Category: Australian News

The Albanese Government is providing a further $10 million to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund to help keep lights on, homes heated and essential services operating as Russia continues systematic strikes on civilian areas and critical energy infrastructure.

Across Ukraine, families are enduring prolonged blackouts, freezing temperatures and major disruptions to basic services including hospitals as Russia intensifies attacks during one of Ukraine’s harshest winters.

Australia has stood firmly with Ukraine since Russia’s illegal and full-scale invasion.

Since February 2022, we have provided more than $1.7 billion in important military, humanitarian, economic and energy assistance.

Today’s announcement brings Australia’s total contribution to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund to $40 million.

The Ukraine Energy Support Fund enables Ukraine’s energy sector to undertake urgent repairs and replacement of damaged equipment, helping restore electricity supply and maintain critical infrastructure.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong:

“Russia is weaponising winter against the people of Ukraine.

“Russia’s continued strikes on homes and critical infrastructure shows it is not serious about ending the war, despite ongoing efforts by the United States and Coalition of the Willing partners to secure a just and lasting peace.

“We reiterate our call on Russia to immediately end its illegal war and adhere to its obligations under international law.”

International Development Minister Anne Aly:

“Ukrainian people continue to suffer at the hands of Russia’s illegal invasion.

“Australia’s additional support will provide power for Ukrainian families during the harshest winter since the invasion began – keeping the lights on, houses warm and basic services open.

“We continue to stand with Ukraine as it defends its sovereignty.”

Australia’s most unfair tax break is finally getting the scrutiny it deserves.

Across the country, people are working harder than ever and still falling behind. Rents keep rising, first-home buyers are locked out, and the cost of living eats away at any chance to get ahead. Meanwhile, big corporations and wealthy investors continue to do extraordinarily well, protected by tax settings that reward wealth over work.

Over the next month, a Greens-led Senate inquiry will hear evidence on the capital gains tax discount. For a Government that says it wants a fair go for working people and to tackle intergenerational inequality, this inquiry offers something rare in politics: a clear, responsible pathway to act.

The question is no longer whether the CGT discount is a problem, it’s whether the government chooses to do anything about it.

The discount is a textbook example of a system tilted toward the ultra-wealthy. It rewards speculation over work, and entrenches advantage for those who already own assets.

A worker earning their income through wages can pay roughly twice the tax of someone making the same amount through capital gains. Younger Australians face higher housing costs and heavier tax burdens, while wealth continues to accumulate at the top.
That outcome runs directly counter to Labor’s stated values.

The government’s own data shows how the benefits overwhelmingly favour older and wealthier Australians. An eye-watering 54% of the benefit flows to the top one per cent of income earners, and 75% of the benefit goes to people over 50. In the last year alone, $12.7 billion was handed to those already at the top. This is not a tax break that supports everyday Australians. It overwhelmingly favours the wealthiest and the oldest, while younger and poorer Australians receive next to nothing.

Labor cannot credibly say there is no money to help renters, ease cost-of-living pressures or invest in essential services, while continuing to hand out billions each year in tax breaks to wealthy property investors. Those two positions cannot sit together. 

Housing is where the damage is most visible. The capital gains tax discount pushes investor demand into existing homes, driving up prices and crowding out first home buyers. Around 92% of investor lending goes to existing housing rather than new supply. Winding back this concession would ease speculative pressure and give renters and first home buyers a fairer chance, without removing a single home from the market.

This issue goes to the heart of who the economy is designed to serve. 

Right now, the system makes it easier to buy a fifth property than a first. Renters are expected to absorb unlimited rent increases while property speculators receive generous tax concessions. That imbalance is not inevitable. It is the result of political choices.

Importantly, this is not uncharted territory. 

Reforming the capital gains tax discount is not untested or extreme. 

Economists from across the spectrum, former treasurers, banks and unions have all argued the current settings are too generous. Some support a return to inflation-adjusted capital gains. Others back a reduced discount. The common ground is clear. It’s time for change.

