On Friday, the Victorian Parliament passed a windfall gains tax for properties whose value is boosted by council rezoning. The new tax will apply to properties where the value is boosted by more than $100,000, with a 50% tax on windfalls above $500,000 — unless they are subject to a Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution. As
On Friday, my wife and I received a “distressing” email from my daughter’s dance school stating that unvaccinated children aged between 12 and 16 suddenly won’t be able to attend classes or participate in planned concerts: “We have had distressing news from the DHHS today that mandates all students over 12 years and two months
It’s official. The Morrison Government is moving fast to reboot Australia’s mass immigration policy by Christmas. The government will allow more than 200,000 visa holders into the country, including students, economic migrants and refugees, and the Australian Treasury will reportedly upgrade its migration forecasts in next month’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook update. In announcing
Once upon a time, there was something called community. In that thing, folks occasionally made small sacrifices for the benefit of all. Stuff like paying taxes and getting immunised, so we didn’t live in a diseased ghetto. Then along came the Internet, COVID and the Loons: Some of Australia’s most prominent “freedom” activists involved in
We have a right to know what Lord Jabba got up to on Tatooine: Nationals MP George Christensen made a secret submission to the information watchdog as part of an effort to block the release of details about a police probe into his Philippines travel, days after saying the document falsely accused him of a
The Morrison Government may abandon or delay plans to table legislation in the Senate to establish a federal anti-corruption commission. The government had been hoping that the Senate would send the bill to a committee that might not report back until 2022, which may not leave enough time for Parliament to debate the bill before
With Victoria on Monday expected to hit its 90% double vaccination threshold for residents aged 12, the state government today further eased restrictions for the fully vaccinated. The changes are summarised below: The news is bad for unvaccinated Victorians who will continue to be barred from non essential retail, cafes & restaurants, entertainment, gyms, and
The Victorian government’s controversial pandemic legislation now faces likely defeat in the state’s upper house after former Labor powerbroker Adem Somyurek advised that he will vote against it. Somyurek became an independent MP in 2020 in the wake of a branch-stacking scandal; the former government minister says he would have opposed the bill if he
When your personality is a lie, everything that you do is a lie because it has no moral centre. To wit, Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the last week: Scott Morrison is championing “can-do capitalism” and says he wants corporates to stop “rent-seeking” climate change subsidies from the federal government. The Prime Minister is right
Last week, the Victorian Bar – the professional association of barristers – urged the state government to reconsider its controversial new pandemic laws which would grant the Andrews Government “unlimited, unreviewable power” that “authorises extreme limitations of basic liberties of all Victorians and confers enormous powers on the executive”. Amongst other things, it has expressed concern that
As we know, the toxic Morrison Government is obsessed with symbolism over substance and the message over the national interest. It is widely understood that this results in consistent lying, false advertising and bogus rhetoric. It is also well understood that this includes attempts to bully the ABC out of reporting the truth: The ABC
In August the Morrison Government launched another housing affordability inquiry – this time examining ‘supply-side impediments’. In the marketing spiel accompanying the announcement, Coalition committee chair Jason Falinski cited “limitations on land and restrictive planning laws as the major causes of shortages in supply”. Falinski also cited the RBA as claiming that “regulatory settings are
The past week has seen the legal profession and human rights activists lobby furiously against the Victorian Government’s proposed pandemic powers, which have already passed the lower house. For example, the Victorian Bar – the professional association of barristers – claims the new pandemic laws which would grant the Andrews Government “unlimited, unreviewable power” that “authorises
Yesterday’s Newspoll results were another crushing blow for Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Not only did Labor maintain a gargantuan two-party preferred lead over the Coalition: But Labor leader Anthony Albanese caught up ground on “preferred PM”: Further analysis released today by Newspoll shows that voters have lost trust in Scott Morrison, increasingly viewing him as
Last week I reported testimony from the head of Transparency International Australia (TIA), Serena Lillywhite, to the Senate committee examining money laundering. Ms Lillywhite claimed “Australia has become the destination of choice for illicit financial flows … which too often end up in the property market” before asking “how much evidence of money laundering in
Last week I reported how the Victorian Bar – the professional association of barristers – has urged the state government to reconsider its controversial new pandemic laws which would grant the Andrews Government “unlimited, unreviewable power” that “authorises extreme limitations of basic liberties of all Victorians and confers enormous powers on the executive”. Sixty barristers in
Paul Keating is completely out of step on China. But he does have one good point to make and it is this: Contrast this with Peter Dutton: “(China’s) been very clear about their intent to go into Taiwan and we need to make sure that there is a high level of preparedness, a greater sense
The trolls of Holt St are tying themselves in knots to find a positive angle to this week’s Newspoll: The Coalition has clawed back support among conservative voters as the leadership contest between Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese narrows to its tightest margin since March last year. An exclusive Newspoll commissioned by The Australian shows the
COP-out 26 has held onto coal: …the agreement established a clear consensus that all nations need to do much more, immediately, to prevent a catastrophic rise in global temperatures. It outlined specific steps the world should take, from slashing global carbon dioxide emissions nearly in half by 2030 to curbing methane, another potent greenhouse gas.
