How Reserve Bank board members vote on interest rate decisions is set to become public knowledge, with the bank and the federal government positively disposed to implementing the transparency-boosting reform.

The government’s landmark review into the central bank’s operations recommended it publish non-attributed votes in the board’s post-meeting statement when it does not reach a consensus decision on monetary policy.

While most of the review’s 51 recommendations have already been accepted, a decision on board votes was put off until the central bank’s new monetary policy board could meet and deliberate on the proposal.

With two meetings under the new board’s belt, Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock met with Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday to discuss the remaining changes, including signing an updated statement on the conduct of monetary policy.

Dr Chalmers said the reforms were closer to completion – “and that’s a very good thing”.

“They’re all about reinforcing the Reserve Bank’s independence, clarifying its mandate, modernising its structures and strengthening its accountability,” he said.

“I pay tribute to Governor Bullock, the bank’s boards and its leadership for the reforms already in place and the constructive discussions we’ve been having about the rest.

“A lot of progress has been made already and I’m looking forward to bedding down these final changes.”

Changes made to the Reserve Bank’s operations have increased its transparency and communication with the public after the review found it had not always been clear or detailed enough.

The review was prompted in part by previous governor Philip Lowe’s forward guidance debacle.

In 2021, amid great uncertainty at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Lowe sought to reassure borrowers with comments that he did not expect the next cash rate rise to come into 2024, which the public eventually perceived to be a broken promise.

Better communication was seen as a way to prevent such incidents from recurring.

But publishing anonymised member votes has limited benefit when the board tends to vote unanimously most of the time.

Critics say the consensus-focused board is prone to groupthink.

Peter Tulip, chief economist at the Centre for Independent Studies and a former Reserve Bank researcher, said many board members could not articulate a coherent position on monetary policy, discouraging dissenting points of view.

“But my strong view is that we don’t want board members like that on the board. Anonymity shields them,” he told AAP.

Dr Tulip argued dissenting votes should be attributed to individuals to encourage the appointment of expert board members who would not rubber-stamp the governor’s decision.

While it was not among the review recommendations, Dr Tulip called for the Reserve Bank to publish its projections of the cash rate, which central banks, including the US Federal Reserve, do.

The Reserve Bank’s aversion to any forward guidance has been a “stupid over-reaction” to the embarrassment following Dr Lowe’s misstep, Dr Tulip said.

Presenting projections alongside a confidence interval would make the board’s pronouncements less susceptible to misinterpretation.

The board will consider its final decision on publishing votes when it meets on July 7-8.

The board will welcome a new member at the meeting, with recently-appointed Treasury Secretary Jenny Wilkinson taking her ex-officio seat at the table in place of predecessor Stephen Kennedy.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese poached Dr Kennedy to become the nation’s next top bureaucrat after the retirement of Glyn Davis as Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The treasurer will soon release a Statement of Expectations for the Reserve Bank’s new governance board, which will make clear its role in overseeing the bank’s culture and driving institutional change.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of cities in southern Europe to demonstrate against overtourism, firing water pistols at shop windows and setting off smoke in Barcelona, where the main protest took place.

“Your holidays, my misery,” protesters chanted in the streets of Barcelona while holding up banners emblazoned with slogans such as “mass tourism kills the city” and “their greed brings us ruin”.

Under the umbrella of the SET alliance – Sud d’Europa contra la Turistització, or Catalan for “Southern Europe against Overtourism” – protesters joined forces with groups in Portugal and Italy, arguing that uncontrolled tourism was sending housing prices soaring and forcing people out of their neighbourhoods.

Barcelona, a city of 1.6 million, drew 26 million tourists last year.

Authorities in the northeastern Spanish city said about 600 people joined the demonstration there, some firing water pistols or setting off coloured smoke and putting stickers saying “Neighbourhood self-defence, tourist go home” on shop windows and hotels.

Outside one hotel, an agitated worker confronted the protesters saying he was “only working” and was not the venue’s owner.

There were similar demonstrations in other parts of Spain including Ibiza, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, San Sebastian and Granada. 

