VIDEO: Australia votes Insiders On Background
As Australia goes to the polls, David Speers asks what did we learn from this election campaign? This week for the On Background podcast, David is joined by former Labor adviser, Ryan Liddell and former Liberal adviser, Andrew Carswell.
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West Australian
17 minutes ago
- West Australian
Australian news and politics live: McKenzie warns Australia must rely on allies amid global threats
Scroll down for the latest news and updates. Former White House cost-cutting chief Elon Musk has taken aim at US President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful' tax and spending package, calling it a 'disgusting abomination' as the Senate moves to pass the bill before July 4. In a post on X, Mr Musk's social media platform, he wrote: 'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it'. Having left the Trump Administration last week, Musk described the measure as a 'massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill.' Read the full story here. Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff's shaky hold on government is in danger of collapsing, after the opposition flagged a no-confidence motion. In his budget reply speech on Tuesday, Labor Opposition Leader Dean Winter said he would put forward the no-confidence motion in Mr Rockliff, challenging the crossbench to support it. Key independent Craig Garland said he would support the motion, telling The Australian the Liberal government's state budget last week that doubled state debt, the controversial AFL stadium project and the TT-Line ferries fiasco were keys to his decision. 'I'll be supporting a no-confidence motion in the Premier. I'm just sick to death of the arrogance and ignorance,' he said. Independent Kristie Johnston and Jacqui Lambie Network MP Andrew Jenner have also signalled support. Read the full story here. The UK is ramping up its military, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer declaring the country must be in a state of 'war-fighting readiness' amid rising global threats. Australia's government says it will not automatically follow the UK's lead, despite US calls for even higher defence spending. Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie has responded to whether Australia should be considering training up for war like the UK. 'Of course we should! I mean, we have two key allies globally, the United States and the United Kingdom. When you've got the Labour Party in the United Kingdom taking these sort of steps, when you have the United States saying we need to ramp up our investment in Defence, it's not for nothing,' she told Sunrise on Wednesday morning. 'We know we're in very challenging geopolitical times. It's not just the commentators. The threat is real. Other nations, other key allies, are taking that seriously.' She added, 'And the reality is, if we wanted to go it alone and defend ourselves, we could increase our Defence budget five times and still be falling short of being able to defend ourselves. So we need to rely on our allies. We always have.' 'And so I think Richard Marles, the Defence Minister, made the right call when the United States made this an issue. Unfortunately, the PM tried to look tough. The reality is we can't do it alone. The threat is real. And we need to step up.'
Sky News AU
22 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
'Wake up to the reality': Nationals leader David Littleproud claims 2050 net zero goal not possible without nuclear energy
Nationals leader David Littleproud has claimed Australia's goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 is not possible without nuclear energy and other 'pragmatic approaches'. Speaking to Sky News host Chris Kenny on Tuesday night, Mr Littleproud said the Labor government's 'all renewables approach' would bring a 'far more harsher' experience for Australians than just energy bills going up. 'We're living with the physical consequence of our prime agricultural land being ripped up with transmission lines, solar panels and wind turbines, and the actual natural environment's also being destroyed in trying to achieve this,' he said. On Sunday, Energy Minister Chris Bowen recommitted to expanding renewables developments across the country in order to meet ambitious emissions reductions targets and reach net zero by 2050. Mr Bowen also suggested Australia could soon introduce targeted tariffs on imports deemed emissions-intensive. Mr Littleproud said his party, which represents regional Australians, had been 'sensible' with its technology agnostic approach. 'We should have nuclear energy as part of that solution. But you should also look at countries that are looking at having a mixed energy grid, not an all renewables approach,' he said, referencing Japan. 'Japan's importing our coal and gas, burning it, capturing it, and bringing it back here and storing it here in Australia.' Asked if it was possible for a developed economy to achieve net zero by 2050, Mr Littleproud said it would not be a realistic goal 'without nuclear energy or carbon capture storage', as well as other 'pragmatic approaches' like using methane for agricultural purposes. 'Unless we see that, then obviously I think the world is going to have a realisation that's going to be very difficult. In fact, they're realising that now,' he said. 'Many of the countries that have made these grand commitments are now saying, 'look, the easy stuff has already been done, the hard stuff now is costing us a lot' and there is going to be a realisation at some point.' Mr Littleproud said Australia was 'blessed' to have sovereignty of its resources but insisted a mixed grid and 'sensible economy' was within reach. The Nationals leader added a mixed grid would give Australia with a healthy environment and create a 'far wealthier country', but called for the extreme parties in the energy debate to 'lay down their arms' and 'wake up to the reality'.
Perth Now
22 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Coalition angry over super changes, Labor up for talks
The federal coalition has drawn a red line on the government's plan to double the tax on superannuation balances above $3 million, as the prime minister welcomes possible negotiations. Labor plans to double the concessional tax rate on the proportion of superannuation balances above that level, to 30 per cent. The policy was formulated after Treasury noticed a small number of people appeared to be using the system as a tax reduction strategy rather than solely for their retirement, as intended. An aspect of the policy, to tax unrealised capital gains on those very large accounts, has proven contentious. Many are set up under self-managed super fund structures. Unrealised gains are 'paper profits' - increases in the value of assets such as properties or shares that haven't been cashed in. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has described the proposed change, first flagged more than two years ago and which is still before the Senate, as "modest". "What this change is about, it's about making concessional treatment for people with very large superannuation balances still concessional but a little bit less so," he said last month. "In terms of the calculation of unrealised gains, that's actually not unique in the system. "And if you make a loss you can carry the loss forward." Nationals senator Matt Canavan said taxing unrealised gains was a major sticking point for the coalition. "There's no way in hell we'll support attacks on people that don't have the means to pay for it," he told Nine's Today show on Wednesday. "This so-called tax on unrealised gains is incredibly unfair." Tax on unrealised gains is already part of the Australian tax system and is, for example, paid under land tax regimes. Greens Leader Larissa Waters told Nine her party, which holds the balance of power in the Senate, believes the threshold should apply to balances above $2 million, rather than $3 million. "It's important to remember that I reckon nobody watching your show would be impacted by this tax," she said. "It would touch only half a per cent of people - we are talking about folk who have an awful lot of money in their super accounts - that is not ordinary people." On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that if the coalition was willing to negotiate a deal on the changes, then that was "good". "I welcome the fact that they're saying that they won't just say no to everything from the very beginning but we'll, of course, talk to people in the Senate." Mr Albanese noted that some super accounts are worth more than $100 million. "That's not really to provide for an adequate retirement, is it?" he told Perth radio 6PR.
