2407msletters2
For weeks the news has carried reports of record heatwaves in the northern hemisphere that are expected to continue throughout August (' Scorched by burning questions ', July 24). Wildfires are raging in Greece and California at the same time as torrential rain and flash flooding have caused havoc and destruction in South Korea, Colorado, India and Italy. Extreme weather events are occurring worldwide exactly as predicted by climate scientists decades ago. It is particularly galling to know that we are a decade behind in our climate mitigation action due to climate deniers and obstructors within the previous Coalition governments, who deliberately blocked action to transition from fossil-fuelled energy to renewables by casting doubt on the science and highlighting the cost of doing so. As Sean Kelly points out, the same negative tactics are now being used against the Voice. 'If it ain't broke don't fix it', and 'if you don't know, vote no' are conservative mantras designed to prevent progressive action that is well overdue. Whether this opposition to change is genuine or politically based, it is costing future generations dearly and will be judged harshly by them.
Alan Marel, North Curl Curl
Thanks, Sean Kelly for your well-articulated warning to Australia; your headline says it all and we must act, now, or be damned. The climate change impacts we are already suffering can't be denied or ignored any longer by our inactive 'leaders'.
Barry Laing, Castle Cove
The climate crisis we're facing is a collective crime - the world has long ignored the need for urgent action and we're paying the price. The Voice is our moment and as Australians, we own this opportunity to make a positive change, it's a request so simple that it shouldn't need asking. Yes to engagement, Yes to commencing reparations long overdue. It's the first step. Should No be our response, we will walk alone with the weight of that decision.
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Sydney Morning Herald
6 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Australian government super tax: Most Australians are far from being affected by new tax on Superannuation, ATO data shows
Known as the super guarantee, this rate has gradually climbed from 9 per cent in 2013 to 12 per cent, beginning this month, meaning younger workers will be contributing a larger slice of their income to their super over a longer period. Chalmers has said Labor's legislation would not increase the $3 million threshold in line with inflation, meaning more people would be pushed past the cap in decades to come, and by which time that amount will not be worth as much in real terms. Loading Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus told Channel Nine's Today program this week that it would be 'a very long time into the future' before the average worker would be affected by the $3 million cap. McManus also said the threshold has 'got to be indexed' to make sure most people do not end up being hit by the new tax rate. Calculations based on the latest ATO data, for example, suggest a surgeon – the highest income occupation in 2022-23 – earning the job's average salary of about $470,000 a year, and contributing 12 per cent to a super fund (returning an average of 5 per cent), would still have to work about 22 years to accumulate $3 million in superannuation. That includes an assumption that their wages grow at 3.5 per cent a year. Under the same assumptions, an individual earning $180,000 would have to work 34 years before reaching the $3 million cap, and a person earning the median salary of $62,000 in 2022-23 would have to work five decades. The data from the Tax Office shows the median super account balance for those earning more than $180,001 grew from nearly $304,000 in 2021-22 to just over $315,000 in 2022-23, while the overall median balance climbed from $57,900 to $60,000. Grattan Institute Housing and Economics Security program director Joey Moloney, meanwhile, says that in 30 years' time, the $3 million threshold will still hit only the top 10 per cent of income earners, and the threshold – like ones for personal income tax – is likely to change under future governments even without indexation. 'There are people forecasting 30-, 40-plus years into the future as if this threshold will never change,' Moloney said. 'That strikes me as a very bold assumption because there'll be 10 electoral cycles in between that.' Moloney also noted that 85 per cent of those with super balances over $3 million are aged over 60 and the super tax change would reduce the pressure on younger Australians because older, wealthier Australians would shoulder more of the burden of budget repair and the ageing population. Latest data from the ATO shows men aged 60 to 64 and women aged 70 to 74 have the biggest median super balances, at just under $225,000, with both seeing a drop-off in the size of their nest eggs after 75. Men in the ACT, Western Australia and South Australia had the highest median super balances in 2022-23, while among women, median super balances were highest in the ACT, South Australia and Tasmania. Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.
