Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will finally get his meeting with US President Donald Trump, tomorrow morning Australian time. Discussions are set to focus on China, critical minerals, the $368 billion AUKUS submarine deal, and lifting Australia’s defence spending. The two will meet at the White House, and China’s encroachment in the Pacific region and Australia’s improving relationship with Beijing will be the critical focus.

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News in brief

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke yesterday announced the establishment of a National Disruption Group to combat the surge of illicit tobacco and the associated organised criminal activity.

Federal Nationals leader David Littleproud says Barnaby Joyce has not yet left the party, notwithstanding media reports saying the former leader is considering joining Pauline Nation’s One Nation.

Australians enjoyed the biggest jump in wealth of any nation last year, according to Allianz’s Global Wealth 2025 report. House prices were the big driver. Average net wealth, combining real estate and financial assets, hit almost $686,000 per person, making Australia the world’s third-wealthiest population behind Switzerland and the US.

OpenAI says it will soon allow adults to generate erotic content on ChatGPT, as it tries to fend off competition from Elon Musk’s more explicit chatbot. OpenAI boss Sam Altman says the change, due in December, is part of a new “treat adults like adults” policy, with erotica available only to verified adult users.

Large crowds of protesters gathered in cities across the US over the weekend to participate in massive “No Kings” demonstrations against President Donald Trump.

Fear-o-meter

The Albanese government has navigated the two global superpowers pretty well so far, and while the PM’s lack of engagement with Donald Trump has been criticised, the US military presence in Australia is currently at its highest level since WWII.

Also, the Albanese government has boosted funding for the Henderson marine precinct in WA by $12 billion.

Away from defence, the US is considering taking part-ownership of Australian rare earths projects as part of a critical minerals deal. Labor is certainly open to the option.

There is a chance of some sort of resolution to Australia’s AUKUS purgatory as well. That deal has become emblematic of the US-Australia relationship and Albanese would like nothing more than to confirm everything is on track.

What the Albanese-Trump meeting reminds us, is that the US is still Australia’s primary geo-political ally. 

Fear & Greed Q+A today

On the week ahead for the economy, and what the RBA will make of last week's larger-than-expected jump in unemployment:

 

"I think they will be concerned that labor demand is probably softening a little bit quicker than they expected. So I think it probably gives us a little bit more breathing room for the next quarterly CPI print.

 

... I think that the labor force figures will play a bigger role in the November decision because I think that part of their strategy has been to... preserve the gains that have been made in the labor market in the past few years. And if we see the labor market unraveling quicker, then I think that that would probably make the decision to cut rates, even if they were feeling a little bit uncomfortable about inflation. And we're not talking about inflation running well above the target band, we're just talking about the September quarter figures being a little bit higher than where they've been hoping them to be."

Greed-o-meter

What is Australia's favourite book published in the last 25 years? ABC Radio National received hundreds of thousands of public votes in its 'Top 100' poll, with the final list announced yesterday. Sure, it's not exactly business news, but we still reckon it's worth a look.

Source: ABC

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