Land tax is the ‘last straw' for Victorian farmers as drought batters crops
Victorian Liberal MP Bev McArthur comments on increasing costs as drought batters farmers' crops in Victoria.
'When they're confronted by adverse weather conditions, increased rate rises, increased bank interest rates, and huge increase in their input costs as well, and then this tax on top, it's just been the last straw,' Ms McArthur told Sky News host Rita Panahi.
'I've asked the Minister for Agriculture, the state minister, to come and look at what the situation is in our area, see for yourself how desperate people are, and how desperate the situation is.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

The Age
3 hours ago
- The Age
‘Sucker for a good cause': Melbourne legal legends sign up for Palestinian student activists
The University of Melbourne's new-ish vice chancellor, Emma Johnston, made a little history when she officially punted two pro-Palestine protesters from the august institution after the students and about 16 of their mates stormed and occupied the office of Jewish academic Steven Prawer last year. But as they say in the classics, this ain't over yet. The two unnamed students – another two were suspended over their October 2024 stunt – were given 30 days to appeal Johnston's decision and have already attracted some legal heavyweights. But there's just one teensy-tiny issue. Legal eagle Greg Barns, no stranger to these matters, having acted as an adviser to Wikileaks ex-con Julian Assange, and in a lengthy list of right-on causes, has teamed-up with Victorian criminal law legend and former magistrate Rob Stary to add some heft to the students' legal crusade. Stary's list of former clients is, well, quite something. We've got 'Jihad' Jack Thomas, who was the first Australian to be convicted under the post-9/11 terrorism laws, Assange – him again – and even Melbourne gangland figures Tony Mokbel and the late Carl Williams. The high-profile legal pair are joined by fellow bar-table veteran Leonard Hartnett, who celebrates 50 years in the wig-and-gown game this year, and pro-Palestine legal sister act Bernadette and Ran Zaydan, who established their Watermelon Defence Fund, which, well, the name says it all. (The melon's colours match those of the Palestinian flag.) Stary said he became involved after the other lawyers contacted him, but he told CBD he was approaching his task with some gusto. 'Always a sucker for a good cause,' he said. And that teensy-tiny issue? Uni rules state that the students have no right of representation in the appeals process, so their near-basketball squad of legal advisers is, at this stage anyway, just that.

Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
More money to Moscow than Kyiv: Australia buying billions in fuel using Russian crude despite sanctions against Kremlin
Australia's dependence on imported oil—much of it refined from Russian crude—has handed the Kremlin billions of dollars in tax revenue from exporters, according to new research. While Australia has proudly pledged $1.5 billion in aid to support Ukraine against Russia's invasion, a new report found the country has funnelled even more money to the Kremlin. Data from the Europe-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) estimated Australia has imported more than AU$3.7 billion worth of oil products derived from Russian crude. The oil is refined overseas—including at the Jamnagar Refinery in India, which has not sanctioned Russian crude—before being legally imported into the Australian market. This would have handed Russian President Vladimir Putin about AU$1.8 billion in tax revenue, according CREA. CREA's EU Russia Analyst Vaibhav Raghunandan called it 'a significant failing of Western sanctions', exposing a glaring loophole that lets Russia bypass restrictions. 'Refineries in non-sanctioning countries buying Russian oil are… taking comfort in the knowledge that they will face no action from Western countries,' he said. Mr Raghunandan said countries like Australia 'look away and continue to import refined products', indirectly funding Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) warned this 'policy blind spot' was 'actively undermining our credibility' as a nation. ASPI's Director of National Security Programs John Coyne called Australia's dependence on Russian-linked fuel 'a serious national security failure and a strategic contradiction'. 'We cannot claim to support Ukraine and uphold a values-based foreign policy while simultaneously fuelling our economy with Russian-linked petroleum,' he told Sky News. 'According to reports, Australia has sent more tax dollars to the Kremlin through these imports than we've provided to Ukraine in aid. That's indefensible.' Resources Minister Madeleine King did not respond to questions asked by Sky News about the issue. Due to fuel security issues, Australia has continued to rely on imports in order to deliver its national energy demands. According to the latest Australian Petroleum Statistics, there are just 56 days of fuel supply on shore, well below the International Energy Agency's 90-day requirement. Mr Coyne said Australia's critically low domestic fuel reserves was a vulnerability. 'Our domestic fuel reserves remain critically low… Australia is dangerously exposed to global supply disruptions, conflict, or coercion,' he said. 'We are one maritime chokepoint or geopolitical flare-up away from a fuel crisis.' Mr Coyne urged the federal government to take immediate action to bolster sovereign energy capability and national resilience. 'The era of cheap energy and blind reliance on market forces to solve national problems is over. Governments can no longer outsource resilience,' he said. 'Right now, Australia is precariously vulnerable to any disruption in the global liquid fuel supply chain and that vulnerability cuts across defence, emergency response, agriculture, and logistics.' He said to address the problem, the Albanese government must close the refining loophole in its sanctions regime and improve sovereign refining and storage capacity. He added the government needed to 'embed fuel security in a coordinated, whole-of-government resilience strategy'. 'This is not just about economics. It's about whether Australia can function, respond and defend itself under stress,' Mr Coyne said.

Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Liberal Senator Anne Ruston suggests Chris Bowen should 'have been fired years ago' in scathing takedown of Energy Minister
Liberal Senator Anne Ruston has issued a scathing assessment of Labor's policies under Chris Bowen, declaring the Energy Minister "would have been fired years ago" if he had been working for a private business. Following its emphatic victory in the May federal election, Labor has doubled down on its controversial renewables-led push to achieve net zero emissions. Speaking at the National Press Club on Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese suggested his party's victory demonstrated a clear mandate for the plan, despite ongoing community concerns surrounding several high profile projects. Mr Bowen, too, has doubled down on the push, insisting renewables remain the "cleanest and cheapest" way to power the national grid. However, Senator Ruston was quick to push back against the claims, accusing both men of "completely destroying the very thing that underpins our economy". "The Prime Minister just seems to be completely blind to any other solution, whatever that might be, so that Australians can have a reliable and affordable power," she told Sky News following Mr Albanese's address. "All he seems to caring about is his pursuit of this ideological sort of renewable energy future that he's proving not to be deliverable. "The government constantly is providing subsidies and handouts and the like of taxpayers' money to fix up a problem that is of their own making. "Our power bills were supposed to have gone down by this year. Clearly, the complete opposite's happened with increases of over $1,000." Senator Ruston then singled out Mr Bowen for particular criticism, as she questioned why Labor continued to stand by what she described as a "failed policy pursuit". "If Chris Bowen was an executive in any sensible company around Australia he would have been fired years ago and yet he still stays in this job completely destroying the very thing that underpins our economy and that's affordable and reliable energy," she said. The Senator's takedown of the government's energy plans comes as the Coalition continues to struggle internally over its own stance on net zero. Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce and Senator Matt Canavan have been amongst a handful of high-profile members pushing for the opposition to scrap their commitment to the emissions reduction target. However, others within the Liberal Party have warned the Coalition risks losing even more support in urban areas if it abandons the pledge, with Labor and Teal independents both positioning themselves as strong on the environment. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has said the Coalition would review its stance on the issue and Senator Ruston was similarly coy when she addressed the party's stance. "We're taking a very considered approach to making sure that the Coalition's energy policy going to the next election is one that will deliver reliable and affordable power, at the same time as making sure emissions reduction is part of the mix," she said.