PM rules out capital gains tax changes at Labor's upcoming economic roundtable
'We know in terms of tax reform, GST and capital gains tax and negative gearing have already been ruled out by the PM,' Mr Clennell said.
'But there does seem to be consideration of a road user charge.'
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The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
Albanese's response to blistering personal attack struck the right tone
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese found himself standing precipitously in the path of a potentially disastrous international storm blasting in from Israel overnight when his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu called him a 'weak' apologist for Hamas. In a blistering letter sent in response to Australia's recognition of a Palestinian state and a diplomatic tit-for-tat visa row, the conservative Israeli leader did not hold back. 'History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews,' Netanyahu wrote. 'Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire,' the letter reads. 'It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas' refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets.' Loading It doesn't get much more personal or damning than that, and there was a collective holding of breath as the nation waited to see how the Australian leader would respond as Australian-Israeli relations hit a new low. When he broke his silence about noon, Albanese was measured in tone. Speaking from South Australia, he said he treated foreign leaders 'with respect' and didn't take the description of him as 'weak' personally. 'I treat leaders of other countries with respect, I engage with them in a diplomatic way,' Albanese said, declining to descend into an ugly verbal exchange with his Israeli counterpart. The Herald supports this measured tone. There is no upside for Australia getting drawn into a personal slanging match between nations. The latest flare-up in tensions came when Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke's department cancelled a visa this week for far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman, based on his views and comments that included calling Gazan children 'enemies' of Israel. While Albanese played a straight bat, he used Burke as his attack dog. 'Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry,' Burke told ABC radio. While many conservative commentators are appalled at the actions of the Albanese government and would back the overall sentiment of Netanyahu, if not his exact language, this is by no means universal. Some sections of the Jewish community in Australia called out Netanyahu for overstepping the mark. Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler described Netanyahu's comments as 'entirely unhelpful and unproductive', while Alex Ryvchin of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said the Jewish community had 'never felt abandoned by this government'. So clearly, there is a view that Netanyahu was out of line, and while there is room for debate on Labor's actions on Palestine, the reaction by the Israeli leader was disproportionate. For now, Albanese is correct to focus on the more substantive issues, such as an immediate end to the conflict in Gaza that has dragged on for far too long, rather than play personal politics. But he must also keep pressure on the Palestinian side to uphold its end of the bargain and help ensure any future state rejects terrorism, turns away from Hamas and commits to a peaceful co-existence with its neighbour.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Albanese's response to blistering personal attack struck the right tone
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese found himself standing precipitously in the path of a potentially disastrous international storm blasting in from Israel overnight when his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu called him a 'weak' apologist for Hamas. In a blistering letter sent in response to Australia's recognition of a Palestinian state and a diplomatic tit-for-tat visa row, the conservative Israeli leader did not hold back. 'History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews,' Netanyahu wrote. 'Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire,' the letter reads. 'It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas' refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets.' Loading It doesn't get much more personal or damning than that, and there was a collective holding of breath as the nation waited to see how the Australian leader would respond as Australian-Israeli relations hit a new low. When he broke his silence about noon, Albanese was measured in tone. Speaking from South Australia, he said he treated foreign leaders 'with respect' and didn't take the description of him as 'weak' personally. 'I treat leaders of other countries with respect, I engage with them in a diplomatic way,' Albanese said, declining to descend into an ugly verbal exchange with his Israeli counterpart. The Herald supports this measured tone. There is no upside for Australia getting drawn into a personal slanging match between nations. The latest flare-up in tensions came when Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke's department cancelled a visa this week for far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman, based on his views and comments that included calling Gazan children 'enemies' of Israel. While Albanese played a straight bat, he used Burke as his attack dog. 'Strength is not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry,' Burke told ABC radio. While many conservative commentators are appalled at the actions of the Albanese government and would back the overall sentiment of Netanyahu, if not his exact language, this is by no means universal. Some sections of the Jewish community in Australia called out Netanyahu for overstepping the mark. Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler described Netanyahu's comments as 'entirely unhelpful and unproductive', while Alex Ryvchin of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said the Jewish community had 'never felt abandoned by this government'. So clearly, there is a view that Netanyahu was out of line, and while there is room for debate on Labor's actions on Palestine, the reaction by the Israeli leader was disproportionate. For now, Albanese is correct to focus on the more substantive issues, such as an immediate end to the conflict in Gaza that has dragged on for far too long, rather than play personal politics. But he must also keep pressure on the Palestinian side to uphold its end of the bargain and help ensure any future state rejects terrorism, turns away from Hamas and commits to a peaceful co-existence with its neighbour.
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Matt Canavan delivers stark warning about Australia's poor growth, large debt after Sky News Real Economic Round Table
Australians are in for a 'major economic shock' if action is not taken to bolster growth and productivity while slashing government spending, Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has warned. Mr Canavan and Sky News convened leading experts for the 'Real Economic Round Table' in response to the Albanese government's closed-door economic reform roundtable. While Labor's roundtable ruled many topics off the table, the Sky News forum left nothing out of bounds. Following the roundtable, Mr Canavan said changes to boost Australia's flailing productivity and efforts to reel in government debt and spending, which is $300b more annually than pre-pandemic, were both crucial to the health of the nation's economy. 'If we continue to have this stagnant productivity performance - in the last few years it's fallen off a cliff - (and) if that continues, we're going to suffer a major economic shock of some kind,' he said on Business Now. 'We're going to have a reckoning. There will be an economic reckoning of all the debt that's been built up over the last 20 years - both public and private - that can no longer be serviced if we don't have a strong growing economy.' He highlighted Australia's strong growth throughout much of the time since the start of the century which has allowed the nation to borrow. 'But not right now,' Mr Canavan said. '(Over the) last few years we haven't had that high growth so if that continues there's only so long it can continue before it ends.' Mr Canavan warned the writing may already be on the wall for Australia's economic downturn, as he pointed to major Australian companies that have recently announced job cuts or major layoffs. 'I do think our economy is hurtling down the pathway where it could look fine for a while and then suddenly it's off a cliff,' he said. 'This week, you've seen 3,000 jobs lost at CSL, we see the rise of AI, we see earnings fall for BHP (and) Woodside. 'There is a certain drum beat here that things aren't going that well and we'd be much better off fixing those issues while unemployment's still got a four in front of it and our economic growth is still positive, rather than in a year's time.' Alongside the discussion about debt and the nation's growth, the experts at the Sky News roundtable also laid out four actions the government needs to take to restore productivity in the economy. These were scrapping bracket creep, cutting government spending by four per cent, curbing new NDIS entrants and ditching net-zero emissions targets.
