Japan posted a trade deficit for the fifth straight year in 2025, as concerns continued to grow over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and Japan’s political rift with neighbouring China.

For the full year, Japan logged a 2.65 trillion yen ($A25 billion) trade deficit, the Finance Ministry reported in its preliminary data on Thursday.

That was nearly 53 per cent smaller than the deficit Japan marked the previous year.

Exports for the year rose 3.1 per cent, while imports remained about the same on-year, gaining less than one per cent.

For the month of December, Japan recorded a 105.7 billion yen ($A989 million) trade surplus.

The monthly surplus was 12 per cent smaller than what was racked up a year ago. Imports grew 5.3 per cent from the same month a year ago, while exports grew 5.1 per cent.

By nation, exports in December declined 11 per cent to the US, while growing to Britain, Africa and to some Asian points like Hong Kong and India. Imports remained strong from Europe but declined from Brazil and the Middle East.

The United States has imposed a 15 per cent tariff on most imports from Japan, a reduction from the 25 per cent that Trump initially proposed but an increase from before.

Another looming concern is the impact on Japanese manufacturing, including automakers, from China’s curbs on exports of rare earths.

The controls were announced by Beijing after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested a Chinese move on Taiwan could prompt a Japanese military response.

Takaichi may call elections for next month in hopes her party can gain strength in parliament while she is popular with the public.

Overall, Japan’s economy has held up, despite grumbling from the public about rising prices and stagnant wages. The benchmark Nikkei on the Tokyo Stock Exchange keeps hitting new records.

An influential global body has welcomed Labor’s move to reduce superannuation tax concessions and rein in spending but wants more reforms as long-term pressures weigh on the budget.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s missive comes as Treasurer Jim Chalmers progresses reforms from 2025’s productivity roundtable in the lead-up to the May budget.

The Paris-based organisation praised the government’s efforts so far to take up the mantle on reform, citing work aimed at boosting competition and the energy transition.

Dr Chalmers said the report was a powerful endorsement of Labor’s economic management and reform agenda.

“The report describes our new mandatory notification merger regime as ‘a major step forward’ which will ‘bring Australia in line with OECD best practices’ and describes the government’s revitalised National Competition Policy as a positive step to boost competition,” the treasurer said in a statement.

“More homes, more cleaner and cheaper energy and progress on addressing Australia’s longstanding productivity challenge feature prominently in this report and the report also highlights they are big features of Labor’s economic plan.”

But further reforms were needed “to raise productivity growth, improve housing affordability and facilitate the energy transition”, the OECD said in its latest economic survey of Australia, released on Thursday morning, AEDT.

“While Australia has a relatively light government debt burden, long-term pressures need to be addressed,” the report said.

Labor’s move to reduce tax concessions for wealthy retirees was a good start but further changes should be pursued, such as lowering the cap on concessional superannuation contributions from $30,000 per year.

“This would help to return the superannuation system to its original purpose of ensuring adequate retirement incomes rather than providing concessional tax arrangements for wealth accumulation,” the report said.

Australia’s ageing population would heap health and care costs on the budget, which was already forecast to sink to a deficit of $36.8 billion this financial year, the OECD said.

Spending growth in the NDIS needed to be restrained more effectively, it said.

On the other side of the ledger, the report warned the government’s revenue base will be hit as the transition to electric vehicles erodes the fuel tax take, unless Dr Chalmers gets his proposed road user charge over the line.

The OECD, helmed by former coalition finance minister Mathias Cormann, also noted Australia’s high housing costs.

It recommended transitioning away from stamp duty on property purchases in favour of land taxes, and reduce tax concessions on housing like negative gearing and the capital gains discount, to ease price rises.

The coalition between the Liberals and Nationals has descended into ugly infighting after frontbenchers from the regional party tendered their mass resignations, only to be rebuffed by Opposition Leader Sussan Ley.

After three senior Nationals quit their portfolios because of a schism over hate crimes laws, the remaining frontbenchers from the party staged a mass walkout in solidarity.

But in a sensational twist late on Wednesday night, Ms Ley rejected the “unnecessary” resignations.

“No permanent changes will be made to the shadow ministry at this time, giving the National Party time to reconsider these offers of resignation,” she said in a statement.

The Nationals who have offered to quit would leave their portfolios, but remain in the party as backbenchers.

The extraordinary spat between the two coalition partners was triggered by a disagreement over the government’s anti-hate laws, which were drawn up in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack.

The coalition’s shadow cabinet agreed to back the bill during a meeting on Sunday, but two days later the Nationals announced they would oppose it because of concerns about its impact on free speech.

