The European Union is heading towards a trade deal with the United States that will result in a broad 15 per cent tariff on EU goods imported into the US, avoiding a harsher 30 per cent levy slated to be implemented from August 1, two EU diplomats say.

The rate, which could also extend to cars, would mirror the framework agreement the United States struck with Japan.

Officials from the European Commission, which negotiates trade deals on behalf of the 27-member bloc, briefed EU envoys on the state of talks with their US counterparts. 

US President Donald Trump would ultimately make any final decision on a deal, however.

Under the outlines of the potential deal, the 15 per cent rate could apply to sectors including cars and pharmaceuticals and would not be added to long-standing US duties, which average just under five per cent.

There could also be concessions for sectors like aircraft, lumber as well as some medicines and agricultural products, which would not face tariffs, the diplomats said.

The US administration does not, however, appear willing to lower its current 50 per cent tariff on steel, they said.

The Commission said earlier on Wednesday that its primary focus was to achieve a negotiated outcome to avert the threatened 30 per cent tariffs.

At the same time it planned to submit counter-tariffs on 93 billion euros ($A166 billion) worth of US goods to EU members for approval. 

A vote is expected on Thursday although no measures would be imposed until August 7.

Germany supported the EU readying countermeasures, a government representative said.

If Trump’s 30 per cent tariffs are implemented, EU diplomats also said there was broad support among European governments to activate wide-ranging so-called “anti-coercion” measures, which would allow the bloc to target US services and other sectors.

The EU appears to be following in the footsteps of Japan, whose agreement with the United States is the most significant Trump has struck since launching his tariff offensive in April.

European shares climbed about one per cent, led by car stocks, following the US-Japan announcement.

One stand-out feature of that deal was that the same 15 per cent rate applies to cars, compared to the current US tariff of 27.5 per cent, something the EU may want for its own car exports.

The US imported vehicles and automotive parts valued at more than $US55 billion ($A84 billion) from Japan last year. 

EU exports were 47.3 billion euros.

Far fewer US cars were sold into the EU or Japanese markets.

EU officials say the US has shown little sign of budging on car tariffs but the Japan deal could hint at flexibility.

“Whatever the Japanese got will become the minimum for the EU negotiating objectives,” said Simon Evenett, professor of geopolitics and strategy at IMD Business School.

A push to raise the GST as part of the government’s economic roundtable is being met with resistance, with the community services sector warning it would increase the burden on low-income earners.

A number of prominent economists have advocated raising or broadening the 10 per cent GST to fund cuts to less-efficient levies such as income taxes.

Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Cassandra Goldie objects to the proposal on the grounds it would increase inequality.

“We need a fairer and more effective tax system that secures the revenue we need to fund essential services and safety nets while encouraging more productive investment to create jobs and lift living standards,” she said.

“This can be done with reforms that lift productivity and overall revenue without increasing the burden for people on low and modest incomes.”

While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said increasing the tax on consumption does not fit with his agenda, Labor is pledging to overhaul Australia’s tax system as part of an economic roundtable in August.

The summit is aimed at kick-starting the nation’s stalled productivity growth and living standards.

Shifting from income to consumption tax would ease the burden on younger working Australians but it would also widen wealth inequality, deepen poverty and deliver only modest economic efficiency gains, a report produced by the council found.

Broadly speaking, personal income tax is more progressive than the GST because people pay a higher rate the more they earn, whereas low-income earners tend to pay a higher proportion of their money on consumption taxes than people on higher incomes who save more.

Instead, the government should take steps that reduce inequality while lifting productivity and revenue, report author Peter Davidson found.

To that aim, they could tighten loopholes for family and corporate trusts, limit negative gearing, reduce tax concessions on superannuation and halve the 50 per cent discount on the capital gains tax.

Changing the capital gains tax discount has been backed in by the Greens and Labor-aligned think tank the McKell Institute, which argued it could be tweaked to encourage new housing supply and make it easier for Australians to own their own home.

