Good afternoon. Anthony Albanese has welcomed a two-week conditional ceasefire between the US and Iran that is set to temporarily reopen the strait of Hormuz (news that saw oil prices plunge). But as Dan Jervis-Bardy reports, the prime minister today issued a rare criticism of Donald Trump for threatening a “whole civilization will die”.
Angus Taylor said while he wouldn’t have echoed the PM directly, the outcome and ceasefire was “what I want to see”. Matt Canavan had earlier urged Albanese to make clear to the US that Australia wouldn’t support the president’s threat of widespread bombings, saying the situation had “gotten out of hand”. (But while the Nationals leader may have urged common sense on the global stage, economics editor Patrick Commins is less sure about the economic “mirage” he’s pitching at home.)
