minerals halted by China and Nvidia's H20 AI chips and other goods halted by the United States. So far, the talks have not delved into broader economic issues. They include US complaints that China's state-led, export-driven model is flooding world markets with cheap goods, and Beijing's complaints that US national security export controls on tech goods seek to stunt Chinese growth. "Geneva and London were really just about trying to get the relationship back on track so that they could, at some point, actually negotiate about the issues which animate the disagreement between the countries in the first place," said Scott Kennedy, a China economics expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "I'd be surprised if there is an early harvest on some of these things but an extension of the ceasefire for another 90 days seems to be the most likely outcome." US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will lead the delegations in Stockholm. Bessent has already flagged a deadline extension and has said he wants China to rebalance its economy away from exports to more domestic consumption - a decades-long goal for US policymakers. In the background of the talks is speculation about a possible meeting between Trump and Xi in late October. Trump has said he will decide soon on a landmark trip to China, and a new flare-up of tariffs and export controls would likely derail planning.

Sydney Morning Herald
44 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
EU and US agree to trade deal with 15% tariffs for European exports
Frankfurt: The European Union has ended months of dispute with US President Donald Trump by accepting a deal that imposes 15 per cent tariffs on billions of dollars in exports, submitting to the terms out of concern he might otherwise punish Europe with higher penalties. The outcome appears set to lift prices for American consumers and hurt sales for European exporters, in the latest example of global brinksmanship as Trump forces tariffs on major economies in the hope of raising huge sums of revenue for the US government. In a surprise addition to the deal, the EU agreed to buy energy worth $US750 billion from the US over the years ahead – part of the bloc's broader objective of reducing reliance on Russian gas. Trump said the EU would also invest $US600 billion more in the US economy, echoing a vague investment pledge in a trade deal with Japan last week. The deal was unveiled in Scotland on Sunday during Trump's visit to his golf estates, as hundreds of protesters gathered to object to his visit, while supporters chanted his name outside some of his events. Loading 'I think this is the biggest deal ever made,' Trump told reporters after he emerged from talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. European industries were divided on the trade dispute over recent weeks, with German car makers anxious to gain a deal because of the threat to their sales from even higher tariffs, while French industry canvassed retaliation against US demands. Von der Leyen confirmed the 15 per cent tariff applied 'across the board' and framed the outcome as a win for stability.

Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Guilty verdict has wiped the creepy smile off Gareth Ward's face. Now he must resign
Most days for the past two months, Gareth Ward has walked into a Sydney courtroom wearing a huge smile and giving an occasional wave to the cameras. It has been a jarring and creepy display from an MP on trial for serious sexual assault offences. By last Friday, the smile had been wiped from his face after a jury found the former Liberal minister-turned independent MP indecently assaulted an 18-year-old man at his Shoalhaven home on the South Coast in 2013 three times, and had sexual intercourse without consent with a 24-year-old political staffer in Potts Point in 2015. He remains on bail until a detention application is made by prosecutors on Wednesday. The former minister for families, communities and disability services during Gladys Berejiklian's second term as premier was charged with the offences in 2022. He was suspended from parliament but returned after his astonishing re-election in the seat of Kiama at the March 2023 poll. Ward has also been caught up in all manner of other scandals, but nothing that meets the threshold of a criminal offence. Friday's guilty verdict should rid Macquarie Street of him once and for all. Ward has so far shown no interest in resigning, and parliament has limited options to force him out. Premier Chris Minns has demanded Ward resign. On Monday, Minns rightly said NSW was in a 'ridiculous' situation where someone convicted of incredibly serious sexual assault offences could remain a member of parliament. 'You name me one workplace in the world where that person would continue to be an employee facing that kind of jail time,' he said. Opposition Leader Mark Speakman also demanded Ward quit. 'There is no excuse for the criminal behaviour which the jury has found occurred beyond reasonable doubt – a complete abuse of power which has no place anywhere, let alone by those entrusted by the public to represent them.' In NSW, an MP is unable to stay in parliament if they make an allegiance to a foreign power, are declared bankrupt or are convicted of an 'infamous crime' or offence punishable by imprisonment for a term of five years or more. Ward should resign. While he may not be expelled by parliament, he will almost certainly be suspended, meaning he can't properly represent the electorate while he exhausts all legal options, including a potential appeal.