Prospective homebuyers hoping for lower mortgage rates could get a clearer indication of the Reserve Bank’s next move on Thursday when governor Michele Bullock speaks for the first time since a surprise surge in unemployment last week.

Ms Bullock will talk about the RBA’s dual mandate of maintaining low inflation and unemployment in a speech to the Anika Foundation in Sydney.

Australia’s largest investment bank will be in activists’ sights when shareholders gather at its global headquarters for its annual general meeting.

Environmental group Market Forces plans to have a four-metre-tall mock gas flare outside Macquarie Group’s new Martin Place offices in Sydney on Thursday morning, representing the bank’s financing of climate pollution.

At the meeting Macquarie faces its first climate-focused shareholder resolution calling on the $86 billion company to outline how its financing for fossil fuel projects is aligned with its net-zero commitments.

Activists say they’re concerned about Macquarie’s commitment to global climate goals after the bank followed US peers JPMorgan, Citi and Bank of America in exiting the Net Zero Banking Alliance in February, not long after President Donald Trump took office.

Macquarie has more than doubled its financing for oil and gas in the past two years, Market Forces says.

“Macquarie’s reputation as a green financial institution is completely at odds with its investments in one of Australia’s biggest new gas developments,” said Market Forces policy analyst Morgan Pickett, referring to its financing of a $100 million gas fracking project in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.

Macquarie in late 2024 provided the funding for two of the gas companies most active in the Basin, Beetaloo Energy Australia and Tamboran Resources.

Australia’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources says Beetaloo has the potential to rival the world’s best gas projects, and developing it could create thousands of jobs and drive significant economic growth in the territory.

Activists say moving ahead with another gas project is irresponsible as the planet tips further into a climate emergency.

“As a climate scientist, I’m appalled that Macquarie Group is claiming to be green yet is lending to companies blasting ahead with new gas projects adding to irreversible global warming,” Lesley Hughes, climate change scientist and emerita professor of biology, said in a statement provided by Market Forces.

Macquarie is recommending shareholders reject the climate resolution, which asks the bank to disclose its exposure to fossil fuel companies and detail its approach for funding them in light of its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Macquarie says the science behind climate change is “clear and unequivocal” but it believes in “a managed, orderly and just transition”.

“This means supporting carbon-intensive industries and companies including those in the oil/gas, electricity, agriculture, mining, transport and waste sectors to decarbonise, while protecting the vital services and jobs that our communities rely on,” Macquarie said.

Market Forces says four global investors have backed the shareholder resolution: the pension funds of New York City, the UK’s Church of England and the largest private pension fund in Norway, as well as Melbourne-based fund manager ELM Responsible Investments.

A casual hospitality worker can expect to have weekend penalty rates of about $40 an hour protected under a bid to prevent take home pay for employees from being shaved.

Measures to enshrine penalty and overtime rates in law will be introduced in the House of Representatives on Thursday by Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth.

The bill aims to prevent variations to awards that would result in lower pay for workers.

It will be among the first pieces of legislation introduced by Labor in its second term of power following the May 3 federal election.

Workers can be entitled to higher rates of pay when they are required to work particular hours or days including weekends, public holidays or irregular hours.

While rates can vary depending on an employee’s specific award or agreement applicable to that industry, common pay rates for workers on a Sunday are double time (200 per cent) or time-and-a-half (150 per cent).

A calculation of rates on the Fair Work Commission’s website show for a casual hospitality worker, common penalties for a shift on Saturday to be $40.85 per hour, while a day’s work on Sunday could bring in $47.65 per hour.

Protecting penalty rates was an Albanese government election pledge.

Ms Rishworth said the bill will ensure the wages of about 2.6 million modern award-reliant workers are protected.

“If you rely on the modern award safety net and work weekends, public holidays, early mornings or late nights, you deserve to have your wages protected,” she said.

“Millions of hard-working Australians rely on penalty rates and overtime rates to keep their heads above water, which is why this bill is so critical and should receive the support of both the opposition and the Greens.”

Labor’s planned changes came after peak retail and business groups put forward proposals for large companies to opt out of providing penalty rates for staff in exchange for a raise on base levels of pay.

