AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 16 at 0730
Tax (CANBERRA)
The federal government's planned tax changes will dump compliance costs on taxpayers and their advisers, an accounting body warns.
Under Labor's reforms, the capital gains tax discount of 50 per cent will be replaced with an inflation-indexed calculation and a 30 per cent minimum rate.
Negative gearing of investment properties will also be scaled back to only apply to new houses from July 2027.
The Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand will tell a senate inquiry on Tuesday a statutory review of the legislation should take place within 12 months due to the short consultation time and complexity of the changes.
This would act as a safeguard mechanism to ensure the legislation was operating as intended and to provide an opportunity for any "fixes" that needed to be made.
Ukraine (KIEV)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he had proposed a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France this week but that the Kremlin had rejected the idea.
"Before the start of the G7 summit, we made it clear that we were prepared to meet with Putin during the G7 summit, as (US President Donald) Trump and (French President Emmanuel) Macron would be present there," Zelenskiy told reporters in Kyiv.
He made the remarks while inspecting damage to the main cathedral of the Pechersk Lavra monastery complex following a major Russian air attack.
The damage to the Kyiv monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site founded in 1051, drew international condemnation.
France's foreign minister said the attack was akin to bombing Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.
Economy (CANBERRA)
Borrowers can be reassured interest rates are likely to remain on hold for now, but with the inflation dragon still rampant, they should not expect the Reserve Bank to come to their rescue any time soon.
During economic slowdowns, the central bank has often been the "knight in shining armour" for households, cutting interest rates when times are tough to give the economy a boost, HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham said.
A sluggish GDP print for the March quarter and rising unemployment suggest Australia is already in a downswing.
But while he predicted no more hikes from the Reserve Bank this cycle, mortgage holders were unlikely to receive any rate relief until at least 2027, Mr Bloxham said.
The board should take a lesson from 2025, when it cut interest rates three times as inflation was still coming down, and not turn its back on the inflation dragon until it is sufficiently tamed, he said.
Legal: Porter (ORANGE)
For years after Bridgette Porter was killed, her family felt like the 10-year-old girl had been erased.
Bridgette, also known by the nickname Biddy, was killed by a teenager known to her in rural NSW in 2020.
The NSW Supreme Court found Biddy's killer, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was not criminally responsible due to mental illness in 2021.
Much of the case was anonymised due to the ages of Biddy and the perpetrator, while graphic details surrounding the killing are protected by a court order.
Biddy's identity was made public in mid-2024, when her parents and campaigners from Advocacy Australia launched a petition calling for an inquest and a review of the handling of the case.
The inquest is due to open on Tuesday before NSW State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan.
Iran (WASHINGTON, D. C.)
A memorandum of understanding aiming to end the war in the Gulf has already been signed by US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf who heads its negotiating team, a US official says.
Speaking at a briefing with reporters, the US official added that there will also be a signing ceremony on Friday.
"You will see significant increase in traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, actually starting already, and that will ramp up slowly over time," the US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said.
"We probably won't return to normal in two weeks but we will see a significant increase in strait traffic," the official said.
The US and Iran said they had agreed terms to end their war and reopen the strait, news that brought relief to markets, although the pact may hinge on an end to hostilities in Lebanon and defers talks on Iran's nuclear program.
Iran (DUBAI)
US and Iranian officials have reached an agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a preliminary pact that sent oil prices falling but leaves the fate of Tehran's nuclear program to further negotiations.
While still a framework, the deal marked the biggest breakthrough towards resolving the conflict that has killed thousands and upended energy markets since it began with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.
"The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete," US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
His post came shortly after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has served as a mediator, announced a deal had been struck early on Monday.
The memorandum of understanding is scheduled to be officially signed on Friday in Switzerland.
Social UK (LONDON)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he will ban social media sites for the under-16s and impose restrictions on gaming and livestreaming platforms, in some of the most far-reaching online restrictions to date.
Starmer said he would introduce sweeping changes to social media regulation to better protect the wellbeing of children when they are online.
"It is clear to me a full ban is the right choice," he said, adding that while it would not be easy, the government had agency in pushing back against the power of big technology companies.
As well as a ban on sites such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram, the prime minister said he would take action against gaming and livestreaming services which allow children to talk to strangers.
Federal (CANBERRA)
Anthony Albanese has shrugged off polling showing more voters want Pauline Hanson to run the country than him.
Thirty-three per cent of respondents to a reputable poll picked the One Nation leader as preferred prime minister, compared to 29 per cent for Mr Albanese.
Liberal leader Angus Taylor was favoured by 16 per cent and another 22 per cent were undecided.
