In this bulletin;
- Donald Trump's 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico take effect;
- Queensland residents hunker down or plan to evacuate ahead of impending cyclone;
- And in sport, AFL season launch postponed amid cyclone warnings.
United States President Donald Trump's 25 per cent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada have now taken effect, with US stocks falling sharply amid fears of a larger trade war.
The US Customs and Border Protection agency will now begin collecting 25 per cent fees on Canadian and Mexican goods, with a 10 per cent duty for Canadian energy.
"25 per cent on Canada and 25 per cent on Mexico. And that'll start. So they're going to have to have a tariff. So what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs."
His announcement triggered a selloff in global stocks and pushed bond yields lower, with the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar both taking a hit too.
Canadians have expressed fears about what's to come from these trade disputes.
Mr Trump's reciprocal tariffs on countries that impose duties on U-S products are also set to start on April 2.
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Preparations are underway in southeast Queensland with Tropical Cyclone Alfred expected to hit the state later this week.
The Category Two storm is expected to U-turn towards Queensland's coast today before making landfall between K'gari and the Gold Coast on Thursday.
It's the first cyclone to hit the southeast since Cyclone Zoe crossed at Coolangatta in 1974.
Around 100,000 sandbags have been distributed in Brisbane across the last three days.
With 800 millimeters of rain forecast on the Gold Coast alone, some residents are choosing to evacuate the area.
SPEAKER 1: "Well, we don't want to sit here and get our arses whooped. Cyclones are very unpredictable."
SPEAKER 2: "It looks pretty bad, it really does. I'm pretty scared about it. We're being told to take all cautions so I think everyone should be serious to do that."
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Minister for Women Katy Gallagher has welcomed new data on the gender pay gap in Australia, saying it shows more employers are working to reduce the disparity.
In its second report on the average earnings of women and men in the workforce, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency has revealed the annual pay difference is $28,425.
This amounts to women earning 78 cents on average for every $1 earned by men.
While the analysis also shows 56 per cent of employers have improved their gender pay gap in the last year, 79 per cent of employers still have a pay gap larger than the target range of five per cent.
Despite this, Minister Gallagher says it's a positive sign that more employers are working toward equality.
"More employers reduced their gender pay gap this year, the size of the gaps are coming down, and importantly - and part of the reason we wanted this data out there - we're seeing more and more employers engage in what's happening in their businesses themselves, engaging with staff and also doing some analysis about what's driving some of those outcomes across their companies."
The pay gaps remain the highest in male-dominated industries such as construction and financial and insurance services.
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In sport,
The launch of the 2025 Australian Football League season has been postponed amid cyclone warnings.
The AFL season was scheduled to start this Thursday night with Brisbane hosting Geelong at the Gabba.
But now, due to Tropical Cyclone Alfred, this game as well as Gold Coast's scheduled home match against Essendon on Saturday afternoon will be played later in the season on dates yet to be determined.
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon announced the postponements after an emergency meeting of the code's powerbrokers in Sydney this afternoon.
