TRANSCRIPT
Australian pharamceuticals are exempt from U-S President Donald Trump's sweeping new tariffs.
The Industry Representative, Medicines Australia, says it has received confirmation of the exemption.
The beef industry hasn't been so lucky.
It will be hit with a ten per cent tariff, along with most Australian imports to the U-S.
Mr Trump is citing Australia's ban on the importation of American beef, which has been in place since a 2003 outbreak of Mad Cow Disease in the U-S, as reason for the tariff.
"Australia bans, and they're wonderful people and wonderful everything, but they ban American beef. Yet we imported 3 billion dollars of Australian beef from them just last year alone. They won't take any of our beef. They don't want it because they don't want it to affect their farmers. And you know what? I don't blame them. But we're doing the same thing right now."
U-S consumers could be amongst the worst-hit by the tariff, as Australian beef is in about six billion hamburgers consumed in the U-S each year.
Apart from beef, Australia's biggest exports to the U-S are financial services, gold, sheep and goat meat, vaccines, and transportation services.
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A domestic political row, has broken out in the middle of the federal election campaign, over U-S President Donald Trump's tariffs on Australian goods- despite both the government and opposition agreeing they are unacceptable.
Both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have decried the tariffs... but the coalition has accused the government of not negotiating hard enough for an exemption.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has told Sky News any claims the government are not doing everything they can to avoid negative impacts on Australian producers are reckless and wrong.
"Peter Dutton seems to think he’s Superman, but he’s actually Captain Obvious. He suggests that this is a time for negotiation, well that is what we have been doing. He suggests we should be discussing critical minerals; that is what we have been doing. And really, what we saw from Mr Dutton today is more reckless arrogance. We saw him today talking down Australia."
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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has attacked the federal government for delaying the approval of a major gas expansion in Western Australia until after the election.
Woodside Energy estimates that the expansion of their Northwest Shelf project will produce 4.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases over its lifetime.
Mr Dutton says the Coalition's plan to dramatically increase fossil fuel production will bring down prices for consumers and encourage local manufacturing.
He says the delay in approving the Woodside project has been designed to appease voters in inner-city seats on the east coast.
"It is a disaster for the W-A economy and it's a disaster for the whole economy across the nation. Gas is so intimately involved in the production of steel in this country that it's making it prohibitive to build and manufacture in our country if we don't get the gas picture right. We want to put more gas into the system domestically. We want gas for Australians first and that will push down prices."
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It is being claimed that inmate at men's remand prison in Western Australia are being held in inhumane conditions.
Western Australia's Hakea Prison is located in the Perth suburb of Canning Vale.
The state's Custodial Services Inspector, Eamon Ryan, has written a report, tabled in state parliament, stating inmates there have limited access to fresh air, are subject to excessive lockdowns, and live in unhygienic cells infested with pests.
He says daily staffing shortages at the maximum security facility are having major effects.
About 80 per cent of the men of the men at Hakea have not been convicted of the offences with which they are charged.
The state's Justice Department says it has established a task force to improve conditions.
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New South Wales Premier Chris Minns says there's no need to panic after a glitch on the Sydney Metro system- but the rail union isn't so sure.
Yesterday, footage went viral of a driverless metro train travelling through the city's north, from Chatswood to Crows Nest- with the carriage door left open between stations.
The trains can travel as fast as 100 kilometres per hour.
Sydney Metro chief Peter Regan says staff did not fully follow procedures to manually shut the door.
Mr Minns says the incident was a result of human error, no one's life was in jeopardy, and there is no plan to change any arrangements for Metro trains.
However, Rail, Tram and Bus Union Secretary Toby Warnes it's a miracle no one was hurt, and the incident shows there's not a mature enough safety protocol system in place.
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In football,
Matildas coach Tom Sermanni admits he isn't confident that goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold will be fit to play in their first friendly against South Korea tomorrow [[Fri 4th April]] in Sydney.
Arnold will undergo scans ahead of Friday night's match at Allianz Stadium after injuring her arm during training.
The Matildas are already without Ellie Carpenter, Hayley Raso, Katrina Gorry and captain Sam Kerr who are all out due to injury.
Canberra United goalkeeper Sally James has been called up to replace Arnold, while fellow A-League players Alexia Apostolakis and Tegan Bertolissio fill in for Raso and Carpenter.