The three Nationals frontbenchers who voted against the legislation – Bridget McKenzie, Ross Cadell and Susan McDonald – resigned from their portfolios on Wednesday for breaching cabinet solidarity, a principle that requires shadow ministers to all vote the same way.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud wrote to Ms Ley the same day, warning all remaining shadow ministers from his party would quit if she accepted the trio’s resignations.

“As it was a party room decision, if these resignations are accepted, the entire NationaI party ministry will resign to take collective responsibility,” he wrote.

At an emergency meeting on Wednesday night, the remaining eight Nationals frontbenchers decided to quit their portfolios in protest.

The move leaves the coalition on the brink of its second divorce in eight months.

Ms Ley said she had “strongly urged” Mr Littleproud not to walk away from the partnership.

“I note that in David’s letter, he has not indicated that the Nationals are leaving the Coalition,” she said.

But Ms Ley’s colleagues in the Nationals are far less optimistic about the future of the political partnership.

“How can we stay in the coalition and have no jobs?” one senior National told AAP.

If the Liberals and Nationals do formally break up, it would be the second split since the federal election in May 2025.

That temporary divorce was triggered by a number of demands being made by the regional party, including an ongoing commitment to nuclear power and a pledge to introduce forced divestiture powers for the supermarket sector.

The two parties reunited after a week, but insiders believe the next separation has the potential to last much longer.

A softening jobs market “should flash a warning sign” at the Reserve Bank against hiking interest rates, as crucial unemployment and inflation data heave into view on the horizon.

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver forecasts labour force data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday will show the unemployment rate rose from 4.3 per cent to 4.5 per cent in December.

That’s despite a predicted 30,000 new jobs being added to the economy.

The positive effect on unemployment would likely be outweighed by a bounce-back in the volatile participation rate, which the month prior fell from 66.9 per cent to 66.7 per cent, he said.

“If the unemployment rate shows a lift, employment growth shows a bit of a bounce, but the trend is still towards one of softening, that should flash a warning sign to the RBA that they need to be cautious here in raising rates,” Dr Oliver told AAP.

Expectations for a rate hike have climbed in recent months since a resurgence in inflation.

Money markets have fully priced in a 25 basis point increase by August, with traders implying a 25 per cent chance of a hike on February 3.

RBA governor Michele Bullock has said the last board meeting in December believed the labour market remained a bit tight.

But job vacancy rates were trending lower and employment growth had been softening, indicating the jobs market was not strong, HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said.

A February rate hike would “not be pretty”, he said.

“A lack of supply-side reform has meant productivity growth has stalled in recent years and strong growth in public spending has been crowding out private sector activity,” he said. 

“It would also raise the question as to whether the RBA had cut rates a bit too far in 2025.”

The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development was more optimistic in its economic survey of Australia, released on Thursday morning, AEDT.

The RBA had succeeded in achieving a “soft landing” in regards to keeping unemployment low, economists at the OECD said.

With the labour market softening and inflation projected to return to target over the coming quarters, interest rates could be “eased modestly further in 2026”, the report said.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the report highlighted Australia’s economic recovery.

“The OECD has confirmed that the Albanese government has been able to achieve a ‘soft landing’ in Australia’s economy in the face of substantial global volatility by getting inflation down while avoiding a recession and keeping unemployment low,” he said.

The 15 victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack are being remembered across the nation with a day of mourning.

Led by the Bondi Chabad, the theme for the sombre day is Light Will Win: A Gathering of Unity and Remembrance.

It is the first time Australia has observed a national day of mourning since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said flags will be flown at half-mast on Thursday and national institutions in Canberra and Sydney will be illuminated.

A national memorial service at the Sydney Opera House will take place from 7pm and will be streamed online. 

Fifteen candles, one for each victim of the anti-Semitic terror attack, will be lit by the families of those slain.

Dignitaries slated to attend alongside the prime minister include Governor-General Sam Mostyn, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and NSW Premier Chris Minns.

The prime minister encouraged all Australians to participate in their own way by leaving a candle on their window ledge or doorstep, with a minute’s silence scheduled for 7.01pm.

“This will be a very important day of mourning. It will be an opportunity for us to pay respects as a nation to those people who lost their lives,” he said.

In Victoria, a multi-faith vigil will be held earlier on Thursday at St Paul’s Cathedral.

A commemorative installation, 15 Pillars of Light, will also be erected throughout Australian cities.

The Jewish community has requested that Australians come together through a mitzvah, an act of kindness or compassion.

This can include giving to others, helping the sick, offering hospitality or providing kindness to animals.

