Hello everyone, Ryan here once again for your political news roundup for this last week of 10 April, and what a week it has been! So much has happened since last week both here in Australia and around the world, but don’t worry, I’m here to summarise it for you to help you understand. Lets jump right into it!

Tariffs come, tariffs go, but markets remain volatile

It was a wild week for the markets after US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs to almost all goods coming into the US from nearly every country on earth. The President even put tariffs on Heard and Mcdonald Islands, two Australian islands in the south Indian ocean inhabited only by penguins! As we have stated here on this program, tariffs are a tax paid by the importer on goods coming into a country. They substantially increase prices on everyday goods and cause financial strains on populations across the world. The prospect of sweeping tariffs sent the world markets into free-fall on Sunday and Monday with the prospect of a recession in the US now looming, which could then spiral into a world-wide recession.

Here in Australia, the Australian markets are dropping as well and the Australian Dollar falling below 60 US cents for a brief period of time, and Federal and State governments are bracing for what is to come. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that the tariffs, “have no basis in logic.” Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton suggested Australia could leverage its defense cooperation with the US to get a better deal with the Trump administration regarding the tariffs. President Trump eventually backed off from the sweeping tariffs today, putting a 90 day pause, with markets rallying, but the damage seems to have been done. 

Nations most likely will be suspicious of working with the US in fears of more threats; and many citizens of other nations were also impacted by the tariffs as well, seeing their retirement accounts lose large amounts of money when the stock market fell on Monday. It remains to be seen whether the tariffs will be a big enough issue in the campaign but it looks like it’s adding on to the already large cost of living debate. 

Debates shake things up but leave little change in people’s minds

The first leaders debate was held this past Tuesday, but you can be forgiven if you didn’t see it. The debate was hosted by Sky News and held in Western Sydney. Viewers could watch only if they had a subscription to Sky News. About 100 voters were invited to sit in and ask the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader some questions. Prime Minister Albanese mainly focused on medicare and tax cuts while Peter Dutton focused on Nuclear power and energy bill cuts. Nothing noteworthy happened during the debate with no serious blunders and both leaders staying on point. Sky News did poll the 100 people to see who won the debate with 44 people saying Albanese won, 35 saying Dutton, and 21 undecided. This debate most likely will not impact the campaign much, with next week’s debate on 16 April on ABC a more important, and accessible debate. 

Coalition backflips on policies and foreign policy begin to take centre stage

One noteworthy policy change that happened this week on the campaign trail was the Coalition’s backtracking on a policy, mid-campaign, something that rarely happens. Peter Dutton announced if he won the election, he would not force federal workers back into the office, leaving work from home options available. He also reneged on the Coalition’s promise to cut 40,000 federal jobs, opting instead to put in hiring freezes. Dutton made the announcement after he stated the Coalition learned that the policies were unpopular and that people preferred work from home options. He was grilled on news networks later on about his reliability if he backtracks on policies. 

Polls are changing going into this week of the campaign but it is still a tight race

To end the news for this week lets talk about the latest polls! They are shifting right now, with YouGov’s latest polls now have Labor ahead of the Coalition, with one seat short of forming a majority government. However, it should be noted that polls are not an accurate reflection of what will happen on election day. The election campaign is still young and anything can happen in the coming weeks.

Alright, that’s it from me today. I will see you all next week with more roundups of the latest political news!