NSW announces stamp duty overhaul

NSW TO OVERHAUL STAMP DUTY

The New South Wales government has announced the largest overhaul of stamp duty in 30 years, with the seven price brackets that determine duty on property sales set to rise with inflation from the middle of next year.

Both The Sydney Morning Herald and Daily Telegraph ($) report that state Treasurer Dominic Perrottet will today announce changes that could save around $500 on average housing transactions by 2021, with savings to rise over time. The brackets have not been significantly changed since 1986, despite the rise in housing prices, however shadow treasurer Ryan Park has already described the changes as “too little, too late”.

In other state news, The Herald-Sun ($) reports that Victoria’s Labor government will scrap Prohibition-era dry-zone laws in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs if it wins this month’s state election, while The NT News ($) and Mix 104.9 have begun a campaign calling on the Northern Territory and federal governments to save Kakadu National Park.

SPIKE IN MANUS SUICIDE ATTEMPTS

A move to shift sick refugees from Port Moresby ahead of the APEC summit has coincided with a reported spike in suicide attempts.

Radio New Zealand reports that, as 35 patients at a Port Moresby hospital were told to return to Manus Island, a man doused himself in petrol last Wednesday before others intervened. Kurdish-Iranian journalist and refugee Behrouz Boochani also reported mid-week that a man on Manus attempted to hang himself and another had self-harmed.

Elsewhere, The Australian ($) reports that while some of the 13,800 refugees stuck in Indonesia look for ways out of a possibly 20-year-long limbo, news of evacuations of families and children on Nauru by 2019 has not displaced a general fear of turnbacks. That bottleneck has grown since Australia banned new “legal” UNHCR applicants in mid-2014.

For anyone seeking help, Lifeline can be reach on 13 11 14, and Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.

NEW CALEDONIA VOTES TO REMAIN

Early results suggest New Caledonia has voted against independence from France in yesterday’s referendum.

According to the ABC, more than 60% of residents voted to remain in a poll that reflects the social and ethnic divide between a pro-independence movement, rooted in Indigenous Kanak activism, and pro-remain groups of largely European descent. Pro-independence leaders still hope to win future referendums, due to be held in 2020 and 2022, however remain-groups reject that other polls will be needed.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the news overnight and announced that “there is no other path than that of dialogue” on the future of New Caledonia.

[free_worm]

THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

I’m not going to get into the history of what happened there. I don’t think it serves anyone’s purpose and I also don’t think frankly that Queenslanders or indeed Australians more generally care about what’s happened.

Steve Ciobo

The Defence Industry Minister doesn’t care about the whole deposing Australia’s highest ranking elected official thing, and so I guess neither do we. In unrelated news, check out the special Malcolm Turnbull Q&A on Thursday!

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

The government is lying about how and why it is taking children off Nauru
Kishor Napier-Raman and Charlie Lewis

“This week, the slow softening of the government’s rhetoric on asylum seekers has continued, with reports that all children would be removed from immigration detention on Nauru by Christmas. Outsourcing the initial announcement to former attorney-general George Brandis, Prime Minister Scott Morrison even went so far as to take credit for the quiet, dignified way in which he’d apparently organised evacuation of children to Australia. In many cases, it has been the courts — not the government — that have been helping children out of detention.”

Insurgent Greens are the real threat to Labor in Victoria
William Bowe

“The big question in these seats is whether the Liberals come through on their mooted strategy of leaving it to Labor and the Greens to fight them out — and it seems they plan on keeping Labor guessing right up to the close of nominations next Thursday. A Liberal decision to forfeit would be a body blow to Labor, who for the past two elections have been put ahead of the Greens on Liberal how-to-vote cards, which are diligently followed by around two in five of their supporters.”