It comes a month after a vigil at Bondi Beach attended by thousands of people in a cathartic show of defiance and sadness, as survivors recounted harrowing tales of bullets flying past them.

Rabbi Mendel Kastel, who lost his brother-in-law Rabbi Eli Schlanger, arrived at the scene of the terrorist attack soon after.

He has been heartened by people coming together to support a Jewish community so viciously targeted.

“The one thing that’s common is a sense of community and support, looking after each other and trying to provide as much comfort as possible,” he told AAP.

More taxpayer dollars will be funnelled into a troubled coalmine in Western Australia despite the state government’s promise to quit subsidies this year.

The cash-strapped Griffin Coal mine near Collie will be able to keep operating for another five years under the extended agreement with the WA government.

Premier Roger Cook cited energy security as reason for propping up the mine that supplies coal to both industry and the Japanese-owned Bluewaters Power Station, which generates more than 15 per cent of WA’s electricity.

“My government is focused on delivering energy security for households and businesses as it diversifies Western Australia’s economy,” he said in statement.

Roughly $308 million has already been handed to the coalmine, which is owned by India’s Lanco Infratech, since its collapse in 2022 due to financial strain.

The WA government has not provided a sum for the latest round of support but assured the subsidy required from mid-2026 would be “significantly” lower than in the past thanks to an agreement still being ironed out with the mine’s customers.

Opposition energy spokesperson Steve Thomas said the subsidy extension was proof the state government’s energy plan was in disarray.

“I have said repeatedly over the last year that more funding for Griffin would be required, while Premier Cook has continually said that no more public money would be handed over,” he said.

“The Cook government has been forced to admit that if it wants to keep the lights on and air-conditioners running, coal-fired power remains essential for at least the next five years—and likely well beyond that.”

Western Australia has committed to retiring all state-owned coal-fired power stations by 2030 as part of its energy transition, a target that remains in play, the state government has confirmed.

The Conservation Council of WA executive director Matt Roberts was critical of the government’s decision to “pour more money into the dirtiest of fossil fuels” despite earlier promises not to fund Griffin beyond mid-2026.

“This announcement of a five-year extension, made on one of the hottest days of the new year across Western Australia, is an example of our state government missing an opportunity for sustainable, long-term energy transition away from heavily polluting fossil fuels,” he said.

The conservation group urged the premier to commit to 2030 emission reduction and renewable energy targets that would bring Western Australia in line with other states.

A taskforce has also been set up to consider the possible consolidation of the two coal mines in the basin, Griffin and Premier Coal.

Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union state secretary Steve McCartney welcomed the state government’s consideration of merging the two mines, which union members have been campaigning for.

“Workers at Griffin and Premier know better than anyone that the current setup hasn’t been working,” he said.

“We’ve seen the financial instability, the safety risks and the uncertainty for families in Collie.”

One state has publicly rejected Australia’s biggest gun buyback since the Port Arthur massacre while another has left the door open to walk away.

Queensland’s Liberal-National government confirmed it would not support the scheme just hours after it passed federal parliament.

“Queensland won’t be going down the path of gun buyback because it doesn’t address anti-Semitism and hate, and it doesn’t focus on keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists and criminals,” Premier David Crisafulli said on Wednesday.

Legislation enabling the scheme, along with tighter firearms restrictions, was rushed through the Senate after the December 14 Bondi terror attack.

Fifteen people were killed when two gunmen opened fire on Jewish celebrations, making the attack the deadliest in Australia since the 1996 Port Arthur tragedy.

Queensland’s government is set to introduce its own gun control legislation in the first sitting of state parliament in February.

“We’ve done it in a really calm way, and we’ve taken our time … our response is going to focus on the heart of the issue – anti-Semitism, hatred and guns in the hands of terrorists and criminals,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“I’ve seen what’s unfolded in Canberra – most Australians have looked at it and have thought it’s a very confusing debate, and some might say even a little chaotic, and I don’t want that in Queensland.”

Tasmania’s Liberal government appeared less decisive, saying it would work through gun reforms to ensure they “meaningfully improved public safety and were based on evidence”.

“Tasmania has not said that they are opposing it,” state minister and former federal MP Bridget Archer said.

“Tasmania has said that we are open to reforms but we also need to work through that and have those discussions in a measured and considered way.”

The Northern Territory government previously said it would not back a plan for states and territories to share buyback costs, which would incentivise gun owners to hand in their firearms for payment.

“If the federal government wants to put a national buyback scheme in place, they should fund it,” NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said earlier in January.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Mr Crisafulli’s government needed to justify its position.

He said the premier’s position wasn’t “in the interests of Queenslanders or the nation” and there needed to be a uniform response like the one that followed Port Arthur.

