Latest news with #FirstEdition
Sky News AU
21 hours ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
‘I'm not commenting': Anthony Albanese refuses to respond to Paul Keating's latest criticism plan to double superannuation tax
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refused to respond to Paul Keating's latest criticism of Labor's unrealised gains tax, telling Sky News Australia he was 'not commenting' on the various things other people had said. The Albanese government is proposing to double the tax on superannuation accounts with a balance of more than $3 million. The tax would also apply to unrealised capital gains, meaning the government would be taxing perceived wealth rather than actual income. Labor has defended the scheme by pointing out the tax would only apply to a tiny number of Australian superannuation accounts, but former Labor prime minister and superannuation architect Paul Keating took a veiled swipe at the proposal on Monday. Mr Keating said 'every young person joining the workforce this year' will have accumulated 'in excess of $3 million at retirement'. When asked about whether the former Labor leader was right in his calculations, Prime Minister Albanese simply praised Mr Keating's creation of the superannuation system. 'Paul Keating is right to support superannuation, and it's a creation of the Hawke and Keating Labor governments (and) Paul Keating, of course, as treasurer, then as prime minister, championed superannuation to improve retirement incomes for Australians,' he told Sky News Australia. First Edition host Pete Stefanovic again asked Mr Albanese whether Mr Keating was right that the average worker would eventually be caught up in the tax. 'Well, these are very modest changes discussed,' Mr Albanese said. Stefanovic pressed the Prime Minister, asking, 'But is Paul Keating right? I'm on Paul keating now,' leading to a terse response. 'Well, good on you. You stay on Paul, I'll stay on superannuation,' Mr Albanese said Asked if he was avoiding it because Mr Keating was right, the Prime Minister said he was 'talking about superannuation and our superannuation guarantee being lifted to 12 per cent'. Stefanovic then asked whether Labor was at least open to indexing the threshold at which the tax would be imposed, pointing out ACTU Secretary Sally McManus had called for this on Tuesday morning. 'I'm not commenting on various things that you tell me other people have said,' Mr Albanese responded. Mr Keating is reportedly furious at the Albanese government over its proposal to tax unrealised gains, with the Australian Financial Review reporting last year that the former Labor leader had called the changes 'unconscionable'. Keating-era ACTU secretary Bill Kelty – who also played a role in the creation of the Superannuation system - has similarly hit out at the changes, describing them as 'flawed' and 'bad policy'.
Sky News AU
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
LA ‘pretty calm' after curfew in full effect
First Edition host Peter Stefanovic says things are 'pretty calm' in Los Angeles after the curfew. The curfew in downtown Los Angeles is now in full effect until 6 am local time. Protestors are being forcefully moved on by authorities as the unrest across parts of the US escalates.
Sky News AU
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
ICE raids ‘continuing' in LA despite riots
First Edition host Peter Stefanovic says ICE raids are 'continuing' in Los Angeles despite riots. The curfew in downtown Los Angeles is now in full effect until 6 am local time. Protestors are being forcefully moved on by authorities as the unrest across parts of the US escalates.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Police naming Liverpool parade suspect's ethnicity may cause future ‘challenges'
Merseyside police's decision to release details of the ethnicity of the suspect in the Liverpool parade collision could raise 'difficulties and challenges' for forces in the future, a former superintendent has said. Merseyside police said they arrested a 53-year-old white British man from the Liverpool area about two hours after the incident that left dozens of people, including four children, injured. Dal Babu, who was a senior Met officer, told the Guardian's First Edition that the decision was 'unprecedented', but he could envisage pressure being applied to forces in future to release details on the racial background of suspects. 'It doesn't take rocket science to predict what will happen: the far right will twist this and say, 'right, you've named [the race] because it's a white person. Why aren't you naming [the race of] the next person?' And it will present some difficulties and challenges to the police', he said. Babu stressed the decision had been 'correct' to share the information on this occasion to combat 'racist and Islamophobic misinformation' on social media, while warning that every decision should be taken on a case by case basis. 'You could imagine a situation where the far right will say, 'Oh, you haven't named the ethnicity of this person and that's because they are a person of colour',' he said. 'It's really important that people don't see it as a precedent because every incident will be different. People may feel in a future incident that they're entitled to know the ethnicity and race, and it may not be appropriate to release it,' he said. A senior legal source said there could be circumstances where naming the ethnicity of a suspect could cause riots rather than quell them. 'What will a force do if they arrest someone in similar circumstances who is recently arrived on a small boat or who has a clearly Muslim name? They will now be under huge pressure to name them,' the source said. Far-right extremists used social media within minutes of the Liverpool tragedy to exploit the scenes of horror, the Guardian has been told. One account claimed the incident was a terrorist attack. Another account also made false claims including that the man arrested by police at the scene was really a Muslim, despite what police had said. Merseyside police were criticised after the Southport murders last summer for not releasing more information after false rumours were started online that the killer was a Muslim asylum seeker. For Merseyside police, Monday night's decision to release details about the suspect's race and nationality was not a precedent. 