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Canada News.Net
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Canada News.Net
Trump, Tariffs and the Australian Federal Election
Download PDF Jun 29 2025 0 viewsPhillipMinnis/Depositphotos Australian voters care mostly about domestic political issues, and international politics seldom feature highly in the minds of citizens in what Donald Horne famously calledThe Lucky Country, a continental state supposedly separated from the worlds troubles by oceans on all sides. But there is no doubt that for Australian leaders and increasingly the Australian public, domestic issues are not so easily separable from the international events that often drive them. Geostrategic competition between the United States and China, the need for an energy transition and inflation all produced existential policy dilemmas in the run-up to Australias 2025 federal election. How politicians align international pressures with domestic political messaging can be significant for voters, even if the voters and the politicians themselves do not deeply understand global politics. In the 2022-25 parliamentary term, international affairs have driven the domestic political agenda so much that by the timeDonald Trump announced Liberation Day tariffs, there was little room left to discuss them. On September 15, 2021, 9 months before the 2022 federal election which ousted him, Prime Minister Scott Morrisonannounced a new treaty agreementbetween Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom (AUKUS), which cancelled orders for French diesel-electric submarines in favour of nuclear-powered submarines to be developed by the three nations jointly. This action was controversial,infuriating French President Emmanuel Macronand attracting the sharp criticism of former Australian Prime MinistersMalcolm TurnbullandPaul Keating. Mentions mostly negative of AUKUS arefar more common in Australia than in America, where it is treated with indifference or in the UK, where the treaty figures mostly as an amusing intrigue at Frances expense. However, AUKUS also revealed that Australias core strategic security relationship with the US was indispensable and exclusive in some sense. Despite the USs deepening political instability and the charge, which ispopular in Europe, that America is no longer a reliable security partner, there remains little to no daylight between Canberra and Washington regarding ensuring Australian and Western Pacific security. Australia remains a key player in the USs plans to constrain Chinese expansion. Likewise, the USs wider protection of Australia in the form of theANZUS treatysnuclear umbrella is worth immeasurably more than the cost of upsetting France. Still, both major political parties support the AUKUS treaty, thus nullifying it as an election matter, though no doubt contributing to voter dissatisfaction in general terms. One area that has divided the major parties for nearly 20 years is climate change and the need for a decarbonising energy transition. The Australian Labor Party (ALP), now in government, favours decarbonisation through renewable energy, while the Liberal Party of Australia, in partnership with the National Party of Australia (the Coalition), seeks a more moderate decarbonisation supplemented by the construction of new nuclear power parties support the expansion of Australias natural gas industry, andcoal remains by far the dominant source of electricity generation. The Coalitionsnuclear policy, launched in late 2024 and gradually de-emphasised as the election approached, was an attempt by the Coalition to align energy renewal policy, an area of political weakness, with an area of political strength: defence and national security. With a domestic nuclear industry, the difficulty of maintaining a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines would be, in theory, reduced. The problem was that both nuclear power and expensive nuclear submarines were not hugely popular policies on their own, and they did not become more attractive in combination. Australian opposition to nuclear energy and weapons has deep roots, beginning withnuclear tests conducted by the British on Aboriginal landand prominent ALP figures such as former foreign minister Gareth Evans and the Midnight Oil singer, who later became government minister, Peter Garrett, haveconsistently advocated an anti-nuclear stance. The Coalition could not undo decades of political consensus by reframing nuclear energy as a security and energy transition two-for-one. Neither, however, is the ALPs choice to favour a renewable and green energy transition geopolitically neutral, despite its apparent electoral success. Solar panels are produced at the lowest cost in China, as are electric vehicles and the batteries that power them and store energy produced by intermittent sources of electricity. The governmentsFuture Made in Australiascheme appears doomed to be outcompeted by cheap international imports. So, by emphasising a renewable pathway to net zero, the ALP deepens its economic ties with Australias principal trading partner and, paradoxically, also its principal geostrategic adversary. Australias relationship with China is, in the words of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, caught betweenfear and greed, a condition that has permeated the economic and security policy and is now increasingly relevant to the success of Australias energy renewal. During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments