Gentlefolk,
This post describes our main activities during the month of May 2025.
The contents of this post are in the following sequence:
Photos of our activities during May 2025.
News items which caught my eye in May 2025.
A summary by MSNBC of key actions by President Trump during May 2025 (frightening but fascinating!).
International Trade contains graphs from 1 to 10 May 2025 (on 10 May Bloomberg converted to paid subscriptions ($299 pa) which I didn't join. To keep this segment going, I will try to obtain graphs from other Bloomberg sources in future.
Highlights of May 2025
We had Mother's Day lunch with Jen & Tom and the boys in Brisbane.
The Australian Labor Party was returned with an increased majority at the general election held on 3 May 2025 (unexpected!).
Herewith photos of some of our activities in May 2025:
A general election was held on Saturday 3 May 2025. Vera & I voted early, as did about 8 million others around Australia (out of about 18M voters).This was the polling place at the Baringa Community Centre on election day morning - surprisingly quiet.
We watched the election night TV coverage with friends Ruth and Tim Buick.
At about 8.30pm election specialist Antony Greene predicted a Labor victory; by 10pm the result was clear and Anthony Albanese made a victory speech. Most polls and commentators thought it would be pretty close, but there was a 3% swing to Labor which gave them a big majority.
At the end of May, House of Representatives: ALP 94, Coalition 43, Greens 1, Others 11 (recount taking place in one seat). Senate: ALP 28, Coalition 27, Greens 11, Other 10.
Two Party leaders lost their seats: Peter Dutton (Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition), and Adam Bandt (leader of the Greens).
Winner are grinners - Albo and Labor back for another 3 years!
Our neighbour, Attila, inspecting the gutters.
Some dirt and dust in the gutters, but not too bad.
"Musical Bingo" night in the Clubhouse. A fun night.
Foxtailers at Musical Bingo, from left: Linda, Vera, Robyn, Peter and Theresa.
Vera and I dressed up (a little) for Musical Bingo.
We had lunch with Laura at "her" restaurant (she is assistant manager) in Noosa Junction - yummy food.
Beautiful day on Noosa Beach.
Many nice beaches driving back along the coast from Noosa to Caloundra. This is the beach at Coolum.
The LNP MP for Caloundra in the Qld Parliament, Kendall Morton, gave a talk at our Village. Interesting background: she brought up 4 boys, and had a company providing aged care services. Joined the LNP 10 years ago. Won this seat at the 2024 State election.
She said that "traffic" was the issue of most concern, particularly Caloundra Road. The infrastructure has not kept up with growth - there are 30 new houses being occupied per week just in the AURA development - and there are often traffic delays.
Former Trade personnel get together twice a year in Brisbane, organised by Cheryl Stanilewicz and Sally Phillips. I attended the reunion lunch held on 21 May at Tattersalls Club on Queens St. I didn't know many of those who joined Austrade in the 1990s and later, but it was good to see a number of "Old Timers" going back to the Dept of Trade era, including Graham McHugh, Rob O'Donovan, Nick Smit, and David Knapton.
The "Biggest Morning Tea" is held around Australia to raise funds for cancer research - our Village raised $7,000!!!
Vera and Fran at the Biggest Morning Tea.
Freddie Mercury / Queen show at the Caloundra Events Centre. Fun night.
Mother's Day lunch in Brisbane with family; from left: Vera, me, Jen, Kurt, Sid, Nate, and Tom.
Two wonderful mothers, Vera & Jen.
Jen & Tom with the boys. Kurt (almost 20) is doing an electrical apprenticeship, Nate (18) has a rugby scholarship with Arkansas State University and will be leaving for the States in August, Sid (16) is in Year 11 at Marist College Ashgrove.
Proud grandparents with daughter Jen and grandsons.
We watched Sid play rugby for the Marist 5th school team - they beat Vilanova 74 - 0! Sid played 5/8 and did the kicking. He is a talented sportsman.
Two former students at Canberra Grammar, now with sons at Marist Ashgrove.
Friends Bron & Daz came for lunch (from Maleny).
Farewell to Greg Guilford and welcome to Carly Lebret, our new Community Manager.
First time I have seen dog food available from a vending machine.
Our Village has Trivia on Monday nights. On 26/5 our team ('The Boyz') was the winner. Left to right: Greg, Lindsay, Russell, me, Mick, Bill, and Barry.