That is why this inquiry matters. We will use it to build the pressure needed to move Labor’s position. As the hearings unfold, the path forward will become increasingly obvious.

If Labor is serious about fairness, intergenerational equity and fixing the housing crisis, reforming the capital gains tax discount is not a radical shift.

This inquiry exists to put the evidence on the record and force an honest reckoning with the most unfair tax break in the country.

Today the focus must be on Jewish Australians, indeed all Australians, as we mourn the victims of the Bondi terrorist attack.

This is a National Day of Mourning and my responsibility as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Party is to Australians in mourning.

I have grieved with the Bondi Chabad community and stood with them in their synagogues, their homes and at many funerals. I will again stand with them tonight at the Opera House, as we make clear that ‘Light Will Win’.

Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon has issued a 14-day extension of the Public Assembly Restriction Declaration (PARD) but committed to ensuring Invasion Day rallies on 26 January can proceed.

Greens MP Sue Higginson had written to the Police Commissioner urging him to facilitate a peaceful march through central Sydney on 26 January despite the inability for a form 1 protest authorisation.

Greens MP, Spokesperson for Justice and Solicitor Sue Higginson said:

“Street marches are an accepted and anticipated part of Invasion Day rallies which have taken place on 26 January for nearly a century. It’s clear the Commissioner has recognised this and rightly bent to the will of the people,

“Last Sunday I attended the rally against Blak Deaths in Custody which occurred under these restrictions in Hyde Park and I was utterly astounded at the wasteful number of police in attendance. The number of police required to prevent a peaceful street march on Sunday far exceeded the number of police that would be required to facilitate a peaceful march through the streets, I certainly hope police have woken up to the absurdity of these broken laws,

“At Sunday’s rally hundreds of people declared that they will march on Invasion Day, restrictions or not. It’s frankly a relief to see the police have chosen to accept that the people have the right to assemble and the absolute will to march for First Nations justice,”

“Australians care deeply about First Nations justice, gathering and marching this Invasion Day has never been more urgent. 2025 saw record rates of First Nations Deaths in Custody and more First Nations kids locked up than ever before. The fact is we are not closing the gap, under the Minns Labor Government the gap is widening,

“We still need to question why these restrictions are in place, it seems fairly obvious they have been extended to try to continue to capture the pro Palestine protest movement and in particular any protest against the Israeli President’s apparent visit in early February,

“It’s downright frightening that Labor Premier Chris Minns, who is shamelessly pro-Israel, has given himself the tools to try and silence dissent against the Israeli Government. That is how authoritarian regimes operate, not democracies,” Ms Higginson said.

In a week dominated by controversial hate speech laws there’s been one piece of genuinely good news that deserves to be celebrated: the Greens working with gun safety advocates have secured a commitment from the Government to establish a National Firearms Safety Council. This is an historic win for evidence-based firearms policy that might otherwise have been lost in the headlines.

The commitment was communicated by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to the Leader of the Australian Greens Senator Larissa Waters. The Greens will work with the Government to ensure the composition of the board meets community expectations. 

We thank the Australian Gun Safety Alliance, the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, Gun Control Australia and the Public Health Association of Australia for their continued advocacy and work calling for a National Firearms Safety Council. 

Greens Senator and Justice Spokesperson David Shoebridge said: 

“The passage of the new firearms laws this week includes several crucial gun safety measures that advocates have campaigned for over many years, and we have now also secured a commitment from the Government for a National Firearms Safety Council. 

“The Council will provide evidence-based oversight to ensure firearm laws consistently prioritise public safety across Australia which is exactly what the Greens and advocates have been calling for. 

“A Firearms Safety Council is an important future-proofing of our new gun laws against politically motivated deals struck by politicians to weaken laws and harm community safety. 

