Australia news live: Greens pledge to ‘end homelessness'; Good Life festival the latest to skip 2025
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Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with some of the top overnight stories before Emily Wind takes the news baton.
In our top story this morning, the former foreign affairs minister Bob Carr tells us that Australia faces a 'colossal surrender of sovereignty' if promised US nuclear-powered submarines do not arrive under Australian control. As a report by a group called Australians for War Powers Reform is released today, Carr argues that the US is 'utterly not a reliable ally' to Australia. More details on the way.
There's a lot of politics around this morning with another report saying a re-elected Labor government would reduce the price of PBS-listed medicines to no more than $25 a script in a major election pledge to be included in next week's budget. At the same time, Peter Dutton faces internal pressure to match Labor's budget giveaways as Coalition MPs hope to neutralise a potentially potent Labor attack during the campaign. And the Greens launch their housing policy in Brisbane today with a call for billions in extra funding for accommodation and supported tenancies. More coming up.
Dovetailing with this buildup of political stories today, we have a fascinating read today by the researcher Rebecca Huntley about social trends and how Australians have lost hope in the concept of the 'fair go' and place more value in security and personal freedom. She finds that driving this change is the unaffordability of housing and declining engagement with politics, and has some suggestions about how to fix the problem.
And the Good Life music festival has joined the growing list of festivals to cancel their 2025 editions, as costs escalate. More on that soon. Share
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Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
Thai PM faces call to step down to avert coalition revolt
BANGKOK, June 20 (Reuters) - Thailand's embattled Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was facing the prospect of losing her government's majority on Friday as a vital coalition partner looked set to demand her resignation after just 10 months in power. Paetongtarn, the politically inexperienced daughter of divisive tycoon and former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, is fighting fires on multiple fronts, struggling to breathe life into a stagnant economy facing steep U.S. tariffs and under pressure to take a tougher stand on a territorial row with Cambodia that has seen their troops mobilise at the border. The United Thai Nation party, the second-largest partner in her alliance, will demand Paetongtarn, 38, step down as a condition for it to remain in the Pheu Thai Party-led coalition, two UTN sources told Reuters, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media. "If she doesn't resign, the party would leave the government," one source said. "We want the party leader to tell the PM as a courtesy." Though Paetongtarn received a boost on Friday with another coalition partner, the Democrat Party, pledging its support, Thailand's youngest premier is still in an untenable position, with her majority hinging on UTN staying in the alliance following Wednesday's exit by the larger Bhumjaithai Party. UTN has not said when it will announce its position. Asked about its decision, UTN spokesperson Akaradej Wongpitakroj declined to provide details. "We have to wait for the party leader to inform the prime minister first," he said. Reflecting concerns in financial markets, the Thai baht THB=TH, opens new tab weakened for a fifth consecutive session on Friday and was on course to log its worst week since late February. Paetongtarn's battle to stay in power demonstrates the declining strength of Pheu Thai, the populist juggernaut of the billionaire Shinawatra family that has dominated Thai elections since 2001, enduring military coups and court rulings that have toppled multiple governments and prime ministers. But Paetongtarn is facing domestic anger and the prospect of an internal revolt over Wednesday's embarrassing leak of a phone call between her and Cambodia's influential former leader Hun Sen - once seen as a Shinawatra family ally - which her critics say posed a threat to Thailand's sovereignty and integrity. During the conversation, Paetongtarn called for a peaceful resolution of the border dispute and disparaged an outspoken Thai army general who she said "just wants to look cool", a red line in a country where the military has a high profile and significant political clout. Political activists met on Friday to schedule a major protest in Bangkok starting on June 28 to demand Paetongtarn resign and coalition partners leave the government. Those included groups with a history of crippling rallies against Shinawatra administrations. Paetongtarn has not commented on the turmoil in her government and has tried to present a united front on the Cambodia issue, appearing on Thursday alongside military chiefs and vowing to defend sovereignty. The premier will make a morale-boosting visit to military units at the Cambodia border on Friday, where she is due to meet Lieutenant General Boonsin Padklang, the regional commander whom she criticised in the leaked call. Paetongtarn's options for staying in power are limited unless her allies can succeed in behind-the-scenes horse-trading to keep her alliance from crumbling. A snap election could damage Pheu Thai at a time of dwindling popularity and play into the hands of the progressive opposition People's Party, the largest force in parliament. Two Pheu Thai sources told Reuters the party is confident Paetongtarn can avoid resigning or dissolving parliament and her government is considering a major cabinet reshuffle to fill vacant positions.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
He's one of Australia's leading minds on super - and he's got a sensible idea about changing Albo's laws. But do YOU think Jim Chalmers will budge on his flawed tax grab?