Watching the first State of Origin Rugby League game on 28/5. It's always a great spectacle.The NSW Blues 18 beat the Qld Maroons 6 (4 tries to one), a very good effort to win in Brisbane.
Most of the Village residents are Qld supporters - not happy!
The Blues captain Isaah Yeo being interviewed after the first SoO game. They play 3 games, so the 2025 series is still alive. Traditionally Qld has won more Origin series (24) than NSW (17), and two series were drawn.
......News items which caught my eye in May 2025.
($ are US dollars unless otherwise shown)
Global
Vatican: 133 Cardinals
elected American Robert Prevost (69) as the new Pope. He took the name Pope
Leo 14th.
Turkey: hundreds of demonstrators
arrested in anti-govt protests in Istanbul.
UK: David
Attenborough (99) released a new film “Ocean”. Temperature in London on 1 May
reached 29.3C, the hottest start to May since records started. The UK agreed
to pay Mauritius $150M pa to continue to lease the Diego Garcia military
base. Liverpool FC won the Premier League; during the victory parade a man
drove his car into the crowd, many injured.
UK / EU: agreement
signed on closer economic and social relations, first after 2020 Brexit.
F1: Australian Oscar
Piastri (24) has won 4 F1 Grand Prix races so far in 2025: China, Bahrain,
Saudi Arabia, USA (Miami). He came 3rd in Monaco in May (behind Lando
Norris and Charles Leclerc).
Brazil: an estimated 2M
attended Lady Gaga’s free concert on Copacabana Beach.
Snooker: Zhao Xin Tong
(28) beat Mark Williams to win the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.
India/Pakistan: Tit-for-tat
attacks following the killing of 25 Indian tourists in Kashmir; ceasefire agreed
10 May to calm tensions.
Yemen: the Houthis and
USA agreed to stop attacks.
The Philippines: tensions
between President Bongbong Marco and VP Sara Duterte.
France: Actor Gerard
Depardieu found guilty of sexual assault – given 12 month suspended sentence.
High-speed
railways: Currently China has 48K km, Europe 9K km, Japan 3K km. Two lines
under construction in USA: Las Vegas to LA and SF to LA.
Canada: King Charles
and Queen Camilla visited Ottawa towards the end of May, where the King opened the new session of Parliament.
Israel –
Hamas & Hezbollah
The IDF started a
new offensive in Gaza, hundreds killed. Aid blockade continued, UN warned of
mass starvation in Gaza.
USA suggests Gaza
aid should be run by private companies.
Hamas freed
US-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander (21) after 19 months captivity.
19/5 Israel
announced limited access of food aid into Gaza, after blockade of 11 weeks;
widespread starvation, many countries criticized Israel for ongoing attacks in Gaza and food restricitons.
Russian
invasion of Ukraine
The USA and
Ukraine signed an agreement to jointly develop Ukraine’s natural resource
(including rare earths) through the establishment of a “Reconstruction
Investment Fund”.
Ukrainian drones
attacked targets in Moscow.
European leaders
met Zelensky in Kyiv and called on Russia to agree to an immediate ceasefire.
Ukraine/Russian Officials met in Turkey, but little progress.
To Trump’s
dismay, Russia continued aerial attacks missiles and drones, 80% shot down by
Ukraine.
USA
President Trump continued to dominate the media. Whirlwind. Some key actions noted here, others as detailed by MSNBC follow below.
US GDP shrank by
an estimated 0.3% in the first 3 months of 2025; Trump blamed Biden.
The USA and China
agreed to reduce tariffs by 115% each, to 30% and 10% respectively, and hold
those rates for 90 days. (Trump realized that his 145% tariff on Chinese
imports was having a catastrophic impact on American supply lines).
Trump hailed the
new USA / UK trade ‘deal’, the first of many being negotiated following his
imposition of high ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on 2 April (which he dubbed ‘Independence
Day’). In reality, USA/UK trade is relatively small, and the US has a surplus anyway.
The US ended zero import duties on shipments valued at less than $800; will affect companies such
as Temu and Shein.
Trump threatened
a 100% tariff on movies not made in the USA.
Trump called for
free passage for American ships in Panama Canal and Suez Canal.