‘Too powerful for TV’ Volkswagen ad breaches advertising code
Emily Watkins

“A Volkswagen TV ad that boasted its new model was ‘too powerful for TV’ has been taken off air for breaking the road rules. The ad interspersed scenes of the Amarok V6 ute driving, with shots of a ‘director’ planning shots that wouldn’t be allowed under Australian advertising standards. But the ad was reported to the Advertising Standards Board for encouraging dangerous driving, in particular reference to a scene where the ute was planned to overtake two side-by-side road trains by going off-road.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Angry Anderson’s son Liam dies after alleged assault on Sydney’s northern beaches

Stuart Robert’s web of influence: from the Gold Coast to South America

Qantas fears return to union anarchy ($)

Big rewards for loyalty exposed at failed charity Richo once defended

Lion Air crash: Investigators recover 69 hours of flight data from black box

Government boosts APRA funding by $60m, reappoints Wayne Byres for five years ($)

Andrew Bolt, conservative columnist, hints at stepping back

Working visa rules relaxed to fill vital farm jobs ($)

Iran braces for fresh US sanctions including oil embargo

Australia flop in ODI opener against South Africa

THE COMMENTARIAT

Sixty years’ late, but this sensible law is welcome ($) — George Williams (The Australian): “Last week, the Palaszczuk government in Queensland decided to take the lead. It fulfilled an election promise by introducing a new law into the Queensland parliament. If passed, its human rights act will grant Queenslanders stronger protection for 23 basic rights. The new law will provide that ‘every person has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief’.”

Why the Fox News-ification of Sky News Australia will probably stay — John McDuling (The Sydney Morning Herald): “In short, anyone hoping generational changes within one of the world’s most powerful media dynasties could lead to a softer approach at some of its more controversial outlets (i.e its 24 hour news channels, including Sky in Australia) is likely to be disappointed.”

The truth about the Kooriculum — Kirsten Banks (IndigenousX): “The reality, Tom [Elliott] would have you believe, is that the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) have thrown the whole curriculum up into the air and let entropy take its course to completely change up the curriculum and add in the big nasty beast; Indigenous perspectives.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Sydney

• The AEC will officially declare Kerryn Phelps the winner of the Wentworth byelection.

• The Sydney Environment Institute will launch new anthology book Climate Change and the Media with a panel including media experts, anthropologists, and Sydney Morning Herald environment editor Peter Hannam.

• The University of Sydney will host Sydney Ideas event “Satire is a new global saviour for news, seriously” with Nigerian social media star and satirist Adeola Fayehun, The Chaser’s Julian Morrow and linguistics professor Umberto Ansaldo.

Canberra

• Indonesia’s Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati will present “Indonesia: Human capital development in the digitalisation era” at ANU.

• Opening day of the DESIGN Canberra Festival, to run until November 25th.

Melbourne

• Deputy PM Michael McCormack will officially open Toll Group’s Australian Control Room at Melbourne Airport.

• A Melbourne Cup parade will be held at Federation Square. A number of “Nup to the Cup” protest events will also be held throughout the city.

• 94.7 The Pulse will begin a three-day series of Victorian state election candidate forums around Melbourne.

Darwin

• A federal senate inquiry will examine regional inequality in Australia.

Adelaide

• Freed murder suspect Henry Keogh will appear before a Budget and Finance Committee hearing into the $2.57 million ex-gratia payout given to him by taxpayers.

Brisbane

• The French-Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry will host a discussion on Queensland’s LNG industry with CEO of Santos’ Gladstone LNG Operations Rod Duke, Shell VP Tony Nunan, and CEO of Australia Pacific LNG Warwick King.

Perth

• Day one of Curtin University’s five-day Festival of Learning, to open with a focus on integrating Indigenous knowledge systems into the curriculum.

Singleton, NSW

• A federal house inquiry will examine how the mining sector can support businesses in regional economies.

Queensland

• Prime Minister Scott Morrison will tour Queensland for four days.

Australia

• Westpac will release their full-year results.

New Delhi, India

• The extradition hearing will resume in New Delhi for convicted hit-run driver Puneet Puneet, who killed a student in Melbourne in 2008.