AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Trust issues: Chalmers faces fury over tax changes that could cost Aussies $13.3bn

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Original article by Ellen Ransley
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 14-Oct-26

The federal government’s legislation to establish a new minimum 30 per cent tax on discretionary trusts will be introduced to parliament today. The proposed reforms are aimed at encouraging trusts to restructure as companies or switch from being a discretionary trust to a fixed trust, although both options would expose them to stamp duty and significant restructuring fees. Meanwhile, analysis by Wilson Asset Management suggests that it would cost families and small businesses beween $8bn and $13.3bn in total to receive advice or restructure in response to the reforms; chairman Geoff Wilson notes that the reform are forecast to raise just $4.5bn over five years.

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WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT

Woodside to quit strait if reservation scheme tanks gas price

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Original article by Colin Packham
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 14-Oct-26

The federal government is expected to release details of its domestic gas reservation policy within days. However, Woodside Energy’s chief operating officer Breyden Lonnie has warned that a proposed gas drilling program in Bass Strait will not proceed if the reservation scheme materially affects domestic gas prices. Shell Australia chair Cecile Wake in turn says the government must address some "fundamental flaws" in the gas reservation scheme, including the requirement for gas producers to supply 110 per cent of forecast domestic demand and the obligation to sell gas regardless of prevailing prices.

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WOODSIDE ENERGY GROUP LIMITED – ASX WDS, SHELL COMPANY OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

$60bn a year to comply on tax

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian – Page: 4 : 7-Oct-26

CPA Australia estimates that the nation’s taxpayers spend about $13 complying with the tax system for every dollar that governments spend administering it. CPA Australia’s tax lead Jenny Wong says these compliance costs total about $60bn a year, which is about 50 per cent higher than a decade ago. Wong has urged the federal government to set a measurable target of reducing tax compliance costs by 10 per cent by 2030. She adds that Labor should publish the Board of Taxation’s review of red tape, which Treasury Jim Chalmers received at the end of June.

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CPA AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. BOARD OF TAXATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

China weighs in on Labor’s gas intervention

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Original article by Tom Rabe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 7-Oct-26

China’s embassy in Australia has expressed concern about the federal government’s proposed domestic gas reservation scheme. The embassy has used its submission to the scheme’s exposure draft to caution Labor against too much intervention in the gas market. China is a major importer of LNG from Australia, while the nation also holds stakes in several major gas projects in Queensland and Western Australia. Other Asian buyers of Australia’s LNG have previously raised concerns about the proposed scheme.

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Coalition’s migration plan risks breaching India free trade agreement and damaging economy, advocates warn

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Original article by Krishani Dhanji
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 7-Oct-26

The number of temporary graduate visas would be reduced from 271,200 to just 10,000 by 2031-32 under the Coalition’s migration policy. Shadow home affairs minister Jonno Duniam has indicated that there will be a four-year transitional phase before the temporary graduate visa is abolished. The International Education Association of Australia’s CEO Phil Honeywood contends that the Coalition’s policy could breach Australia’s free-trade agreement with India, which allows Indian students to stay and work in Australia for up to four years after completing their studies. Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy adds that scrapping temporary graduate visas could make Australia less attractive to international students.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITIES AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Labor in knots as Hamas rearms

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 5 : 7-Oct-26

The Israel Security Agency’s director David Zini recently warned that Hamas is rearming and considering another major terrorist attack or the kidnapping of soldiers on the nation’s borders. Zini has told Israel’s Security & Diplomatic Council that Hamas is preparing to stage such an attack during or after the nation’s upcoming elections. Meanwhile, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong has marked the third anniversary of the 7 October attack on Israel by stating that the nation is "unequivocal" in its condemnation of Hamas and its ongoing acts of terror. Th the Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s co-CEO Alex Ryvchin in turn says Labor’s recognition of Palestinian statehood had been a "windfall" for Hamas.

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ISRAEL SECURITY AGENCY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN JEWRY

Taylor denies immigration cut will hit economy

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 7-Oct-26

Opposition leader Angus Taylor has announced that net overseas migration would be reduced to 100,000 annually during the first two years of a Coalition government, before progressively rising to 160,000 during its fourth year in office. Other key features of the Coalition’s migration policy – which Taylor has described as the biggest cut to immigration in Australia’s history – include reducing the number of temporary visa holders by 650,000 during its first term in office and increasing the number of visa for high-value skilled migrants by more than 100,000. Taylor says the Coalition’s proposed immigration reforms would boost the federal budget by about $260m over four years.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Ousted Greens MP’s grenade sparks leadership chaos

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Original article by Jessica Wang
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 30-Sep-26

Australian Greens senators Sarah Hanson-Young and Mehreen Faruqi have confirmed that they will contest the party’s leadership. Faruqi will run on a joint ticket with Nick McKim, who will replace her as deputy leader if they win the upcoming ballot. Meanwhile, former Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather has called for all members of the Greens to vote on the new leader, rather than just the party-room; he contends that this would would boost the party’s membership. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he has wished outgoing Greens leader Larissa Waters "all the very best"; she will remain in parliament will dealing with health issues.

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AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

‘Fill the gap’: Australia’s plan to swoop on Trump’s trade war with Canada

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Original article by Michael Koziol
The Age – Page: Online : 30-Sep-26

The federal government will seek to capitalise on the growing trade war between the US and Canada. Trade Minister Don Farrell will push for Australian wines and spirits to have increased access to the Canadian market when he attends the G20 Trade Ministerial Meeting in Milwaukee this week. Farrell says Australia can "fill the gap" left by the US ban on alcohol imports from Canada, which has been imposed in retaliation for a similar ban by Canada in 2025. Farrell will also urge the US to refrain from imposing new tariffs on Australian lamb imports; he will contend that such a move would be counter-productive, as it would result in higher costs for US consumers.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20)

OpenAI apologises for hacking Medicare

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: 2 : 30-Sep-26

ChatGPT’s developer OpenAI has advised that chief strategy officer Jason Kwon will appear before the Senate’s inquiry into AI data centres. The company has also apologised for the hacking of the Medicare health statistics portal by one of its AI agents, which had been instructed to research government spending per person on medicines for skin conditions in Victoria; OpenAI said the AI agent had difficulty obtaining that information, and it took actions that it had not been authorised to make. Meanwhile, software company SAP has warned that 71 per cent of federal government entities are using legacy technology that is no longer supported and is therefore vulnerable to cyber attacks.

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OPENAI INCORPORATED