Trump will impose
a $50 per tonne levy on cargoes carried in Chinese ships which use US ports. Spot rates on
shipping containers from China to USA at about $2,500 are more than 25% lower
than last year.
Trump moved Mike
Waltz from National Security Advisor to US Ambassador to the UN. Marco Rubio
acting NSA.
DHS asked
Pentagon to provide 20,000 soldiers from the National Guard to help
deportation effort.
The US Supreme
Court upheld Trump’s ban on transgender in the military.
Trump signed an
Executive Order to force pharmaceutical companies to reduce prices.
Trump continued
to attack Harvard by barring them from enrolling foreign students (normally
around 30% of total); Harvard immediately lodged a court appeal.
Trump gave white
South African farmers refugee status, claiming they suffer discrimination;
first group of 59 arrived in USA. Later Trump “ambushed” the President of
South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa who had come to the White House to discuss
trade.
Trump visited
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE, many announcements: trade and investment deals;
accepted present from Qatar of “flying palace” a luxury 747; lifted sanctions
on Syria; ended strikes on Houthis; continued nuclear negotiations with Iran.
Trump’s “big,
beautiful tax bill” passed the HoR by one vote; referred on to the Senate.
Many commentators said it would add trillions to US govt debt of around $37T.
Yield on Treasury bonds passed 5%.
Trump announced
the military will build a “golden dome” defence system against missile attack;
initial allocation $175B.
Warren Buffet
(94), Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway announced his retirement. The shares have
increased an incredible 5.5M% from when he took over in 1964. The group has
390,000 employees.
Mary Barra, CEO
of GM, expects the proposed tariffs to add about $5B to operating costs.
Elon Musk said
that DOGE has made cuts totaling about $160B so far. He will now step back
from DOGE, to focus more on Tesla and SpaceX. Trump farewelled him in the Oval Office on 31/5.
McDonalds
reported a drop of 3.6% in sales in last quarter.
Moody’s joined
Fitch and S&P in downgrading USA credit rating to Aa1, due to high debt levels
and rising interest payments.
Former President
Biden was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
On 31 May, at a US Steel plant, Trump announced that the tariff rate on imports of steel will increase from 25% to 50% from 4 June.
Australia
The General
Election was held on 3 May. An estimated 8M voted early (out of about 18M). HoR
Results with 91% of votes counted: ALP 94, L/NP 43, Greens 1, Other 11, one
seat still undecided. Two leaders, Peter Dutton (Liberals) and Adam Bandt
(Greens) lost their seats. Senate: Labor 28, Coalition 27, Greens 11, One Nation
4, Other 6.
Australia is one of 13 countries which have compulsory voting; there is a small fine if a person does not vote. But even so not everyone votes. The turnout rate for the 2025 election was 91% (ie 91% of those eligible to vote, actually voted); 5.5% of ballots papers were 'informal' - either blank or incorrectly completed.
The new PM &
Ministry were sworn in by Governor General Sam Mostyn on 13 May. Former ministers Mark
Dreyfus and Ed Husic were replaced on factional grounds.
Sussan Ley beat
Angus Taylor 29-25 to become the first female leader of the Parliamentary
Liberal Party. Ted O’Brien is Deputy Leader.
The National
Party decided to leave the Coalition (the Liberal Party and the National Party have usually formed a conservative coalition), but changed its mind a week later.
PM Albanese’s
first overseas visit was to Indonesia; then on to the Vatican for Pope Leo’s
first mass.
Huge floods in
NSW – more than 800 homes inundated, many livestock losses.
Healthscope,
Australia’s 2nd largest private hospital group (37), went into
receivership. Canadian investment company Brookfield bought Healthscope in 2019
for A$5.7B. 50% of hospitals in Aust are private, of which 62% are for-profit.
MSNBC Trump's key actions in week to 6 May 2025
Here are some highlights from the last seven days:
Proposed reopening and expanding the notorious Alcatraz
prison in San Francisco Bay, which experts said would be extraordinarily
expensive.
Repeatedly defended tariffs by arguing that little girls
would be happy with fewer and more expensive dolls.
Posted AI-generated images of himself on social media dressed
in white papal vestments and holding a red light saber (preferred by villains
in “Star Wars”).
Said “I don’t know” when asked if the Constitution
guarantees everyone due process and if he has a duty to “uphold the
Constitution.”
