Federal politics: NBN inks deal with Amazon for faster broadband for 300,000 homes — as it happened
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Penny Wong says there is a risk there will be "no Palestine left to recognise" if a path to a two-state solution is not created.
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News.com.au
25 minutes ago
- News.com.au
WA Teal backs $3300 handout, GST hike scheme as key economic driver
Teal independent Kate Chaney has floated a radical plan to hand everyone $3,300 a year in exchange for a hike in the GST. Ms Chaney has been working with Australian economist Richard Holden on a proposal to raise the GST from 10 to 15 per cent, and apply the tax to education, food and health. In exchange for the tax hike, every adult would be paid $3300 - effectively wiping out the GST expenses on someone's first $22,000 of spending. Ms Chaney and Professor Holden's plan has been submitted to the federal government to be considered at the productivity-focused economic roundtable, a summit to be held in Canberra from August 19 to 21. 'GST is an efficient tax – it is hard to avoid – and with lower and middle-income groups potentially better off under this proposal, it can be progressive,' Ms Chaney said. 'Unlike personal income tax, it doesn't hamper productivity. 'Intergenerational inequity is built into our tax system - younger generations are facing the growing burden of funding an ageing population and will bear the cost of future interest payments to cover the structural deficit forecast for the next decade.' The WA MP's plan has been costed and would raise an additional $95.2bn for the government in its first year of operation, minus the $3300 rebate to every adult. Low and middle-income earners would be up to $371 better off, but the top-20 per cent of earners would be $2200 worse off. All that leaves the government with an additional $24bn a year. The Prime Minister and Treasurer have been hesitant in their language around GST reform leading up to the economic roundtable meetings. 'I expect that there'll be a whole range of ideas put forward, much of which is contradictory with each other,' Anthony Albanese said this week. 'It doesn't mean that they're government decisions we're making, because they're not.' But Mr Albanese was more explicit in his language on Thursday. 'The only tax policy that we're implementing is the one that we took to the election,' he said. While the current GST scheme is considered regressive, Professor Holden's plan is pitched as progressive. 'I'm a supporter of progressive taxation,' Mr Albanese told Sky News in July. 'Consumption taxes, by definition, are regressive in their nature. So that's something that you know doesn't fit with the agenda.' Parliamentary Budget Office costings of Professor Holden and Ms Chaney's scheme show the bottom 60 per cent of income earners would be better with the GST hike and $3300 rebate. 'Our proposal would make our taxation system more efficient, make our economy more dynamic and provide the impetus for productivity growth,' Professor Holden said. 'It is widely accepted that the GST is an efficient tax, but it is thought to be regressive. 'This plan shows that it doesn't have to be that way. By providing every adult Australian with a $22,000 GST-free threshold the GST can be both efficient and progressive.' The government has promoted the roundtable meetings as being focused on productivity. The Australian Council of Social Services says the country's lagging productivity is widening inequality. In the council's submission to the roundtable, chief executive Cassandra Goldie calls for reform to the tax system to raise more revenue, reduce inequality and drive action to address climate change. 'For too long now, people with plenty have been showered with tax breaks that pull investment away from productive purposes and rob essential public services of the revenue they need,' Dr Goldie said. The council is advocating for changes to employment opportunities and streamlining income support. 'The extra revenue we need to fund care and community services, schools, and an income support system that protects people from poverty must come from those with the most capacity to pay - not those doing it toughest,' Dr Goldie said.
News.com.au
25 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Health Check: Neuren says the US Rett syndrome market is a case of glass half full
Neuren's US partner Acadia reports a 14% sales boost Look out for a slew of advanced clinical trial results in early 2026 IDT Australia shares plunge up to 39% after CEO departs 'with immediate effect' Despite firming US sales of its Rett syndrome treatment Daybue, Neuren Pharmaceuticals (ASX:NEU) says two-thirds of eligible patients are yet to try the drug. Neuren's US partner Acadia Pharmaceuticals overnight reported quarterly net sales of US$96.1 million, up 14% year on year. The Nasdaq-listed Acadia says a record number of patients received a shipment, growing for the third consecutive quarter. Acadia holds the global rights to Daybue and pays royalties to Neuren, which initially developed the drug. Affecting boys, Rett syndrome is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder resulting in slow development after the ages of six to 18 months. Acadia has guided to net sales of US$380-405 million, which at the current exchange rate will generate $62-67 million of royalties for Neuren in calendar 2025. Neuren earned $14.7 million in the June quarter, up 16% year on year. By their nature, royalties are pretty much pure profit. More patients – and they're more persistent Acadia says a record 987 patients received Daybue in the quarter, up from 954 in the March quarter. Despite concerns about side effects, 50% of patients persisted after 12 months' treatment. Neuren adds that 70% of active patients have now been on therapy for 12 months or longer. This was up from 65% previously. The company says two-thirds of the 5500 to 5800 diagnosed US patients are yet to try Daybue. The FDA approved the therapy in March 2023 and Acadia expects European assent in the March 2026 quarter. Neuren shares this morning spurted as much as 8%. They've more than doubled since their mid-April trough of $8.60. Investors spoil IDT's golden jubilee Veteran contract drug maker IDT Australia's (ASX:IDT) golden jubilee has been spoiled by a savage share rout, resulting from the news that CEO Paul McDonald would depart 'with immediate effect'. The company also issued a lacklustre trading update, flagging a boost in revenue for the year to June 30, 2025, but a widening loss. A former Pfizer exec, McDonald had been in the job for almost three years. Chairman Mark