News and politics live: PM reveals tariffs, critical minerals and war discussed in ‘substantial’ Trump call

Anthony Albanese has doubled down on his refusal to apologise to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi over controversial “melon” remarks he made during a podcast interview.

Speaking to reporters on Friday morning, Mr Albanese maintained the comments were not intended as a sexual reference, despite mounting politcal pressure for him to apologise to his Japanese counterpart.

“When I give interviews, anyone who has sat down with me... will see I don’t do them with my arms crossed,” he said, when asked about hand gestures he made toward his chest when making the comments on the Bush Deep podcast.

“And so, certainly as the interpretation that some have put on this is simply not correct. And the Japnese ambassador has made that clear aswell,” he added.

Mr Albanese pointed to his apology over a separate comment during the same podcast appearance about wanting to “shag, marry, date” Kylie Minogue. But the PM stopped short of apologising to Ms Takaichi.

“I have apologised for elements of the podacast, I gave an unequivocal apology,” he said.

When asked is he should have pulled up host Nikki Osborne when she compared Ms Takaichi to Pamela Anderson, the Prime Minsiter said he was only responsible for his own remarks.

“I’m responsible for my words, and I note that of all of the words that have been written on this, none of my words have been criticised,” he said.

“If you look at the discussion that was occurring at some stages, you had two people talking at once on a podcast with a comedian.”

The Prime Minister also defended his decision to appear on the podcast, which centres on tongue-and-cheek interviews.

“In modern media, I talk to a range of people, many of whom i don’t agree with everything that they say,” he said.

“The podcast was done on June 9th, more than two months ago. And I apologised unequivocally for elements of that.

“On the issue of the relationship with Japan – as the Japanese ambassador has confirmed – the relationship has never been stronger.”

Pauline Hanson has landed in hot water after being unable to name the leaders of both Japan and Indonesia in a new upcoming documentary amid ongoing criticism about her leadership capability.

The One Nation leader found herself struggling to name the Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in an upcoming News24 documentary called “The Fight For The Right”.

“If you became Prime Minister, wouldn’t you want to visit Jakarta fairly quickly and meet with the President there?” Chris Kenny, a News24 host asked.

“I don’t know if I’d say I want to,” Senator Hanson said.

“Do you know who the President is?” she was asked.

​Read the full story here.​

The Prime Minsiter has provided little detail about the two leaders’ discussions about the US-Iran war.

“We had an extensive update from the President and I appreciated his perspective. Some of that, you will understand, is classified. So I won’t be going into the level of detail,” he said.

“It’s up to the President to outline the US’s strategy when it comes to military. I expressed our view that we wanted to see an end to the conflict there.

But Mr Albanese said he told the President he wanted to see an end to the conflict.

“We did and continue to say that Iran shouldn’t be allowed to have nuclear weapons - that represents a huge risk for the region,” he said.

“We have seen with Iran’s behaviour during this war where they have not just engaged with the United States and Israel, but have launched attacked on a range of countries in the region, including the UAE.

“I was able to outline to the President as well Australia’s contribution, including the E7A aircraft and the other assistance that we have given to the UAE. It is having an impact on Australia and, indeed, on the global economy.”

Anthony Albanese says tariffs were on the agenda during his phone call with Donald Trump.

When asked if he had asked Mr Trump for Australia to be exempt from a 12.5 per cent tariff, the Prime Minister said “I did raise this issue.”

“I always put forward Australia’s national interest during these discussions, and the ask that I made of the President is that he consider full exemption or at the very least no increase which is there, we have been subject to the 12.5% tariff,” Mr Albanese said.

“I informed him about our record when it comes to dealing with issues such as modern slavery, the strengthening that we have put forward as well to look and hold companies accountable for the supply chain process as well.

“There has been $3.6 billion Australian investment in the US since we last met across a range of issues, including defence, critical minerals, rare earths, manufacturing - and I put the argument very much to the President as a friend of the United States, we would request that that be considered.

“So I put the case as strongly as I could. It was a constructive discussion about why Australia should get at least the best treatment.”

Anthony Albanese says the Middle East conflict, and global and regional issues were discussed with Donald Trump during a “productive, constructive, lengthy” overnight call.

“The President and I exchanged views on a number of global and regional issues, including the conflict in the Middle East and recent developments in the Pacific,” he told reporters on Friday.

“This included briefing the President on the recent alliances that we have established, the coming into force of the alliance with Papua New Guinea, the signing of the alliance with Fiji, and the other arrangements that we have made right across the Pacific and South-East Asia.

“We discussed the progress on pillar two of AUKUS where we have agreed our significant project focused on joint development of cutting-edge payloads and and enabling systems for uncrewed undersea vehicles.

“We were able to review progress of our agreement on critical minerals which is is making real progress under which we are delivering more than $3.5 billion worth of critical minerals projects.”

Anthony Albanese is holding a press conference after speaking with Donald Trump on the phone overnight.

The news broke on 2GB on Friday morning, saying a White House official confirming the leaders spoke overnight Australian time.

The Prime Minsiter is now revealing details about what the two leaders discussed.

Say with us as we bring you the latest.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump have reportedly spoken by phone overnight, with the surprise conversation confirmed by a White House official.

The news broke on 2GB on Friday morning, saying a White House official confirming the leaders spoke overnight Australian time.

However, details of what was discussed remain unclear and there has been no official statement from the Australian Government or the White House about the contents of the call.

The conversation is believed to be the first phone call between the two leaders since March, following Mr Albanese’s meeting with Mr Trump in Washington in October last year.

Read more.