Hopes of EU trade deal revival as Albanese meets von der Leyen
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Anthony Albanese and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will meet on the sidelines of Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration amid fresh hope a free-trade deal with the bloc can be revived.
Albanese is also hoping to hold talks with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the new Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, after the inaugural mass in Vatican City, due to start at 10am local time (6pm AEST).
Australia walked away from talks on an EU trade deal in 2023 after refusing to accept proposed restrictions on agricultural products, including beef, sugar and dairy, and limits on the use of terms such as feta and prosecco.
But the two parties could be brought back to the negotiating table as Donald Trump’s tariffs threaten to reshape global trade.
Speaking to reporters in Rome ahead of the inauguration and meeting with von der Leyen, Albanese reportedly said Australia was “up for a deal but not any deal at any price”.
We’re up for a deal that’s in Australia’s national interest. The last time around, we weren’t able to achieve breakthroughs on agriculture.
Albanese’s potential one-on-one meeting with Zelenskyy comes after news of Oscar Jenkins’ 13-years jail sentence in Russia for fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
The prime minister described the sentence as an “outrage”.
It is a continuation of the way that they [Russia] have behaved, abrogating their international responsibilities.
Key events
What we learned, 18 May 2025
With that we’re wrapping up the blog. Before we go, here are the major stories from Sunday:
Murray Watt has told Sky News that Australia needs “an EPA with teeth” in an early morning interview after his appointment as environment minister
Watt also responded to Russia’s jailing of Australian Oscar Jenkins after he was captured while fighting with Ukrainians, saying he had endured a “sham trial”
Austria has won the 2025 Eurovision song contest
The Liberals’ new deputy leader Ted O’Brien says his party’s position on nuclear power will be decided by Coalition party leaders
South Australian senator Anne Ruston says nuclear power and commitment to the Paris climate agreement are divisive issues within the Coalition
An alarming rate of abuse in Queensland’s child safety system has prompted an inquiry
Urgent action is needed to tackle the NSW waste and recycling crisis, the state government has said
South Australian One Nation MLC Sarah Game has resigned from the party, saying its brand has become toxic
There are hopes for a EU trade deal revival as Anthony Albanese meets European counterparts
Large crowds have joined Nakba Day rallies in Melbourne and Sydney
We’ll pick things up again tomorrow.
More auctions across Australian capitals but less activity than last year
Auction activity has climbed this weekend with 1,835 auctions to be held.
This is a slight increase on the 1,735 held last week but a fall from the 2,146 auctions that took place at the same time last year.
Based on results collected so far, CoreLogic’s summary found that the preliminary clearance rate was 68.8% across the country, which is lower than the 70.2% preliminary rate recorded last week, but above the 65% actual rate on final numbers and the 65.4% at the same time last year.
Across the capital cities:
Sydney: 427 of 558 auctions held; with a preliminary clearance rate of 65.3%
Melbourne: 726 of 935 auctions; 73.8%
Brisbane: 104 0f 134 auctions; 59.6%
Adelaide: 78 of 132 auctions; 64.1%
Canberra: 53 of 68 auctions; 56.6%
Hobart: One of two auctions
Perth: Four of six auctions
Interest rate cut tipped despite Trump tariff backdown
The Reserve Bank is widely expected to deliver a second interest rate cut as global trade uncertainty threatens to rain on Australia’s economy.
A clear majority of economists believe the RBA will cut interest rates at its next meeting, but developments abroad mean it’s no longer a sure thing.
The US president, Donald Trump, recently slashed tariffs on China to 35% from a whopping 145%, prompting Beijing to lower its own tariff wall and triggering a rebound in values for riskier assets such as shares.
Following strong labour market data released on Thursday, the market now predicts three rate cuts by year’s end, down from four priced in at the start of the week.
But traders are still nearly fully priced in for a 25 basis point cut to the cash rate, which sits at 4.15%, on Tuesday, almost nine in 10 economists agreed in a survey by comparison website Finder.
Economists at all four big banks also expect a cut, with NAB still holding on to its prediction of a turbocharged 50 basis point cut.
The central bank will also update its quarterly economic predictions on Tuesday in an otherwise quiet week on the data front.
The Victorian government will unveil its budget on the same day, with rating agency S&P Global warning the country’s most indebted state to rein in spending or risk its AA credit rating being downgraded further.
– AAP
Tongan man allegedly stabs Australian Border Force contractor while being deported
A man accused of stabbing and assaulting two Australian Border Force contractors who were escorting him to be deported has been denied bail after appearing in court on Sunday.
A 28-year-old Tongan man is alleged to have attacked the two contractors, who were transporting him from the Villawood detention centre to Sydney airport on Thursday, before attempting to flee.
A 54-year-old man was stabbed in the neck during the attack.
The Tongan man was being voluntarily deported after his visa expired. The first attempt at deportation was aborted due to a medical incident.
Police arrested the man a short time later.
