Australian news and politics live: Pharma industry faces uncertainty after Trump’s ‘unclear’ tariff threat

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has called for “stronger accountability” on anti-Semitism from Anthony Albanese.

Ms Ley’s call comes as Australia’s special envoy for anti-Semitism is expected to unveil a sweeping plan today to combat the issue after a series of attacks across Australia since the October 7 Hamas terror attack.

“It is something that we, in the Coalition, will call out every single day and we will step up and demand a stronger accountability from the Prime Minister in the face of this anti-Semitism,” she said.

“I really hope that if the Prime Minister is standing up on the other side of this building, that he adopts the 15-points in that plan.”

Opposition leader Sussan Ley says Australia can’t let the rising tide of anti-Semitism continue in the country.

Ms Ley had visited an East Melbourne synagogue that was firebombed on Friday and described the incident and a spate of other attacks as “confronting”.

“It was confronting to hear how Jewish Australians feel right now. The fear with which they face every day,” she said after also holding meetings with the community.

“The rising tide of anti-Semitism in this country is quite rightly adding to their fears and anxieties.”

Opposition Leader Sussan Let says she wants “constructive debate” around gender in the Liberal party after grumbling within State branches around quotas.

Speaking in Sydney on Thursday, she told reporters the Liberal party would have a better focus on female participation under her leadership.

“I welcome the constructive debate. I will make it clear every day that we do need to improve, increase female representation in our party and that means through the pre-selection processes and in our parliament,” she said.

“The Liberal Party state divisions have the final responsibility for that, so I welcome any ideas they may put forward.

“I am agnostic about what those methods may be. I am a zealot that we have higher female representation and we reflect Australia’s women in our party and in our policies.”

Opposition leader Sussan Ley said she’s “incredibly concerned” by the situation in child care centres, after shocking abuse allegation surfaced.

“I want to pay tribute to the wonderful women and men who work in child care, run child care and provide it for Australian working families, but what we have heard is just not good enough,” she told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

The new Liberal leader said she’s willing to work with the Government on sweeping changes to the sector to stop child sex abuse.

“That’s why I have written to the Prime Minister, and I have publicly asked the government to consult with us on new legislation that addresses some of these issues,” she said.

Anthony Albanese will unveil a new plan to combat anti-Semitism in Australia this morning.

The PM is expected to face media alongside his Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and special envoy on anti-Semitism Jillian Segal a little later this morning.

He flagged the new plan earlier in the week when asked about calls to convene a national cabinet meeting on the issue, saying people wanted action not more meetings.

A Melbourne synagogue was hit with an alleged arson attack on Friday night, while families were dining inside it.

As AUKUS faces a critical review Shadow Finance Minister James Paterson believes the defence pact can still be saved if Australia ramps up its diplomatic efforts and says the Albanese government isn’t doing enough to influence key US decision-makers.

“We are entitled to try and influence that process and any country with any diplomatic heft or ability to move quickly would be all over this and I’ve got no sense at all that’s happening from the Albanese government,” Senator Paterson told Sky News.

“It is now 247 days since President Trump was elected and Prime Minister Albanese is one of the only world leaders not to have a face-to-face meeting with him, not to have sat down to him, not to even make an attempt to go to Washington DC to meet with the President and that is alarming.

“Now we’ve also got a problem where there are credible media reports that speculate that our US Ambassador Kevin Rudd is not able to get a meeting in the White House. Now if that is true then that is making this even harder task for us.

“We are not going to save AUKUS if we just let this thing on cruise, if we don’t take charge of it, if the Prime Minister doesn’t personally take charge of it, get over to Washington DC and persuade the President in person of the merits of this deal and the things that America gains from this deal which are very significant.”

The Coalition says the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) has “bipartisan” backing after Donald Trump’s threat to impose an eye-watering 200 per cent tariff on pharma imports.

The PBS is a list of federally subsidised medicines and compels foreign drugmakers to negotiate prices with the government – a deeply unpopular requirement among American companies.

Pharma lobbyists in the US have urged the Trump administration to consider using tariffs on Australia to weaken the scheme, but the Albanese government has been adamant the PBS was not on the table.

Senior Coalition senator Bridget McKenzie said on Thursday it was a position the opposition shared: We’ve got a bipartisan approach to our PBS,” she told Nine on Thursday.

“It underpins our universal healthcare system and makes sure no matter who you are in Australia, you can access great, world-class leading drugs for your family’s health.”

She said the challenge was “about getting the right deal, not undermining our PBS, but also recognising we’re one of the world leaders in medical research”.

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It remains uncertain if US President Donald Trump’s proposed 200 per cent tariffs on pharmaceuticals will ever come into effect, according to Medicines Australia CEO Elizabeth de Somer.

Mr Trump’s announcement on Tuesday US time of potential tariffs on the 2 billion dollar Australian industry sparked uncertainty.

“There isn’t detail, and it’s unclear whether those tariffs will ever actually be applied,” Ms de Somer said while speaking on ABC Radio National on Thursday.

She added that “everybody’s waiting to see what will be made public” from US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick’s investigation into the need for pharmaceutical tariffs.

“We do know that the contributions from the pharmaceutical industry in the US to that investigation has been to urge the US government to focus their levers on non-friendly countries and not apply tariffs or punitive levers to allies such as Australia,” Ms de Somer said.

US President Donald Trump has sent letters to the leaders of seven additional countries, warning of new tariff rates as high as 30 per cent on goods shipped to the United States.

The latest recipients include the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Moldova, Brunei, Algeria, Libya, and Iraq, with new tariffs set to take effect August 1 unless trade deals are reached.

Australia continues to face a 10 per cent baseline tariff on most exports to the US, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently said is likely to remain in place.

The White House letter to Brazil’s President Lula da Silva sharply criticised the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro, calling it a “witch hunt” and an “international disgrace.”

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Australian business groups are “cautiously optimistic” a visit to China by Anthony Albanese will help normalise a fragile relationship with Beijing.

The Prime Minister will travel to China on Saturday for a six-day visit of Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, where he will be accompanied by a delegation of Australian business leaders.

Australia China Business Council president David Olsson said the relationship between the two nations has had an “incomplete recovery” with a changing market in China.

“While everyone’s cautiously optimistic, I think we all recognise that the relationship remains somewhat fragile, and that’s why these regular government to government dialogues is just so important,” he told AAP.

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