Protests in Italy took place in cities including Genoa, Naples, Palermo, Milan and Venice, where locals oppose the construction of two hotels that will add about 1500 new beds to the city, the organisers told Reuters.

In Barcelona, the city government said last year it would bar apartment rentals to tourists by 2028 to make the city more liveable for residents.

“I’m very tired of being a nuisance in my own city. The solution is to propose a radical decrease in the number of tourists in Barcelona and bet on another economic model that brings prosperity to the city,” Eva Vilaseca, 38, told Reuters at Sunday’s demonstration in Barcelona, dismissing the common counterargument that tourism brings jobs and prosperity.

International travel spending in Europe is expected to rise by 11 per cent to $US838 billion ($A1.3 trillion) this year, with Spain and France among the countries set to receive record numbers of tourists.

A protest in Lisbon was scheduled for later on Sunday afternoon. 

The prime minister has confirmed he will meet Donald Trump face-to-face as millions of Americans take to the streets to protest against the US president.

Anthony Albanese is preparing for one of the most important diplomatic discussions of his career when he holds talks with Mr Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada on Tuesday, local time.

The prime minister will be trying to negotiate an exemption from controversial US tariffs.

But he faces an uphill battle to cut through with his message as Mr Trump stares down domestic unrest and renewed conflict in the Middle East.

Mr Albanese was unperturbed as he confirmed the much-anticipated meeting to reporters in Seattle on Saturday, local time.

“Obviously, there are issues that the US president is dealing with at the moment, but I expect that we will be able to have a constructive engagement,” he said.

“We’ll have a discussion as two friends should.”

Mr Albanese said he would raise tariffs and emphasise the importance of the AUKUS security pact, under which Australia is due to acquire nuclear-powered submarines from the US.

Both men have already spoken on three occasions but Tuesday’s arrangement is the first time they will meet in person.

Australia is facing 10 per cent tariffs on goods exported to the US and – like all US trading partners except the UK – 50 per cent tariffs on aluminium and steel sent to America.

Supplies of critical minerals and access to the Australian market for US beef could be used as bargaining chips during the talks.

Mr Albanese did not want to make “grand declarations” prior to the meeting, but he reiterated he would put forward Australia’s interests.

“It is also in the interests of the United States for Australia to be treated appropriately,” he said.

Tensions between two countries have ebbed and flowed in recent days after Australia, alongside several other countries, was criticised by the US for sanctioning two Israeli government ministers.

Australia has also pushed back against US calls to increase defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP, while Washington has launched a review into the AUKUS agreement to ensure it aligns with Mr Trump’s “America first” agenda.

The prime minister arrived in Seattle after holding bilateral talks in Fiji and he is expected to leave for the G7 on Sunday.

He used an event involving US business and technology leaders to sing the praises of “free and fair trade” ahead of the tariff talks, hailing a $20 billion commitment from Amazon to expand its Australia data centre operations.

Mr Albanese is also expected to hold talks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other world leaders during the summit.

He landed in America on the same day a controversial military parade commemorating the US army’s 250th birthday took place on the other side of the country, in Washington DC.

The event coincided with Mr Trump’s 79th birthday and represents the first such military parade in more than three decades.

Millions of Americans across the nation gathered to protest the US president as part of “No Kings” rallies held in major cities, while hordes also attended the parade in support of armed forces.

Protest organisers accused Mr Trump of staging a “made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday” with the military parade, which falls on Flag Day – the date when the US flag was adopted by congress.

Tens of thousands marched to Seattle’s towering Space Needle as they chanted, “no Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA”.

For Stephany Simonelli, who donned a fake crown with a cross and a sash that read “no kings”, it was her first time taking part in a march or rally.

“This just felt absolutely imperative for democracy,” she told AAP.

“I’m really afraid for our country. We, in America, really need to step up and take a stand.”

Signs the labour market is easing will alleviate Reserve Bank concerns about inflation with Australia’s jobless rate tipped to remain at historic lows.

Economists predict labour force figures for May – to be released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday – will show the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1 per cent.

