When business loses, Australia loses bigger
On Wednesday, the Business Council and the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia will host the Business Debate between Treasurer Jim Chalmers and shadow treasurer Angus Taylor.
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SBS Australia
4 hours ago
- SBS Australia
SBS News in Easy English 12 June 2025
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Biwa Kwan. The future of the AUKUS security alliance between Australia, the US and the UK is uncertain, after the US announced a review into the deal. The Pentagon has launched a review of the agreement to ensure it aligns with President Donald Trump's policy agenda. Defence Minister Richard Marles has dismissed speculation the United States may back out of the deal, saying it is important to stick to the plan to ensure the defence capability is acquired. The Opposition's spokesman for defence, Angus Taylor says actions must be taken to ensure the AUKUS deal is maintained. "We have been consistent in providing bipartisan support to AUKUS. And we will continue. It is hugely important that it succeed for peace in our part of the world. This US review came out of the blue. We need to know to what extent was the review triggered by Labor's failure to fund defence in this country to a level that the US and other partners think is appropriate." Greens defence spokesperson David Shoebridge says the US review shows the AUKUS deal makes Australia a junior partner in America's military strategy, not an equal ally. Some of Australia's most popular sunscreens - including some made by Bondi Sands, Banana Boat and the Cancer Council - are not delivering on the claims made on the level of skin protection. Independent testing by consumer group Choice found more than three-quarters of SPF 50+ sunscreens did not have the advertised protection Choice CEO Ashley de Silva says only four of the 20 sunscreens tested in an accredited sunscreen lab actually met their claims of SPF 50 or 50+ protection. The Cancer Council says its test results shows their sunscreens meet their SPF ratings, but they have submitted the products for further testing. Several other popular brands have indicated they plan to do additional testing, following the findings. The chief executive of Monash IVF has resigned, after the fertility clinic revealed a second instance of an error involving an embryo transfer - two months after the first mix-up. Michael Knaap, who had been the chief executive since 2019 has resigned. Earlier this week, in a statement to the stock exchange, Monash IVF revealed the mix-up took place on June 5 at its Melbourne laboratory. An Australian sperm donor, caught up in a cyber security data breach, has told S-B-S he is unsure how he and his donor-conceived child will be affected. Isaac chose to use Genea Fertility, which was later hacked by cyber criminals in a data breach. The family histories of medication and mental illness of some of the clinic's donors are now being shared on the dark web. Isaac says he is worried his own sensitive medical information could be weaponised. His response has been voiced up by a journalist to protect his privacy: "What happens if I get a job which is relatively high profile or dealing with sensitive activity, could this open me up to not getting employed because an employer might've found my internet history, and maybe they have had ethical concerns or concerns with my health record. It's taken away my agency and my choice to disclose that information if I want to. That's only compounded further by the lack of information that I've been provided about this investigation and the data breach." In a statement, Genea told SBS its cyber teams are working hard to understand the nature and extent of the data that has been published, and to identify affected individuals. The Filipino community in Australia is marking Philippines Independence Day, with festivities to showcase the country's heritage, culture and community spirit. June 12th commemorates the declaration of Philippine independence from Spain in 18-98, and has been the country's National Day since 1978. Filipino-Australian Siegfrid Bacani was born in the Philippines and came to Australia as a teenager. He told SBS Filipino it is important that his son knows his heritage. "I read storybooks to him. Not that my Tagalog is that great, but it is important to celebrate culture."
News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
Renumeration Tribunal sets 2.4 per cent pay rise for MPs, Anthony Albanese to pocket extra $14.5k
Anthony Albanese and other politicians are set for a plumped-up pay packed in just weeks, with the Prime Minister's salary jumping from about $607,471-a-year to $622,050. Politicians, department secretaries and other senior public servants will get a 2.4 per cent pay rise from July 1, following the determination of the 2025 Review of Remuneration for Holders of Public Office. The statement issued by the Remuneration Tribunal on Wednesday noted that the total remuneration increases given in the past year have been 'relatively modest,' totalling 18.65 per cent since 2016. While the 2.4 per cent pay bump matched inflation, it is under the 3.4 per cent wage-price index for the public sector, and less than the 3.4 per cent and 4 per cent increases awarded by the Tribunal in 2024 and 2023 after salaries stalled during the Covid pandemic. 'In contrast, remuneration increases more generally in the public and private sectors (based on overall March Wage Price Index data from 2016-2025) equate to 25.6 per cent,' the statement said. The 2.4 per cent boost was also lower than the Fair Work Commission's Annual Wage Review which determined a 3.5 per cent above-inflation increase to the minimum wage and Australians on modern award wages. A backbencher will see their salary increase from about $233,660 to $239,267, while Sussan Ley will get a boost of $10,374 to $442,643. Jim Chalmers' annual pay will be boosted to $448,625, a bump of $10,514 while cabinet ministers will receive an uplift of $4065 to $412,735. Politicians are also given an electorate allowance which covers expenses incurred to 'provide services to their constituents' such as travelling, in additional to a private plated vehicle. Senators get a flat rate of $39,700 per year, while MPs are given between $39,700 to $57,100 depending on the size of their electorate.
