Key posts 1 of 2 Latest posts 10.57am ‘It’s a good thing’: Chalmers responds to latest union push By Daniel Lo Surdo Treasurer Jim Chalmers has welcomed the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ new push on productivity ahead of next month’s economic roundtable, saying that inclusive and constructive discussion was a “good thing”. ACTU Secretary Sally McManus went on the front foot this morning, appearing on several breakfast TV programs to spruik domestic and international data suggesting that bad management was among the biggest drags on productivity, as Australian workers report increased workloads and burn out with limited managerial support. Treasurer Jim Chalmers.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Speaking in Brisbane ahead of next month’s roundtable, Chalmers embraced a wide array of perspectives while acknowledging that “not every Australian will have a unanimous view”. “We think it’s a good thing that people are being blunt and upfront about their views. I think that gives us the best possible chance of working out if there’s common ground and where that common ground might exist,” Chalmers said. “People should be free to express their views about the best way forward when it comes to making our economy more productive, obviously decisions taken by managers and by boards and by others are relevant here to the productivity challenge.” McManus has been invited to the economic roundtable, with NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey and Productivity Commission chair Danielle Wood among the other business, union and political leaders also asked to attend. 10.25am ‘I am smiling’: Trump celebrates lifting of Australia’s beef ban By Daniel Lo Surdo US President Donald Trump has taken to Truth Social to celebrate the Albanese government’s decision to lift import restrictions on American beef, declaring that “we are going to sell so much” to Australia and that the removal of the ban constituted “undeniable and irrefutable proof that US beef is the safest and best in the entire world”. “The other Countries that refuse our magnificent Beef are ON NOTICE,” Trump wrote. “All of our Nation’s Ranchers, who are some of the hardest working and most wonderful people, are smiling today, which means I am smiling too. Let’s keep the Hot Streak going. IT’S THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA!” Anthony Albanese said in April that Australia would not compromise on biosecurity while Donald Trump demanded access for US beef.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer The Albanese government has denied the decision to lift the ban, confirmed yesterday, was done to appease Trump, saying that it followed an expansive review from Australian biosecurity officials who concluded that the import of US beef wouldn’t compromise national security standards. Cattle Australia chief executive Will Evans said yesterday he expected very little US beef to enter Australia after the ban lifted, finding that the trade terms still favoured Australian farmers and that any US beef imports would be in small quantities and often boutique products. 9.52am Beef decision reflects recent changes to American practice, says Butler By Daniel Lo Surdo Health Minister Mark Butler has batted away suggestions that the Albanese government’s lifting of US beef import restrictions was done to appease President Donald Trump, saying that new traceability arrangements added to track the origins of cattle in America led to the change. Trump has publicly demanded that the restrictions on American beef be repealed, drawing suspicion from Coalition MPs and farmer groups that the lifting of the ban was done to please US officials as the Australian government pleads its case for an exemption to the proposed tariffs. US President Donald Trump publicly called for the beef import restrictions to be dropped. Credit: Bloomberg Speaking on Seven’s Sunrise alongside Liberal senator Jane Hume, who lent her voice to an independent review of the decision in the segment, Butler said the lifting of the ban was “not at all” done to create another bargaining chip with the Trump administration. “This was a biosecurity decision … not a trade decision,” Butler said. “This process has been going on for some years now but over the last six or nine months, as I understand it, the Americans introduced new traceability arrangements to ensure that we know where the cattle that are involved here, potentially Mexico, Canadian cattle that then are moved to America for processing, where exactly they’ve come from. “The American systems were assessed by our independent officials over the last several months and found to be up to scratch, up to the sort of arrangements that we have with our strict biosecurity laws.” 9.25am Britain pledges 50-year AUKUS support in message to Trump By David Crowe The British government will sign a 50-year treaty with Australia to cement the AUKUS defence pact in a massive strategic and financial deal, backing the plan when it is under extraordinary pressure from US President Donald Trump and his advisers. The treaty will include a $41 billion pledge to scale up industry in both countries to build new submarine fleets with a common design, amid fears that Trump will undercut AUKUS and leave Australia and the UK exposed. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the G7 summit in Canada in June.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen But the deal will require a soaring investment from Australia to ramp up construction in the UK on the new design for nuclear-propelled submarines, after it made another $800 million payment to the US to support its shipbuilding. Read more here. 9.03am Review into US beef decision ‘not unreasonable’, says Liberal senator By Daniel Lo Surdo Liberal senator Jane Hume has backed calls from her Coalition colleagues for an independent review into the Albanese government’s decision to lift import restrictions on beef from the United States, months after US President Donald Trump publicly demanded that the ban be removed. The government has said its decision is unrelated to White House pressure, but has come under fire from Coalition MPs and farmer groups over concerns that the move could undermine biosecurity standards central to national safety. Senator Jane Hume says “There is no second chance when it