worldwide borrowed heavily to support workforces that were not working. Then, rising inflation and interest rates compounded economic pain. No one could pretend that the source of rising interest rates was home-grown, and the government has been at pains toremind votersof Australias strong performance in relative Australian citizens of the costs of living has been the primary challenge of the ALPs first term. The governmentcut taxes, introducedsubsidies on household energy bills, and announced aninvestment fund to increase housing supply. The economy tottered but was held up in part byincreased net migrationand amining boom spurred on by renewed Chinese demandfor raw materials. The Coalition offered few substantive alternatives to this approach. It did, however, seek tohighlight an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with immigration, at a time of soaring prices and a loosening labour market proved to be a sensitive issue, but was still not amongthe top five issues facing Australian voters just before the election. In relying on a perennial critique of the ALPs relatively pro-migrant stance, the Coalition was on safe ground, but it did not translate this advantage to an overall lead on economic management. After several years of adapting Australian policy to international instability, Donald Trumps tariff war on the world came just in time for the Australian federal election and for Canada, another of the USs closest allies. The result on Americas northern border was widely seen as a repudiation of Trumps trade belligerence. The tariffs economic impact was less acute than in Canada. Australia is a net importer of US goods, and the government was quick to assure voters thatit would not retaliateby imposing the costs of tariffs directly onto Australian consumers. Australias broader economic partnership with the United States is also tied to pension schemes, now collectively worthUS$ 2.8 trillion (roughly the GDP of Britain), 1 trillion of which is projected to be invested in US stocks over the next decade. The stakes of economic confrontation with the US could not be higher, and it is not surprising that neither party leader wanted to spend too long discussing the issue. While Prime Minister Albanese said the tariffs werenot the act of a friend, Coalition leader Peter Dutton attempted to pin blame on the ALP for not achieving a carve-out deal for Australian steel, aluminium and other export interests. In the following election debates, both leaders attempted to thread the needle of emphasising the importance of the US alliance while distancing themselves from its leader. Somewhat ridiculously, Albaneseclaimedthat he did not have Trumps number because he believed that Trump did not have a mobile phone. Duttoncriticisedthe Prime Ministers decision to appoint a public detractor of Trump, the former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, to the post of ambassador to the US. At the same time,he claimed not to know the President, a favour returned by Trump after the election whenhe claimed that he had no idea who Dutton was. Whether or not Peter Dutton was strongly associated with Trump during the campaign is unclear, and it is still too early to make definitive statements. Some commentators accused Dutton of being aTemu Trump, withthe instincts of a right-wing populist. While Dutton is certainly right-wing, it is not clear that Duttons personal style muted in comparison with Trump, or years of institutional commitment, first to the police force and then to parliamentary party politics, fit the definition of a populist. What is clear is that the ALPs approach to governing Australia through internationally driven turbulence has been endorsed by voters, with one ofthe most emphatic election wins in Australian Dutton lost his seat as did the Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. However, the general dissatisfaction with major party politics continued, with the combined total of major party votes at its lowest level ever, at just under two-thirds. For now, the government has weathered the storm, but increasing international instability will pile on yet more pressure, testing Australias political establishment to its limits. Further Reading on E-International Relations About The Author(s) Patrick Leslie is a Research Fellow at the School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University. Editorial Credit(s) Ibrahim Atta Tags AustraliaDonald Trump
Canada Standard
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Canada Standard
Trump, Tariffs and the Australian Federal Election
Patrick Leslie Download PDF Jun 29 2025 0 Australian voters care mostly about domestic political issues, and international politics seldom feature highly in the minds of citizens in what Donald Horne famously calledThe Lucky Country, a continental state supposedly separated from the worlds troubles by oceans on all sides. But there is no doubt that for Australian leaders and increasingly the Australian public, domestic issues are not so easily separable from the international events that often drive them. Geostrategic competition between the United States and China, the need for an energy transition and inflation all produced existential policy dilemmas in the run-up to Australias 2025 federal election. How politicians align international pressures with domestic political messaging can be significant for voters, even if the voters and the politicians themselves do not