Appeared to have fueled a backlash to Australian
conservatives, which followed Canada in electing a Trump-skeptical prime
minister.
MSNBC Trump's key actions in the week to 14 May 2025
Trump shifted his focus to foreign policy over the last
week.
Apart from weighing in on conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, the
president also made news with his first state visit and a controversial
potential deal.
Here are some highlights from the last seven days:
Left for a trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab
Emirates, the first state visit of his second term.
Prepared to accept a superluxury Boeing 707-8 jumbo jet from
the royal family of Qatar, according to four sources familiar with the
planning.
Signed an executive order to tie some drug prices the
federal government buys to the price other developed countries pay.
Paused most tariffs and trade barriers against China for 90
days after saying that the two countries had made an agreement: the US and
China both reduced tariff rates by 115% to 30% on imports from China, 10% on
imports from the USA into China. Boeing sales to restart.
Said that the White House is “actively looking” at
suspending the writ of habeas corpus, per an interview with Deputy Chief of
Staff Stephen Miller.
MSNBC Trump's key actions in the week to 20 May 2025
Trump made incremental progress on his agenda this week.
After returning from his first overseas trip of his second
term, the president chipped away at his goal of remaking the federal government
and cutting taxes.
Here are some highlights from the last seven days:
Signed a bill that aims to stop explicit images posted
online without the subject’s consent, including deepfakes.
Reportedly disbanded an FBI squad that handles
investigations into members of Congress and fraud by federal employees.
Spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian
leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy by phone in an attempt to make progress toward a
ceasefire.
Blamed Democrats for Moody’s downgrading the U.S. sovereign
credit rating from Aaa to Aa1, even though Republicans control the government.
Called Bruce Springsteen a “dried out ‘prune’” and called
for an investigation into him after the musician criticized him on tour.
MSNBC Trump's key actions in the week to 27 May 2025
Here are some highlights of the president’s actions over
the last seven days:
Signed an executive order aimed at speeding up the
construction of domestic nuclear power plants.
Presented misrepresented evidence of a “white genocide” in
an unusually tense Oval Office meeting with the president of South Africa.
Sought to block Harvard from enrolling foreign students as
part of an escalating feud with the college, but was blocked by a judge.
Hosted a dinner at a Trump-owned property in Virginia for
the top investors in his meme coin cryptocurrency.
Gave a meandering commencement speech at West Point that
included his advice to not marry “trophy wives.”
......
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
 |
| A general election was held on Saturday 3 May 2025. Vera & I voted early, as did about 8 million others around Australia (out of about 18M voters).This was the polling place at the Baringa Community Centre on election day morning - surprisingly quiet. |
 |
| We watched the election night TV coverage with friends Ruth and Tim Buick. |
 |
| At about 8.30pm election specialist Antony Greene predicted a Labor victory; by 10pm the result was clear and Anthony Albanese made a victory speech. Most polls and commentators thought it would be pretty close, but there was a 3% swing to Labor which gave them a big majority. At the end of May, House of Representatives: ALP 94, Coalition 43, Greens 1, Others 11 (recount taking place in one seat). Senate: ALP 28, Coalition 27, Greens 11, Other 10. Two Party leaders lost their seats: Peter Dutton (Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition), and Adam Bandt (leader of the Greens). |
 |
| Winner are grinners - Albo and Labor back for another 3 years! |
 |
| Our neighbour, Attila, inspecting the gutters. |
 |
| Some dirt and dust in the gutters, but not too bad. |
 |
| "Musical Bingo" night in the Clubhouse. A fun night. |
 |
| Foxtailers at Musical Bingo, from left: Linda, Vera, Robyn, Peter and Theresa. |
 |
| Vera and I dressed up (a little) for Musical Bingo. |
 |
| We had lunch with Laura at "her" restaurant (she is assistant manager) in Noosa Junction - yummy food. |