“We also know that as technology advances and data is more deeply understood, that there will be future changes to gun laws we can and should make and having a body focused on public safety advising the government on this will be critical. 

“This is in addition to the National Gun Buyback which we know from the 1996 National Firearms Agreement is an important way to reduce the number of high risk firearms in circulation. 

“Likewise these new laws have strengthened background checks based on strong intelligence sharing and will meaningfully contribute to community safety.  

“This achievement came from listening to gun control advocates, survivor groups, and our community who care deeply about community safety.

“The Bondi massacre exposed dangerous flaws in our national firearms laws that the Greens have been highlighting for many years including the proliferation of private arsenals in suburban homes. (See our website www.toomanyguns.org) 

“We’re not America and in Australia there is no right to have a gun, owning a gun is a privilege not a right, and the community expects our laws to be based on careful regulation for public safety. 

“Now we need state and territory governments to follow through with restrictions on firearms capable of mass shootings through a new National Firearms Agreement and take steps to do their part on gun buybacks. 

“We have worked with gun control advocates including survivors of gun violence for many years and this is a much deserved win for them and the community.” 

The Central West Greens were joined by Greens NSW MP and spokesperson for Animal Welfare, Abigail Boyd, to add the Greens’ endorsement and support to the community campaign opposing the proposed Orange greyhound racing complex, and explain the Greens’ statewide plan to phase out greyhound racing across NSW.

The Greens spoke to media following a community workshop organised by a coalition of concerned residents and advocates regarding the details of the Development Application (DA) for a greyhound racing complex to be located at 32 Perc Griffith Way, Orange. The DA is currently being considered by Orange City Council and proposes to reconfigure the old unused harness racing track into a greyhound racing track, clubhouse, over a hundred greyhound kennels and a 123 space car park and 16 space car-and-trailer parking area.

Greens NSW MP and Spokesperson for Animal Welfare Abigail Boyd:

“The community here in Orange has made it clear they don’t want this socially irresponsible development of a proposed greyhound track, whose plans and community impacts keep morphing and changing but stubbornly refuse to stack up.

“Since GBOTA first announced plans to build a new mega greyhound facility in Orange – at the time touted as a so-called “Centre of Excellence” – the Orange community has loudly and consistently voiced objection to this misuse of public land which has already been earmarked as an ideal area for housing and residential growth.

“The Greens oppose the expansion of the greyhound racing industry in NSW. The people in Orange and surrounding areas deserve so much better than being lumped with a track that will be used to exploit greyhounds, welcome increased gambling and its associated social harms into the local community, and prop up an industry that should have been shut down years ago.

“In the decade since it was almost shut down, the greyhound racing industry has shown that it is incapable of reform, with dog injury and death rates higher than ever. The recent report from Commissioner Drake was scathing, and yet here we are with the greyhound racing industry continuing as if it hadn’t lost its social licence years ago.

“For so long as this cruel gambling-fuelled industry is allowed to continue, where the objective of making money overrides all concerns for animal welfare, we will continue to see unacceptable animal abuse.

“Greyhound racing has had its second chance. Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars in public money it has been handed, dogs are still dying at the hands of this industry. It’s time to shut greyhound racing down for good, not continue to open more unwelcome tracks.”

Greens Orange City Councillor David Mallard:

“The proposal to bring greyhound racing to Orange should be rejected by our community and by Orange City Council. The site proposed for the greyhound track was identified in our 2022 Local Housing Strategy as a potential residential growth area. With the upcoming Redleaf development on Council land nearby the land has a much greater value to our community as a future stage in delivering new homes, including affordable housing.

“Now that concrete plans for the proposed development have been submitted, it’s clear that the claimed social and economic benefits of the track to the community and region were massively overblown. And the proposed track won’t deliver a so-called ‘Centre of Excellence’ that prevents the harms and risks associated with the existing greyhound industry – in fact, it would barely meet the minimum standards set for the industry.