The federal Labor government first tried to push through its gun laws with separate anti-hate provisions, but it split the bill after failing to get the numbers in the Senate.

The gun provisions passed on Tuesday with support from the Greens.

More than four million guns are in circulation nationwide, according to figures from the Department of Home Affairs, including more than one million each in Queensland and NSW.

Victoria’s Labor government on Wednesday threw its backing behind the scheme, saying the buyback’s cost would not be an issue.

“We can afford to do what’s needed,” Deputy Premier Ben Carroll told reporters.

“I’m on the Labor side of politics and I’ll always give credit to John Howard for what he did in ’96 on the gun buyback … this gun buyback is really important and we’ll do everything we can to support the Commonwealth.”

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the gun laws addressed the method of the Bondi massacre, but they could only be as strong as the weakest state.

One state has publicly rejected Australia’s biggest gun buyback since the Port Arthur massacre while another has left the door open to walk away.

Queensland’s Liberal-National government confirmed it would not support the scheme just hours after it passed federal parliament.

“Queensland won’t be going down the path of gun buyback because it doesn’t address anti-Semitism and hate, and it doesn’t focus on keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists and criminals,” Premier David Crisafulli said on Wednesday.

Legislation enabling the scheme, along with tighter firearms restrictions, was rushed through the Senate after the December 14 Bondi terror attack.

Fifteen people were killed when two gunmen opened fire on Jewish celebrations, making the attack the deadliest in Australia since the 1996 Port Arthur tragedy.

Queensland’s government is set to introduce its own gun control legislation in the first sitting of state parliament in February.

“We’ve done it in a really calm way, and we’ve taken our time … our response is going to focus on the heart of the issue – anti-Semitism, hatred and guns in the hands of terrorists and criminals,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“I’ve seen what’s unfolded in Canberra – most Australians have looked at it and have thought it’s a very confusing debate, and some might say even a little chaotic, and I don’t want that in Queensland.”

Tasmania’s Liberal government appeared less decisive, saying it would work through gun reforms to ensure they “meaningfully improved public safety and were based on evidence”.

“Tasmania has not said that they are opposing it,” state minister and former federal MP Bridget Archer said.

“Tasmania has said that we are open to reforms but we also need to work through that and have those discussions in a measured and considered way.”

The Northern Territory government previously said it would not back a plan for states and territories to share buyback costs, which would incentivise gun owners to hand in their firearms for payment.

“If the federal government wants to put a national buyback scheme in place, they should fund it,” NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said earlier in January.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Mr Crisafulli’s government needed to justify its position.

He said the premier’s position wasn’t “in the interests of Queenslanders or the nation” and there needed to be a uniform response like the one that followed Port Arthur.

The federal Labor government first tried to push through its gun laws with separate anti-hate provisions, but it split the bill after failing to get the numbers in the Senate.

The gun provisions passed on Tuesday with support from the Greens.

More than four million guns are in circulation nationwide, according to figures from the Department of Home Affairs, including more than one million each in Queensland and NSW.

Victoria’s Labor government on Wednesday threw its backing behind the scheme, saying the buyback’s cost would not be an issue.

“We can afford to do what’s needed,” Deputy Premier Ben Carroll told reporters.

“I’m on the Labor side of politics and I’ll always give credit to John Howard for what he did in ’96 on the gun buyback … this gun buyback is really important and we’ll do everything we can to support the Commonwealth.”

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the gun laws addressed the method of the Bondi massacre, but they could only be as strong as the weakest state.

In a victory for thousands of women suing Johnson & Johnson over claims that the company’s baby powder and other talc products caused their ovarian cancer, a US federal judge has ruled to allow testimony from experts who support the link. 

The ruling from an outside judge serving as a special master in the long-running litigation, which includes more than 67,500 lawsuits ​that have been consolidated in federal court in New Jersey, will allow the cases to move towards the first trial in federal court potentially later this year. 

Product liability ⁠lawsuits, like the ones J&J is facing over its talc products, rely on experts to establish that the product is capable of causing the alleged harm. 

Decisions on expert testimony can sometimes be a major turning point in these cases.

US District Judge Michael Shipp in Trenton, New Jersey, who is overseeing the litigation, brought in retired US District Judge Freda Wolfson to evaluate what expert testimony would be allowed at trial, based on whether it meets the scientific standards set out in federal ‌law.

J&J, which has been ​fighting claims over its talc products in both federal and state court for years, has said its products are safe and do ‍not cause cancer. 

J&J stopped selling talc-based baby powder in the US in 2020 and switched to a cornstarch product.

