Good afternoon. Jim Chalmers insists Labor is ambitious enough to meet its policy of building 1.2m new homes by 2030, despite his own department warning the federal government’s goals will not be met.
Calling housing shortages “one of the defining challenges” facing the Australian economy, the treasurer downplayed advice from Treasury officials, saying the current policy settings would not deliver the new homes and warning Labor would need to increase taxes to make the budget more sustainable.
The comments were included in a brief delivered to Chalmers after Labor’s 3 May federal election victory, and accidentally made public in subheadings in a redacted version of the document released to the ABC under freedom of information rules.
Chalmers said he was “pretty relaxed” about the error but would not make the full unredacted document public.
Top news
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In pictures
Earlier this year, the Cook Islands struck major deals with China for economic and other kinds of cooperation – sparking a diplomatic row which culminated in New Zealand, its biggest ally and former colonial partner, abruptly cutting off millions of dollars in critical aid and funding. Now the country of about 17,000 people is being forced to consider which way its future lies.
What they said …
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“Some people might wonder why I even left my car, even though I had water, food, and clothing there. The answer is: I lost control of the car and rolled down a slope. In the crash, I hit my head significantly. As a result of the accident, I left my car in a state of confusion and got lost.” – Carolina Wilga
The German backpacker has thanked authorities “from the depth of her soul” for their “incredible” support after she was found in the Western Australian outback. The 26-year-old, who was last week found alive and well after going missing for 11 nights, said she now “felt part of” the Australian community.
In numbers
Most gay and bisexual men and more transgender people are now officially eligible to donate plasma after Lifeblood’s updated rules on donation guidelines went into effect this morning. The group expects about 95,000 additional donations to be made each year.
Before bed read
The kindness of strangers: she bought a new sim card for my mum and installed it on her phone
With her father in hospital in Spain and her mum unable to speak Spanish and not knowing how to contact family, Louise Goold reached out to an expat community on Facebook.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: TICK. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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