TRANSCRIPT
Australian shares continue to slide after the White House confirms raising tariffs on China...
Opposition leader Peter Dutton commends the AFP for keeping his family safe...
Australian sprint star Gout Gout says achieving ten seconds twice in one night is a boost to his confidence.
Australian shares have resumed their downward slide after the White House confirmed raising tariffs on China to 145 per cent, fuelling global recession fears.
In early trading the S & P or ASX 200 was down 172-point-two points, to 7,537-point-four.
The slip comes after a broad-based sell-off on Wall Street overnight.
Market analyst Michael McCarthy says its trade barrier against China which now sits at 145 per cent was the catalyst for the latest slump.
This - despite many of the U-S administration's newly imposed tariffs have been paused.
Meanwhile, Australia has been warned U-S tariffs could place the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal under threat.
It comes as concerns regarding the viability of Australia's submarine deal with the United States and the UK have been raised following US President Donald Trump's global tariff announcements.
John Blaxland is from the Australian National University Strategic and Defence Studies Centre.
Speaking to SBS World News he says its fraught with danger to make projections on the basis of two and a half months of US Presidency.
"To talk about making a dramatic shift in our foreign and defence policy on the basis of the early weeks of a tumultuous period in any presidency. This one happens to be particularly tumultuous is, in my view, to call, you know, called Chicken Little. The sky isn't falling. Yes, it's stormy. Yes, there's a lot of moving parts. The dust has not settled. It will settle, and there are enduring American interests in making AUKUS work."
Mr Blaxland says if it is true, this would suggest that the negotiations predated the previous U-S government's administration under Joe Biden.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has spoken about reports in The Australian newspaper of an alleged terror plot in 2024.
Last year, a 16-year old Brisbane student was arrested and charged in August, after a joint counter-terrorism investigation by the Federal and Queensland police.
Mr Dutton - who was allegedly a target of the teenager addressed the matter today - commending the Australian Federal Police for keeping his family safe.
"I'm incredibly grateful to the AFP that my family are kept safe. I've never felt unsafe one day in this job particularly with the protection from the AFP and it hasn't stopped me from doing anything..this campaign, I take the advise of the federal police but ultimately, I think this job is about a test of character - until you have the strength of character regardless of what's thrown at you to deal with the issues and to act in our country's best interest."
Earlier today Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also confirmed he reached out to the Opposition leader over the terror plot incident.
Mr Albanese says there is no place whatsoever in politics for such threats.
"It is a fact that the number of threats that the number of threats that have been made to parliamentarians has increased in recent times and that has been recorded on by the appropriate authorities."
Australian sprint star Gout Gout says achieving ten seconds twice in one night is definitely a boost to his confidence level.
Gout lit up the Australian Athletics Championships in Perth with a wind-assisted run of 9.99 seconds in the 100 metre sprint - twice in one night.
"This is what I feel like Australia needs you know, this is what we wake up in the morning for, this is what we train for - and I couldn't ask for anything better. And just the great crowds and everyone getting around is definitely great so hopefully we can get a lot more people."
Unfortunately for Gout, who is competing in the Under-20's men's category, the tailwind was two-point-six metres per second [[2.6m/s]], which means his run didn't count as an official time.
The performance still left the stadium crowd spellbound by the 17-year-old - who is building his reputation as the next Usain Bolt.