It is the second time Wolfson has reviewed the scientific evidence in the case, as she oversaw the so-called multidistrict litigation from its creation in 2016 to her retirement in 2023, when the case was reassigned to Shipp.

In 2020, she sided with the plaintiffs, saying that their experts would be allowed to testify that the products’ link to cancer could be caused by the talc’s contamination ​with asbestos and heavy metals.

J&J has said its products do not contain asbestos.

In ‌2024, Shipp said he wanted the scientific evidence re-evaluated because of two factors: recent changes to federal rules governing expert testimony, which strengthen the courts’ role in vetting experts’ methodology and conclusions before allowing ​them to testify – and the emergence of new scientific evidence. 

J&J had sought to resolve the litigation through bankruptcy, a tactic that was rejected three times by ‍federal courts, most recently in April 2025. 

The bankruptcies had put most of the talc product cases on hold for years.

J&J also sued scientists whose research and testimony was used to support plaintiffs’ cases as part of its strategy to fight the claims, accusing them of falsifying their ​results ​by including people who were likely exposed to asbestos through other means.

One ​of those lawsuits is still pending, while the other has been dismissed.

Before the ​bankruptcy attempts, J&J had a mixed record in state courts where some of the cases had already gone to trial, with verdicts as high as $US4.69 billion ($A6.97 billion) awarded to 22 women who said baby powder caused their ovarian cancer. 

The company has had the verdict in that case and some others reduced on appeal and won some trials outright. 

Separately, J&J has also faced cases alleging its talc products caused a rare and deadly cancer called mesothelioma. The company has settled some of those claims but has not struck a nationwide settlement, so many lawsuits over mesothelioma have proceeded to trial in state courts in recent months.

J&J has been hit with several ‍substantial verdicts in mesothelioma cases, including one for more than $US1.5 billion ($A2.2 billion) in Baltimore in December.

A group of Nationals senators who split with the Liberals to vote against hate speech laws are expected to lose their positions in Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s shadow cabinet.

Senior Nationals senators Bridget McKenzie, Ross Cadell and Susan McDonald, as well as backbencher Matt Canavan, voted against Labor’s hate crimes bill in the Senate on Tuesday night.

The move contradicted a party room meeting on Sunday landing on voting in favour of the laws after the coalition had committed to working with Anthony Albanese in response to the December 14 Bondi terrorist attack.

But just 20 minutes before voting started on the legislation in the Senate, Nationals leader David Littleproud released a statement announcing his party would vote against the bill if amendments guaranteeing greater protections against unintended consequences on freedom of speech failed to succeed.

Senator Cadell said he held real fears about the legislation and acknowledged his break with shadow cabinet solidarity.

“I am willing to take the consequences of my actions,” he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

“I think that is fair. It’s what I should do. I can’t do the crime if I’m not prepared to do the time.

“If more people stood up for what they believe … and didn’t play the game, this would be a better place. Australia would be a better country.”

Politicians in the shadow cabinet are required to stick to the position agreed to by the frontbench.

Senator McKenzie, leader of the Nationals in the upper house, said she was “very aware” of the conventions of parliament when pressed if her position was untenable.

“I will be doing what I’ve always done is trying to do my very best to conduct my career here with integrity,” she told Sky News.

The Liberals voted for the hate crimes bill in the lower house on Tuesday, while most in the rural party abstained.

The sole Nationals MP who voted in favour of the legislation, Michael McCormack, said he did so because he didn’t want to “let the perfect be the enemy of the good”.

But he respected the decision of his Senate colleagues to vote against the bill after they failed to get the amendments up.

“There were a lot of conventions that were broken this week,” Mr McCormack told AAP.

There was no backbench meeting to discuss the bill and the coalition joint party room meeting on Sunday had not seen the final draft legislation because it had not yet been completed, he said.

“If we want to talk about convention we also have to look at those conventions.”

It marks another flashpoint for Ms Ley’s leadership, after her authority was previously tested over the coalition’s climate policy.

Conservative Liberals Andrew Hastie and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price resigned from shadow cabinet in 2025 while Ms Ley has previously found herself at odds with Nationals leader David Littleproud over net zero policy.

Deputy Leader Ted O’Brien, a key lieutenant for Ms Ley, and mooted leadership rival Angus Taylor did not vote with the rest of the Liberals on the hate speech laws, instead abstaining from the vote.

Ms Ley was contacted for comment.

The first two major polls of the year since the Bondi massacre showed One Nation nipping at the heels of the coalition.

A Newspoll, conducted for The Australian, found Pauline Hanson’s party surpassed the coalition’s primary vote by a slight margin.