Alongside the expected 20,000 new jobs added to the economy – following an increase of 89,000 in April – the figures would indicate ongoing tightness in the labour market.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has previously expressed concern the jobs market could stall progress on inflation but has become more concerned about international factors than domestic developments, ANZ economist Aaron Luk said.

While an unemployment rate of 4.1 per cent is below pre-COVID-19 averages and the central bank’s estimate for the maximum employment rate that does not contribute to rising inflation, other indicators show softening in the labour market.

“Growth in hours worked has been relatively subdued in the last three months and our own ANZ-Indeed job ads series also declined in May to its lowest level since March 2021,” Mr Luk told AAP. 

“I think we can expect a gradual easing in the labour market over the course of 2025/26.”

Resilience in Australia’s jobs market, despite higher interest rates, has been underpinned by growth in government-funded jobs, up from 28 per cent of total employment in 2020 to 31 per cent currently.

Despite a slowdown in public demand, ongoing growth in funding for the NDIS, schools and hospitals should keep a lid on unemployment, Mr Luk said, even with a moderate uptick predicted in 2025.

Given the Reserve Bank’s bigger concerns about trade uncertainty and its impact on Australia’s anaemic economic growth, the jobs market should not be a barrier to further interest rate cuts.

“Inflation is coming back within the two to three per cent target band, you’ve got wages easing as well, you’ve got maybe some signs of labour market easing a little bit,” Mr Luk said.

“The conditions are there for the RBA to have a bit more confidence in cutting and we think they’re going to cut in August.”

Economists are not predicting the world’s most influential central bank, the US Federal Reserve, to cut rates when it meets on Wednesday.

The Federal Open Market Committee has kept its benchmark funds rate unchanged in a 4.25 to 4.50 per cent range since December and indicated it is comfortable staying on pause while the impacts of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and tax cuts become clear.

Wall Street’s main indices ended sharply lower on Friday, with investors spooked by Iran launching missiles at Israel in response to intensive strikes aimed at crippling its ability to build nuclear weapons. 

Oil prices surged almost 7.0 per cent on fears the conflict could disrupt crude supply from the Middle East.

The S&P 500 declined 1.13 per cent to end the session at 5,976.97 points, the Nasdaq was down 1.30 per cent to 19,406.83 points and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.79 per cent to 42,197.79 points.

Australian share futures fell 20 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 16,048.

Also impacted by news of Israel’s attack, the S&P/ASX200 fell 17.7 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 8,547.4, as the broader All Ordinaries gave up 25.4 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 8,770.6.

Australia has backed Israel’s right to self-defence after strikes on Iranian nuclear operations and military leaders that have sparked a barrage of retaliatory fire.

Iran and Israel have targeted each other with missile and air strikes after the latter launched its biggest-ever air offensive against its long-time foe.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the situation in the Middle East was a “very perilous, risky” situation.

“Israel has a right to self defence,” she told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

“We know Iran is a threat. We know that its nuclear program poses a threat to international peace and obviously to Israel.”

Senator Wong confirmed she had spoken with her Iranian counterpart and urged his country to exercise restraint while returning to dialogue.

“Continuing to escalate this has consequences for all peoples of the region,” she said.

“That is that is a position that so many countries in the world are putting to, not only the Iranians, but also to the Israelis.”

Australia on Wednesday announced sanctions would be imposed on two Israeli government ministers over their stance on illegal West Bank settlements, a move done in conjunction with other nations including Canada and the United Kingdom.

But it has widened the nation’s rift with the US over Israel after Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the measure.

Senator Wong said the decision to break away from the US and sanction senior Netanyahu government ministers wasn’t taken lightly.

Asked if Australia had weakened its influence with both Israel and the US on a two-state solution as a result of the split, the foreign minister said extremist settler violence wasn’t consistent with the aspiration of Palestinian statehood.

“We’re so far from that right now (two-states) but that is why the international community is trying to work together to build this pathway,” she said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged Australians in the region to leave amid the escalating conflict.

“It’s obviously a very volatile situation,” he told reporters in Seattle on Saturday, local time.

The US was notified about the Israeli strikes in advance but Washington officials have been quick to point out it played no part in the attacks, warning Iran not to target its personnel or interests.

