Australian news and politics recap for March 20, 2025: Hecklers interrupt Peter Dutton and Angus Taylor

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Labor’s foreign minister Penny Wong has attacked opposition leader Peter Dutton’s legacy in the Pacific saying he’s “not serious” about supporting the region.

Her words came after Mr Dutton used his Lowy Institiute address on Thursday to say Australia should advocate for US funding to be restored after the Trump administration axed the support.

But Ms Wong accused the Coalition of leaving the strategically important region high and dry when Australian aid funding was reduced during the former Morrison government.

“He wants us to take him seriously on this now? When he was part of the government that presided over the largest reduction in aid that we have seen,” she told ABC.

“As opposition leader, I don’t think he’s visited one Pacific island country or one South East Asian country. What does that tell you about his priorities?

“Australia’s place or position in the Pacific as the partner of choice was lost. That’s Peter Dutton as a legacy on the Pacific.”

In the wake of the United State cutting aid in the region, Ms Wong revealed she had asked her department to assess any “problematic” impact.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has warned the US that the Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is “not up for grabs”.

It comes as American medical giants have written to the Trump administration, urging it to consider Australia’s PBS as an “unfair trade practice” because it allows government to negotiates prices directly with suppliers to make them cheaper for Australians.

They argue this process “systematically devalues US medicines”.

Ms Wong said Labor would always fight to protect the scheme.

“I tell you what we will continue to do, and that is to stand up for and advocate for Australia’s interests,” she told ABC on Thursday afternoon.

“Including making it clear to American Pharmaceutical companies and that lobby group that Australia’s PBS is not up for grabs.

“Which is not up for negotiation.”

Labor had on Thursday pledged to cut the price of prescriptions for PBS medicines to a maximum of $25 if returned to government.

Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor has been the latest politician targeted in on-camera protests by climate action group Rising Tide.

Speaking at a press conference with senator Jane Hume in Sydney on Thursday, two protesters from the group disrupted Mr Taylor’s answers to journalist questions.

The press conference was halted a short time later after the protesters refused to stop heckling Mr Taylor about Coalition’s nuclear policy position.

It came after the same group gatecrashed Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s foreign policy speech at the Lowy Institute event earlier in the day, less than one and a half minutes into his speech.

Earlier in the week, they also targeted Treasurer Jim Chalmer’s address at the Queensland Media Club in Brisbane.

The Nightly’s Jackson Hewett reports that the latest news on interest rates from the United States was delivered with a serving of bad news for Americans - and the rest of the world - overnight:

Donald Trump’s ideological war on trade, delivered at ‘muzzle velocity’ is making the job of the Federal Reserve next to impossible.

Overnight, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell admitted to reporters that “uncertainty today is unusually elevated” resulting in a nightmarish scenario for decision-makers.

“Forecasting is always very very hard, and in the current situation, uncertainty is remarkably high,” Mr Powell confessed. “The news is full of developments of tariffs being put on and taken off and you’re trying to extract a signal from that.”

Read the full story here.

The Malaysian government has reopened the case to find the remains of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 flight off WA’s coast.

It has approved a request by marine biotics company Ocean Infinity to conduct a final search, agreeing to the terms and conditions which include a “no find, no fee” principle.

Minister for Transport Loke Siew Fook said the government was “committed to continuing the search operation and providing closure for the families of MH370 passengers”.

If the wreckage is found, the exploration firm would receive $A110m.

The missing aircraft is believed to have crashed in 2014. It was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and carrying 239 people, including 227 passengers, six of which were Australian citizens plus one New Zealand resident who was based in Perth.

A new 15,000km stretch of the Southern Indian Ocean is expected to be searched in the latest effort.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia would continue to engage with the Malaysian government on the issue.

“We have been part of the engagement on the search for MH370 for a very long time,” she told Sky on Thursday.

“We’ll continue to engage as Malaysia requires.

“Obviously, this is a tragedy and it’s a tragedy that so many families still can carry with them. And so we continue to look for justice and resolution for those who lost their loved ones on that flight.”

Australia’s poulation has grown by 484,000 people, pushing the total population to 27,309,396, fresh figures from the Australian Bureau of Statisitcs show.

The 1.8 per cent population rise in the year to September, 2024 was largely driven by net overseas migration - 379,800 compared to a 104,200 natural increase (births minus deaths).

Despite the rise, the net overseas migration figure was actually significantly reduced on the previous year with 31.7 per cent fewer people.

Western Australia again recorded the fastest population growth in the country, adding 72,600 people, an increase of 2.5 per cent.

Victoria, 2.1 per cent, Queensland, 2 per cent, were not far behind.

Tasmania saw the least growth over the 12-month period, with a 0.3 per cent rise in population.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s Lowy Institute address demonstrated the Liberal leader is “a man lost in our region”.

In a major speech this morning, Mr Dutton laid out the Coalition’s foreign and defence policy priorities should he become Australia’s next prime minister.

Mr Dutton vowed to mend relations with the United States, Israel and China if elected, while slamming Anthony Albanese for his “weak” international record.

“What we know about Peter Dutton is, he’s lost in our region,” Ms Wong hit back, while speaking on Sky News on Thursday.

“We know that he made fun of the Pacific. He was part of the government which withdrew from the Pacific leaving a vacuum for others to fill.

“We’ve seen him, both in opposition and also in government, beating the drums of war. This is a man lost in our region.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has renewed calls for hostages to be released in the Gaza-Israel conflict, urging a return to peace in the region.

“Look, we want to see a ceasefire, we want to see a resolution, we want to see humanitarian support be able to be provided, and we want to see the hostages released,” Mr Albanese told ABC Mebourne radio on Thursday.

Mr Albanese expressed hope the recent ceasefire could be restored, after it collapsed earlier this week amid a flare-up of violence between Israel and Palestinian militants.

When asked, Mr Albanese said he didn’t think the end of the ceasefire had been “inevitable”.

“No, I don’t and I wanted to see the ceasefire continue. I want to see hostages released. And I want to see an end to the tragic loss of life we’re continuing to see,” he said.

The coroner has released CCTV of a killer looking at hammers in a hardware store then rehearsing his brutal act two days before he murdered his ex-girlfriend.

Hockey coach Paul Thijssen hit water polo coach Lilie James in the head with a hammer at least 25 times inside St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney on October 25, 2023.

The video, released on Thursday, shows Thijssen looking at hammers in a Mitre 10 store, then continues to show CCTV footage of Thijssen in a hallway outside a bathroom, rehearsing his movements two days before he killed Ms James.

The CCTV footage at a Mitre 10 store was recorded on October 10, 2023. The CCTV footage of Thijssen walking in a corridor and checking a bathroom, rehearsing his murder of Ms James was recorded on the day of her death.

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