AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 4 at 1900
Economy (CANBERRA)
Labor's controversial tax changes will have no effect on economic growth or productivity, Treasury officials have conceded.
As the government passed changes to negative gearing, the capital gains tax and trusts through the lower house on Thursday, departmental officials argued the package would boost home ownership and improve intergenerational equity.
But the budget did not improve the outlook for GDP or productivity growth in either the near- or medium-term, Treasury told a senate estimates hearing.
"It, in aggregate, did not have a significant impact (to GDP growth) in the near term," assistant secretary for macroeconomics Angelia Grant said.
At best, the budget firmed up Treasury's confidence in its existing 1.2 per cent long-term assumption for productivity growth.
"If there were not policies ... in order to increase productivity growth in Australia, then our assessment of the risks around the medium term would be different," Dr Grant said.
Legal: Ahmad (MELBOURNE)
A woman accused of marrying Islamic State fighters allegedly lived with a teenage slave who was repeatedly assaulted and raped by her father.
The allegations were detailed in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday as Zeinab Ahmad, 31, applied for bail, a month after she was charged with slavery offences.
Australian Federal Police allege Ahmad left Melbourne to go to Turkey with her husband Dawod in November 2014.
She told migration officers her plan was to stay there for seven months but it's alleged the couple instead moved to Syria in January 2015.
Ahmad's husband Dawod became an IS member but he died in a Syrian drone strike in May 2016, Detective Senior Constable Marc Clendenning told the court.
After his death, it's alleged Ahmad made social media posts saying Dawod had lived out his dream of becoming a martyr.
Legal: Hersant (MELBOURNE)
Neo-Nazis who disrupted an Anzac Day dawn service when they booed a Welcome to Country have pledged to continue their crusade.
Jacob Hersant, 27, Michael Nelson, 22, and Nathan Bull, 24, were on Thursday found guilty and sentenced for behaving in an offensive manner in a public place during the service at Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance in 2025.
Ian Harvey Lomax, 35, linked to the booing incident, was also found guilty and punished for the offence in Melbourne Magistrates Court.
About 50,000 people stood under the Shrine in the pre-dawn darkness as Bunurong elder Mark Brown began to deliver a Welcome to Country when the peace was broken by heckles and boos from the crowd.
Hersant, Bull and an unknown man began booing from the crowd, with Hersant shouting "we don't want to be welcomed" and "what about the Anzacs", magistrate James Fitzgerald said.
Tobacco (MELBOURNE)
The federal government is digging in against mounting calls to overhaul tobacco tax as the scale of Australia's black market trade is laid bare.
Data showing four in five vapes and cigarettes consumed in Australia in 2025 were bought on the black market has dredged up fresh debate about cutting the tobacco excise.
The black market share of total nicotine consumption has climbed from 12 per cent to 80 per cent from 2017 to 2025, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Introducing legislation to give state tobacco regulators powers to shut down dodgy sellers, Victorian Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Minister Enver Erdogan acknowledged the excise had contributed to the problem.
"The statistics speak for themselves," he told reporters at state parliament on Thursday.
Legal: Nurses (SYDNEY)
The case against two Australian nurses accused of making anti-Semitic comments to an Israeli influencer might collapse if video footage is struck out of court.
Ahmad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh are accused of being menacing and offensive when they allegedly said they would refuse to treat Israeli patients and threatened violence towards them.
The pair are due to face a trial at the end of August, but the key piece of prosecution evidence might yet be excluded if it is ruled to have been obtained illegally.
Israeli national Max Ilinsky, popularly known as Max Veifer, recorded video of his conversation with the nurses on the platform ChatRoulette in 2025.
The platform, known as Chatruletka in Israel, randomly matches people from across the world to facilitate conversations.
Cannabis (SYDNEY)
When veteran and medicinal cannabis user Michael James tested positive for THC during a roadside stop, he could not see past his humiliation.
It had been more than 12 hours since he took his prescription medicine and its effects had long dissipated, but he was still fined.
"The embarrassment that I felt was incredible," he told reporters on Thursday.
"I'm an ex-military policeman, I obey the law, I was taking a prescribed medication from my doctor for injuries that I've received in service to this country."
But Mr James, alongside 300,000 other medicinal cannabis users, will be able to take the wheel without fear of losing his licence under a world-first program that will transform NSW's drug driving laws.
Under current laws, those who test positive to two roadside oral fluid tests can be slapped with a 24-hour driving prohibition, forcing many to abandon their cars and find alternate ways home, which can be particularly difficult for those in regional areas.
Tax (CANBERRA)
The coalition has signalled it could cross the political divide and work with the Greens to stop contentious tax changes going through parliament, as the prime minister also tries to get the minor party on side.
The tax changes, which will limit negative gearing on properties to new homes from July 2027 and scrap a 50 per cent discount on the capital gains tax for a rate tied to inflation, passed the House of Representatives on Thursday.
The bill will be voted on in the Senate after a rapid-fire inquiry examining the tax overhaul later in June.
The passage of the laws remains unclear, as the government needs support from the Greens to get the changes through.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said the coalition, which have already come out against the tax changes, were willing to work with the Greens on voting down the measures.
