When US President Donald Trump last came to Canada for a G7 summit, the enduring image was of him seated with his arms folded defiantly as then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel stared daggers at him.

If there is a shared mission at this year’s G7 summit, which begins on Monday in Canada’s Rocky Mountains, it is a desire to minimise any fireworks at a moment of combustible tensions.

The central issue will be whether the group of major industrialised nations can find a common position despite significant differences between Washington and the other members.

Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney is hosting the event and the visit marks Trump’s first visit to Canada during his new term.

Leaders who are not part of the G7 but have been invited to the summit by Carney include the heads of state of India, Ukraine, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, Australia, Mexico and the UAE. Avoiding tariffs will continue to be top of mind.

In recent months, the US president has caused severe tensions with his northern neighbour by imposing punitive tariffs and repeatedly demanding that Canada relinquish its independence and become part of the US. This has sparked widespread outrage in Canada.

Trump has also hit several dozen nations with severe tariffs that risk a global economic slowdown.

There is little progress on settling the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and now a new and escalating conflict between Israel and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Add to all of that the problems of climate change, immigration, drug trafficking, new technologies such as artificial intelligence and China’s continued manufacturing superiority and chokehold on key supply chains.

Asked if he planned to announce any trade agreements at the G7 as he left the White House on Sunday, Trump replied: “We have our trade deals. All we have to do is send a letter, ‘This is what you’re going to have to pay.’ But I think we’ll have a few, few new trade deals.”

At stake might be the survival of the G7 itself at a time when the Trump administration has sent mixed signals about whether the president will attend the November Group of 20 summit in South Africa.

What Trump opposed at the 2018 summit in Quebec was a focus on having alliances with a shared set of standards seeking to shape policies.

The German, UK, Japanese and Italian governments have each signalled a belief that a friendly relationship with Trump this year can reduce the likelihood of outbursts.

“Well, I have got a good relationship with President Trump, and that’s important,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday as he flew to Canada.

There is no plan for a joint statement this year from the G7, a sign that the Trump administration sees no need to build a shared consensus with fellow democracies if it views such a statement as contrary to its goals of new tariffs, more fossil fuel production and a Europe that is less dependent on the US military.

The White House has stayed decidedly mum about its goals for the G7, which originated as a 1973 finance ministers’ meeting to address the oil crisis and steadily evolved into a yearly summit that is meant to foster personal relationships among world leaders and address global problems.

Trump will have at least three scheduled bilateral meetings during the summit with other world leaders while in Canada, staring on Monday with Carney.

The US president is also expected to have bilateral meetings with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to an administration official.

The Trump administration has insisted that its broad tariffs will produce trade agreements that box out China, though it’s unclear how antagonising trade partners would make them want to strengthen their reliance on the US.

Carney has been outspoken in saying his country can no longer look to the U.S. as an enduring friend.

That might leave Trump with the awkward task of wanting to keep his tariffs in place while also trying to convince other countries that they’re better off siding with the US than China.

with dpa

An “airport city” projected to soar sky high as an urban model for other Australian centres to follow is getting a major cash injection for infrastructure.

The aerotropolis precinct near the under-construction Western Sydney International Airport will receive $835 million in support as part of the NSW budget, to be delivered later in June.

Some $30 million will go solely to ensuring road signs across the state capital can direct road users to the billion-dollar airport city.

Sydney Water will also invest $644 million to deliver stormwater and recycled water infrastructure across the Mamre Road precinct, northwest of the airport, the state government announced on Monday.

Much of the site is farmland serviced only by local roads and basic infrastructure.

The surrounding 11,200-hectare industrial and housing zone is designed to create thousands of jobs and drive economic growth in western Sydney.

The airport is scheduled to open in late 2026, but delays in building the hub around it has prompted NSW Premier Chris Minns to be proactive.

“The reason we’re making that investment is to learn the lessons of previous governments,” he told reporters on Monday.

“Communities came, the homes went in, the population massively increased, but essential infrastructure just was never built, or it came years later.

“We’re trying to get in early … whether it’s this upcoming budget or the previous two, in southwestern Sydney, you are seeing for the first time in a long time, an investment in essential services.”

Other funding includes $150 million for roads around the airport district for freight transport and to account for the city’s expanding population.

Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison also noted how western Sydney, housing nearly half of the city’s 5.6 million residents, was promised a lot from politicians but delivery had been slow.

“We know that western Sydney has been struggling for a decade or more to get the roads infrastructure that it needs,” she said.