deeply understand global politics. In the 2022-25 parliamentary term, international affairs have driven the domestic political agenda so much that by the timeDonald Trump announced Liberation Day tariffs, there was little room left to discuss them. On September 15, 2021, 9 months before the 2022 federal election which ousted him, Prime Minister Scott Morrisonannounced a new treaty agreementbetween Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom (AUKUS), which cancelled orders for French diesel-electric submarines in favour of nuclear-powered submarines to be developed by the three nations jointly. This action was controversial,infuriating French President Emmanuel Macronand attracting the sharp criticism of former Australian Prime MinistersMalcolm TurnbullandPaul Keating. Mentions mostly negative of AUKUS arefar more common in Australia than in America, where it is treated with indifference or in the UK, where the treaty figures mostly as an amusing intrigue at Frances expense. However, AUKUS also revealed that Australias core strategic security relationship with the US was indispensable and exclusive in some sense. Despite the USs deepening political instability and the charge, which ispopular in Europe, that America is no longer a reliable security partner, there remains little to no daylight between Canberra and Washington regarding ensuring Australian and Western Pacific security. Australia remains a key player in the USs plans to constrain Chinese expansion. Likewise, the USs wider protection of Australia in the form of theANZUS treatysnuclear umbrella is worth immeasurably more than the cost of upsetting France. Still, both major political parties support the AUKUS treaty, thus nullifying it as an election matter, though no doubt contributing to voter dissatisfaction in general terms. One area that has divided the major parties for nearly 20 years is climate change and the need for a decarbonising energy transition. The Australian Labor Party (ALP), now in government, favours decarbonisation through renewable energy, while the Liberal Party of Australia, in partnership with the National Party of Australia (the Coalition), seeks a more moderate decarbonisation supplemented by the construction of new nuclear power parties support the expansion of Australias natural gas industry, andcoal remains by far the dominant source of electricity generation. The Coalitionsnuclear policy, launched in late 2024 and gradually de-emphasised as the election approached, was an attempt by the Coalition to align energy renewal policy, an area of political weakness, with an area of political strength: defence and national security. With a domestic nuclear industry, the difficulty of maintaining a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines would be, in theory, reduced. The problem was that both nuclear power and expensive nuclear submarines were not hugely popular policies on their own, and they did not become more attractive in combination. Australian opposition to nuclear energy and weapons has deep roots, beginning withnuclear tests conducted by the British on Aboriginal landand prominent ALP figures such as former foreign minister Gareth Evans and the Midnight Oil singer, who later became government minister, Peter Garrett, haveconsistently advocated an anti-nuclear stance. The Coalition could not undo decades of political consensus by reframing nuclear energy as a security and energy transition two-for-one. Neither, however, is the ALPs choice to favour a renewable and green energy transition geopolitically neutral, despite its apparent electoral success. Solar panels are produced at the lowest cost in China, as are electric vehicles and the batteries that power them and store energy produced by intermittent sources of electricity. The governmentsFuture Made in Australiascheme appears doomed to be outcompeted by cheap international imports. So, by emphasising a renewable pathway to net zero, the ALP deepens its economic ties with Australias principal trading partner and, paradoxically, also its principal geostrategic adversary. Australias relationship with China is, in the words of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, caught betweenfear and greed, a condition that has permeated the economic and security policy and is now increasingly relevant to the success of Australias energy renewal. During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments worldwide borrowed heavily to support workforces that were not working. Then, rising inflation and interest rates compounded economic pain. No one could pretend that the source of rising interest rates was home-grown, and the government has been at pains toremind votersof Australias strong performance in relative Australian citizens of the costs of living has been the primary challenge of the ALPs first term. The governmentcut taxes, introducedsubsidies on household energy bills, and announced aninvestment fund to increase housing supply. The economy tottered but was held up in part byincreased net migrationand amining boom spurred on by renewed Chinese demandfor raw materials. The Coalition offered few substantive alternatives to this approach. It did, however, seek tohighlight an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with immigration, at a time of soaring prices and a loosening labour market proved to be a sensitive issue, but was still not amongthe top five issues facing Australian voters just before the election. In relying on a