Australian news and politics recap April 7: Dutton hopes turning to cost of petrol will fuel path to victory

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There’s a tank at the University of Tasmania where scientists care for a fish with no name. The fish is precious, ecologically, financially, and politically.

There was a moment, which has passed, when it was possible Australia’s future might rest on this sole representative of a species few have heard of. A fish with a name as suitably primordial as its stingray-like appearance: the Maugean skate.

Last week, in the dying hours of the 47th parliament, the skates — whose natural and only habitat is a large harbour on Tasmania’s rugged west coast — were responsible for an unusual bout of bipartisanship.

If you believe the Greens and independent Hobart MP Andrew Wilkie, Labor and Liberal MPs conspired to condemn the species to extinction. Less biased observers think the warring parties had a bigger prize in mind: Lyons, Labor’s one vulnerable Tasmanian seat, which could be crucial in a close election.

Read Aaron Patrick’s full analysis here.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s media camp have landed in Sydney.

After a big day on the campaign trail, including controversy over working from home policies, road-related funding announcements and discussions on migration, Mr Dutton will head to Western Sydney to continue his campaign.

He will be campaigning in the area for a couple of days, and isn’t expected to make any further announcements today.

After stumbling on a key economic policy, Peter Dutton hopes turning attention back to the cost of petrol will fuel his path to victory, reports AAP’s Andrew Brown.

“For the fourth time in as many days on the election campaign trail, the opposition leader on Monday visited a service station to spruik plans to halve the fuel excise for motorists,” writes Brown.

“This time he went a step further, turning up to the Adelaide servo in the passenger seat of a fuel tanker.”

Mr Dutton then helped to fill up a campaign car for Liberal candidate Nicolle Flint, who is running in her former seat of Boothby as the coalition look to reclaim ground in South Australia.

Adelaide is a Labor heartland but the opposition is confident it can win back Boothby, with Labor holding the marginal seat on a 3.3 per cent margin.

It wasn’t the only road-related announcement for the day, with Mr Dutton earlier announcing an $840 million freight bypass in Adelaide.

“We can’t have trucks coming down through one of the most dangerous intersections and road corridors in our country and pretend that nothing is to be done about it,” he told reporters.

Read the full story here.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the Treasury will continue to monitor and update modeling and he is now in discussion with the Prime Minister, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer and RBA Governor Michelle Bullock.

“We’re obviously seeing these very substantial falls in the sharemarket, but we’re also comparing notes when it comes to the impact on the real economy.

“As I said before, Australia is really well placed and we are well prepared to deal with this global economic uncertainty.

“A big reason we are so well placed and well prepared is because of the progress that Australians have made together over the course of the past three years.

“We’ve got inflation down substantially, real wages are up, unemployment is low.

“We’ve got thedebt down. Interest rates have started to come down already and growth is rebounding solidly in our economy.”

Speaking about newly release Treasury modelling, Dr Chalmers said: “We expect there to be big hits to American growth and Chinese growth, and a spike in American inflation as well.”

“We expect more manageable impacts on the Australian economy, but we still do expect Australian GDP to take a hit, and we expect there to be an impact on prices here.

“Now, there are some pretty substantial caveats around the Treasury modelling that’s been released today. For example, forecasting is difficult enough in more stable times, but especially so in uncertain times.

Clearly, a series of decisions are still to be taken around the world when it comes to how countries may or may not retaliate to the decisions taken and announced by President Trump in the last week.”

“What we’re seeing here is the impact of a series of bad decisions taken about tariffs, and the whole world is trying to get their head around the impacts on their own economies and the global economy as well.

“For Australia, there’s really three channels that we are monitoring very closely

“The overall impact on theglobal economy and global demand is obviously troubling.

“The direct impact of these tariffs, we believe to be manageable in the Australian economy.

“Thirdly, the difference between the 10 per cent levied on Australian exports into the US versus some higher tariffs being posed by other countries as well.”

“We’re also seeing this volatility in markets for gold as people look for safe assets,” Dr Chalmers said.

“We’re seeing it in the tumbling oil price as well. We’re seeing it in our own economy too.

“When it comes to the Australian dollar bouncing around either side of $0.60, that is largely a reflection of people’s concerns about the Chinese economy.

“But it also reflects the fact that markets are now expecting around four interest rate cuts in Australia this calendar year.

“(There’s a) more than 50 per cent expectation in the markets that the next Reserve Bank interest rate cut in May might be as big as 50 basis points.

“So the Australian dollar is reflecting that, those concerns about China, but also the very different expectations now about the future trajectory of interest rates here in Australia.”

“In uncertain times, the Australian economy is well placed because of the progress that Australians have made together these past three years,” Dr Chalmers said.

“These escalating trade tensions are casting a dark shadow over the global economy.

“We are not uniquely impacted by these tariffs, but we are uniquely placed and we are well prepared as well.

“We are seeing very substantial volatility now in global stockmarkets and in our own markets as well.

“Today in Australia, the market lost about 4 per cent of value.

“On Friday, the US about 6 per cent.

“Asian markets have fallen quite dramatically today because they were closed for longer.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has addressed the ASX bloodbath in the wake of US President Donald Trump announcing sprawling tariffs on almost every country in the world.

Dr Chalmers is addressing three main points.

“First of all, to make some comments on market movements today,” Dr Chalmers said.

“Also, to speak about the Treasury modelling of the American decision on tariffs, which we’ve released earlier today, and also to speak to the pre-election economic and fiscal outlook, which the Treasury released late this morning as well.”