The Resolve Political Monitor survey, conducted for the Nine newspapers, was the first by the polling outfit to give respondents a choice of three options for preferred prime minister.
Mr Albanese acknowledged people were under pressure from the cost of living but suggested the shine might come off One Nation by the next election.
"It's easy to identify grievance," he told reporters in the Canberra suburb of Jacka on Monday.
In finance ...
Tax (CANBERRA)
Warnings that looming tax reforms will worsen Australia's productivity malaise are overblown, financial experts say.
If anything, the reforms may boost productivity, senators heard as day one of a two-day snap inquiry into the tax changes began on Monday.
Under the changes, the 50 per cent discount for capital gains tax will be replaced with a rate tied to inflation and a 30 per cent minimum, while negative gearing will be limited to new houses only from July 2027.
That would remove distortions in the tax system and incentivise people to invest in assets that have higher rates of return, rather than a higher tax advantage, tax expert Peter Varela told the inquiry.
"Tax neutrality will always get you more productivity," said Dr Varela, from the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute at ANU.
US Tariffs France (EVIAN-LES-BAINS)
President Emmanuel Macron says France will not bow to pressure from US President Donald Trump and scrap its digital tax on US tech giants, hours before the two met at a summit.
Before setting off for the G7 leaders summit, which Macron is hosting on the shores of Lake Geneva, Trump warned that the US would "have no choice" but to apply 100 per cent tariffs on French wine unless officials in Paris eliminated their digital tax.
Trump told the New York Post he had delivered the warning directly to Macron, demanding he remove the 3 per cent tax on US tech giants or face duties in the US market.
"All (Macron) has to do is get rid of the sales tax, and he wouldn't have that kind of pressure," Trump was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
In entertainment ...
Tyler (LONDON)
Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler is "no longer in a coma" but remains "very unwell" in intensive care, according to a post on her official website.
She has also cancelled or postponed all her remaining shows this years.
It had been announced that the 75-year-old was taken to a hospital near to her home in Faro, Portugal for emergency intestinal surgery earlier this month.
"Bonnie's family and team would like to update everyone on how she is progressing with her recovery," the statement said.
"Bonnie is no longer in a coma but remains very unwell and in intensive care in hospital in Portugal. Although her condition is improving it is a slow process.
"Her doctors remain confident that she will make a good recovery but it is going to take time.
Dylan (LONDON)
Bob Dylan has broken his customary silence via The New York Times, contributing to an op-ed tied to US President Donald Trump's 80th birthday.
The 85-year-old rock legend offered some words of wisdom with selection of octogenarians on what it means to reach the milestone age.
"The old fire in your heart still tells you to do this and that, but your body says we already did it. Also, nothing surprises you," Dylan wrote in the New York Times.
"It sounds like a luxury but it's not, and also you've run out of illusions.
"The really worst part about being 80 is that you find, at last, you've got an understanding of something that might have altered everything in the past, had it come at a time when something could still be altered.
In sport ...
WC26 Evans (GENEVA)
FIFA's discrimination monitor at the World Cup has called for an Australian video review official to be removed for appearing to make a hand gesture resembling a white supremacist sign.
When the official broadcast of Germany's opening game against Curacao on Sunday cut pre-game to show the team of video review analysts, A-League referee Shaun Evans made an upside-down "OK" symbol with his right hand in front of his right leg.
Though the game was played in Houston, video officials work in Dallas at the World Cup broadcast centre.
In 2019, the gesture - with thumb and forefinger touched in a circle and other fingers outstretched - was designated a hate symbol by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League.
"Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down 'OK' hand symbol used as a 'white power' symbol in global far-right circles," the Fare network, a long-time partner of FIFA and European soccer body UEFA to monitor racist and discriminatory chants, flags and symbols at international games, said in a statement.
AFL Suns (MELBOURNE)
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick has been put on notice and the Suns face a potentially costly AFL tribunal case in the fallout from their latest loss.
Friday night's away loss to Geelong is the third straight defeat for the slumping Suns.
Hardwick was fuming post-match and took aim at the umpires, claiming they were influenced by the crowd and the "Roman Colosseum" atmosphere at GMHBA Stadium.
That prompted a pointed phone call to Hardwick from AFL football operations boss Greg Swann. While Hardwick avoided a fine or a "please explain", it is understood he accepted Swann's point.
"It was like the Roman Colosseum," Hardwick said post-match when asked about his frustrations.
"I reckon they (the umpires) were waiting for the crowd to do this one (thumb down) then, all of a sudden, free kick.
Ends Bulletin
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