Iran (DUBAI)
Gulf hostilities flared have again as Iranian attacks on Kuwait damaged its airport and injured dozens while the US military carried out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz.
Diplomacy to halt the war is showing little sign of progress.
The attacks on Wednesday are the latest to test a shaky ceasefire, sending oil prices up nearly two per cent, as the strait remains largely closed more than three months after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
Flights at Kuwait International Airport were suspended after an Iranian drone and missile attack damaged airport facilities and diplomatic missions, killing one person and injuring more than 60 others, Kuwaiti authorities and state media said.
Earlier, Iranian media reported the Revolutionary Guards had attacked the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and a US airbase, as well as a vessel identified as Panaya. US Central Command denied its bases had been hit and said Iranian ballistic missiles failed to strike their targets in the region.
In finance ...
IREN (SYDNEY)
A leading artificial intelligence data centre operator founded by two Australian brothers will build one of the largest such facilities in the Asia-Pacific region, creating hundreds of new jobs.
IREN will set up the massive data centre in Bundey, South Australia, a place with no residents that's 125km northeast of Adelaide and is home to the state's biggest electricity transformers.
The facility will be connected directly to that substation and is expected to draw up to 800 megawatts - enough to power 400,000 to 800,000 homes.
It's due to open in stages, beginning in 2028, and will support 200 ongoing jobs plus another 500 during construction.
By the time it opens, IREN says, SA's grid will be completely powered by net renewable energy.
Markets Aust (SYDNEY)
Australia's share market has wiped the previous session's gains, amid a re-escalation of tensions between the US and Iran.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 111.2 points by midday, down 1.27 per cent, to 8,674.5, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 110.9 points, or 1.23 per cent, to 8,906.3.
The slump followed a weak session on Wall Street after a record-breaking rally in US tech stocks ran out of steam.
"Financial markets shifted back into a risk-off mode as the US and Iran exchanged fire again," Westpac economist Mantas Vanagas said.
"With military action intensifying and tensions over Israel's campaign in Lebanon rising, the two countries appear to be moving further away from common ground on a lasting agreement."
In a positive sign, Israel and Lebanon have agreed to implement a ceasefire provided Hezbollah halts attacks on Israel, which could lead to a resumption of talks between the US and Iran.
In entertainment ...
Diddy (LONDON)
Sean "Diddy" Combs could face new sexual battery charges after allegations made by a celebrity publicist.
The 56-year-old rap mogul is currently serving a 50-month federal prison sentence after being convicted of transportation for prostitution, but it is now reported that he may face new criminal probe.
Venusse D Dunn, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office's chief of communications, has told the Daily Mail newspaper the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department have both laid out separate presentations on investigations into the alleged victims claims.
It is said the case, which has been made by celebrity publicist Jonathan Hay, is under review.
Hay previously filed a lawsuit against Combs in July 2025, and in the civil complaint he has accused the rapper of sexual battery in 2020.
Arts Silenced (SYDNEY)
A powerful Australian film aims to shift conversations, change cultures and make it safer for women to speak out against gendered violence by reforming the laws that seek to silence them.
The highly anticipated documentary Silenced opened the Sydney Film Festival with its Australian premier on Wednesday night.
Emmy-winning director Selina Miles follows acclaimed human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson as she fights against the weaponisation of defamation law by alleged perpetrators.
It charts a post #MeToo world, using courtroom footage, media coverage and interviews to demonstrate how legal systems across the world are being used to discredit both victim-survivors and the journalists who report their stories.
Former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins tells her story in the film, having participated in both a criminal and civil trial following allegations Bruce Lehrmann raped her inside Parliament House in 2019.
In sport ...
RL Broncos (BRISBANE)
Brisbane have suffered a major blow in the quest to defend their NRL premiership title with workhorse Pat Carrigan ruled out of action until around mid-July.
The Broncos confirmed the Queensland and Australia forward had surgery to repair an ankle syndesmosis injury suffered in their 30-26 loss to St George Illawarra on Sunday and is expected to be sidelined for approximately six weeks.
During that period, Brisbane have two byes in the NRL and the 28-year-old is expected to miss matches against Gold Coast, South Sydney, the Sydney Roosters and Cronulla, plus the remainder of the State of Origin series.
Brisbane teammate Reece Walsh meantime, has lifted the lid on the tough conversations held in the Broncos' inner sanctum and praised Payne Haas for his forthright bake of the players.
Super Brumbies (CANBERRA)
If prop James Slipper had the choice between keeping his historic milestones or steering the Brumbies to a Super Rugby Pacific grand final, he would choose the latter.
After a season in which he has become the most-capped Super Rugby player ever, chalked up 100 appearances for the Canberra-based side and scored a crucial try in the ACT's hoodoo-busting win over the Crusaders in February, Slipper is now looking to achieve something he's yet to do: make a decider with the Brumbies.
"I've always played the game for the team. Team milestones and team achievements come before the individual," he told AAP.
"In my mind, celebrating with your teammates after a win or finals win or whatever is why you play the game."
Ends Bulletin
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