Australia news LIVE: Trump and Putin to meet to discuss end of Ukraine war; Australia promises US a defence revamp ahead of Albanese-Trump meeting

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7.18am

‘No requests have been made’ for Australia to contribute to Gaza peacekeeping: Conroy

By Emily Kaine

Treasurer Jim Chalmers addressed the media from Washington this morning with Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy.

Asked whether requests had been made of Australia to contribute to peacekeeping efforts in Gaza amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas being reached last week, Conroy was insistent Australia had not been approached about the matter.

“First, no request has been made of Australia to make such a contribution. If a request is received, we will consider it in the normal course of action, and the government would take a decision on that, on our military, as is appropriate, have talks to other military about contingency planning. And that’s the normal course of action, but let me repeat, no request has been made.

“If a request is received, we’ll consider it, and the government will make a decision,” Conroy told journalists this morning.

7.04am

Australia promises US a defence revamp ahead of Trump-Albanese meeting

By Paul Sakkal

Australia is countering US pressure to immediately step up military spending by promising Trump officials a defence revamp next year, and by dangling a $1 billion AUKUS payment that could line up with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s trip to Washington next week.

The US has been pressuring European allies and others such as Australia to share the burden of defending Western interests, spurring Australia to make a stream of defence funding announcements on submarine bases, guided weapons and autonomous vessels in the weeks before the Trump meeting.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles.

Albanese heads to the White House next week to meet President Donald Trump in a chance to bed down the US-Australia alliance. Upholding the under-review AUKUS pact, and leveraging Australia’s role in supplying the West with critical minerals will be on the agenda.

Australia has a scheduled update of its defence spending, called the National Defence Strategy, due in April next year. Defence Minister Richard Marles said US officials had “absolutely” been made aware that the NDS would be Australia’s next chance to make big new defence investments, potentially easing US anger about Australia’s defence spending.

6.45am

Trump warns Hamas: ‘We will ... go in and kill them’ if Gaza violence doesn’t stop

US President Donald Trump warned Hamas “we will have no choice but to go in and kill them” if internal bloodshed persists in Gaza.

The grim warning from Trump came after he previously downplayed the internal violence in the territory since a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect last week in the two-year war.

Trump this week said that Hamas had taken out “a couple of gangs that were very bad” and had killed a number of gang members. “That didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you,” he said.

The Republican did not say how he would follow through on the threat posted on his Truth Social platform early today. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking clarity.

But Trump also made clear he had limited patience for the killings that Hamas was carrying out against rival factions. “They will disarm, and if they don’t do so, we will disarm them, and it’ll happen quickly and perhaps violently,” he said yesterday.

6.45am

Trump and Putin to meet to discuss ‘end to the war’ in Ukraine

By David Crowe

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet to discuss an “end to the war” in Ukraine.

A phone call between the two leaders has cleared the way for a high-stakes meeting in the wake of the ceasefire in Gaza.

A phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has cleared the way for the high-stakes meeting.

Trump said the peace deal in the Middle East would help the negotiations over Ukraine and said he would send Secretary of State Marco Rubio to a meeting with Russian officials next week to prepare for the meeting with Putin.

The declaration came ahead of a visit to the White House by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a pivotal US decision on whether to sell Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine so it can strike targets deep inside Russian territory.

Trump said he had a “productive” phone conversation with Putin, who congratulated him on the Middle East peace deal and said it had been “dreamed of for centuries”.

6.44am

What’s making news today

By Emily Kaine

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Friday, October 17. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage this morning. Here’s what is making news today.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet to discuss an “end to the war” in Ukraine. A phone call between Trump and Putin has cleared the way for a high-stakes meeting between the two men in Hungary to try to end the war in Ukraine in the wake of the ceasefire in Gaza. Trump said the peace deal in the Middle East would help the negotiations over Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet with Russian officials next week to prepare for the leadership summit with Putin.
Trump warned Hamas “we will have no choice but to go in and kill them” if internal bloodshed persists in Gaza. The grim warning from the US leader came after he previously downplayed the internal violence in the territory since a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect last week. He did not say how he would follow through on his latest threat posted on his Truth Social platform early today. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking clarity.
Australia has countered US pressure to immediately step up military spending by promising Trump officials a defence revamp next year, as the government flags a $1 billion AUKUS payment to the Trump administration that could line up with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s trip to Washington next week.
Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus announced her immediate retirement from swimming yesterday. After months of speculation – and more than a year out of the pool since the Paris Olympics – Titmus, a four-time Olympic gold-medallist, confirmed her decision in an emotional Instagram video.