“I’ve argued from the outset that the proposal to hand this site over to greyhound racing is against our community’s interest and that the arguments for bringing a track to Orange don’t stack up. Now that the Development Application is under consideration, I encourage community members to engage with the proposal and voice their concerns about the problems with the plans to give the greyhound industry a track in our city.”

A new generation, Gen X, has taken over as Australia’s richest property owners, thanks to boomers downsizing and ‘passing on the baton’. Meanwhile, house prices in all capital cities, apart from Canberra, are now at their highest-ever levels according to new data, with six capitals now in the ‘million-dollar club’.

The Greens say this is yet further proof of a housing crisis that’s spiralling out of control.  Labor must wind back tax breaks for property investors, or younger first home buyers will continue to be locked out as housing inequality worsens. 

Australian Greens spokesperson for finance, housing and homelessness Senator Barbara Pocock:

“We don’t have a functioning housing system in Australia; we have a generational lottery, where young people are faced with a lifetime of renting, precarious leases, and a housing market rigged against them. Housing should not be an intergenerational tug-of-war.

“Australia’s housing system is rigged for the wealthy; it’s a system designed to drive up the cost of housing, generating enormous wealth for the few while increasing rents for the many who haven’t won the generational lottery. Instead of everyone having a roof over their head, houses have become an investment asset class – which fuels intergenerational inequality. 

“Massive tax breaks for wealthy property investors are cooking our housing system. Negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts let cashed-up investors outbid everyday Australians — and young people, single people, low income workers are the ones paying the price.

“This is why the Greens have secured a Senate inquiry into intergenerational housing inequality. The Greens’ inquiry will interrogate the full scope of Australia’s intergenerational housing inequality, including the $181b tax breaks for wealthy investors that are locking out first home buyers, as well as the political barriers to reform. 

“We know tax breaks for wealthy property investors are a key driver of the housing crisis and intergenerational inequality but Labor refuses to act. This government has an opportunity to fix the housing crisis — but if they keep dodging real reform, they’ll lock a whole generation out of ever owning a home.”

Australians deserve moral clarity when confronting antisemitism, hate and extremism, and the Albanese Government has failed to provide it. Instead of careful, considered lawmaking, it put forward deeply flawed legislation.

The Coalition engaged constructively and in good faith. The Shadow Cabinet met on Sunday night, examined the legislation, and unanimously agreed on a clear path forward in the national interest.

The unanimous Shadow Cabinet decision was to negotiate specific fixes with the government and having secured those amendments, members of the Shadow Cabinet were bound not to vote against the legislation. 

Those fixes narrowed the scope of the bill, to ensure Islamist extremists could be more easily deported and neo Nazi groups readily disbanded.

I acknowledge this was a difficult issue for the Nationals’ party room and that they had three different positions across both houses of the Parliament. Some members voted against the legislation, another voted for it and several took a deliberate decision to abstain.

When the Coalition reformed in May last year, the foundational principle underpinning that agreement was a commitment to Shadow Cabinet solidarity.

Yesterday, in several conversations, I made it clear to David Littleproud that members of the Shadow Cabinet could not vote against the Shadow Cabinet position. The Shadow Cabinet was unanimous in its endorsement to support this Bill subject to several amendments that we did then secure. This has been acknowledged by Nationals’ Senators this morning.

Last night, three Nationals senators were unable to maintain that Shadow Cabinet solidarity. This is an unfortunate circumstance and one that requires action. I thank David for understanding this.

Senator Bridget McKenzie, Senator Susan McDonald and Senator Ross Cadell have each offered their resignations from the Shadow Cabinet, as is appropriate, and I have accepted them.

All three Senators have written to me confirming that they “remain ready to continue serving the Coalition in whatever capacity you consider appropriate…”

I have asked each to continue serving in our Coalition team, across their various parliamentary and committee duties, but from outside the Shadow Cabinet.

