Key Points
- Peter Dutton doubles down on fuel excise cut over tax cuts
- South Korean President will not return to office
- Matildas' goalkeeper off the field with an injury
TRANSCRIPT
Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is warning that substantial tax reform won’t come until well into a potential coalition stint in government.
Mr Dutton has promised to half the fuel excise, from 50.8 cents per litre to 25.4 cents per litre, for one year if he wins.
He says that will have broad benefits... but claims the current state of the budget, with a deficit this year, and deficits across the forward estimates period, precludes him from doing a lot more for now.
"The beauty of the fuel excise is, as I say, it's an economy-wide benefit. But it's not baked in as a recurrent spend, as the government has done with their 70 cents a day tax cut, which is 17.4 billion dollars over the forward estimates, and then it goes out to seven billion dollars plus per year as a recurrent, built-in cost to the budget. So, I want a fairer, simpler tax system. And I want to give back to Australians. But we need to do it in a sustainable way."
Mr Dutton has pointed to John Howard's term as Prime Minister as proof that a coalition government can take more substantial steps on tax reform, if given time.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's response to U-S tariffs shows he's not ready to run the country.
Mr Dutton has mentioned Australia's longstanding defence industry support to the U-S as a potential bargaining chip to use in negotiations with the U-S over tariffs.
Defence Minister Richard Marles has told the ABC doing that would be unwise and would amount to panic.
Mr Albanese has gone one step further, saying Mr Dutton's comments show electing him would be dangerous.
"In the response to the Trump administration's actions yesterday, where the alternative Prime Minster of this country put on the table defence, they show that they simply aren't up to it, that they are reckless, and that there is a huge risk from Peter Dutton."
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Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has said he is open to tariff negotiations if other countries offered what he described as something "phenomenal".
Mr Trump is defending a major market slide, due to his decision to impose tariffs on all countries.
The S&P/ASX200 - considered the benchmark for Australia's equity performance - was down 123.6, or 1.57 per cent, within 30 minutes of the opening bell.
The session follows an overnight wipeout in US markets.
S&P 500 companies - a stock market index tracking the performance of 500 leading companies - lost a combined $2.4 trillion in stock market value.
It was their biggest such one-day loss since the emerging coronavirus pandemic upturned global markets in March 2020.
US President says the outcome was expected.
"Well, I mean, it's to be expected where this was a patient that was very sick. We inherited, we’ve really inherited a terrible economy, as you know, with a lot of problems. So, it's a sick, it was a sick patient. It went through an operation on Liberation Day. And it's going to be, it's going to be a booming country, a very booming country”.
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South Korea's Constitutional Court has removed Yoon Suk Yeol from office as the country's president.
The court has upheld his impeachment for his brief imposition of martial law last December, which set off the country's worst political crisis in decades.
64-year-old Yoon now faces a criminal trial on insurrection charges.
An election to choose a new president must now be held within 60 days.
Yoon imposed martial law says he imposed martial law to stop the opposition Democratic Party abusing its parliamentary majority and destroying the country.
After resistance, martial law only lasted six hours.
Yoon says he never meant to impose martial law permanently.
But Acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-Bae says Yoon betrayed South Koreans with his actions.
“By mobilising the military and police to undermine the authority of constitutional institutions such as the National Assembly and violating the basic human rights of the people, he made a grave betrayal of the people's trust. The people are the sovereign members of the democratic republic.”
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A woman has been jailed for 27 years for murdering her de facto father-in-law in Melbourne in November of 2020.
49-year-old Danielle Birchall beat 87-year-old Kon Kritikos with a weapon after sneaking into his home in the northern suburb of Coburg, leaving him for dead.
She returned to the house with her partner, Mr Kritikos' son, George, later that night, where a semi-conscious Kon Kritikos told his son in Greek that Birchall as the perpetrator.
Kon Kritikos was taken to hospital but died from his injuries two weeks later.
Birchall will be eligible for parole after 20 years.
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In football, Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold has been ruled out of the Matildas' game against South Korea tonight.
Arnold was already in doubt for the match after suffering an arm injury in training this week.
Teagan Micah is likely to start in her place in both tonight's game, and Monday night's game against the Koreans in Newcastle.
These two games will likely be the last for the Matildas under interim coach Tom Sermanni, with Football Australia keen to have a permanent successor to Tony Gustavsson in place by mid-year.
