source : the age
A tax loophole disadvantaging widowed investors has been closed following an agreement between the major parties.
Budget night tax reforms grandfathered negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions for investors who held property prior to May 12, but if their marriage broke down or their spouse died, they would have lost the entitlements when a jointly owned property transferred to their name.
The loophole will end after the government and coalition reached a deal in which Labor got support for its controversial slash to ballooning NDIS funding.
The so-called widow tax bill passed the Senate on Wednesday after gliding through the lower house.
Today’s question time ended with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese giving a special shout-out to one of our very own.
The Age’s associate editor and special writer Tony Wright is stepping back from daily newsroom duties after more than 50 years in journalism.
Here’s what Albanese had to say about a “true treasure of the press gallery”.
“Through his observations of Australian political life and the great sweep of life beyond politics, he has taught us so much. He’s made us laugh. He’s made us reflect. He’s found joy without ever shying away from sorrow. He’s been pointed, but never barbed. Crucially, he’s never lost sight of humanity, not even in this place that sometimes does. And he’s reminded us of the importance of taking the time to stop and smell the flowers, or at least admiring them as you fly past on a motorbike. Tony has always been a harvester of moments, finding the small things that so many of us may miss, and deftly weaving them into a much bigger picture. Many writers can deliver a pearl, but few have Tony’s love for the humble grain at its heart. Tony, I know this isn’t a full stop, and that when the mood takes you, you’ll still be sharing your words with your readers. Until you do, though, we will follow your advice, to quote you: hold our memories close and polish them every now and then. On behalf of all of us here, and on behalf of your many readers who admire you, respect you, and read every word when they see your byline: thank you.”
The Coalition has spent much of question time today targeting Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh over his stoush with members of the veterans community.
Nationals MP Michael McCormack tabled the Australian Defence Veterans Covenant, saying Keogh should “re-familiarise himself with the words therein”.
Opposition defence industry and personnel spokesman Phillip Thompson challenged Keogh to call a liar the veteran who accused Keogh of rolling his eyes in their meeting on Monday. The minister had denied the accusation.
And Opposition Leader Angus Taylor called for the prime minister to sack “this incompetent and disrespectful minister”.
Anthony Albanese said he had every confidence in Keogh and that he had inherited a troubled system.
Veterans have been in Canberra this week urging the government to scrap its $5000 cap on allied health services for former defence personnel, saying accessible support saves lives.
Labor ministers are having a bit of a mare in question time today.
Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth, while touting the government’s action on workplace relations, accidentally said Labor had closed the “labour liar loophole” – to roars from the opposition benches.
“OK, I’ll do it again. The labour hire loophole,” Rishworth said.
The Coalition immediately served up the sledge to the next speaker, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who was talking about today’s wages data.
Housing Minister Clare O’Neil has rejected the Coalition’s repeated assertions that rents will rise by 30 per cent because of Labor’s budget tax changes.
O’Neil said she was worried about the “sheer number of mistruths” opposition communication spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh deployed when kicking off question time, in which she referenced real estate agent Ray White saying “rents could surge by 30 per cent as a result of Labor’s toxic taxes”.
“[McIntosh] has reached for Ray White, and I want to read to the parliament what Ray White have said today: Ray White is not forecasting a 30 per cent rise in rents,” O’Neil said.
“How incredibly embarrassing for the opposition because this is actually the second day in a row that they have come into this parliament and misquoted a party saying this,” she told the chamber.
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino has insisted enforcement is the best solution to combat the illicit tobacco trade, as One Nation vows to slash the excise.
“The price incentive in tobacco excise will not make a material difference at this point,” Mulino told the National Press Club in Canberra.
“Better enforcement necessarily isn’t about achieving a perfect solution. Better policing and better enforcement is about achieving the best overall regulatory outcome, and so for me, it may be that there remains some illegal tobacco in the system, but for me, the best approach at the moment in terms of regulatory effort is on putting more effort into enforcement.”
Pauline Hanson said this week that she would slash the excise by 75 per cent, NSW Premier Chris Minns has called for it to be cut, and Nationals leader Matt Canavan has foreshadowed a “dramatic” Coalition policy because “blind Freddy” could see the existing system is not working.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers was also asked about this at a press conference this afternoon. He echoed Mulino’s view that enforcement matters most.
“We don’t lightly dismiss the problem of illicit tobacco in our communities and in our country. The federal government is providing more than $350 million to focus on what is our main concern around law and order. We have seen some good progress in recent times.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has come out on the defensive while responding to the latest wages data, saying positive signs were “too often missed by those determined to talk down our economy”.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data released today showed the wage price index rose an annual 3.2 per cent in the three months through June, matching economists’ estimates. On a quarterly basis, it climbed 0.8 per cent, also matching forecasts.
Policymakers haven’t met the 2.5 per cent midpoint of their inflation target for almost five years, and Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock adopted a hawkish stance at a press conference this month, warning the central bank would increase interest rates again if it needed to.
Chalmers defended his record on Wednesday, saying the government was cutting regulatory costs by $10 billion a year and had approved $4 billion in tax cuts for start-ups among other measures.
Firearms have allegedly been seized from a man accused of an Islamophobic attack on a family including a pregnant woman.
The 53-year-old man was charged with Commonwealth offences after allegedly targeting the expectant mother along with a man and their young child in Darwin.
He was arrested on Tuesday by detectives and the NT firearms enforcement unit with Joint Counter Terrorism Team assistance after being accused of directing threats to the family in an “Islamophobic incident” on June 7.
The man was charged with two counts of threatening force or violence against a person “due to protected group status, causing fear to that group”.
Federal Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino has announced reforms to the superannuation system in a National Press Club speech.
The changes are aimed at strengthening consumer protections after the $1 billion collapse of Shield and First Guardian funds, empowering funds to give customers advice at no extra cost, and reforming the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort, which has been under pressure from losses in self-managed super funds.
Mulino said dodgy lead generators who convinced people to move their savings into risky funds would be outlawed.
“We will ban unlicensed real-time communication about superannuation. We will limit the anti-hawking exemption for financial advice to existing client relationships. We will strengthen penalties for breaches of anti-hawking laws,” he said.
Injured wildlife could be left without veterinary care as clinics turn away animals while bird flu sweeps across Australia, an expert has warned.
The virus is emerging as a major animal welfare test as H5 detections climb and vets pull back from treating birds and other wildlife.
National figures show there have now been 236 confirmed H5 bird flu events in wild birds, with most in South Australia.
Authorities have received more than 21,000 calls to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline since the outbreak began.