The $5.3 billion international aviation hub will cater for up to five million passengers per year.

The area will also be fitted out with a new fire station that will become the largest in western Sydney, with $42 million to be spent on the Badgerys Creek facility and more than 50 extra firefighters.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey was upbeat about the budget on Sunday, saying it would show real wages growing and a recovery in disposable incomes after recent interest rate cuts.

NSW was forecast to record a $5 billion budget deficit in 2024/25 amid sluggish home sales and fast-growing cost of insurance for state employees, according to a mid-year update delivered in December.

The prime minister has met with his outspoken Canadian counterpart as both prepare for highly anticipated talks with Donald Trump.

Mr Albanese’s discussion with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was the first in a series of talks with world leaders he will conduct on the sidelines of the G7 summit over coming days.

But his final face-to-face with the US president on Tuesday looms as the most important.

“The discussion with President Trump, I expect, will be very much about Australia and the United States and our relations,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Calgary on Sunday local time.

“We’ve got a few things to talk about.”

Australia is not a member of the G7, but Mr Carney – as summit host – invited the prime minister to attend the 2025 event, being held in Kananaskis in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies in Alberta province.

US tariffs are expected to dominate the summit, with many world leaders, including Mr Carney, lining up for talks with Mr Trump.

Though it will be Mr Albanese’s first face-to-face meeting with the US president, the G7 host has previously held well-received talks with Mr Trump, despite vowing to fight back against his threatened tariffs.

The Australian prime minister would not be drawn when asked if Mr Carney had provided tips on how to approach the American leader.

“The issues between Canada and the United States have been very public and very obvious,” Mr Albanese said.

“We focused our discussions on Australia and Canada and our relationship, which is very important.

“In the uncertain world, what people are looking for is certainty in relationships … Australia and Canada are such partners.”

The two leaders reflected on the history of their co-operation, specifically pointing to bushfire seasons when each nation has sent firefighters to help battle the other’s natural disasters.

During the meeting, they discussed deepening their defence engagement, climate change and the escalating situation in the Middle East.

Both men previously met on the margins of the Papal inauguration last month and have spoken over the phone on a few occasions, but Sunday’s event was their first formal bilateral discussion.

They used the opportunity to gift each other hats that embodied their nations.

Mr Carney received an Akubra, while Mr Albanese was presented with a Stetson, a similar wide-brimmed hat that has come to symbolise Canada.

The Canadian leader was also given a framed piece of memorabilia from the 1981 Australian war film Gallipolli – his favourite movie – and offered Mr Albanese a bronze bear sculpture by wildlife artist Roy Hinz.

Compared to his Canadian peer, who won an election pledging to stand up to Mr Trump with his “elbows up”, the prime minister has taken a less adversarial stance on Mr Trump.

He promised to “deal with people constructively, respectfully and advance Australia’s national interest” and his government is considering using US beef imports and critical minerals as potential bargaining chips in tariff negotiations.

Mr Albanese has also consistently highlighted Australia and America’s long history while pointing out the ways the trade measures will harm US consumers.

Tariffs are generally passed on by importers to the citizens of the country imposing the measures, but can reduce demand for the exporting country’s products.

Australia faces 50 per cent tariffs on aluminium and steel products sent to the US, while other goods have been hit with a baseline 10 per cent levy.

Mr Albanese is also scheduled to meet newly-elected South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on Monday local time, before more discussions the following day with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, among others.

Anthony Albanese has joined calls for Israel and Iran to de-escalate their bombing campaigns, amid fears the Middle East conflict will escalate even more.

Israel and Iran began trading missile blows on Friday after the Israeli military launched attacks with the stated aim of wiping out Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Iran vowed to “open the gates of hell” in retaliation, with the conflict continuing into Sunday.

The military strikes were discussed between the prime minister and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney ahead of the G7 summit in Canada.

Mr Albanese said the temperature must be lowered.

“Both of us share a view wanting to see a de-escalation of conflict, wanting to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy,” he told reporters in Calgary on Monday, Australian time.

“I have expressed before our concern about Iran gaining the capacity of nuclear weapons as something that is a threat to security in the region.

“But we, along with other like-minded countries, do want to see that priority on dialogue and diplomacy.”

Iran’s health ministry said 224 people have been killed in the attacks since Friday.

Spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said on social media that 1277 other people were hospitalised, and asserted that more than 90 per cent of the casualties were civilians.

Israeli rescue teams combed through the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by Iranian missiles on Sunday, using sniffer dogs and heavy excavators to look for survivors after at least 10 people, including children, were killed, raising the two-day toll to 13.

