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The Guardian
08-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Australia election 2025 live: Greens to use hung parliament to revive political fight over negative gearing and capital gains tax
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Sarah Basford Canales New Liberal candidate for Whitlam defends 2019 claims about 'Marxist ideologies' in schools The new Liberal candidate for Whitlam has defended claims he made in 2019 while he was a NSW MP that students were being 'brainwashed' by Marxist and woke ideologies in schools Nathaniel Smith, who replaced Benjamin Britton as the opposition's frontrunner in the long-held Labor seat, said in a statement on Tuesday evening he advocated for 'better education standards for our kids' and would fight to get the education system 'back to basics'. Smith was announced as the replacement candidate on the weekend after Guardian Australia revealed Britton has shared a string of controversial views on fringe podcasts last year. These views included that women should be banned from frontline roles in the military and that the education system was 'indoctrinating' young Australians about Marxist ideologies. Smith, a former Wollondilly MP and member of the Liberal party's religious conservative faction, said in his 2019 maiden speech in NSW parliament that 'political correctness in this country has gone too far'. He said at the time: I believe childhood is a period of innocence. I want to see schools teach core skills, not agendas. I want my children to learn about history, geography, mathematics, Western civilisation, science and the arts; not Safe Schools, gender fluidity and other forms of Marxist brainwashing. In response to questions from Guardian Australia about whether he still held these views, Smith responded he advocated for 'better education standards for our kids'. He said: Australia's school students are falling further behind their international peers, while the Labor government is encouraging activism rather than making common sense improvements to the school curriculum. A Liberal government will help get our education system back to basics by focusing on explicit instruction and other evidence-based teaching methods which prioritise reading, writing, maths and science. You can read more here: Share Dan Jervis-Bardy Here's some more detail on the Greens' proposal: The Greens tried to force Labor to revisit the tax concessions during bitter negotiations on housing legislation before conceding Anthony Albanese wouldn't touch them. Treasury officials did examine options last year to redesign the tax breaks before the government decided against resurrecting some version of the policies former Labor leader Bill Shorten took to the 2016 and 2019 elections. Albanese and the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, have repeatedly ruled out changes in recent months, arguing that boosting supply - rather than winding back concessions for property investors - was the solution to the housing crisis. Bandt will put the issue back on the agenda on Wednesday, claiming the global stock market turmoil caused by Trump's tariffs has made reform even more necessary and urgent. The Greens leader is expected to tell the press club: Renters and first home buyers may get smashed even further in the next few months as wealthy investors spooked by Trump leave stocks and shares and pile into property, pushing house prices into the stratosphere. Investors with big money behind them could jump into the housing market because of these incentives and lower interest rates, while first homebuyers with their life savings would be priced out of the already overheated market. Under the Greens' proposal, negative gearing and the 50% capital gains discount would be grandfathered and restricted to one property to protect 'mum and dad investors'. Share Catie McLeod Hello. I'll be with you on the blog this morning, where we will continue our coverage of the federal election campaign. Adam Bandt is set to revive the political fight over negative gearing and capital gains tax as the Greens leader uses Donald Trump's 'global tariff mayhem' to mount a fresh case to wind back the concessions. Bandt will use a speech to the National Press Club to announce the minor party will insist on changes to the tax breaks in a hung parliament. I'll bring you more on this shortly. Neither Anthony Albanese or Peter Dutton made a major misstep in the Sky News forum in western Sydney as the two leaders held their first debate last night. Albanese was voted the winner in a poll of 100 undecided voters; the PM won 44 votes, Dutton won 35 and 21 remained undecided. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and the opposition's treasury spokesperson, Angus Taylor, will have their own televised debate tonight. Share
The Guardian
20-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Australia news live: ACCC plan to tackle supermarket gouging; Greens call for workplace racial equality agency
Greens call for workplace racial equality agency Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Sarah Basford Canales Greens urging Albanese government to lift income supports above poverty line The Greens are urging the Albanese government to lift income support payments in next week's federal budget, adding it is the last opportunity before Australians go to the polls to 'to turn [Labor's] platitudes into meaningful action'. The minor party's social services spokesperson, Penny Allman-Payne, wrote to the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, yesterday in a last-minute bid to raise rates above the poverty line. The government's own Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee released its 2025 report earlier this month recommending the jobseeker rate be increased to 90% of the aged pension. As Guardian columnist, Greg Jericho, outlined on Thursday, the current base rate of the age pension is $1,047.10 or $1,144.40 with supplements. If jobseeker was raised to 90% of the base rate, it would cost the government $3.5bn and to raise it to 90% of the total including supplements would cost $5.2bn. Welfare support payments received a minor boost on Thursday after indexation came into effect. Those receiving jobseeker payments over 22 and without children received a $3.10 fortnightly increase to $789.90 while couples on jobseeker will now get $1,149 after a $4.60 increase. Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP The jobseeker base rate was raised by $40 a fortnight in Labor's 2023 federal budget, coming into effect in September that year. Allman-Payne wrote: This budget is your government's last opportunity before the federal election to turn platitudes into meaningful action, by raising the rate of all Centrelink payments to above the poverty line. On behalf of the millions of people in this country who continue to struggle on poverty payments, we implore you to do so. Share Krishani Dhanji The Greens have called to establish a workplace racial equality agency to document experiences of racism in workplaces and improve racial equity. The agency would collect data and public information on indicators such as representation in the workforce and in governing bodies, record instances of racism, and would try to improve equality in hiring practices, pay and workplace training. The minor party says they would put forward almost $100m to support the agency in the medium term and it comes on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The deputy Greens leader, Mehreen Faruqi, says the agency will help 'provide the proactive focus needed to eliminate racism in workplaces': Systemic and entrenched racism in workplaces is not going to go away by itself, it needs concerted effort. As Dutton and the Liberals mirror Trump to ramp up their attacks on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, we must double down on strong action for racial equity to address deep-seated racism. Share Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then my colleague Emily Wind will take you through the day. Australia's rapidly changing relationship with the United States is the subject of two of our top stories this morning. First, former chief of the defence force Chris Barrie has warned that 'the vandals in the White House' are no longer reliable allies and urged the Albanese government to reassess its strategic partnership with the US. At the same time, some of America's biggest tech companies such as Apple, Meta, Google, Amazon and Elon Musk's X have lodged a formal complaint urging the Trump administration to target 'coercive and discriminatory' Australian media laws. Closer to home, meanwhile, the long-awaited competition watchdog's report into the big supermarkets says the retailers raised prices in the cost-of-living crisis to help them become among the most profitable in the world. In a 441-page report released last night, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission made 20 reform recommendations to the federal government, including forcing Coles, Woolworths and Aldi to publish all prices on their websites, and notify shoppers when package size changes in a bid for transparency around 'shrinkflation'. Reaction coming up. Share