He has been charged with causing wounding or grievous bodily harm to a person with intent to murder and wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The man did not apply for bail during his court appearance on Sunday and is due back in July.
A 24-year-old woman was also arrested and has been charged with knowingly harbouring, maintaining or employing an escaped inmate.
For more on this story, read The Guardian’s previous reporting here:
Man charged with hate crimes after allegedly spray-painting offensive messages in Sydney
A man has been charged with dozens of hate crimes carried out across Sydney’s inner west.
A police foot patrol in Petersham noticed the man spray-painting messages on decals associated with the target community just after midnight on Sunday.
The 21-year-old was arrested and taken to the Newtown police station, where further investigations allege the man was shown to have been involved in spraying offensive messages on buildings and political posters starting at the end of April.
He was charged with 53 offences including:
Entering inclosed land not prescribed premises without lawful excuse
Intentionally marking premises without prescribed consent
Knowingly displaying by public act Nazi symbol without excuse
Destroying or damaging property
The man has been refused bail to appear at the Parramatta local court on Sunday.
Cannabis plants worth $2.5m discovered in Melbourne after public tipoff
A tipoff from a member of the public has led to the discovery of a “sophisticated” cannabis operation in Melbourne worth an estimated $2.5m.
Victoria police searched a rented factory in Mordialloc in Melbourne’s south-east on Friday morning after receiving the information.
Officers uncovered a well-established hydroponic setup of 850 cannabis plants, including seedlings and mature plants ready for harvesting.
Police estimate the plants have a potential street value of $2.5m.
Police footage shows a large pile of cannabis plants stacked high outside the factory.
Sgt Stuart Burnham urged landlords to remain vigilant, warning some renters may be using properties for criminal activity.
No arrests have been made and the investigation continues.
– AAP
‘Absolutely no evidence’: how NSW police backflipped on unlawful strip-search
Raya Meredith was at one of Australia’s biggest music festivals when a drug detection dog sniffed in her direction.
The dog then walked on, the NSW supreme court recently heard, but police officers stopped her. They took her bag and searched it. The 27-year-old, who was postpartum at the time, was then taken into a makeshift tarpaulin, where a female police officer asked her to take all her clothes off, bend over and bare her bottom, drop her breasts and remove her tampon. At one point, a male officer walked in unannounced.
The search found no drugs and nothing else illegal.
“It was a horrible thing to go through,” Meredith said in emotional testimony on the first day of a class action against the state of NSW about the search.
But so too, Meredith told the court, was the “gaslighting” she endured for years by the police force who denied her version of events, leaving her feeling “violated, yet again”. Shortly before a class action against the NSW police began almost two weeks ago, the force backflipped and admitted in court documents to unlawfully strip-searching her.
It was difficult to have police officers, who were there, who saw it, say I was lying.
For more about the class action against NSW police, read the full story by Guardian Australia’s Jordyn Beazley:
Large crowds mark Nakba Day in Melbourne
Large crowds have attended a Nakba Day march in Melbourne to mark the 77th anniversary of the dispossession of Palestinian people from their homes, as well as the ongoing treatment of Palestinian people in the occupied territories and Gaza.
Photos and video posted to social media showed a long procession of people taking part in the rally. Similar rallies took place in Sydney.
Victorian police has not yet provided an estimate for the size of the crowd.
The Nakba, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic, is the name given to the mass displacement of Palestinians triggered by the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that marked the creation of the state of Israel.
Hopes of EU trade deal revival as Albanese meets von der Leyen
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Anthony Albanese and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will meet on the sidelines of Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration amid fresh hope a free-trade deal with the bloc can be revived.
Albanese is also hoping to hold talks with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the new Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, after the inaugural mass in Vatican City, due to start at 10am local time (6pm AEST).
Australia walked away from talks on an EU trade deal in 2023 after refusing to accept proposed restrictions on agricultural products, including beef, sugar and dairy, and limits on the use of terms such as feta and prosecco.
But the two parties could be brought back to the negotiating table as Donald Trump’s tariffs threaten to reshape global trade.
Speaking to reporters in Rome ahead of the inauguration and meeting with von der Leyen, Albanese reportedly said Australia was “up for a deal but not any deal at any price”.
We’re up for a deal that’s in Australia’s national interest. The last time around, we weren’t able to achieve breakthroughs on agriculture.
Albanese’s potential one-on-one meeting with Zelenskyy comes after news of Oscar Jenkins’ 13-years jail sentence in Russia for fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
The prime minister described the sentence as an “outrage”.
It is a continuation of the way that they [Russia] have behaved, abrogating their international responsibilities.
Hundreds of dead fish wash up near Hobart
Hundreds of small dead fish have washed ashore on the River Derwent near Hobart in what appears to be a fish kill.
The ABC reports that the fish are believed to be pilchards or sardines, with nearby residents reporting many were bleeding from their gills and vent.