On Wednesday I reported testimony from the head of Transparency International Australia (TIA), Serena Lillywhite, to the Senate committee examining money laundering. Ms Lillywhite claimed “Australia has become the destination of choice for illicit financial flows … which too often end up in the property market” before asking “how much evidence of money laundering in
Yesterday I reported how the Victorian Bar – the professional association of barristers – has urged the state government to reconsider its controversial new pandemic laws which would grant the Andrews Government “unlimited, unreviewable power” that “authorises extreme limitations of basic liberties of all Victorians and confers enormous powers on the executive”. Sixty barristers have in
Labor frontbenchers Kristina Keneally and Julie Collins have criticised the federal government’s new agricultural visas, which will enable farmers to address a labour shortage by recruiting foreign workers. They contend that the agriculture visas will provide more scope for guest workers to be exploited compared with the existing Seasonal Workers Program and the Pacific Labour
Polls show Australians want “lower immigration” than what both major parties have been pushing, according to economist Dr Cameron Murray. Dr Murray, author of the Book Game of Mates, says one of the “ongoing justifications” for Australia’s high migration rate has been to “increase growth and increase revenue”. “That shouldn’t really be our main focus
Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) director James Laurenceson has warned that Australia’s education export sector could take another hit if the federal government cancels Landbridge’s 99-year lease for the Port of Darwin. Laurenceson says the Chinese government would be highly likely to respond by imposing further economic sanctions on Australia; this could include directing Chinese students
The Victorian Bar – the professional association of barristers – has urged the state government to reconsider its controversial new pandemic laws which would grant the Andrews Government “unlimited, unreviewable power”. Amongst other things, it has expressed concern that the Department of Health could exercise its new powers under the legislation without sufficient oversight by
From Roy Morgan Research: ALP support is now at 53.5% (down 0.5% points since late October) cf. L-NP on 46.5% (up 0.5% points) on a two-party preferred basis according to the latest Roy Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention conducted over the last two weekends. The small swing to the L-NP came while Prime Minister
Recall that the Morrison Government tried to privatise Australia’s visa system with a proposal to allow the private Australian Visa Processing consortium spearheaded by Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s friend to take over visa processing. As explained in The Australian in 2018: Liberal Party heavyweight Scott Briggs — a close friend and political ally of Scott
What is the point of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party? Every time there is important legislation put to the Senate for a vote, One Nation always sides with the Coalition. The latest case in point is the Morrison Government’s sham National Integrity Commission (NIC), which the Centre for Public Integrity and other experts believe will
We know that the reason last week’s French demolition of Scott Morrison was so damaging is that it rang true to Australians: So, what does Toxic Morrison do the moment he steps off the aeroplane? Lies: https://t.co/wSbeAWjNX8 — Media Analyst (@MediaAnalystOz) November 9, 2021 And launches a new Carbon Corruption Tax to pork-barrel: Scott Morrison
The head of Transparency International Australia (TIA), Serena Lillywhite, yesterday testified to a Senate committee on how property is used for international money laundering: “Australia has become the destination of choice for illicit financial flows … which too often end up in the property market,” she told a Senate inquiry on Tuesday… [Money laundering has]