Mr Albanese landed in the US on his way to the G7 summit in Canada on Sunday.

He is expected to meet with a range of global leaders, including US president Donald Trump, who had been working with Iran on a nuclear deal.

Tariff discussions are expected to take the spotlight but defence talks could also feature after the US urged Australia to increase defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP.

Australia is already forecast to grow military spending to 2.3 per cent of GDP and Mr Albanese insisted his government would give “whatever capability Australia needs to defend our national interest”.

Despite undergoing an expected tenfold explosion over the next five years, international lithium production is destined to fall short of soaring universal demand for electric vehicles.

The highly sought after alkali metal has become “as important as gasoline in the industrial revolution”, according to Shanghai academic Qifan Xia.

“While lithium reserves are substantial around the world, they are distributed unevenly across different countries,” he explains.

“So we were interested if the major EV markets can be self-sufficient.”

In fact, the world’s biggest lithium markets – China, Europe and the United States – account for 80 per cent of global EV sales but simply won’t be able, by 2030, to meet their own demands.

For the planet’s leading lithium producers – Australia and Chile – the future is therefore lucrative.

Dr Xia and his team at East China Normal University estimate the economic superpower will need up to 1.3 million metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent – a standard measure of lithium content – to meet its new electric vehicle quota.

Europe could require 792,000 tons and the US 692,000.

Based on existing and proposed mining projects for all three, China might be able to produce somewhere between 804,000 and 1.1 million  tons of equivalent by 2030.

Production in Europe could reach 325,000 tons and in the USA, between 229,000 and 610,000 tons.

The predictions suggest even the most ambitious plans to expand domestic mining would fall short, even if projects begin quickly.

Europe would face the largest gap, with modelling showing it would rely heavily on imports.

The researchers also warn that increased imports by one region would directly reduce access for others, exacerbating supply constraints and straining international trade relations.

In one scenario they calculated, an increase of 77 per cent in Chinese imports would mean imports to the US would drop by 84 per cent and to Europe by 78 per cent.

Most of Australia’s lithium is produced from hard-rock spodumene, in contrast to other major producers like Argentina, Chile and China, which produce it mainly from salt lakes.

A 2023 estimate suggested Australian production will hit a cap of 1.2 million tonnes of equivalent by 2030 and it will remain the top producer but with a smaller proportion of the world’s production.

It is currently the biggest producer of lithium by weight, with most extraction undertaken in Western Australia including at the worlds largest hard-rock mine, Greenbushes.

Dr Xia says other means of avoiding a looming lithium crisis might include adopting battery technologies that use less or no lithium, or shifting consumer focus to promoting public transport.

“Our study showed that without immediate action to expand mining, diversify suppliers and rethink how we manage demand, the world risks delays in meeting critical climate and energy goals,” he said.

When a support worker bent Jessi Hooper’s customised manual wheelchair trying to force it into a car boot, the physical damage was only the beginning.

“There were a lot of issues that entire shift and the entire time I was messaging one of my usual support workers saying ‘I don’t feel safe, I don’t feel comfortable with what’s going on’,” the 25-year-old tells AAP.

“I was filming certain situations.”

Ms Hooper, who lives in Melbourne and uses a wheelchair full-time following medical negligence during surgery at age 19, was left emotionally distressed and without recourse after the worker’s actions – and the agency’s refusal to take responsibility.

“I was getting back into the car after my appointment and she said ‘the chair won’t fit, can I drive with the boot open?’ I said ‘no, you cannot drive with the boot open with my really expensive customised wheelchair dangling out the back,'” she recalls.

 “She was jamming the boot down on my wheelchair and she bent it. It’s still quite bent.”

The incident left Ms Hooper unable to leave home for several weeks until an electric chair arrived. But the manual chair – still broken – sits in her cupboard to this day.

“It hurt so bad to actually sit in it. I kept saying to them, ‘no it’s bent, I can’t sit in it, it’s hurting me, it’s poking me – it needs to be unbent and this bit needs to be fixed up.'”

Now, thanks to the Youth Disability Advocacy Service, other young people facing similar treatment might be better equipped to seek justice.

