Victoria police searching for missing $70,000 caravan
Victoria police are appealing for information after a $70,000 caravan was allegedly stolen earlier this year. Authorities say a truck equipped with a crane drove on to a property in the Melbourne suburb of Braybrook in April, hooked the caravan up and drove off.
The caravan, a Spaceland heritage model, had been used by its owner until his recent death and contained personal belongings that were important to his family.
Investigators have released CCTV footage and images in hopes of finding the caravan.
Luca Ittimani
One in 30 current workers will pay new super tax, modelling suggests
Just one in 30 Australians employed today would end up paying Labor’s proposed super tax, new modelling suggests, though experts say the true number will likely be even lower.
The government is planning to raise taxes for earnings on the part of balances above $3m from the standard 15% to 30%, which it says will affect 80,000 people, representing the top 0.5% of accounts.
The number of people who hit that $3m threshold by the time they retire will rise over time to include 500,000 people currently working, according to Financial Services Council modelling released last night.
Those 500,000 represent just 3.5% of all employed people in Australia, totalling 14.6m in April.
The FSC’s calculations don’t include people who are yet to join the workforce. Once you add them in, the Treasury expects the reform to hit 10% of Australians by the 2050s, while AMP economist Diana Mousina predicts that would rise to more than 30% of people by the 2060s.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has said he expects a future government would lift the new tax’s threshold, which would mean a smaller share of workers would be captured by the tax. The Grattan Institute’s Brendan Coates has said the threshold would need to be lifted above $3m by 2040 to avoid contradicting an existing cap on the tax-free transfer of super balances.
If the threshold were instead set at a lower $2m but lifted annually in proportion with inflation, as proposed by the Greens, an even smaller share of the workforce would pay the tax: just 1.2% of today’s workers, or 200,000 people, the FSC said.
But the FSC said it did not believe future governments would be able to afford lifting the threshold, or indexing it to inflation. Its chief executive, Blake Briggs, said:
The FSC is concerned that the absence of indexation is a deliberate and cynical design feature of the new tax, that targets younger Australians.
Science minister says AI presents ‘enormous’ opportunity for Australia
Tim Ayres, the minister for industry, innovation and science, said the government may look at imposing new laws around artificial intelligence but described the technology as an “enormous” economic opportunity Australia could not afford to fall behind on. Ayres told RN Breakfast:
This is a really important contribution to the productivity agenda and really important contribution to our plan for economic growth. We are, of course, as you say, going to have to attend carefully to managing risks and harms, you know, potential risks, potential harms.
Ayers described AI as a “whole of nation endeavour” that would require coordination between unions, workers and their employers. He said the government was working “carefully” through any potential changes to laws surrounding AI to address any potential harms of the technology.
Court decision coming today after Tasmania jumping castle tragedy
The operator of a jumping castle at the centre of a tragedy that killed six children is expected to find out whether she is guilty of workplace safety breaches, AAP reports.
The children were enjoying end-of-year celebrations on at a school’s oval when a wind gust lifted the castle into the air. Rosemary Gamble, owner of Taz-Zorb, which set up the equipment, pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with a workplace health and safety duty.
Magistrate Robert Webster is expected to deliver his decision on Friday morning in Devonport magistrates court, following a 10-day hearing in November.
Asic says it is still going after financial wrongdoing despite call it be split up
Sarah Court, the deputy chair of the Australian Security and Investment Commission (Asic), says the agency has spent years “rebuilding its enforcement focus and capability” despite a parliamentary inquiry last year that said it should be split in two after “comprehensive” failure.
Court spoke to Radio National Breakfast to respond to criticism about the sharpness of Asic’s teeth:
Asic has been rebuilding its enforcement focus and capability over many years. In fact, ever since the royal commission, we have really taken a very different approach to our enforcement work.
This is a continuing progression of increasing our enforcement activity. And right at the heart of what we’re doing is looking at financial institutions across the sectors we regulate, whether it’s banks, superannuation funds, or insurance companies, and really looking at the way that they are treating or engaging with their customers.
A parliamentary committee inquiry delivered a scathing overview of Asic’s role countering corporate misconduct last year, saying the agency had “comprehensively failed to fulfil its regulatory remit”.
You can read more about those findings here:
Good morning
Good morning, we’ve made it to Friday. Nick Visser here to guide you through today’s breaking news. Here’s what we’ll have an eye on:
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The deputy chair of the Australian Security and Investment Commission says the agency has been “rebuilding” its enforcement capability and pursing banks for wrongdoing, despite a parliamentary inquiry last year that recommended the watchdog be split into two for “comprehensively” failing its role.
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A court is expected to issue a ruling after the jumping castle tragedy in Tasmania in 2021. Six children died and three others were seriously injured after a wind gust lifted the structure into the air during a party.
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We will continue to follow the political crisis in Tasmania after the state’s lower house passed a vote of no-confidence. The Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff, has requested an early election, which would be Tasmania’s fourth state election in seven years.
Stick with us.
