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Australia news live: Bondi royal commission says counter-terror capability ‘could be improved’ and urges action on gun buyback

30 April 2026 at 00:32

Meanwhile Penny Wong says China has agreed to facilitate exports of jet fuel to ease supply disruptions. Follow today’s news live

Chalmers understands calls for gas export tax, but says government focused on getting fuel for Australians

Chalmers said he understands calls to tax gas exports, but maintained the government was set on securing international supply arrangements during the ongoing fuel crisis. He told ABC News:

I understand that there is a constituency in the Australian community to go further … But there are also, as the prime minister said, really good reasons to prioritise these international supply arrangements particularly during this oil shock.

All of us have been prioritising getting fuel for Australia and for Australians to keep the economy ticking over and that’s why there are good reasons for the comments that the prime minister made yesterday.

We’ve been very upfront with people and said when we think about the intergenerational unfairness in the budget, in our economy, in our society more broadly, a couple of the drivers of that are in housing, are in the tax system.

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© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

© Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

  • ✇The Guardian World news
  • Trump threatens to reduce troop numbers in Germany amid growing row with Nato allies Jonathan Yerushalmy
    US president’s threat comes after Germany’s Friedrich Merz suggests Trump team is being outplayed in its negotiations with IranThe US may reduce its number of troops deployed in Germany, Donald Trump has announced, days after the country’s chancellor said America was being “humiliated” by Iran.In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president said his administration was “studying and reviewing the possible reduction of troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short
     

Trump threatens to reduce troop numbers in Germany amid growing row with Nato allies

29 April 2026 at 23:36

US president’s threat comes after Germany’s Friedrich Merz suggests Trump team is being outplayed in its negotiations with Iran

The US may reduce its number of troops deployed in Germany, Donald Trump has announced, days after the country’s chancellor said America was being “humiliated” by Iran.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president said his administration was “studying and reviewing the possible reduction of troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time”.

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© Photograph: Alexandra Beier/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alexandra Beier/Getty Images

© Photograph: Alexandra Beier/Getty Images

Trump tells Putin deal to resolve Ukraine conflict is nearing

29 April 2026 at 18:24
Yury Ushakov noted that, with regard to the Ukrainian settlement, "the US president stressed the importance of bringing hostilities to an end as soon as possible, as well as his willingness to do everything in his power to facilitate this"

Russia grateful to international community for supporting archeologist Butyagin — MFA

29 April 2026 at 15:51
Maria Zakharova emphasized that the detention of the archaeologist in December 2025 had been based on "completely fabricated charges" and served as a stark example of the widespread legal arbitrariness prevailing in some Western countries
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