The Right to be Heard Hub is a new digital platform co-designed by young disabled people to provide clear, accessible information about rights and complaint processes within the National Disability Insurance Scheme system.

The resources simply weren’t there when Ms Hooper endured her experience and she remembers how isolated she felt.

“When I had that problem, I was messaging my good support worker going ‘I don’t know what to do, I’m lost,’ she says.

“I was sending her photos and videos saying ‘this is what she’s doing to me’. She was the one who said you need to report it and ask for payment back.”

What followed was months of frustration.

The support agency set up a mediation but “the worker never turned up”.

The NDIS offered to replace the chair entirely – a $15,000 solution – when Ms Hooper knew a $2000 part would fix the problem.

For young people navigating these systems for the first time – often without parental advocacy – the process can be daunting. The Right to be Heard Hub aims to change that.

“This website is staying in my bookmarks,” Ms Hooper says. 

“It’s easy to read and understand. I have dyslexia and cognitive disorder, so as someone who struggles to read and understand concepts, it’s been really great that I can just click through, it has highlighted components and I can go, ‘this is what I need’, this is helpful.”

She’s particularly excited about new tools being added soon: “The hub is really saying this is what you can do about this, this is how you can write an email about this. There’s a template coming out later this month.”

Unfortunately, Ms Hooper’s experience is not uncommon.

Elina, another young chair user with hearing and vision loss, experienced sustained bullying as support workers made fun of her for using sign language and how she looked whilst communicating.

“It was a complete nightmare,” she says.

“If I had access to the Hub as a source of support then, I would have realised what was happening was not normal.”

She might also have felt more confident about speaking up.

“Unfortunately we hear of many similar stories,” says Youth Disability Advocacy Service head Mija Gwyn. 

“Disabled young people are more likely to experience discrimination and abuse – be that in education, employment or when accessing services.”

There are additional barriers too.

“They are not able to take control of their plans and funds until the age of 18, so parents or carers are the ones who make decisions – including whose care they are in,” she says.

“All of these factors do increase the risk of disabled young people having a negative experience.”

The Right to be Heard Hub is designed to support those who “might not know how to make a complaint or don’t feel like they have a right to”, Ms Gwyn says. 

“They might be concerned they might lose their services … They don’t want to offend or upset people.

“If a young person hasn’t had a good experience of a good standard of services, they might not know what to expect or that they can expect better.”

The hub includes fact sheets, real-life stories, videos and step-by-step guides in accessible formats like Auslan-interpreted content and easy-to-read documents.

“It is kind of demystifying the process so young people can feel comfortable and know it’s OK to make a complaint,” Ms Gwyn says. 

“It is also a useful resource for support providers so they can see the Right to be Heard Hub and be able to receive correct info as to how they can improve their services.”

Though the NDIS has its flaws and was “not designed to centre the voice and experience of disabled young people”, Ms Gwyn says it’s significant that the Hub has been created with NDIS funding.

“Yes, they are aware that the process needs some improvement and of course these things move slow but we are getting there,” she says.

For Ms Hooper, it all comes down to one thing: “It’s a shame it wasn’t around when I had the support worker issue.”

Floods, fires, heatwaves, drought, cyclones. Australia’s weather extremes have been coming thick and fast.

While it’s broadly accepted that climate change is ramping the frequency and potency of these hazards, communities everywhere still know little about their unique vulnerabilities to increasingly fierce emergency scenarios.

Although unlikely saviours, bureaucrats are on the job.

The federal government has been systematically and behind closed doors, working through how to deal with food security concerns, heat-vulnerable species, disaster-prone powerlines networks and myriad other issues as part of a full national climate risk assessment.

Yet this homework has not yet been turned in, despite a December 2024 deadline having come and gone.

The delay has former Defence chief Chris Barrie worried, especially in the wake of another round of destructive flooding on the NSW mid north coast that claimed five lives and left hundreds of homes uninhabitable.

The longer the wait, the higher the chance of an out-of-date report that fails to embed the latest science on warming, the retired admiral fears.