 |
| Beautiful day on Noosa Beach. |
 |
| Many nice beaches driving back along the coast from Noosa to Caloundra. This is the beach at Coolum. |
 |
| The LNP MP for Caloundra in the Qld Parliament, Kendall Morton, gave a talk at our Village. Interesting background: she brought up 4 boys, and had a company providing aged care services. Joined the LNP 10 years ago. Won this seat at the 2024 State election. She said that "traffic" was the issue of most concern, particularly Caloundra Road. The infrastructure has not kept up with growth - there are 30 new houses being occupied per week just in the AURA development - and there are often traffic delays. |
 |
| Former Trade personnel get together twice a year in Brisbane, organised by Cheryl Stanilewicz and Sally Phillips. I attended the reunion lunch held on 21 May at Tattersalls Club on Queens St. I didn't know many of those who joined Austrade in the 1990s and later, but it was good to see a number of "Old Timers" going back to the Dept of Trade era, including Graham McHugh, Rob O'Donovan, Nick Smit, and David Knapton. |
 |
| Two wonderful mothers, Vera & Jen. |
 |
| Jen & Tom with the boys. Kurt (almost 20) is doing an electrical apprenticeship, Nate (18) has a rugby scholarship with Arkansas State University and will be leaving for the States in August, Sid (16) is in Year 11 at Marist College Ashgrove. |
 |
| Proud grandparents with daughter Jen and grandsons. |
 |
| We watched Sid play rugby for the Marist 5th school team - they beat Vilanova 74 - 0! Sid played 5/8 and did the kicking. He is a talented sportsman. |
 |
| Two former students at Canberra Grammar, now with sons at Marist Ashgrove. |
 |
| Friends Bron & Daz came for lunch (from Maleny). |
Most of the Village residents are Qld supporters - not happy!
News items which caught my eye in May 2025.
($ are US dollars unless otherwise shown)
|
Global |
Vatican: 133 Cardinals
elected American Robert Prevost (69) as the new Pope. He took the name Pope
Leo 14th. Turkey: hundreds of demonstrators
arrested in anti-govt protests in Istanbul. UK: David
Attenborough (99) released a new film “Ocean”. Temperature in London on 1 May
reached 29.3C, the hottest start to May since records started. The UK agreed
to pay Mauritius $150M pa to continue to lease the Diego Garcia military
base. Liverpool FC won the Premier League; during the victory parade a man
drove his car into the crowd, many injured. UK / EU: agreement
signed on closer economic and social relations, first after 2020 Brexit. F1: Australian Oscar
Piastri (24) has won 4 F1 Grand Prix races so far in 2025: China, Bahrain,
Saudi Arabia, USA (Miami). He came 3rd in Monaco in May (behind Lando
Norris and Charles Leclerc). Brazil: an estimated 2M
attended Lady Gaga’s free concert on Copacabana Beach. Snooker: Zhao Xin Tong
(28) beat Mark Williams to win the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield. India/Pakistan: Tit-for-tat
attacks following the killing of 25 Indian tourists in Kashmir; ceasefire agreed
10 May to calm tensions. Yemen: the Houthis and
USA agreed to stop attacks. The Philippines: tensions
between President Bongbong Marco and VP Sara Duterte. France: Actor Gerard
Depardieu found guilty of sexual assault – given 12 month suspended sentence. High-speed
railways: Currently China has 48K km, Europe 9K km, Japan 3K km. Two lines
under construction in USA: Las Vegas to LA and SF to LA. Canada: King Charles
and Queen Camilla visited Ottawa towards the end of May, where the King opened the new session of Parliament. |
|
Israel –
Hamas & Hezbollah |
The IDF started a
new offensive in Gaza, hundreds killed. Aid blockade continued, UN warned of
mass starvation in Gaza. USA suggests Gaza
aid should be run by private companies. Hamas freed
US-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander (21) after 19 months captivity. 19/5 Israel
announced limited access of food aid into Gaza, after blockade of 11 weeks;
widespread starvation, many countries criticized Israel for ongoing attacks in Gaza and food restricitons. |
|
Russian
invasion of Ukraine |
The USA and
Ukraine signed an agreement to jointly develop Ukraine’s natural resource
(including rare earths) through the establishment of a “Reconstruction
Investment Fund”. Ukrainian drones
attacked targets in Moscow. European leaders
met Zelensky in Kyiv and called on Russia to agree to an immediate ceasefire.