perennial critique of the ALPs relatively pro-migrant stance, the Coalition was on safe ground, but it did not translate this advantage to an overall lead on economic management. After several years of adapting Australian policy to international instability, Donald Trumps tariff war on the world came just in time for the Australian federal election and for Canada, another of the USs closest allies. The result on Americas northern border was widely seen as a repudiation of Trumps trade belligerence. The tariffs economic impact was less acute than in Canada. Australia is a net importer of US goods, and the government was quick to assure voters thatit would not retaliateby imposing the costs of tariffs directly onto Australian consumers. Australias broader economic partnership with the United States is also tied to pension schemes, now collectively worthUS$ 2.8 trillion (roughly the GDP of Britain), 1 trillion of which is projected to be invested in US stocks over the next decade. The stakes of economic confrontation with the US could not be higher, and it is not surprising that neither party leader wanted to spend too long discussing the issue. While Prime Minister Albanese said the tariffs werenot the act of a friend, Coalition leader Peter Dutton attempted to pin blame on the ALP for not achieving a carve-out deal for Australian steel, aluminium and other export interests. In the following election debates, both leaders attempted to thread the needle of emphasising the importance of the US alliance while distancing themselves from its leader. Somewhat ridiculously, Albaneseclaimedthat he did not have Trumps number because he believed that Trump did not have a mobile phone. Duttoncriticisedthe Prime Ministers decision to appoint a public detractor of Trump, the former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, to the post of ambassador to the US. At the same time,he claimed not to know the President, a favour returned by Trump after the election whenhe claimed that he had no idea who Dutton was. Whether or not Peter Dutton was strongly associated with Trump during the campaign is unclear, and it is still too early to make definitive statements. Some commentators accused Dutton of being aTemu Trump, withthe instincts of a right-wing populist. While Dutton is certainly right-wing, it is not clear that Duttons personal style muted in comparison with Trump, or years of institutional commitment, first to the police force and then to parliamentary party politics, fit the definition of a populist. What is clear is that the ALPs approach to governing Australia through internationally driven turbulence has been endorsed by voters, with one ofthe most emphatic election wins in Australian Dutton lost his seat as did the Canadian Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. However, the general dissatisfaction with major party politics continued, with the combined total of major party votes at its lowest level ever, at just under two-thirds. For now, the government has weathered the storm, but increasing international instability will pile on yet more pressure, testing Australias political establishment to its limits. Further Reading on E-International Relations Opinion Re-election in Doubt: The Perfect Storm Approaches Donald Trump Making Sense of the 2020 US Election Opinion In a Knife-edge Election, Two Different Portrayals of America Wrecking Ball-In-Chief: Trumps Withdrawals from International Commitments Opinion Nationalism and Trumps Response to Covid-19 Opinion How Could Iran Survive Trumps Maximum Pressure 2.0? About The Author(s) Patrick Leslieis a Research Fellow at the School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University. Ibrahim Atta AustraliaDonald Trump
Daily Mail
03-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Aussie reveals the TRUE meaning behind 'the lucky country' and why most are wrong to think it's a positive phrase
A commentator has claimed many Aussies have completely misunderstood the meaning behind the well-known phrase: 'the lucky country'. The term was coined by author Donald Horne in his 1964 book of the same name and has become associated with long term prosperity and the country's avoidance of economic and social downturn seen in other nations. Australian commentator Topher Field told the Unemployable Media Podcast the phrase did not necessarily have the positive connotations most thought it did. 'It was actually telling us, you guys are lazy. You guys are riding off the back of good luck. Good luck of geography, weather and industry,' he said. 'You guys are the lucky country, and if you don't wise up real quick, your luck is going to run out. 'You're not going to know what hit you because you've never had to navigate anything bad.' Horne's famous line appears at the beginning of his book's final chapter. 'Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second-rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people's ideas,' it reads. 'Although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by surprise.' The phrase wasn't a celebration of national success, but a critique of how little of it was earned through innovation or effort. Horne argued that Australia's wealth was built not through ingenuity, but through good fortune, natural resources, climate, and a wave of immigration. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Field expanded on Horne's meaning. '[Horne] was being ironic. 