Local residents reported that the fish were being found on the beach and floating in the river from Saturday.
There is no information about what may have caused the incident, with the Tasmanian Environment Protection Authority yet to make a statement.
PM to discuss jailed Australian fighter with Zelenskyy
The fate of jailed Australian Oscar Jenkins is set to be discussed in face-to-face talks between the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Rome.
Jenkins faces 13 years in a Russian prison after a court found him guilty of taking part in an armed conflict as a mercenary, which denies him the protections provided to prisoners of war under the Geneva conventions.
The Australian government insists he was fighting as a member of the Ukrainian defence forces and should be entitled to humane treatment as a prisoner of war.
The pair are expected to meet on Sunday, Vatican time, on the sidelines of the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV in the Holy See.
On Saturday, Albanese told journalists he was “outraged” by Jenkins’ incarceration and that Russia was continuing to abrogate its obligations to international law.
– AAP
South Australian One Nation MLC resigns from party
South Australian One Nation MLC Sarah Game has quit the party to serve as an independent over concerns about “the way the One Nation brand is perceived” and fears her constituency has moved in a different direction.
In a post to social media, Game said the party’s brand was too toxic for her to continue saying that with five years left of her term she needed to “be practical if I am to deliver for the people of South Australia”.
These missed opportunities are the result of the way the One Nation brand is perceived. I have tried to evolve the brand, to the place it needs to be, but I have come to the position that it is not possible and is limiting my ability to advocate for the people of South Australia.
I want to thank the media for the opportunities given to me and the fair way in which I have been represented and to the One Nation party which gave me the opportunity to be a member of parliament.
The statement signalled internal disagreement within the party over “decisions recently which I do not support”.
These decisions have further reduced my confidence that the party will change as it needs to.
Game did not appear in One Nation campaign material prior to her election to parliament and refused to participate in media interviews despite being preferenced as the party’s lead candidate at the 2022 state election.
She is the daughter of One Nation’s South Australian leader, Jennifer Game.
Ben Smee
Victoria’s free public transport for under-18s ‘real cost-of-living help’ – Allan
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, says she expects the measure to make the state’s public transport free for under-18s to lead to increased use of the network.
The announcement – revealed earlier this morning – is a key cost-of-living measure in next week’s Victorian budget.
Allan was also asked whether the move – which was likened to Queensland’s 50c fare regime – was just a ploy to win votes.
You have a choice to make.
You back working people and families when they are looking to governments to provide real cost-of-living help right now.
Queensland’s introduction of across-the-board 50c fares led to drastically increased patronage and was credited with saving several Labor seats at last year’s state election.
Reduced fares have a double impact as a budgetary measure – they allow governments to ease pressure on household budgets but at the same time have a deflationary effect, because they bring prices down.
Asked about the impact of the free fares on the state budget, Allan said:
Through responsible decisions we’ve been focused on investments that go where they matter most.
Burns could push glossy black cockatoos towards extinction in Victoria
Glossy black cockatoos could be pushed towards extinction in Victoria if planned burns of 13,000 hectares of forest go ahead, ecologists and conservationists warn.
The Victorian government is being urged to abandon the burn, which is intended to reduce bushfire risk.
Glossy black cockatoos are listed as vulnerable in Victoria, where they are found only in East Gippsland.
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of their Victorian habitat was burned in the 2019-20 black summer bushfires, leaving the species almost entirely dependent on 48,000 hectares of unburnt coastal forest between Lake Tyers and Orbost, about 350km east of Melbourne.
A peer-reviewed study published in the journal Australian Field Ornithology estimated that the Victorian population had declined by three-quarters since the fires.
Glossy black cockatoos feed almost exclusively on the cones of black sheoak trees.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Petra Stock:
Urgent action needed to tackle NSW waste and recycling crisis
Lisa Cox
The NSW government says urgent action is needed to tackle the state’s “waste and recycling crisis” or red bins will not be able to be collected in Sydney and some parts of regional NSW by 2030.
The Minns government released a waste and circular infrastructure plan this week that it says is needed because greater Sydney is running out of landfill.
The plan considers:
“Streamlining” planning processes to expand or extend the life of some landfills
Strategies to increase recycling rates that have flatlined at an average of 65% of waste generated across the state
How to better plan recycling and waste infrastructure
Further exploration of waste-to-energy options where doing so would reduce reliance on landfill and maintain human health and environmental protections
The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, said failure to tackle the problem would drive up the cost of kerbside bin collections and could affect critical infrastructure projects such as new housing developments.
The government has taken some early steps, with the parliament earlier this year passing laws to mandate food organics and garden organics recycling.
Sharpe said for too long state governments “have ignored the fact that greater Sydney is running out of landfill”.
Waste collection is an essential service. This draft plan is the first of its kind and is long overdue. We can no longer kick this problem down the road.
The first chapter of the plan is out for public consultation until 25 June. Future chapters will be released later this year.