Ukraine/Russian Officials met in Turkey, but little progress. To Trump’s
dismay, Russia continued aerial attacks missiles and drones, 80% shot down by
Ukraine. |
|
USA |
President Trump continued to dominate the media. Whirlwind. Some key actions noted here, others as detailed by MSNBC follow below. US GDP shrank by
an estimated 0.3% in the first 3 months of 2025; Trump blamed Biden. The USA and China
agreed to reduce tariffs by 115% each, to 30% and 10% respectively, and hold
those rates for 90 days. (Trump realized that his 145% tariff on Chinese
imports was having a catastrophic impact on American supply lines). Trump hailed the new USA / UK trade ‘deal’, the first of many being negotiated following his imposition of high ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on 2 April (which he dubbed ‘Independence Day’). In reality, USA/UK trade is relatively small, and the US has a surplus anyway. The US ended zero import duties on shipments valued at less than $800; will affect companies such
as Temu and Shein. Trump threatened
a 100% tariff on movies not made in the USA. Trump called for
free passage for American ships in Panama Canal and Suez Canal. Trump will impose a $50 per tonne levy on cargoes carried in Chinese ships which use US ports. Spot rates on shipping containers from China to USA at about $2,500 are more than 25% lower than last year. Trump moved Mike
Waltz from National Security Advisor to US Ambassador to the UN. Marco Rubio
acting NSA. DHS asked
Pentagon to provide 20,000 soldiers from the National Guard to help
deportation effort. The US Supreme
Court upheld Trump’s ban on transgender in the military. Trump signed an
Executive Order to force pharmaceutical companies to reduce prices. Trump continued
to attack Harvard by barring them from enrolling foreign students (normally
around 30% of total); Harvard immediately lodged a court appeal. Trump gave white
South African farmers refugee status, claiming they suffer discrimination;
first group of 59 arrived in USA. Later Trump “ambushed” the President of
South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa who had come to the White House to discuss
trade. Trump visited
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE, many announcements: trade and investment deals;
accepted present from Qatar of “flying palace” a luxury 747; lifted sanctions
on Syria; ended strikes on Houthis; continued nuclear negotiations with Iran.
Trump’s “big,
beautiful tax bill” passed the HoR by one vote; referred on to the Senate.
Many commentators said it would add trillions to US govt debt of around $37T.
Yield on Treasury bonds passed 5%. Trump announced
the military will build a “golden dome” defence system against missile attack;
initial allocation $175B. Warren Buffet
(94), Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway announced his retirement. The shares have
increased an incredible 5.5M% from when he took over in 1964. The group has
390,000 employees. Mary Barra, CEO
of GM, expects the proposed tariffs to add about $5B to operating costs. Elon Musk said that DOGE has made cuts totaling about $160B so far. He will now step back from DOGE, to focus more on Tesla and SpaceX. Trump farewelled him in the Oval Office on 31/5. McDonalds
reported a drop of 3.6% in sales in last quarter. Moody’s joined
Fitch and S&P in downgrading USA credit rating to Aa1, due to high debt levels
and rising interest payments. Former President Biden was diagnosed with prostate cancer. On 31 May, at a US Steel plant, Trump announced that the tariff rate on imports of steel will increase from 25% to 50% from 4 June. |
|
Australia |
The General
Election was held on 3 May. An estimated 8M voted early (out of about 18M). HoR
Results with 91% of votes counted: ALP 94, L/NP 43, Greens 1, Other 11, one
seat still undecided. Two leaders, Peter Dutton (Liberals) and Adam Bandt
(Greens) lost their seats. Senate: Labor 28, Coalition 27, Greens 11, One Nation
4, Other 6. Australia is one of 13 countries which have compulsory voting; there is a small fine if a person does not vote. But even so not everyone votes. The turnout rate for the 2025 election was 91% (ie 91% of those eligible to vote, actually voted); 5.5% of ballots papers were 'informal' - either blank or incorrectly completed. The new PM &
Ministry were sworn in by Governor General Sam Mostyn on 13 May. Former ministers Mark
Dreyfus and Ed Husic were replaced on factional grounds. Sussan Ley beat
Angus Taylor 29-25 to become the first female leader of the Parliamentary
Liberal Party. Ted O’Brien is Deputy Leader. The National
Party decided to leave the Coalition (the Liberal Party and the National Party have usually formed a conservative coalition), but changed its mind a week later. PM Albanese’s
first overseas visit was to Indonesia; then on to the Vatican for Pope Leo’s
first mass. Huge floods in
NSW – more than 800 homes inundated, many livestock losses. Healthscope,
Australia’s 2nd largest private hospital group (37), went into
receivership. Canadian investment company Brookfield bought Healthscope in 2019
for A$5.7B. 50% of hospitals in Aust are private, of which 62% are for-profit. |
Here are some highlights from the last seven days:
Proposed reopening and expanding the notorious Alcatraz
prison in San Francisco Bay, which experts said would be extraordinarily
expensive.