Opposition employment spokesman Tim Wilson said the coalition supported penalty rates.

“We will work through the legislation to make sure we consult the businesses and those it’s going to impact to get the best outcome,” he told AAP.

Mr Wilson said the absence of a regulatory impact statement, which lays out the potential impacts of the proposed changes, meant consultation was even more important to ensure it would be part of the future success of the economy.

The coalition also wants to assess how the changes would interact with the Fair Work Commission, which would be required to apply the new rules in addition to the modern awards objective in making its determination.

Students and graduates will soon receive a cut to higher education debts but advocates say the government must do more to make university fees fairer.

Legislation was introduced to parliament on Wednesday to slash HECS debts by 20 per cent and increase income thresholds before minimum repayments kick in.

It is expected to be passed with the support of the opposition in the coming weeks.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese credited the bill as a key reason behind Labor’s victory in the May election.

“Because it resonated with those young Australians in particular, who are looking for intergenerational equity measures, which is what this is, saving some three million Australians an average of $5500 each,” he said during question time.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the policy will make the system fairer.

“It means you start paying off your uni degree when uni starts to pay off for you,” he said while introducing the bill to the House of Representatives earlier on Wednesday.

People earning between $60,000 and $180,000 will save hundreds of dollars each year under the changes.

Someone on $70,000 will save the most on minimum repayments – $1300 a year –  due to an increase to the thresholds for when the debts must be paid.

The bill is set to sail through both houses of parliament, with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley telling Sky News: “We will be constructive where we can.”

Bruce Chapman, the architect of the HECS scheme, said the relief would make the system fairer by giving those on lower salaries more money in their pockets.

But the top priority should be reviewing the price of each degree because humanities students finish with the highest level of debt and end up being the lowest-paid graduates.

“All the prices are wrong,” Professor Chapman told AAP.

Mr Clare said further reforms were being looked at after the failure of the former Liberal government’s job-ready program.

The program aimed to fill skills shortages by making it cheaper to take courses such as teaching, nursing and psychology, while doubling the cost of popular degrees including law, communications, business, humanities and the arts.

“If the intention there was to reduce the number of people doing arts degrees, it hasn’t worked,” Mr Clare said.

“People study the courses they’re interested in, that they want to do, that they love.”

The universities’ accord final report branded the program “deeply unfair” because it punished students who followed their interests.

It recommended that fees reflect future earning potential as part of 47 recommendations to reform the sector.

The universities sector welcomed the HECS bill but called on the government to repeal the jobs-ready graduates scheme.

“Scrapping the job-ready graduates package to make student fees fairer and expanding the Commonwealth prac payment could help shift the dial on participation, which is what the country needs,” Universities Australia chief executive Luke Sheehy said.

Other aspects about how HECS debts were paid off also needed to be addressed, Prof Chapman said.

HECS repayments are taken from a person’s pay if they earn above an income threshold.

But the money isn’t immediately taken off the total debt and is instead deducted as a lump sum at the end of the financial year after indexation has been applied.

The university accord recommended the arrangement be changed to make the system fairer.

The Australian Tertiary Education Commission has been established in an interim capacity to implement long-term university reform and will review the HECS system over the next 12 months.

Mr Clare will introduce further legislation to make the commission a permanent body.

Familiar battle lines have been drawn as MPs locked horns for the first question time of the 48th parliament.

Anthony Albanese and Sussan Ley faced off for the first time in the parliamentary showcase, with the size of Labor’s second-term majority on full display as MPs got down to business on the first working day.

Ms Ley used her opening appearance in question time as leader to push the government on looming superannuation tax changes.

But with the coalition commanding 43 of the 150 House of Representatives seats, the scale of the election wipeout was clear on the benches.

Promising to deliver on election commitments, the prime minister batted away suggestions of plans for taxes on unrealised capital gains.

“The time to run a scare campaign is before an election,” he told parliament.

“Tax was an issue at the last election … we had not one tax cut but two tax cuts.”