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has declared Labor has a 'mandate' for a sweeping plan to tax superannuation before assets are sold - despite a warning it could amount to a new form of death duties. Labor needs the Greens' support in the Senate to pass its Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions bill that would see a new 15 per cent tax levied on unrealised gains on balances above $3million. The Opposition and superannuation groups are opposed to the idea of taxing assets in a self-managed super fund before they are sold, based on the paper or notional value of holdings. Labor's policy would mark a radical departure from the usual practice of applying the capital gains tax once something has been sold. Now a leading superannuation expert - Professor Robert Breunig, the director of the Australian National University's Tax and Transfer Policy Institute - has argued the government should consider a change to its proposal. Prof Breunig said the government should look into allowing the unrealised gains tax to be paid years later, when someone eventually sells an asset. He likened it to the standard practice of paying undue council rates after a house had been sold. 'If you're going to tax unrealised gains, I think you should be giving people the opportunity to defer paying the tax until they dispose of the property,' he said. 'That would be my preferred policy.' But Chalmers on Wednesday rebuffed a suggestion Labor would revisit the concept of taxing unrealised gains, even though someone inheriting a self-managed super fund could be left with a new tax liability. 'First of all, we're not changing the policies we took to the election,' he told the National Press Club. 'We've got a mandate for that change... What we're looking for here is an opportunity to build on the progress that we've made, including in the economy as you point out. 'We're looking for, not opportunities to go back on the things that we have got a mandate for, we're looking for new ideas.' 'Inheritance' tax accusations Labor's tax on super balances above $3million could effectively amount to an inheritance tax, along with a new tax on franking credits - or tax refunds for owning shares in a company that has already paid company tax. Senator James Paterson, the Opposition's finance spokesman, said the government needed to explain if taxing unrealised gains on super amounted to an inheritance tax by stealth. 'Labor's super tax grab has been on the public record for two years,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'The Albanese Government should be able to fully explain the implications of their policy, including for people's wills. 'We should not be reliant on independent experts, the media or the Opposition to explain how this policy will work in practice. 'Jim Chalmers must be upfront about how his unrealised capital gains tax interacts with franking credits and inheritance.' A self-managed super fund can be passed on to a dependent or left to someone in a will. Professor Breunig said someone inheriting a self-managed super fund with more than $3million, upon the death of a parent, would effectively be paying a new form of inheritance tax with the 15 per cent tax on unrealised gains. 'Yes, sure it is, but that's true of a lot of our taxes - that's true with council rates,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'It would be an inheritance tax if you were somehow paying back taxes on it - you inherit the liability.' A self-managed super fund, with a balance above $3million, would be subject to an unrealised gains tax if there was a property in the portfolio, under the government's Division 296 plan. That would be a departure from existing rules allowing someone to avoid paying the capital gains tax on a property they inherited, outside of a super fund. Prof Breunig said Treasury would benefit from being able to tax unrealised gains in a super portfolio, catching out those who left property in a self-managed super fund. 'Currently, we have a subsidy in the system that subsidies people passing out wealth to their children and you're kind of removing that subsidy,' he said. 'That is one of the attractions of the unrealised gains tax.' Future of the tax The Greens want the $3million threshold lowered to $2million but indexed for inflation. Prof Breunig said that would mean applying an unrealised gains tax to accounts typically producing an annual annuity, or guaranteed retirement living income, of $100,000. 'Two million's too low - how much money do people need to have a comfortable retirement?' he said. 'Now you're talking about a lifetime income stream that's more like $100,000, which for a lot of people isn't that much relative to how much they made in their lifetime.' Australian abolished inheritance taxes at a national level in 1979, with all the states getting rid of that tax by 1981. Labor's planned tax doesn't effectively levy a new charge on a superannuation fund balance being transferred to a loved one.