Repeatedly defended tariffs by arguing that little girls
would be happy with fewer and more expensive dolls.
Posted AI-generated images of himself on social media dressed
in white papal vestments and holding a red light saber (preferred by villains
in “Star Wars”).
Said “I don’t know” when asked if the Constitution
guarantees everyone due process and if he has a duty to “uphold the
Constitution.”
Appeared to have fueled a backlash to Australian
conservatives, which followed Canada in electing a Trump-skeptical prime
minister.
MSNBC Trump's key actions in the week to 14 May 2025
Trump shifted his focus to foreign policy over the last
week.
Apart from weighing in on conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, the
president also made news with his first state visit and a controversial
potential deal.
Here are some highlights from the last seven days:
Left for a trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab
Emirates, the first state visit of his second term.
Prepared to accept a superluxury Boeing 707-8 jumbo jet from
the royal family of Qatar, according to four sources familiar with the
planning.
Signed an executive order to tie some drug prices the
federal government buys to the price other developed countries pay.
Paused most tariffs and trade barriers against China for 90
days after saying that the two countries had made an agreement: the US and
China both reduced tariff rates by 115% to 30% on imports from China, 10% on
imports from the USA into China. Boeing sales to restart.
Said that the White House is “actively looking” at
suspending the writ of habeas corpus, per an interview with Deputy Chief of
Staff Stephen Miller.
MSNBC Trump's key actions in the week to 20 May 2025
Trump made incremental progress on his agenda this week.
After returning from his first overseas trip of his second
term, the president chipped away at his goal of remaking the federal government
and cutting taxes.
Here are some highlights from the last seven days:
Signed a bill that aims to stop explicit images posted
online without the subject’s consent, including deepfakes.
Reportedly disbanded an FBI squad that handles
investigations into members of Congress and fraud by federal employees.
Spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian
leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy by phone in an attempt to make progress toward a
ceasefire.
Blamed Democrats for Moody’s downgrading the U.S. sovereign
credit rating from Aaa to Aa1, even though Republicans control the government.
Called Bruce Springsteen a “dried out ‘prune’” and called
for an investigation into him after the musician criticized him on tour.
MSNBC Trump's key actions in the week to 27 May 2025
Here are some highlights of the president’s actions over
the last seven days:
Signed an executive order aimed at speeding up the
construction of domestic nuclear power plants.
Presented misrepresented evidence of a “white genocide” in
an unusually tense Oval Office meeting with the president of South Africa.
Sought to block Harvard from enrolling foreign students as
part of an escalating feud with the college, but was blocked by a judge.
Hosted a dinner at a Trump-owned property in Virginia for
the top investors in his meme coin cryptocurrency.
Gave a meandering commencement speech at West Point that
included his advice to not marry “trophy wives.”
My 30 year career as an Australian Trade Commissioner gave me an interest in matters related to international trade. I subscribed to Bloomberg's excellent daily newsletter "Supply Lines".
Here are some of the interesting graphs in the Bloomberg newsletter during early May 2025; they are self-explanatory.
As of 10 May 2025 Bloomberg converted this newsletter to paid subscribers only (US$299 pa), so I stopped receiving it. But I will try to get graphs from other Bloomberg newsletters - let's see.
In the meantime, herewith some graphs from May 2025.
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With the official start of winter (June - August) around the corner, temperatures have been cooling down south: Tasmania, Victoria, ACT and parts of NSW. Canberra has been recording minimums around 0C for some time. Finally the cooler weather caught up with us in SE Queensland: on 28 May I wore jeans and a sweater for the first time in our 7 months here.
But it's all relative: minimums here might get down to 6 or 7C, but the days as still pleasant with maximums in the low-20sC.
We are looking forward to our tour of Sri Lanka (10 - 24 June). I'll report on our trip in my June blog, which might be posted a bit later than usual.
Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Vera & Alex OlahCaloundra, Qld AustraliaSaturday 31 May 2025
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