Malcolm Turnbull says his infamous phone call with US president Donald Trumplast week has worked in Australia’s favour, because it inspired “dozens and dozens” of US congressmen to publicly support the Australia-US alliance. He has also admitted the Liberal party has been in serious financial trouble for a number of years, saying that is why he donated $1.75m to the ...

He provides cover for Australian politicians – of all stripes – to dog-whistle on protectionism, to grand-stand on border protection, and even, in the case of Fred Nile, to grasp at relevance after years of political obscurity. But while Australian politicians try to ape him, Trump seems indifferent to our interests. The US State Department sent us a “Happy Australia Day” ...

Donald Trump’s “America first” inaugural speech found strange echoes in Australia this week. After the newly sworn-in president had pissed on his government’s chips by killing off the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Scott Morrison promised to pursue an “Australia first” economic policy. It was difficult to tell how his prescriptions differed from the longstanding orthodoxies held by both major parties in recent ...

The deal to resettle refugees from Australia’s offshore detention islands to the US appears to be proceeding in the early days of the Trump administration, with US officials visiting Manus Island to speak to refugees. A US official, accompanied by Australian immigration officers, visited the detention centre on Friday – just hours before Trump’s inauguration – and told refugees that ...

KALAHAN DENG Four people, including a young child, have died after a car deliberately hit pedestrians in central Melbourne, police say. At least 29 people were injured, among them a baby who is in a critical condition after the car hit a pram. Police say they rammed the car, shot the driver in the arm and arrested him. They say ...

Malcolm Turnbull said there were certain environments in which people’s faces shouldn’t be covered when asked about a call to ban the burqa in public buildings – but he insists it is a matter of “safety first” and is unrelated to religion. The comments came in an interview with 4BC Radio in which Turnbull also refused to be drawn about ...

Research touted by the resources minister that reportedly suggests Australia can rely on coal to meet emissions reduction has been attacked by experts and appears to have been misreported. The Australian reported on Tuesday that research conducted by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science – and commissioned by Matt Canavan, the federal minister for resources – showed Australia could ...

Australia on Monday forecast a dramatic decline in the price of iron ore — its most valuable export commodity — over the next two years to well below current market prices. The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science forecasts iron ore to average $51.60 a ton this year and $46.70 in 2018, compared with current spot prices of around $80, ...

Donald Trump “will do everything in his power” to halt the refugee deal between Australia and the US, according to a hardline Texan congressman who is confident no resettlements will ever take place from Manus Island or Nauru. More than two months after the agreement between outgoing President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was announced, slow progress on ...

SYDNEY—Australia posted its first monthly trade surplus since early 2014 in November, as rising global commodity prices helped power exports, pointing to a possible quick rebound in the economy after its third-quarter contraction. Fueling the improved trade performance was a surge in coal and iron-ore prices last year that has helped global commodity exporters. The seasonally adjusted surplus of A$1.24 ...