'They believe in this case it was right, with detectives convinced the suspect detained was the only person they were looking for. It might not be right in a case where the identity of a suspect was unclear and where identity could be an issue at trial,' a source said. In March, chief constable Serena Kennedy told MPs she wanted to dispel disinformation in the immediate aftermath of the Southport murders by releasing information about attacker Axel Rudakubana's religion, because he came from a Christian family, but was told not to by local crown prosecutors. Police did disclose that the suspect was a 17-year-old male from Banks in Lancashire, who was born in Cardiff. Widespread rioting followed the murders, with some disorder targeting mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers. Jonathan Hall KC, the government's official reviewer of terrorism legislation, told the Guardian that Merseyside's decision on Monday evening should set a precedent for future incidents. 'The authorities seemed to have learned the lessons of Southport. 'It should be a precedent, while recognising there will be the odd case where you need to say little or nothing. Transparency is the right precedent.' Hall said if a suspect in a high-profile case was a Muslim asylum seeker: 'You have to do that as well.' Nick Lowles, of Hope Not Hate, a leading group monitoring the far right, said: 'Police have learned lessons after Southport. What they did this time was to fill the void, putting information out as soon as possible. 'If it had been a terrorist attack, I'm not sure anything would have calmed tensions down.' The decision to release details was an operational matter and therefore separate from government, Whitehall sources said. Asked if he would like to see similar details released in the future in similar cases, the prime minister, Keir Starmer, said: 'That is a matter for the police and the investigation is ongoing so I think we need to leave that to them. 'I think today is a day really for thinking about all those impacted by this and being absolutely clear that we stand with them.'
Sky News AU
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Tanya Plibersek's 'obvious demotion' exposes rivalry with PM Anthony Albanese after environment portfolio snubbing
Tanya Plibersek's removal and "obvious demotion" from her post as environment minister to the social services portfolio has exposed her underlying rivalry with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Mr Albanese dumped Ms Plibersek from the environment portfolio and replaced her with former employment minister Murray Watt. On Monday, Mr Albanese said Ms Plibersek was 'very positive about the portfolio' despite calling her previous environment post a 'really central portfolio' which was 'very much a senior role in a Labor government'. The Prime Minister went on to encourage Mr Watt who he believed would 'do it very well'. However, despite Mr Albanese's attempt to frame the change in a positive light, Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell called Ms Plibersek's shift to the Social Services gig an 'obvious demotion'. 'No matter what people or Tanya spins, it's an obvious demotion,' he told First Edition host Peter Stefanovic. Clennell said an implication of reshuffles were the administrative orders and the machinery of government changes. 'Disability is all going to Mark Butler and Jenny McAllister. So not just NDIS, but disability,' he said. 'That was an important part of social services. So not only does (Plibersek) get social services, which is hardly a glamorous portfolio, but she'll be in charge of less.' During Sky News Australia's coverage of the ministerial swearing in ceremony, Clennell said Ms Plibersek now had a smaller department than what former communications minister Amanda Rishworth had. "(Plibersek) was Bill Shorten's deputy, and Shorten and Albanese were sworn enemies," Clennell said, mentioning the historic feud between the two Labor heavyweights. The stoush between Mr Shorten and Mr Albanese has been credited a key pillar of the Prime Minister's rivalry with Ms Plibersek. "That's where the falling out was," Clennell said. Sky News host Laura Jayes said it appeared as though the Prime Minister had "singled out" Ms Plibersek. On Monday, Sky News host Peta Credlin said Ms Plibersek was 'side-lined' by the Prime Minister and described the Social Services portfolio as a 'going nowhere job' unless there was a possibility of reform. Sky News contributor Chris Uhlmann told Credlin Ms Plibersek's political career had been put "on hold" after she was dropped in one of the biggest changes to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's new cabinet. Uhlmann said he believed Ms Plibersek's career had stalled due to her rivalry with the Prime Minister, but that it was important she still had a role on the frontbench. "Losing your ministry is not as bad as losing your job in Parliament. As far as Tanya Plibersek is concerned, it's no secret at all, of course, that the Prime Minister and Tanya Plibersek have been rivals for a long time," he said. "She had to stay in cabinet. She has the talent to do it. She's got the support inside the party to do it. But yes, at the moment under this Prime Minister, her career is on hold." Sky News host Andrew Bolt said the Prime Minister was looking for stability and did nothing in "sparing Ms Plibersek's feelings" in suggesting the environment portfolio was a "top job for a top performer". "So take that Tanya, well she did look a goose in environment, she even effectively cancelled a $1 billion gold mine after being sold a clearly ludicrous story about a sacred bee," Bolt said, referencing a dreamtime story which was a central contributor to her blocking the project.