I have also asked the Leader of the Nationals to provide three new nominees for appointment to the Shadow Cabinet and I await his advice.

Maintaining a strong and functioning Coalition is in the national interest. The Coalition exists to serve the Australian people. But Shadow Cabinet solidarity is not optional. It is the foundation of serious opposition and credible government.

I am proud of the Liberal Party I lead and my Shadow Cabinet team. We took a decision, in the national interest, to step up and fix legislation that the Albanese Government badly mishandled.

The Liberal Party will always strongly defend freedom of thought, freedom of worship and freedom of speech.

Family First is worried it may be banned as a “hate group” after the Liberals backed Labor’s antisemitism, hate and extremism laws.

There are plenty of radical activist groups that don’t like our advocacy for women’s and children’s rights or against mass immigration and want us shut down. Now they can claim woolly terms like ‘social, economic and psychological harm’ as justification to launch criminal proceedings against us,” National Director Lyle Shelton said.

The minister has unprecedented powers to abandon due process and shut down organisations at the behest of activists who claim their feelings are hurt.

This is a stake in the heart for free speech and freedom of religion.”

Mr Shelton said he has been pursued through the courts for six years under Australia’s existing regime of deeply flawed “hate speech” laws.

The Liberals voting for yet more ill-defined ‘hate speech’ laws will do little to stop Islamic terror, but it will entrap mainstream Australian groups who speak their minds on things like LGBTIQA+ child gender clinics, Islamic extremism and the traditional definition of marriage.

After some promising signs last week, the Liberals abandoned the fight for freedom of speech and freedom of religion and capitulated in a late-night deal with Australia’s most anti-free speech government.”

Mr Shelton praised the Nationals and One Nation for voting against the new “hate speech” bill.

Mr Shelton welcomed the banning of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a terrorist group banned in many European and even in Islamic countries like Indonesia and Malaysia.

Groups with links to terrorism have no place in Australia and Family First had long called for its banning here.

Inciting violence is where the line should be drawn when crafting hate speech laws.

Sadly laws against inciting violence were not enforced or strengthened since Muslims and left wing activists started supporting Hamas in the wake of October 7.

Clearly the Albanese Government has used the antisemitism crisis it created to dust off its anti-free speech agenda with the Liberals happy to play the part of useful idiots in the latest clampdown on freedom in Australia.”

Mr Shelton said Family First was standing candidates at the upcoming South Australian, Victorian and NSW elections who will fight to repeal the anti-free speech provisions of state-based “hate speech” laws so freedom can be restored.

ACT Greens Member for Ginninderra, Jo Clay, has expressed concerns following the announcement that the Big Splash site has been repossessed by its Lenders, and called on the ACT Government to immediately step in to save the site.

“It’s really disappointing that the ACT Government didn’t move faster to step in and address this issue. It was clear from the start there were serious issues in relation to the management of the site,” said Ms Clay.

“I’ve lost count of how many times I asked the ACT Government when they would start hard enforcement action, issue fines or consider a lease termination. But instead, the Minister took a backseat and we watched the inevitable slowly unfold.

“Big Splash is an iconic Canberra landmark that this Government has allowed to fall into ruin. That’s simply not good enough, the residents of Belconnen – and indeed broader Canberra – deserve better.

“The Government must now step in to save Big Splash and those conversations need to start today. Government ownership of the site is the safest pathway to ensure the community gets a pool on the site.

“It is imperative that this site be retained as a recreational area and I support the calls from Friends of Big Splash for a 50m pool and waterpark on the site. I’ve also heard good ideas for hydrotherapy and an indoor sports and recreation centre.

“There are many in our community calling for these options as part of a better planned use of the site and we’ve seen architect plans drawn up for such a facility. This is a key opportunity that Government must not miss.

“There’s a huge amount of passion amongst the community, but the current situation means the future of the site is precarious. The government must step in and ensure this site is retained for the good of the community,” said Ms Clay.