Simari becomes executive chair while the company searches for a new CEO. IDT says its full-year revenue should come in at $19.9 million, a 40% increase. The company cites an increase in disbursement revenue. This derived from raw material costs and equipment charged to customers at a 'modest' margin. IDT says mainly applying to new contracts, disbursements are a 'positive lead indicator'. IDT also expects a net loss of $7.5 million, compared with a $5.4 million deficit last year. This reflects $1.2 million of bad debts from two customers defaulting on payments. Founded in 1975, IDT has had a convoluted history, including missing out on a government funded Covid vaccine plant at the last minute. These days IDT pursues gene technology, antibody drug conjugates, medical marijuana and psychedelic treatments for mental disorders. The company is in the third year of its five-year strategy, spurred by a board 'refresh' in September 2022. IDT's $30 million worth is backed by the value of the company's Boronia premises in eastern Melbourne. This hard-to-replicate is in the books at a conservative $21 million. We're on track, say drug developers Investors can look forward to a slew of company-making trial results in 2026, according to presenters at this year's Bioshares summit in Hobart. Alzheimer's disease drug developer Actinogen Medical (ASX:ACW) says it's on track to report interim results from its advanced phase IIb/III trial, by January next year. The company is enrolling 220 patients for its Xanamia trial for mild to moderate sufferers, across 15 Australian and 20 US sites. Actinogen's candidate Xanamem targets excess levels of cortisol in the brain – a novel mechanism of action. The company expects to unveil data from the first 100 patients, after 24 weeks' treatment. Final results are expected in late 2026. Stem cell developer Cynata Therapeutics (ASX:CYP) expects to release results of its phase III osteoarthritis (OA) trial between February and April next year. Cynata's mesenchymal stromal cells modulate the immune system and enable tissue repair. The OA program is the most advanced of Cynata's four trials that also cover graft-versus-host disease, diabetic foot ulcers and kidney transplants. Vitiligo is a circa US$500 million market, says Clinuvel The developer of an approved treatment for a rare sun intolerance disorder abbreviated as EPP, Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals (ASX:CUV) is advancing its proposed treatment for the more common vitiligo. The company has fully enrolled its 210 patient phase III trial, with a readout due in the June half. Affecting about 1% of the population, vitiligo is skin discolouration that results from the destruction of pigment-producing cells called melanocytes. The late Michael Jackson was a celebrity sufferer. If the drug gets US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, the company estimates US$490-570 million of revenue in years one and two. Put in context, Clinuvel reported revenue of $35.6 million in the 2024 December half, up 10%. These sales derived from the company's EPP treatment, Scenesse. Doing the numbers on Imricor Broker Canaccord reckons Imricor Medical Systems (ASX:IMR) could be worth more than twice its current valuation – but faces constrained hospital budgets for the time being. In a 60-page appraisal of the cardiac ablation catheter developer, the firm estimates 120 US hospitals could be using the device within five years. Assuming 35% penetration of the ablation procedures, this equates to a $2.50 per share valuation compared with around $1.40 now. 'The big question ... is how quickly can these installs happen,' the firm says. Uniquely, Imricor's catheters are guided in real-time with magnetic resonance imaging – MRI – rather than via x-ray. The procedure is called interventional cardiac magnetic resonance cardiac ablation (ICMR CA). The company initially is focused on the US$12b arrhythmia market. Canaccord believes Imricor is still 12-18 months away from a 'material revenue ramp'. But after that it's off to the races. Imricor has an initial US target market as 120 large academic hospitals, 20 of them high volume. The firm estimates that facilities will install 190 ICMR US labs globally five years post launch. Of these, 100 will be in the US with total revenue of US$250 million. Imricor currently is undertaking a trial aimed at FDA approval for atrial flutter procedures, with a decision by the end of 2026.
News.com.au
25 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Iconic Pittwater landmark Cottage Point Inn goes up for sale
Sydney's famous waterfront restaurant where celebrities fly in by seaplane or sail up for lunch is for sale with a $8.5m guide. The Cottage Point Inn on Pittwater was the destination of choice for the likes of Orlando Bloom, Jerry Seinfeld, Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz when visiting Sydney. It is an iconic Pittwater landmark, super private and has discreet onsite accommodation for guests if required. The award-winning restaurant sits on a wide waterfront parcel of land, more than 1700sqm in size and included in the sale is the restaurant building, two-self-contained apartments, a timber cottage that rents out for $800 a week and a floating marina for three or four boats. Once a boatshed and general store that served the small foreshore community the Cottage Point Inn became a restaurant in the 1970s and is now world-famous, known for its long degustation lunches with matching wines and Michelin chefs. Many guests choose to fly over by seaplane from Rose Bay and enjoy a long lazy lunch with its point-blank view of the water. Back in 2017 it was chosen by the Princess of Wales sister, Pippa Middleton and her new husband James Matthews while they honeymooned in Sydney. The property sold in 2020 for around $4m to an investor couple but the restaurant itself has been run for 25 years by Shane and Ali Olesen and they are keen to stay on as tenants under a new owner. Agent Kevin Whelan, of Kevin Whelan Property and in conjunction with Highland Property Double Bay said the freehold property at Anderson Pl is for sale by expressions of interest. Whelan said it could suit an investor as it returns 4 per cent net but there is also potential to develop the site or turn it into a luxury home with stunning water views and a north-west aspect. It is also very popular with the boatie community of Pittwater. ' This exceptional offering is ideal for visionary investors, hospitality entrepreneurs, or those seeking an elite private estate with income and world-class views. Just 45 minutes from Sydney CBD, yet a world away in peace, privacy, and natural beauty' Whelan said.