'The Lucky Country' was an observation that so much of what we had in the '60s when his book was published was a result of geography and quirks of global timing and trade, rather than our own hard work.' Field added the critique remains just as relevant today as it was decades ago. 'It was not earned prosperity, but just dumb luck. Sixty years later it's fair to say that our luck has held up remarkably well, thanks again to geography, timing, and trade.' Field referred to the mining boom, and the strength of the industry which protected Australia from economic decline. 'Our resources sector is much-maligned, but it carried us through the dot com bubble, the Asian Financial Crisis, and the 2008 GFC, comparatively unscathed, tempting some people to say that Donald Horne was wrong and that we really are lucky.' But Field warned that the very luck that once sustained Australia may be creating complacency. 'I wish that were true. All the economic indicators are telling us that our luck has very much run out,' he said. 'But we're so complacent, so lazy, so used to being 'lucky', that we've lost the will and the work ethic to get ourselves out of what's coming. 'We're no longer getting lucky, we're getting what we deserve.' Field ended his statement by saying Australia's luck is finite, invoking a former British Prime Minister in his warning. 'With apologies to Margaret Thatcher who said that "The problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money",' he said. 'I will say that the problem with being lucky is that eventually your luck runs out.'
West Australian
31-05-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Adrian Barich: Happy is the country that is more interested in sport than in politics, I always say
It's been a sad old time in Barra-land so I'm hoping you won't mind if this week, I discuss something extremely frivolous. Or is it frivolous?! It's wild just how much sport means to people in this country. As a nation we should probably be a little embarrassed about just how highly sport ranks in our public psyche. As the late Donald Horne wrote (well complained, actually) in his book The Lucky Country, ''sport, to many Australians, is life and the rest a shadow . . . It is considered a sign of degeneracy not to be interested in it'. If you resemble those comments, don't feel bad: you're in good company. Happy is the country that is more interested in sport than in politics, I always say. The truth is, many of us get a lot of our culture and identity from sport. It's not just a leisure-time activity, but a big part of our lives. If you're struggling to connect or even make conversation with your neighbours, throw in this line — 'what about those Eagles?' — and see how you go. There is a remarkably deep-seated connection between Australians and our sporting teams, and the drama of sport has the power to bring people together. The other thing I don't think we appreciate fully is that sport not only bonds people and strengthens communities, but helps promote our State on the national stage. If we are hosting some of the Australia's biggest sporting events, we are showcasing West Australian excellence and expertise in everything from innovation, tourism, services and products. Having said all that, and thrown my support behind this State's push to attract big events to WA, I still think we are running behind the fans of the English Premier League in terms of passion and commitment. Just take a look at the hysteria surrounding Tottenham Hotspur winning the Europa League. Spurs hit a grim milestone this season: their worst-ever Premier League season but that has all been overshadowed by Ange Postecoglou making history, ending the club's 17-year trophy drought by claiming a dramatic 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the final in Bilbao. The celebrations have been extensive and colourful, with tens of thousands of jubilant Spurs fans lining the streets of north London last week for an open-top bus victory parade. I've even seen people getting crazy tattoos to commemorate this apparently unforgettable moment in the history of the club. In the final against United, there was a moment of pure instinct, a stunning show of agility, by Micky van de Ven. His goal-line clearance has been described as 'poetry in motion' as the Dutch defender, with a less than a second to make up his mind, flew high, with his foot in the air, to somehow hook the ball away. His version of events went like this: 'In the game, I saw the ball coming, I don't know what happened, I saw the ball coming back and went to the goal line . . . the ball went high up in the air, and I thought, 'how am I going to do this?' I thought, 'I just need to try', and then I got it out of the goal, I don't know how'. Anyway that one effort has now been permanently tattooed on many, many chubby arms and shaved backs in north London, a display of passion and love for the moment that we probably haven't seen very often in Australia. To say it was an eyesore would be a compliment. The tatt ranks up (or down?) there with Mike Tyson's iconic face tattoo for things that probably weren't a good idea. Still despite England's love of soccer, some would argue that Aussies are more 'religious' about sport than about religion itself. The stats I found are interesting: eight per cent of Australians go to church every week, compared to more than 80 per cent who are involved in a weekly sport. As American writer Phyllis McGinley reportedly quipped, 'in Australia, not reading poetry is a national pastime'.
