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Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Controversial Jewish MP's visa cancelled
The Australian Jewish Association has warned the country is on the Trump administration's radar over its treatment of Israeli internationals as the Albanese government sensationally cancelled the visa of a Jewish MP. Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke on Tuesday denied Israeli politician Simcha Rothman from entering the country, imposing a three-year ban just one day before he was set to arrive in Australia. Rothman – who forms a part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political party – was set to appear at speaking events across synagogues and Jewish schools as well as host meetings with victims and visit targeted institutions. But the MP was met with the sudden cancellation on the day he was set to board his flight. The AJA's chief executive Robert Gregory said the move formed a pattern of international Jewish guests receiving poor treatment from the Albanese government. 'The purpose of Mr Rothman's visit was to show solidarity with Australia's Jewish community, which is facing a wave of anti-Semitism,' he said. Israeli politician Simcha Rothman has had his Australian visa cancelled just one day before being expected to arrive in the country. BBC Credit: BBC News 'This is a viciously anti-Semitic move from a government that is obsessed with targeting the Jewish community and Israel.' Mr Gregory explained all of the MP's paperwork was filled out correctly and on time and the visa was approved with no obstacles. 'The timing of the cancellation at the last minute was spiteful and intended to cause maximum harm to the Australia Jewish community. He took to X to reveal the association had since heard from an increasing number of Australian Jewish people who now feel unwelcome under Albanese and are planning to leave the country. 'It seems the government is happy to replace them by importing thousands of Gazans,' he said. 'Israel is fully justified in taking strong measures in response to this and we have briefed contacts in the Trump administration who are also concerned about events in Australia.' Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, has defended the decision to cancel the visa of Simcha Rothman. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia However, Mr Burke doubled down on the decision to deny people who 'spread division' entry into the country. 'Our government takes a hard line on people who seek to come to our country and spread division,' he said. 'If you are coming to Australia to spread a message of hate and division, we don't want you here. 'Under our government, Australia will be a country where everyone can be safe, and feel safe.' The move follows the controversial approval of a visa for Hamas supporter Monda Zahed, which was swiftly cancelled after calls for Mr Burke's resignation.
Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
US State Secretary Marco Rubio suspends Gaza visas over evidence facilitating organisations have ‘strong links' to Hamas
The United States has suspended visitors from Gaza from entering the country due to some organisations involved in the visa process having 'strong links' to Hamas. On Sunday, State Secretary Marco Rubio told Face the Nation numerous Congressional office had presented 'evidence' that some of the organisations 'bragging' about acquiring US visas were 'friendly' with the terror group. 'We are not going to be in partnership with groups that are friendly with Hamas,' Rubio said. 'We are going to pause those visas, there was just a small number of them issued to children, but they come with adults accompanying them, obviously, and we are going to pause this program and re-evaluate how these visas are being vetted.' The State Department on Saturday posted to X to announce all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza would be 'stopped', while a small number of 'temporary medical-humanitarian' visas would be granted. As of August 2024, the Albanese government had granted 2,922 visas to Palestinians since October 7, 2023. In 2025, between January 1 and May 21, 94 Palestinians were granted visitor visas, while 461 were rejected. contacted Home Affairs Minister Burke for an exact total number of visa holders from Gaza. On Monday, the Australian government cancelled the visa of Israeli politician Simcha Rothman for three years, a day before he was set to arrive in Australia for speaking events. Rothman, who is part of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Coalition and holds the senior position of Chair of the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, applied for a visa - which was approved about two weeks ago. He was set to speak at synagogues, in Jewish schools and hold meetings with the Jewish Community. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told Sky News his government would block anyone spreading "a message of hate and division". 'Our Government takes a hard line on people who seek to come to our country and spread division," he said. Earlier this month, Mr Burke confirmed Mona Zahed, a Palestinian woman who praised Hamas' October 7 attacks against Israel whose visa was cancelled, initially applied for an entertainment visa as opposed to a humanitarian visa. 'This was someone from Gaza who was not going through the humanitarian visa process that we've got in place, or even for a visitor visa for that matter, but who'd applied on the entertainment stream,' Mr Burke said. Mr Burke said the woman was not eligible to receive the visa, and that as a result her application was not immediately cancelled on character grounds.
Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Two economists outline a proposal to tax the family home ahead of the economic roundtable on Tuesday
Two economists have proposed a radical plan to remove a tax exemption on the family home ahead of the Albanese government's economic reform roundtable in Canberra which starts on Tuesday. Peter Siminski from University Technology Sydney and Roger Wilkins from the University of Melbourne made the argument in The Conversation last Wednesday, arguing the family home should not be exempted from capital gains tax or the capital gains tax discount. The CGT discount, which was introduced by the Howard Coalition government in 1999, discounts assets that have been held in the family for more than 12 months. The tax exemption is estimated to cost Treasury around $50 billion, with the capital gains discount costing around $19 billion. In total, this leads to a $69 billion shortfall. Writing in The Conversation, Mr Siminski and Mr Wilkins have said they want these tax exemptions to be removed, an idea not supported by Labor or the Coalition. 'When these are included in the income measure, inequality is higher, and it increases more strongly over time,' the authors said. They also suggested that inequality in society was increasing as more people choose not to put their homes on the market and instead opt to tie up equity in the family home. 'Unsurprisingly, outright homeowners are much better off than renters when income from the home is counted,' they wrote. 'They have an average income 86 per cent higher than the average income of renters — compared with 34 per cent higher if housing income is ignored, as it usually is.' They also suggested that negative gearing should be scrapped - something that both the government and the Coalition have ruled out supporting. Both the government and the Coalition have said that housing construction numbers need to increase, and the Treasurer has said building new houses will be a key point of the roundtable discussions. The government has already ruled out increasing GST and raising new taxes, despite many economists saying the government will need to do so. Speaking to Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell, Dr Chalmers said the focus of the summit would be on increasing productivity. 'It's called an Economic Reform Roundtable, but productivity is the main game, the major focus of the roundtable this week,' Dr Chalmers said. Dr Chalmers said housing was another key focus of the Roundtable. 'I don't think it's a secret, Andrew, the government is desperate to build more homes,' he said. 'We do want to reform the environmental approvals process. My colleague Murray Watt and the whole cabinet are working on several elements of building more homes, getting the approvals moving more quickly.' The comments come as several states announced that they would miss their targets agreed in the National Housing Accord back in 2022. New South Wales is on track to be short of 120,000 homes, something that Premier Chris Minns has repeatedly blamed on councils expressing NIMBYism, particularly with the City of Sydney and Mosman Council on the city's north shore.