West Australian
11 hours ago
- West Australian
Australia's Jewish communities need increased protection, Opposition tell Prime Minister
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been urged to do more to protect Australia's Jewish communities following an arson attack on an east Melbourne synagogue on Friday night. Some 20 people were inside the synagogue at the time of the incident, in which flammable liquid was poured on the front door and set alight. The occupants managed to escape via the rear of the building and no one was injured. Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser said Mr Albanese needed to follow the lead of other world leaders in lifting efforts to protect Jewish communities from hateful attacks against the backdrop of conflict in the Middle East. Mr Leeser said the PM had ignored a letter, sent on June 15, from Opposition leader Sussan Ley, shadow minister for home affairs Andrew Hastie and himself which had stressed the need for greater protection. 'This is a very sad day for Australia . . . one of the oldest synagogues in Australia has been fire bombed,' he told reporters on Saturday. 'It's a synagogue that bespeaks the rich and long history of the Jewish people in this country. There's even a prayer for the King there that goes back to Queen Victoria's time in both Hebrew and English. 'This is an attack on all Australians. It is not just an attack on the Jewish community and it sickens me, but yet again the Jewish community is having to put up with these attacks, and the increasing anti-Semitism people think has gone away but continues, sadly, unabated.' Mr Leeser said the Opposition was putting the PM on notice to take more steps to protect the Jewish community. 'I don't know that he's done all he can here,' he said. 'We're calling on him to explain what measures he has taken to protect the Jewish community, and if he didn't take increased measures, why he didn't take increased measures at that time.' Mr Leeser said there needed to be increased police presence and security around Jewish community buildings. 'We have got to put an end to the hate that we see in this country,' he said. Victorian premier Jacinta Allan has condemned the synagogue attack as 'disgraceful behaviour by a pack of cowards'. 'That this happened on Shabbat makes it all the more abhorrent,' she said in a statement. 'Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate, and any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of anti-Semitism.' On Saturday, police released the image of a man detectives want to speak to about the incident. He has been described as being of Caucasian appearance, believed to be in his 30s with a beard and long hair. Damage from the fire was contained to the front entrance.
Sky News AU
16 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Police investigating after suspicious fire at synagogue in East Melbourne while about 20 people inside
A suspicious fire at a synagogue in Melbourne is being investigated by police. An unknown man is understood to have entered the grounds of the synagogue on Albert Street in East Melbourne about 8pm on Friday night. The alleged offender poured a flammable liquid at the front entrance of the East Melbourne Synagogue, before allegedly setting it on fire and fleeing the scene on foot in a westerly direction. About 20 people were inside the synagogue when the incident happened, but they safely self-evacuated out the back of the building. No injuries have been reported. Firefighters attended the scene and put the blaze out, but it was fortunately contained to just the front door. Victoria Police said officers were "engaging with people from the synagogue" and other members of the Jewish community to "ensure appropriate supports are in place. It maintained there is "absolutely no placein our society for antisemitic of hate-based behaviour". In a statement to Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said the incident was "a return to the antisemitic terror of the summer months" and that 20 Jewish Australians were sitting down to a traditional Shabbat dinner inside. "These events are a severe escalation directed towards our community and clear evidence that the antisemitism crisis is not only continuing, but getting worse. We urge all sides of politics and all Australians to condemn these deplorable crimes," he said. "Those who chant for death are not peace activists. Those who would burn houses of prayer with families inside do not seek an end to war. There is a violent ideology at work in our country that operates on the fringes of politics and social movements, that taps into anger and prejudice, and smirks as businesses are destroyed, lives are threatened and proud, patriotic Australians experience fear in their own homes and their own streets. "Those responsible cannot be reasoned with or appeased. They must be confronted with the full force of the law."