Perth Now
31-05-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Happy is country that's interested in sports over politics
It's been a sad old time in Barra-land so I'm hoping you won't mind if this week, I discuss something extremely frivolous. Or is it frivolous?! It's wild just how much sport means to people in this country. As a nation we should probably be a little embarrassed about just how highly sport ranks in our public psyche. As the late Donald Horne wrote (well complained, actually) in his book The Lucky Country, ''sport, to many Australians, is life and the rest a shadow . . . It is considered a sign of degeneracy not to be interested in it'. If you resemble those comments, don't feel bad: you're in good company. Happy is the country that is more interested in sport than in politics, I always say. The truth is, many of us get a lot of our culture and identity from sport. It's not just a leisure-time activity, but a big part of our lives. If you're struggling to connect or even make conversation with your neighbours, throw in this line — 'what about those Eagles?' — and see how you go. There is a remarkably deep-seated connection between Australians and our sporting teams, and the drama of sport has the power to bring people together. The other thing I don't think we appreciate fully is that sport not only bonds people and strengthens communities, but helps promote our State on the national stage. If we are hosting some of the Australia's biggest sporting events, we are showcasing West Australian excellence and expertise in everything from innovation, tourism, services and products. Having said all that, and thrown my support behind this State's push to attract big events to WA, I still think we are running behind the fans of the English Premier League in terms of passion and commitment. Just take a look at the hysteria surrounding Tottenham Hotspur winning the Europa League. Spurs hit a grim milestone this season: their worst-ever Premier League season but that has all been overshadowed by Ange Postecoglou making history, ending the club's 17-year trophy drought by claiming a dramatic 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the final in Bilbao. The celebrations have been extensive and colourful, with tens of thousands of jubilant Spurs fans lining the streets of north London last week for an open-top bus victory parade. I've even seen people getting crazy tattoos to commemorate this apparently unforgettable moment in the history of the club. In the final against United, there was a moment of pure instinct, a stunning show of agility, by Micky van de Ven. His goal-line clearance has been described as 'poetry in motion' as the Dutch defender, with a less than a second to make up his mind, flew high, with his foot in the air, to somehow hook the ball away. His version of events went like this: 'In the game, I saw the ball coming, I don't know what happened, I saw the ball coming back and went to the goal line . . . the ball went high up in the air, and I thought, 'how am I going to do this?' I thought, 'I just need to try', and then I got it out of the goal, I don't know how'. Anyway that one effort has now been permanently tattooed on many, many chubby arms and shaved backs in north London, a display of passion and love for the moment that we probably haven't seen very often in Australia. To say it was an eyesore would be a compliment. The tatt ranks up (or down?) there with Mike Tyson's iconic face tattoo for things that probably weren't a good idea. Still despite England's love of soccer, some would argue that Aussies are more 'religious' about sport than about religion itself. The stats I found are interesting: eight per cent of Australians go to church every week, compared to more than 80 per cent who are involved in a weekly sport. As American writer Phyllis McGinley reportedly quipped, 'in Australia, not reading poetry is a national pastime'.