News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
‘Should be worried': Mark Bouris' superannuation warning to young Aussies
Millionaire businessman Mark Bouris has warned 'every young person' in Australia 'should be worried' as debate rages over Labor's superannuation tax changes. From July, 12 per cent of most workers' wages will be paid into their superannuation fund (a 0.5 per cent increase from the current amount). Treasurer Jim Chalmers' proposed changes, known as Division 296, would double the rate of tax levied by the government from 15 per cent to 30 per cent for superannuation balances over $3 million. Only around 80,000 Australians, or 0.5 per cent of the population, currently have super balances above $3 million, but industry groups have warned that if the threshold is not indexed to inflation it could eventually capture the majority of Gen Zs entering the workforce today. Mr Bouris joined the chorus in the latest episode of his Mentored+ podcast, arguing Labor's super tax on unreleased gains will put more – not less – pressure on young people. 'Every young person in the country should be worried about this, and I'll tell you why: because every old person in the country has experienced building their superannuation up with only 15 per cent tax rate from day 1, for the last 30, 40 years, since (then-Prime Minister Paul) Keating introduced it in the early '90s,' he said. Compulsory employer contributions to superannuation were introduced by Mr Keating in 1992, at the time requiring them to kick in 4 per cent. According to a recent study by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), some $4.2 trillion of superannuation is held by Australian workers, while household savings have been boosted by more than $500 billion since compulsory super's inception. 'We've had this, all of us had this fantastic low-tax situation with the money we earn in our super fund,' Mr Bouris said. 'Now, young people who accumulate more than $3 million worth of assets – and they will – will not have the same benefits that everyone else has had since Keating introduced this legislation.' Mr Bouris suggested the former leader 'must be just feeling completely demoralised and probably, to some extent, betrayed' by the expected changes, which he described as 'the envy of the rest of the world … put there to take the strain off government'. Last August, Mr Keating warned the 'unconscionable' doubling of tax on retirement savings could turn superannuation into a low- and middle-income pension scheme and damage community confidence in the system he had created. 'All (Labor's changes) is going to do is put more strain on government when people retire, because people are not going to retire with enough money because they are going to be paying too much tax – and the people who are going to be affected by that most is anyone starting work today, any new young person,' Mr Bouris continued. 'So if you're a young person and you're saying, 'Oh, this is great', because you're gonna get rich people to transfer the wealth across to the younger people – uh-uh. 'You will be transferring it to your kids – and it's going to keep going like that forever, and this $3 million at some period of time will be worth, like, $100k, like a hundred grand's-worth today, because the time value of money just keeps creeping and creeping and creeping.' Labor first announced the crackdown on tax concessions for very large super balances in 2023, but the legislation was blocked by the previous Senate. The changes – expected to initially claw back $2.7 billion a year and nearly $40 billion over a decade – now look likely to become law as a deal with the Greens looms. 'What we need to do is make sure that our superannuation system is fair,' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last week. 'That is what we are setting out to do.' Division 296 will also be applied to defined benefit pensions — an older style of superannuation scheme that was common in public sector and local government workplaces until the 1990s. A defined benefit pension guarantees the amount you will receive in retirement. The move to include it in the new tax changes are to ensure 'commensurate treatment' as high-balance super funds — although unlike super account holders, those eligible will be able to defer the payments until they retire. Interest will be charged annually on the deferred tax liability at the 10-year bond rate, currently at around 4.5 per cent. Treasury estimates that 10,000 members with defined benefit interests will be impacted by the new tax in 2025-26, 'representing approximately 1 per cent of the total population with DB interests'.
