US Piles Pressure on Australia Over Darwin Port and Defence, While RBA Signals Rate Hike Pivot

A bipartisan US congressional delegation has turned up the heat on Canberra, warning that the Chinese-owned Port of Darwin lease is a threat to critical minerals co-operation and urging Australia to ramp up defence spending beyond AUKUS submarines. Republican Michael McCaul, co-chair of the Congressional Friends of Australia caucus, said having US Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines rotate through Western Australia was vital to...