Australia in June 2026: the most important developments in economy
In June 2026 Australia's economy faced pressure on trade and on growth. China's Ministry of Commerce flagged on 2 June that Australian beef imports were nearing the threshold that would trigger an additional 55 percent tariff. On 3 June US President Donald Trump proposed a new 12.5 percent tariff on Australia, alleging imports of goods made with slave labour, which Australia called unwarranted. The same day the OECD lowered its forecasts for Australia, citing persistent inflation and slowing growth, and stagflation fears rose. The government said the wheat crop is set to fall sharply because of weather and higher input costs.
Labour disputes and the resources sector formed the second theme. A strike at the Ichthys LNG facility began to disrupt cargo loadings on 3 June. BHP's chief executive blamed the Prime Minister for impending strike action at the company's operations, BHP flagged a 2.3 billion dollar write-down on its potash project as costs rise, and the company was preparing to sell a 1.5 billion dollar power transmission line in Chile. Peabody locked out workers at a coal washery in New South Wales. Elliott Management pushed Australia's largest gold miner to consider a sale, and Woodside expected LNG and oil sales to rise 50 percent.
Other developments touched finance and property. HSBC was fined over failures in handling scams in Australia. KPMG Australia's chairman and two partners resigned as its audit scandal widened. Sydney and Melbourne were tipped to lead housing price drops as the property market cools, while the government's tax overhaul was reported to be dampening investment in property. Qantas unveiled Sydney to London as the first route of its Project Sunrise non-stop flights, and Australia opened its first carbon refinery. Australia also gained access to an advanced AI model, and Five Eyes cybersecurity agencies issued a joint warning that new AI models could enable devastating cyber attacks within months.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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