The conflict has led to warnings that fuel prices in Australia will rise, with Mr Albanese saying the federal government was monitoring the situation.

Defence Minister Richard Marles acknowledged the spike in world oil prices due to the Iran-Israel conflict.

“Already, we have seen over the course of the last few days, the global oil price go up and it’s the inevitable consequence of any conflict,” he told ABC TV.

“We saw this with the war in Ukraine, that does disrupt global supply chains and that has an economic impact around the world.”

Mr Marles said Australian diplomatic staff in Iran and Israel have all been accounted for, as have military personnel in the region.

He reiterated safety warnings to Australians in the Middle East, with the situation remaining volatile.

“There are actually thousands of Australians who are in both Iran and Israel, the travel advice for both Israel and Iran right now is do not travel,” he told ABC Radio.

“Our diplomats who are engaged, who are in both our embassies in Tehran and Tel Aviv, are safe and are all accounted for, but we will continue to monitor their safety.”

Despite the calls for de-escalation, Liberal senator Andrew Bragg said Israel was doing the world a favour, given Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism.

“If we were in Israel’s shoes, we would not tolerate a country nearby us getting a nuclear weapon,” he told Today.

“And so I think Israel is trying to stop that from happening – that’s a good thing for humanity, because these guys are the worst regime anywhere on the planet.”

Mr Marles said Israel had a “right to self defence” following the attacks.

“We understand the risk that the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile program represents, but right now the focus has to be on diplomacy and dialogue,” he said.

A US review of a deal to provide Australia with nuclear submarines is routine, the defence minister says, despite calls for a backup plan in case the Trump administration scraps AUKUS.

The Pentagon on Thursday announced a review of the three-nation pact that would give Australia nuclear submarines, to see if the agreement lined up with President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda.

But Defence Minister Richard Marles has downplayed the significance of the review, saying it’s standard procedure.

“We engaged with the United Kingdom when they did their review, which is perfectly natural, and of course, when we did the defence strategic review, we also went to both the United States and the United Kingdom and sought their views,” the acting prime minister told ABC Radio on Monday.

“It’s a pretty natural process that we all engage in each other’s reviews.

“We’ll engage with the reviews and the (US) Department of Defense about how AUKUS is tracking in Australia.”

The AUKUS deal is set to be raised when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets with Mr Trump for a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Canada on Tuesday.

The American review has prompted calls for the federal government to consider a contingency plan in the event the submarine deal is called off.

One-time coalition deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce said the US review was a concern.

“You should have a contingency plan, as soon as the United States said ‘we’re reviewing AUKUS’, alarm bells should have rung everywhere,” he told Seven’s Sunrise program.

“We absolutely should have a contingency plan, but I haven’t heard of any contingency plan.”

Under the $368 billion program, Australia will buy at least three Virginia-class submarines from the US sometime in the early 2030s.

A new class of nuclear submarines will be built in Adelaide to be delivered in the 2040s.

Former Australian ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos said he was confident AUKUS would survive.

“There’s a lot of bipartisan support for the deal, from day one in the (US) Congress, both Republican and Democrat,” he told the Seven Network.

“Trump himself would see that we’re pulling our weight, we’re going to spend $370 billion.”

Mr Sinodinos, who was ambassador when the deal was announced in 2021 under then-prime minister Scott Morrison, said if the US backed away from the agreement, that would play into the hands of China.

“If we look at any stage like we’re second guessing ourselves, or we’re not committed to really doing this … the Chinese will say, ‘well, look at the end of the day, they’re all paper tigers’,” he said.

“The Americans see that by having more subs actually built in the region, and being serviced in the region, that enhances their capacity to do things in the region.

“We don’t need a plan B.”

Australia will continue to press the case for a de-escalation of a tit-for-tat bombing campaign between Iran and Israel amid fears of an escalation of the conflict, the acting prime minister says.

Israel and Iran began trading missile blows on Friday after the Israeli military launched attacks with the stated aim of wiping out Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Iran vowed to “open the gates of hell” in retaliation, with the conflict continuing into Sunday.

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles expressed concern that the bombing could escalate into a larger conflict in the region.

“We’re all deeply concerned about the potential for where this now goes in terms of escalation and broadening out into a wider conflict, and that’s why we are urging for diplomacy and dialogue in this moment,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.

“That is why we are exercising our voice, along with countries like the United States, like France, Germany, the UK, to urge for diplomacy and dialogue.”