With Labor holding 94 seats in the parliament, the government now sits on both sides of the aisle in the lower house, for the first time in the party’s history.

It was the newest members of parliament who took centre stage for the government during question time, with Labor questions all being asked by first-term MPs.

Among them were Ali France, who defeated former opposition leader Peter Dutton, and Sarah Witty who beat ex-Greens leader Adam Bandt in his seat of Melbourne.

Independent MP Nicolette Boele, who narrowly won the blue-ribbon seat of Bradfield from the Liberals by 26 votes, also pressed the government on climate action during the first session.

Although question time and first speeches from MPs made up much of the lower house agenda, the government wasted no time in kicking off its agenda with Education Minister Jason Clare using the first hour of sitting to introduce priority legislation.

A proposal to slash university debt by 20 per cent for three million Australians was delivered in the house first-thing, after Labor campaigned heavily on the promise.

People with an average HECS debt of $27,600 will have $5520 wiped from their loans.

Mr Clare also introduced legislation that would strengthen safety in the childcare system after promising to expedite the bill in response to shocking sexual abuse allegations against a Victorian childcare worker.

“We have to do everything that we can to ensure the safety of our children when they walk or when they’re carried through the doors of an early education and care service,” he told parliament.

Labor’s newest MPs used the first full sitting day to lay out their own priorities for the term ahead.

Banks MP Zhi Soon paid tribute to the multicultural community in southwest Sydney that helped raise him.

“One moment I was eating a Devon sandwich, the next a curry laksa, a kibbeh, a banh xeo, or a pani puri,” he told the chamber.

“I’m a proud Asian-Australian, I’m a proud Malaysian-Australian, I’m a proud Chinese-Australian, but most of all, I am a proud Australian.”

Former school teacher and Deakin MP Matt Gregg used his address to lay bare the consequences of social media on education and young Australians.

“Some of the toughest teachers I’ve ever worked with have felt they need to leave the profession – harassed with misogynistic and other antisocial behaviours like never before,” he said.

“Young people themselves feel it in their own sense of self-worth – they know something is wrong. 

“We must continue to meet the challenges posed by social media and the landscape it’s created, not with panic, but with serious, thoughtful action.”

Thousands of jobs might be in jeopardy as a major mining company seeks urgent financial support amid calls for a Senate inquiry into battling metals manufacturers.

Multinational mining company Glencore says its copper smelter and refinery in North Queensland could lose $2.2 billion over the next seven years and it urgently needs government assistance to keep operating.

“Glencore has been absorbing losses, hopeful that a viable solution could be found,” the company said in a memo leaked to media on Wednesday and later made public.

“However, we are fast reaching the point at which Glencore cannot continue to absorb these losses.”

Glencore had been in talks with the Queensland government, but says the financial assistance offered isn’t enough.

The company now wants to hear what the federal government can do to help, saying a “viable solution” is required in coming weeks.

“We are running out of time,” it said.

Glencore said it would start preparations to place its Mount Isa smelter and Townsville refinery into care and maintenance if adequate government support wasn’t forthcoming.

The Queensland government said it had made a “genuine and responsible offer” to the company and accused it of prioritising its global interests over the Mount Isa and Townsville communities.

“The Crisafulli government continues to negotiate in good faith but will not be writing a blank cheque for a multinational company that returned US$2.2 billion to its shareholders just months ago,” Mines Minister Dale Last said.

Mount Isa Mayor Peta MacRae said Glencore’s update, as the company’s copper mining operation ends, couldn’t come at a worse time for the town of about 20,000 people.

“The prediction of 17,000 jobs across the corridor, it’s bigger than Mount Isa, bigger than Townsville, and it’s bigger than politics,” she told AAP.

“It’s about the survival of families.”

Ms MacRae said she would meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese next week and hoped a “deal” could be made to keep Glencore’s smelter and refinery operating.

“We need to put politics aside … we need to come up with a plan that keeps people in our regions, because the regions are where the wealth is created,” she said.

The coalition has called for a Senate inquiry into the metals manufacturing industry, saying thousands of jobs could be lost in Queensland if Glencore is not supported.