Last year was the first that exceeded pre-industrial temperatures by more than 1.5C, and while the Paris agreement threshold refers to long-term trends and has not yet been breached, the World Meteorological Organization estimates there’s a 70 per cent chance average temperatures over the next five years will exceed 1.5C. 

“The science is now lifting its eyes and saying ‘we can forget 2C, that’s almost yesterday’s story’,” Admiral Barrie tells AAP.

“Warming is accelerating and climate impacts are hitting faster than forecast.”

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water assures that the findings of the risk assessment will be released as “a matter of priority” under the returned Labor government.

Yet after the first half of this year dominated by the federal election, it will be late July before parliament resumes.

As a member of the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group, Admiral Barrie is determined to keep the pressure on to prevent further delays or a buried report.

He has reason to be wary.

Recalling a briefing with a former treasurer about the domestic security implications of climate change, Admiral Barrie says the senior politician left the room upon hearing about the scale of projected uncontrolled migrations as sea level rises claim low-lying settlements.

“He didn’t want to hear it.”

In the absence of a national risk assessment or public release of a classified version produced by the Office of National Intelligence back in 2023, the retired admiral worries that climate-vulnerable regions can only guess how best to allocate limited funds and resources to adapt.

Rebecca McNaught is a climate change and disaster researcher at the University Centre for Rural Health and on the frontline of climate impacts through her involvement in regional community resilience groups.

Dozens cropped up following the 2022 NSW Northern Rivers floods, a response she says was borne of practicality and an understanding that emergency services “can’t be everywhere at once”.

During and after disasters, community groups spring into action, ferrying food to households cut off by road, helping elderly residents and offering extra pairs of hands during the clean-up.

The heavy rain brought by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred put the community resilience model through its paces, with smooth communication between authorities and the public among the benefits highlighted by Dr McNaught.

So far, disaster response has been the main game but communities are starting to think proactively about measures like dune restoration to protect from coastal inundation.

However Dr McNaught says overall investment in preventing damage inflicted by looming climate threats is falling short.

“In Australia, in general, we spend about 97 per cent of our disaster-related funding on response and recovery and only about three per cent on preparedness and resilience building,” she says.

According to Simon Bradshaw, research director at Climate-KIC Australia and the University of Technology’s Institute for Sustainable Futures, Australia is well into its decarbonisation journey but only now preparing for the warming baked into the system from burning fossil fuels.

“We’ve been painfully slow to really invest in community resilience,” he says.

“It means we’re unprepared to deal with the challenges of today, let alone those that we know are going to be there in the future.”

Unlike investing in clean energy, which generates a healthy return and clear revenue stream, spending on sea walls and the like warrants a shift in attitude to value avoided losses and non-monetary gains, such as happier and healthier communities.

“It does require us to think longer term,” Dr Bradshaw says. 

Spending on prevention pays off.

For every dollar spent on disaster risk reduction, a roughly 10 per cent return on investment is anticipated.

The lack of clear profit incentive means most essential adaptation work is likely to rely on public grants and funding, Dr Bradshaw explains.

Climate adaptation isn’t just a government responsibility, he says, with a role for communities and the private sector as well. 

But governments of all levels could be doing more.

The Commonwealth’s core adaptation mechanism, the Disaster Ready Fund, invests about $200 million a year, a figure dwarfed by the $13.5 billion spent on disaster response payments in recent years.

Top of Dr Bradshaw’s federal wishlist is delivering on the climate risk assessment and adaption plan as the government bids to co-host the COP31 summit alongside Pacific nations.

The prime minister is to come face-to-face with Donald Trump for the first time.

After weeks of speculation, Anthony Albanese confirmed he had scheduled talks with the US president on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada on Tuesday local time.

The pressure will be on for Mr Albanese to try negotiate an exemption from controversial US tariffs as Mr Trump stares down domestic protests and unrest in the Middle East.

But the prime minister remained unperturbed.

“We do have a meeting scheduled,” he told reporters in Seattle on Saturday local time.

“Obviously, there are issues that the US president is dealing with at the moment, but I expect that we will be able to have a constructive engagement.

“We’ll have a discussion as two friends should.”

Mr Albanese said he would raise tariffs and emphasise the importance of AUKUS, Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine arrangement with the US and UK.