The missile attacks are set to be a key focus of talks at the G7 summit in Canada, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is attending.

Iran’s health ministry said 224 people have been killed in the attacks since Friday.

Spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said on social media that 1277 other people were hospitalised, and asserted that more than 90 per cent of the casualties were civilians.

Israeli rescue teams combed through the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by Iranian missiles on Sunday, using sniffer dogs and heavy excavators to look for survivors after at least 10 people, including children, were killed, raising the two-day toll to 13.

Mr Marles said Australian diplomatic staff in Iran and Israel have all been accounted for, as have military personnel in the region.

He reiterated safety warnings to Australians in the Middle East, with the situation remaining volatile.

“There are actually thousands of Australians who are in both Iran and Israel, the travel advice for both Israel and Iran right now is do not travel,” he said.

“Our diplomats who are engaged, who are in both our embassies in Tehran and Tel Aviv, are safe and are all accounted for, but we will continue to monitor their safety.”

Despite the calls for de-escalation, Liberal senator Andrew Bragg said Israel was doing the world a favour, given Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism.

“If we were in Israel’s shoes, we would not tolerate a country nearby us getting a nuclear weapon,” he told Today.

“And so I think Israel is trying to stop that from happening – that’s a good thing for humanity, because these guys are the worst regime anywhere on the planet.”

Mr Marles said Israel had a “right to self defence” following the attacks.

“We understand the risk that the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile program represents, but right now the focus has to be on diplomacy and dialogue,” he said.

The prime minister will soon begin running a diplomatic gauntlet that will end with a much-anticipated meeting with Donald Trump, after landing in Canada.

Anthony Albanese was greeted by local officials and First Nations representatives when he touched down in the Alberta city of Calgary ahead of meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Kananaskis.

Mr Albanese will first meet with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday local time (Monday AEST) before a talk with newly-elected South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on Monday, then more discussions the following day with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

But his final chat face to face with the US president on Tuesday looms as the most important of all.

Every leader has had to reckon with the impact of the US president’s threatened tariffs on their economies.

But Mr Carney, in particular, could provide insight to Mr Albanese.

Despite vowing to fight back against the tariffs, the Canadian prime minister’s meetings with Mr Trump have been relatively well received by both parties and raised hopes for a fresh trade deal between the two North American nations.

Mr Albanese’s meeting with the Republican president is scheduled for Tuesday on the margins of the summit.

The prime minister has taken a less adversarial stance to Mr Trump’s approach than his Canadian peer, preferring to highlight Australia’s long history with its alliance and trading partner.

“The combination of Australia and the United States when we’re working together is an unbeatable combination,” he told business leaders in Seattle on Saturday.

Australian goods exports sent to the US market 10 per cent tariffs and – like all trading partners except the UK – there will be 50 per cent tariffs on aluminium and steel products.

Tariffs are generally passed on by importers to the citizens of the country imposing the tariffs, but can have the effect of reducing demand for the exporting country’s products.

The Labor government is considering using US beef imports and critical minerals as potential bargaining chips as it “engages constructively” with American officials.

Australians’ sense of safety and economic optimism has already plunged amid the talk of tariffs, as well as growing conflicts and global disorder, according to an annual Lowy Institute Poll.

Their trust in the US has fallen to the lowest level in the history of the decades-long poll, with two-in-three respondents holding little to no trust in the traditional Australian ally.

“Australians are clearly unsettled by what they’ve seen of the second Trump administration,” Lowy Institute executive director Michael Fullilove said.

Australia is not a member of the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations but was invited to the event by Mr Carney.

Mr Albanese previously met the Canadian prime minister on the margins of the Papal inauguration last month, but Sunday’s event will be their first formal bilateral discussion.

They are also expected to discuss defence, critical minerals, climate change and the escalating situation in the Middle East.

A major “airport city” development that’s been plagued by delays will get a near-billion-dollar funding injection in a bid to help the project take off.

The aerotropolis precinct near the under-construction Western Sydney Airport will receive $835 million in support as part of the NSW budget, to be delivered later in June.

The surrounding 11,200-hectare industrial and housing zone is designed to create thousands of jobs and drive economic growth in Western Sydney but has been beset by slow decision-making and will likely take decades after the airport’s scheduled opening in 2026 to complete.

But the state government is hoping to turn the stalled project around, announcing on Monday that Sydney Water will invest $644 million to deliver stormwater and recycled water infrastructure across the Mamre Road precinct, northwest of the airport.

It will be the first area developed as part of the aerotropolis, laying the foundation for remaining industrial sites to be built around the airport.