“This is thousands and thousands of jobs, both direct and indirect, that are going to be lost if we don’t back the metals manufacturing industry within Australia,” coalition spokesman for manufacturing and sovereign capability Andrew Wilcox said.

Glencore employs about 600 workers at its smelter and refinery, with a further 17,000 staff at 25 other operations across Australia.

The company in 2023 announced it would stop mining copper at Mount Isa after 60 years, impacting 1200 workers.

The federal and state governments announced on Wednesday an extra $275m to keep the Whyalla Steelworks open, giving the appointed operators more time to find a new owner.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are being left “out in the cold” when trying to access their superannuation, consumer and Indigenous advocates say.

Rigid identification policies, culturally insensitive customer service and a push towards digital systems mean many First Nations people are locked out of their superannuation, according to a report from Super Consumers Australia and Mob Strong Debt Help.

Surveys of consumers in the Eastern Arnhem region and financial counsellors across Australia found more than half of Indigenous customers were unable to get through to their super fund, while 42 per cent did not understand the information they were given.

Super funds often use jargon or complex language or don’t have interpreters available, Mob Strong Debt Help senior solicitor Mark Holden said.

“Financial counsellors try to be able to help out with the client to understand and try to advocate with the super funds, but the super funds don’t accept their authority and leave both the financial counsellor and the client out in the cold,” the Dunghutti man told AAP.

People face similar barriers across remote, rural and urban communities, Mr Holden said, and the challenges are not unique to those customers surveyed.

The system’s rigidity also frustrates professionals working with communities, such as Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network financial counsellor Alex Price-Busch.

He has spent on the phone to super funds and the Australian Tax Office on behalf of clients who struggle to access their super.

“We see families fighting to claim death benefits while grieving. Many just give up because it’s too hard,” Mr Price-Busch said.

Super Consumers Australia chief executive Xavier O’Halloran said the impact on resources is huge for financial counsellors dealing with these issues.

“Some of the financial counsellors had told us they felt like they were working for the superannuation funds at times because they were spending hours on the phone dealing with really poor customer service processes … having to teach the frontline staff at super funds what their actual obligations were,” he said.

Super funds do not have mandatory customer service standards, and Mr Holden says many lack any cultural safety standards or are not implementing them.

This needs to change, says Mob Strong Debt Help, which also calls for better resourcing of financial counselling and legal support for First Nations people trying to access their superannuation.

The organisation also wants the Australian Tax Office and super funds to provide culturally safe support and help with identity checks. 

“We need to see change now,” Mr Holden said.

“Any delay on this is going to further the intergenerational harm that our mob faces when it comes to superannuation.”

Parents could be forced to monitor the quality and safety of their kids’ childcare providers unless the industry’s fragmentation is addressed.

The federal government on Wednesday fast-tracked the introduction of a bill that could strip public funding from childcare operators that fail to meet safety standards, among other measures.

Though parent and children’s advocacy groups have welcomed the bill, there are also calls for a national early-childhood commission to ensure consistent oversight and accountability across Australia.

“Parents deserve to know that their child is safe in care,” The Parenthood chief executive Georgie Dent said.

“Without a national leader to oversee, monitor and regulate quality and safety, the onus is still on parents – many of whom have little choice around their reliance on child care.”

This national watchdog is particularly important for those outside the capital cities as one of Labor’s big second-term promises was to expand universal access to early education.

“For rural, regional and remote communities, this stewardship is absolutely critical,” said Jacqui Emery, chief executive of country children’s charity Royal Far West.

“Every Australian child, regardless of where they live, deserves access to safe, high-quality early learning.”

Labor expedited its bill and introduced it to the House of Representatives on Wednesday after a Victorian childcare worker was charged with dozens of sex offences involving children in early July.

State regulators can already shut a centre on the spot if there is an imminent threat to safety, but Education Minister Jason Clare said the Commonwealth should also try to lift standards through its available levers.

“We have to do everything that we can to ensure the safety of our children when they walk or when they’re carried through the doors of an early education and care service,” he told parliament.

