1. Albo’s fight for a greener fairer world
Prime Minister Albanese is in Paris and telling world leaders that his Government will fight for a greener and fairer world, and he wants other countries to follow his lead. The new PM says he will legislate Australia’s increased Paris climate target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 43% over 2005 levels over the next eight years. He also told the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that rich successful economies like Australia need to help less developed countries secure reliable supplies of important minerals used in green technologies.

2. Qantas on the nose with travel agents
If your travel agent encourages you to not fly Qantas, here’s the big reason why. The Australian reports that from today, travel agents will start steering clients towards the few airlines (including Qatar, Delta and Air Canada) that haven’t dropped commissions. Qantas has cut commissions to travel agents from 5% to 1%, so to survive the change, many agents will charge a fee if you want to travel with the flying kangaroo or else suggest you fly with another carrier.

3. New Zealand PM Ardern warns NATO of China’s assertiveness
In a speech at the NATO summit in Madrid, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said China’s increasing willingness to challenge international norms must be resisted. (Bloomberg)

“We must respond to the actions we see,” Ardern said. “We must stand firm on the rules-based order, call for diplomatic engagement and speak out against human rights abuses at all times when and where we see them.”

Ardern said New Zealand was not attending the NATO summit “to expand our military alliances.” Rather, “we are here to contribute to a world that lessens the need for anyone to call on them,” she said.

4. Xi Jinping leaves mainland China for first time in almost 2.5 years
After some 893 days in locked down China and its Covid Zero protocol, President Xi Jinping will hop across the border to Hong Kong to celebrate 25 years of Chinese rule in the former British colony. And while China has sovereignty over Hong Kong, its borders have remained shut since the early days of the pandemic.

“Staying at home has affected Xi Jinping’s international influence, although he tries to mitigate that impact by attending events virtually,” said Dongshu Liu, an assistant professor of Chinese politics at City University of Hong Kong. “Still, he cannot conduct informal talks during international events without in-person attendance.”  

5. June 30 marks a stinker for stocks
It’s June 30 which means it’s the end of the financial year today and for stock players and super fund members it’s been a shocker. In case you hadn’t noticed, your super fund has gone backwards this year or the value of your share portfolio has fallen. You can put it down to our stock market that has turned in a negative performance for the financial year, for the third time in a decade. The overall market looks set to be down 8% and you can blame central banks raising interest rates, the fear that this could create a recession, China going back into lockdown to beat the pandemic and Vladimir Putin and his Ukraine war, which has sent petrol prices sky high.