Both men have already spoken on three occasions but Tuesday’s arrangement is the first time they will meet in person.

Australia currently faces 10 per cent tariffs on goods exported to the US and – like all US trading partners except the UK – has been hit with 50 per cent tariffs on aluminium and steel sent to America.

Critical minerals and US beef imports could be used as bargaining chips in tariff talks.

Mr Albanese did not want to make “grand declarations” prior to the meeting, but maintained he would put forward Australia’s interests.

“It is also in the interests of the United States for Australia to be treated appropriately,” he said.

Tensions between two countries have ebbed and flowed in recent days after Australia, alongside several other countries, was criticised by the US for sanctioning two top Israeli government ministers.

Meanwhile the US has called on Australia to increase its defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP and launched a review into the AUKUS agreement to ensure it aligns with its “America first” agenda.

The prime minister arrived in Seattle after holding bilateral talks in Fiji, and is expected to depart for the G7 on Sunday local time.

Tariffs have also loomed over Mr Albanese’s Seattle trip as he prepares to sing the praises of “free and fair trade” to US business leaders.

“Free and fair trade has transformed the economies of our region,” the prime minister will say in remarks to the Technology and Business Reception on Saturday.

“We should not lose sight of the profound opportunities that can be realised by closer and deeper co-operation – the businesses in this room are proof of that.

“In a time of global uncertainty, all of you represent cause for optimism.”

Mr Albanese also visited the Amazon corporate headquarters in Seattle to highlight the company’s $20 billion dollar commitment to expanding, operating and maintaining Australian data centres.

The global tech giant also announced it would invest in three new solar farms in Victoria and Queensland to help support its infrastructure growth.

Though Australia is not a member of the G7, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney invited Mr Albanese to attend.

The summit is often used to discuss solutions to major global issues like trade, security, economics and climate change, and in a year largely defined by trade tariffs, the topic is expected to take the spotlight.

Throughout the multi-day event, the prime minister is also expected to hold talks with Mr Carney, UK prime minister Keir Starmer and other world leaders.

The prime minister will emphasise the importance of free and fair trade to US business leaders ahead of major talks with world powers.

Anthony Albanese landed in Seattle, in the US state of Washington, on Saturday as part of a whirlwind tour that could end in a meeting with US President Donald Trump about his controversial tariffs.

Washington state is home to several tech and engineering giants such as Boeing, Microsoft and Amazon, and Mr Albanese will attend the Technology and Innovation Business Reception on Saturday local time to address companies like BHP Ventures, Airwallex and Anthropic.

“Free and fair trade has transformed the economies of our region,” the prime minister will say in his remarks.

“We should not lose sight of the profound opportunities that can be realised by closer and deeper co-operation – the businesses in this room are proof of that.

“In a time of global uncertainty, all of you represent cause for optimism.”

The visit comes after he held security and climate talks in Fiji however, these pit stops play second fiddle to his trip’s upcoming centrepiece.

Seven of the world’s largest advanced economies will gather in Canada from Sunday for the multi-day G7 summit.

The event is often used to discuss solutions to major global issues like trade, security, economics and climate change, and in a year largely defined by trade tariffs, the topic is expected to take the spotlight.

Australia is not part of the G7 but Mr Albanese has been invited, fuelling speculation he will meet President Trump on the sidelines of the event.

The prime minister appears to be preparing for the possibility – his remarks reheat Labor’s lines on US tariffs, emphasising Australia will engage “respectfully and constructively” in its national interest.

Australia currently faces 10 per cent tariffs on goods exported to the US and – like all US trading partners except the UK – has been hit with 50 per cent tariffs on aluminium and steel sent to America.

The Australian government is considering using critical minerals and US beef imports as bargaining chips in tariff talks.

However, Mr Albanese has not yet confirmed whether he will sit down with Mr Trump.

The prime minister has already had three discussions with the US president as his government, including Australia’s ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd, have tried to negotiate a tariff exemption.

Mr Albanese will also visit the Amazon corporate headquarters in Seattle to highlight the company’s multi-billion-dollar investment in Australian data centres.