“Funding is the big weapon that the Australian government has to wield here.

“The real purpose of this legislation isn’t to shut centres down but to raise standards.”

Childcare operators that fail to meet quality, safety and compliance standards could be prevented from opening new centres and might be cut off from receiving government subsidies, which typically cover a large proportion of parents’ fees.

Providers would be issued with a formal notice requiring an explanation within 28 days with the Department of Education able to cancel or suspend an operator’s approval.

“Providers that can improve their services to meet the standard will get the chance to do that,” Mr Clare said.

The bill also expands commonwealth powers to publish information about providers that are sanctioned for non-compliance.

Information on centres for which childcare subsidy approvals have been suspended or cancelled can already be viewed on the department’s website.

But the legislation would also allow for information to be made public when compliance action is taken against providers, like when an infringement notice is issued.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said dealing with the safety of children in childcare was above politics.

“I can’t think of many issues in my time in this parliament that have made me feel as physically sick as this one has, and I know this feeling is shared by members across the aisle,” she told parliament.

“That these criminals have found their way into our centres and into the lives of our precious, innocent children is just appalling. So we do stand ready to continue to make sure that we get this right.”

There were still issues with sharing information on working-with-children checks between jurisdictions, Mr Clare said, and more work would be done at an upcoming meeting of state and federal attorneys-general.

State, territory and federal ministers are also expected to meet in August to discuss other changes, including mandatory CCTV in childcare centres, establishing a national worker registry and mandatory child-safety training.

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A powder keg has been dropped within the coalition over climate policy as dissenters push for a net zero emissions target to be dropped. 

Opponents of the 2050 target are ramping up pressure on their leaders to ditch the target, saying it’s hurting regional Australia and driving up power bills as Australia phases out coal and boosts renewable energy investment. 

The debate reignited after former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce flagged a private member’s bill to scrap the legislated target.

“The last two elections we went forward with a policy supporting net zero and we’ve been handed our political derriere on a plate,” he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

He argued Australia should focus on economic viability with big emitters like China, India and the US not making major cuts to emissions while Australia’s power prices increased.

India has a net zero by 2070 target, China by 2060 and the US had a 2050 target under the Biden administration but climate action has been largely scrapped under President Donald Trump.

“Even if you believe every chapter, verse, what net zero was going to achieve, it’s not going to achieve it because the world’s not participating in it,” Mr Joyce said.

“So why are we on this sort of singular crusade by ourselves that has no effect on the climate but is incredibly deleterious to the standard of living and the cost of living of the Australian people – it’s insane.”

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley refused to say whether the target will remain coalition policy as a review into its policies continues following their May election defeat.

Liberals largely want to keep the net zero emissions policy; they lost a swathe of inner city seats amid concerns they weren’t taking climate change seriously enough.

“The electorate has told us in multiple elections that this is what they want, and we do have an obligation to leave the planet in a better place,” Liberal senator Jane Hume told AAP.

Labor has seized on the split over climate policy, with Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen saying the Liberals are being held hostage by their junior coalition partner.

Mr Joyce has been joined by an unlikely ally in Michael McCormack, another former Nationals leader whom he rolled for the job in 2021.

But the two have broken bread over a shared disdain for current leader David Littleproud after both were dumped from his frontbench.

Mr Joyce, who was rolled by Mr Littleproud after the 2022 election loss, said he’d support a leadership bid by Mr McCormack, which he hasn’t ruled out but acknowledged no imminent challenge.

Mr McCormack denied the duo are white-anting their leader, arguing he’s standing up for regional Australians who are bearing the negative impacts of renewable energy projects on their land and near their towns.

Despite the duo touting leadership troubles for Mr Littleproud, other Nationals MPs hosed down the speculation, saying the talk was from a vocal minority aggrieved over climate policy and personal snubs.

Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan compared the two Nationals MPs railing against their leader as “two steers in a paddock”.

Mr McCormack said he took umbrage with the comments, joking that steers had been emasculated and he was “quite virile and ready to go as far as politics is concerned”.