Australia Drops Out of World's Top 10 Happiest Countries.

Mar 20, 2025

Good Morning it's March 21, and today, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton are teaming up to stand up to a U.S. drug company's campaign targeting Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). They're making it clear that the medicines subsidy program won't be used as a bargaining chip in trade talks with the U.S.

Join over 1000 readers. Sign up here.

We'd love it if you could share the email with your friends! Just (copy the URL here.)

Today's reading time is 7 minutes. - Miko Santos

MARKET CLOSE

Presented by CommSec

Thursday's 1.2% increase in Australian shares marks the largest percentage rise in six weeks after Wall Street climb.

Australia's Unemployment Remains Stable Despite Employment Shifts

Australia's unemployment rate maintained stability at 4.1% in February despite a decrease of 53,000 employed individuals, revealing significant demographic shifts rather than broad economic weakness. The employment decline was primarily driven by fewer older workers returning to the workforce, while the employment-to-population ratio held near historic highs at 64.1%, demonstrating the labor market's continued strength and resilience. This pattern reflects important changes in retirement behaviors and workforce composition that employers and policymakers will need to address.

Despite monthly fluctuations, annual employment growth remains robust at 1.9%, in line with pre-pandemic averages, while the underutilisation rate fell to 9.9%, significantly below pre-pandemic levels. This improvement indicates fewer Australians are struggling to find sufficient work hours compared to historical norms. However, experts suggest the changing age composition of the workforce could present challenges for industries heavily dependent on experienced workers, while simultaneously creating new opportunities for younger demographics advancing in their careers. The labor market's ability to maintain key metrics near historic strengths continues to demonstrate Australia's remarkable post-pandemic economic resilience.

Dutton Pledges 'Strong, Values-Driven Leadership' in Foreign Policy, Commits $3B to Defense Boost

While outlining his alternative vision in a thorough lecture to the Lowy Institute in Sydney yesterday, opposition leader Peter Dutton has sharply attacked the handling of foreign policy by the Albanese government. Claiming Australia is "less safe" under what he said to be "the most left-wing government since Whitlam," Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in his speech of displaying "inexperience, opportunism and weakness" in issues of defence, diplomacy, and national security.

Announcing an initial $3 billion to restore the fourth squadron of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters cancelled by Labour, the Coalition leader committed to a significant increase in defence spending should he be elected. Regarding international affairs, Dutton promised to "reinvigorate" free trade agreement negotiations with the European Union, pursue new trade agreements with Israel and Canada, and mend Australia's relationship with Israel which he said Labour has "trashed." Dutton notably said he would immediately call Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu if elected and cut funding from UNRWA, but he also expressed hope he could work successfully with the Trump government despite recent tariff conflicts. "Who is more suited to handle the US relationship and interact with President Trump? Australians should ask themselves." Dutton pointed out his past expertise collaborating with three US administrations.

Bipartisan Defense of PBS: Australia's Leaders Unite Against US Pharmaceutical Pressure

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have presented a united front against a U.S. drug company campaign targeting Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), vowing the medicines subsidy program will never become a bargaining chip in ongoing trade discussions with the United States. The powerful pharmaceutical lobby in the United States, PhRMA, has urged President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Australian pharmaceutical imports as a "reciprocal" measure, claiming the PBS subsidies are "egregious and discriminatory" trade instruments. In a clear signal of cross-party determination, Albanese promised an additional $690 million over four years to lower the price of PBS-listed medications from $31.60 to $25, a proposal the Coalition has committed to match.

Speaking at the Lowy Institute, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton echoed the Prime Minister's position, describing the PBS as "the envy of the world" and pledging to "fight against any big drug company imposing tariffs." Health Minister Mark Butler noted this isn't the first time pharmaceutical giants have targeted the PBS, recalling similar lobbying during Australia's free trade negotiations with the U.S. two decades ago. Butler indicated Australia would seek an exemption if tariffs were imposed, highlighting that America currently enjoys a trade surplus with Australia on pharmaceuticals, with Australia selling about $2 billion worth to the U.S. while purchasing approximately $3.5 billion. "What we're going to do is continue to advocate for Australia's national interests, not the interests of big pharma," Prime Minister Albanese said Thursday morning, declaring the PBS "not for sale."