Much of the site is farmland serviced only by local roads and basic infrastructure.

“With billions of dollars now committed, we’re not just talking about building a new airport,” NSW Premier Chris Minns said.

“We’re creating a connected, thriving region that will deliver job, homes and opportunity for generations to come.”

Other funding includes $150 million to lay down roads around the airport district for freight transport and to account for the expanding population of the city.

The airport’s opening in late 2026 will further accelerate population growth in the region, bringing in a projected 63,000 people by 2041.

The $5.3 billion international aviation hub is aimed at catering to five million passengers per year when it opens and 82 million by 2063.

The area will also be fitted out with a new fire station that will become the largest in western Sydney, with $42 million to be spent on the Badgerys Creek facility and more than 50 extra firefighters.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey was upbeat about the budget on Sunday, saying it would show real wages growing and a recovery in disposable incomes after recent interest rate cuts.

“We are going to look to cut our interest payments, we are going to want to keep debt stable, we are looking to remove waste when we see it, we’re determined to rein in consultant spending,” he said.

NSW was forecast to record a $5 billion budget deficit in 2024/25 amid sluggish home sales and fast-growing cost of insurance for state employees, according to a mid-year update delivered in December.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says he hopes an upcoming meeting of G7 countries in Canada will show unity and could reach agreement on four key points to help resolve the conflict between Israel and Iran.

Speaking as he prepared to fly to Canada for the G7 summit, Merz said the Middle East conflict would be high on the agenda.

The four points were: that Iran cannot develop or posses nuclear weapons; that Israel has the right to defend itself against existential threats, which he said Iran’s nuclear program represented; thirdly, the conflict should not escalate; and fourth, that scope for diplomacy must be created.

“I would like to add that in Germany we are also getting ready in case Iran should target Israeli or Jewish targets in Germany,” Merz told reporters, without going into more detail.

G7 leaders gather for a summit in the Canadian Rockies starting on Sunday until Tuesday.

As summit host, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has decided to abandon the annual practice of issuing a joint statement, or communique, at the end of the meeting.

Leaders who are not part of the G7 but have been invited to the summit by Carney include the heads of state of India, Australia, Ukraine, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates. 

Merz said that Israel had requested fire extinguishing material, which Germany would provide.

Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, told German state television ARD he had not discussed providing military aid to Israel with his Israeli counterpart, nor had he received any such requests. 

Nothing was being prepared, he added.

Separately, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he had spoken with his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi on how Oman’s ties could help de-escalate tension in the region between Israel and Iran and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Merz said the G7 would also discuss the war in Ukraine and that more pressure should be put on Russia to bring it to the negotiating table. 

To that end, European leaders wanted to agree new sanctions on Russia at the end of this month, he said.

Merz said economic issues would also be on the agenda at the G7 summit, and said efforts would be directed towards reaching an agreement over tariffs following a decision by US President Donald Trump’s administration to impose them on its key trade partners earlier this year.

with AP

Vietnam and the United States have made progress during a third round of trade negotiations last week but critical issues remain unresolved, requiring further analysis and continued dialogue, Vietnam’s trade ministry says.

The talks, in Washington DC from June 9-12, were held as a pause on 46 per cent “reciprocal” tariffs on Vietnamese exports approaches expiration in early July, adding pressure on both sides to reach a compromise.

Vietnam’s trade surplus with the United States surged to $US12.2 billion ($A18.8 billion) in May, up nearly 42 per cent year-on-year and 17 per cent higher than April, Vietnamese government data showed.

Exports to the US climbed 42 per cent from a year earlier to $US13.8 billion, hitting a post-pandemic high.

US negotiators have submitted a list of trade demands to Vietnam, which Vietnamese officials described as “tough,” including measures aimed at reducing Vietnam’s reliance on Chinese imports of industrial materials and components.

Vietnam’s trade ministry said on Sunday the delegations had narrowed gaps on issues outlined in Vietnam’s response to the US requests and worked toward mutually acceptable solutions.

Both sides agreed to hold an online meeting in the coming days between Vietnam’s trade minister Nguyen Hong Dien and US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to address unresolved issues, the ministry added.

The last round of talks was held between Dien, Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, a format proposed by the United States.

Under pressure from the US, Vietnam has recently cracked down on illegal trans-shipment – typically when cargo is moved between ships during transit – of goods primarily from China.

It has also expressed willingness to lower non-tariff barriers and increase imports of US goods such as planes, farm products and energy although no purchase agreements have been announced.