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- The Herald Scotland
Inside NYC's voting system to rank candidates
With so many options, New Yorkers will choose their next mayor like they pick ice cream in the summer. The city's ranked choice system allows voters to choose their top five candidates for mayor, plus top picks in other city races. Even if your top choice doesn't make it, you can still get flavors, or candidates, you prefer. Ranked choice "allows for people to vote in a way that expresses how they feel," said Susan Kang, an associate professor of political science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The system aims to give voters more choices in a crowded field of nearly a dozen Democratic and a handful of Republican mayoral hopefuls in closed primaries for both parties. It also hopes to bring up candidates from underrepresented backgrounds, often without access to vast campaign war chests. The system, first approved by voters in 2019, has been used in elections around the country - from Alaska to Maine, and from San Francisco to tiny Woodland Hills, Utah (population 1,571). Other places, including Washington, D.C., more recently adopted it. Australians use the system. Winning New York City's Democratic primary is almost always a ticket to City Hall in a city that's about two-thirds registered Democrats. Primary lessons: Trump rules, Dems are revved. NYC's melee is next. How Cuomo v. Mamdani shows ranked choice voting Andrew Cuomo, New York's longtime governor who resigned in 2021 after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment, had led comfortably in polls. Many voters see Cuomo, 67, as an experienced moderate executive who can fight President Donald Trump. But with ranked choice, state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist calling to freeze rents, has inched ever closer to Cuomo. That's because under ranked choice, a candidate has to get over 50% of votes. While polls have Cuomo ahead, he's unlikely to win most first-round votes. At each round, candidates with the fewest votes get eliminated. Voters who ranked less supported candidates first will have their subsequent choices allocated to their next ranked candidate. New York first used ranked choice voting in 2021. With many candidates vehemently opposed to Cuomo, their supporters' next-round votes can help Mamdani, who is endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive star. The process continues until there are two candidates left. Cuomo is favored to win, though polling has tightened between the former governor and Mamdani. Cross-endorsements, cooperation The city's first time using ranked choice, in 2021, resulted in the narrow, eighth-round victory of Eric Adams, the swaggering, scandal-plagued mayor. (Adams dropped out of the 2025 Democratic primary, opting to seek re-election as an independent.) Back in 2021, Adams' last standing opponent, Kathryn Garcia, received a late endorsement from Andrew Yang, another candidate. Yang supported ranked choice during a failed 2020 presidential run. "The ranked choice voting system enables you to take advantage of being someone's second- or third-place vote," Yang, now a third-party advocate, told USA TODA. "A smart candidate will try and capitalize on that." In 2025, there are more cross-endorsements between Mamdani and other candidates to Cuomo's left, such as city Comptroller Brad Lander and former lawmaker Michael Blake. Ranked choice challenges Under this relatively new system, voters need to know how to correctly rank their choices. In a 2023 study, Lindsey Cormack, an associate professor of quantitative social science at Stevens Institute of Technology, found higher levels of voided ballots in lower income areas and communities with lower educational attainment. There were also issues among people who speak a language other than English. "Anytime you change a system, you make it nominally harder, or at least the capacity for errors goes up, because there's just more boxes to tick," she said. Complicating matters, the primaries use ranked choice, but the general election does not. Nor do state or presidential elections. Only growing beyond June 24 primary election Politicians and experts agree that, with time, voters can get used to their new system. For now, ranked choice appears to continue expanding across cities and states. In November, Washington, D.C., approved ranked choice voting. Christina Henderson, one of the district's at-large representatives and a Brooklyn native, has supported ranked choice to help people dissatisfied with polarized politics. "If provided the right information, they can make the right choice for themselves," Henderson, an independent, said. "Now, the key is providing the right information." New York City's primary is June 24. Early voting is underway. Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@ or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