Business & Markets

➡️ Wall Street Edges Lower Despite Strong Economic Indicators. U.S. stock indexes closed slightly lower Thursday as positive economic data failed to overcome market concerns about potential policy impact from the Trump administration. The S&P 500 dipped 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq composite fell 0.1% and 0.3% respectively.

➡️ RBNZ Wins Dual Central Banking Awards for Climate Stress Testing and Information Management. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has won two prestigious international awards for its innovative climate stress testing program that helps banks prepare for environmental risks and its comprehensive digital transformation initiative that improves data management across the organization.

➡️ SX 200 Rallies 1.16% on Fed Cut Hopes as Tech, Gold Lead Broad Market Recovery. The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX 200) surged 90.6 points to close at 7,918.9 yesterday as investor sentiment improved following dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, with Information Technology stocks leading the broad-based rally at 2.42% while uranium shares gained momentum on potential supply constraints.

Politics & World Affairs

➡️ Australia Drops Out of World's Top 10 Happiest Countries. Australia has fallen out of the top 10 happiest countries in the world according to the latest World Happiness Report, slipping to 11th place after previously securing a position among the global leaders in wellbeing. Finland maintained its dominance as the world's happiest nation for the eighth consecutive year, while other Nordic countries including Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway continued their strong showing. Costa Rica and Mexico entered the top 10 for the first time, ranking 6th and 10th respectively, with Israel securing 8th place despite ongoing conflict with Hamas.

➡️ Sudan Army Nears Recapture of Presidential Palace After Two Years of Civil War. Sudan's army is on the verge of reclaiming the Presidential Palace in Khartoum from the Rapid Support Forces, marking a significant turning point in the two-year conflict that has created the world's largest humanitarian crisis and threatens to permanently divide the country along east-west lines.

➡️ EU Advances 'Porcupine Strategy' for Ukraine Despite Russia's Demands to End Military Aid. The European Union is proceeding with its "porcupine strategy" to strengthen Ukraine's military capabilities and defense industry despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's key peace demand that Western allies halt military aid, with EU leaders emphasizing continued support is "central" to ensuring Ukraine's independence.

AI & Technology

➡️ Apple TV+ Hemorrhages $1 Billion Annually While iCloud+ Remains Only Profitable Service. Apple's streaming service TV+ is losing over $1 billion annually despite having 45 million subscribers, while most of Apple's other subscription services except iCloud+ are struggling with profitability and growth, according to a new report from The Information.

➡️ UnDesto AI CEO Myra Roldan Receives Prestigious Visionary Award at Womelle's 2025 Ceremony. Myra Roldan, CEO of UnDesto AI and advocate for ethical artificial intelligence, has been recognized as Visionary of the Year at Womelle's 2025 Female Voice Awards for her groundbreaking work in responsible AI development and commitment to educating the next generation of technology leaders.

➡️ Anthropic Report: Frontier AI Models Show Rapid Progress in Cybersecurity and Biology Capabilities. Anthropic's Frontier Red Team has identified rapid advancement in AI capabilities across cybersecurity and biology domains, with Claude models approaching undergraduate-level skills in cybersecurity and exceeding expert-level knowledge in some biological areas, though current models still fall short of thresholds that would generate substantially elevated national security risks.

📖 I appreciate you taking the time to read! See you in the next issue. Got a question or criticism? Just click on Reply. We can talk while we are here.

🎧 Check out our podcast, the one and only "The Expert Interview." This podcast seeks the truth to answer the most pressing questions using the highest journalistic standards

✍️ Give us a press release and a good-sized landscape photo. Make sure it's newsworthy. Send press releases to newsdesk@readmencari.com or click here. Editorially, we may rewrite headlines and descriptions.

🚀 Got a news tip ? Contact our editor via Proton Mail encrypted, X Direct Message, LinkedIn. You can securely message him on Signal by using his username, Miko Santos.

The Mencari readers receive journalism free of financial and political influence.

We set our own news agenda, which is always based on facts rather than billionaire ownership or political pressure.

Despite the financial challenges that our industry faces, we have decided to keep our reporting open to the public because we believe that everyone has the right to know the truth about the events that shape their world.

Thanks to the support of our readers, we can continue to provide free reporting. If you can, please choose to support The Mencari.

SUPPORT FREE AND INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM

Available for iOS and Android