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Adeshola Ore<\/p>\nChalmers reveals Keating influence on watered-down super tax planAdeshola Ore<\/p>\n
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says he spoke to former Labor prime minister Paul Keating on multiple occasions as he finalised the federal government\u2019s watered-down superannuation tax plan.<\/p>\n
The Albanese government on Monday backed down on its contentious plan,<\/a> dumping the proposal to target unrealised gains after sustained criticism.<\/p>\n In a statement, Keating \u2013 the architect of Australia\u2019s superannuation system and a critic of Chalmers\u2019 original proposal \u2013 described the revised plan as a \u201chuge policy achievement\u201d.<\/p>\n Speaking to the ABC\u2019s 7.30 last night, Chalmers said he takes Keating\u2019s feedback and views \u201cvery seriously\u201d:<\/p>\n As I finalised this package to take to the expenditure review committee, I probably spoke to him half a dozen times in the second half of last week alone.<\/p>\n He said the government had listened to feedback and found another way to deliver a fairer superannuation system:<\/p>\n It\u2019s really important we make these tax concessions more sustainable. It\u2019s really important that we take the sorts of difficult and necessary steps to safeguard the system into the future.<\/p>\n These are just responsible, pragmatic changes.<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Urgent action needed on medicinal cannabis, peak bodies say The peak medical and pharmaceutical bodies in the country have told the health minister urgent action is needed to stop the prescription of medicinal cannabis from being \u201cexploited\u201d.<\/p>\n The Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia have written a joint letter to the health minister, Mark Butler, calling for urgent action to tackle the largely unregulated increase in medicinal cannabis prescribing and dispensing across the country.<\/p>\n In submissions to the medicine regulator\u2019s review into the safety and regulatory oversight of unapproved medicinal cannabis products, both groups have recommended all medicinal cannabis products used beyond exceptional access be registered, with special access scheme pathways reserved for genuine exceptions.<\/p>\n Prof Trent Twomey, the president of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia said:<\/p>\n We are seeing a system that is being exploited \u2013 with prescriptions issued without proper clinical oversight and patients bypassing their regular GP and pharmacist. What began as a special pathway for medication has now become the norm with thousands of products prescribed without safety, quality or efficacy controls.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Penny Wong says Donald Trump deserves \u2018enormous congratulations\u2019 as Israeli hostages are released Foreign minister Penny Wong has called the Gaza ceasefire a \u201csingular achievement\u201d by Donald Trump as the first hostages were returned to Israel on Monday.<\/p>\n Speaking to ABC News last night, Wong called it an \u201cextraordinarily moving\u201d day and one of immense relief for people in Israel and Australia.<\/p>\n This is a singular achievement by President Trump. Only the president of the United States could bring this about. And as I said on Friday, he deserves enormous congratulations \u2026 it is an enormous achievement. We haven\u2019t seen this sort of progress in the Middle East for some time. And he\u2019s brought, you know, this conflict to a pause and hopefully to an end, and has a pathway to peace that he\u2019s been so critical in articulating.<\/p>\n The foreign affairs minister added that the thousands of Palestinians being released from Israeli jails was \u201csuch an important part\u201d of the peace plan.<\/p>\n Asked whether Australia would be participate in a future monitoring presence in the region, or an international stabilisation force, Wong said Australia had not been approached to join.<\/p>\n We haven\u2019t been asked, so I\u2019m not going to get ahead of myself. And what I have said all along is \u2026 we want to play our part in contributing momentum to peace. That\u2019s how we\u2019ve sought to approach these matters for a long time.<\/p>\n Penny Wong. Photograph: Mick Tsikas\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Staying on the subject of those super changes, you can read the analysis by our economics editor, Patrick Commins, here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.16 EDT<\/p>\n Cost of cybercrime soars<\/p>\n Australian businesses are losing money at a skyrocketing rate to cybersecurity threats, as the nation\u2019s top cyber spy agency warns of mounting ransomware and identity fraud risks, Australian Associated Press reports.<\/p>\n Cybercrime reports have dropped but businesses face a bigger financial impact from them, the Australian Signals Directorate\u2019s annual cyber threat report reveals.<\/p>\n The average cost of cybercrime to large businesses was $202,700 in the past financial year, up 219% on the previous year.<\/p>\n The ASD report calculates an average of $97,200 was lost per medium-sized business.<\/p>\n The average cost of cybercrime for small businesses was $56,571.<\/p>\n The directorate received 84,700 reports of cybercrime over the past financial year, down 3% on the previous 12 months.<\/p>\n The agency\u2019s director-general, Abigail Bradshaw, said ransomware and identify fraud remained the most disruptive and common cybercrime threat.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia is increasingly targeted by cybercriminals looking to steal credentials,\u201d Bradshaw said.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce access is gained, they mimic legitimate user behaviour to steal sensitive personal or corporate information, install ransomware or malware and take over accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n Networks are increasingly being breached through compromised or stolen details to gain unauthorised access, rather than being hacked.<\/p>\n In the past week, Qantas customers have had stolen information posted on the dark web by cybercriminals. Read more here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.16 EDT<\/p>\n Chalmers reveals Keating influence on watered-down super tax plan The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says he spoke to former Labor prime minister Paul Keating on multiple occasions as he finalised the federal government\u2019s watered-down superannuation tax plan.<\/p>\n The Albanese government on Monday backed down on its contentious plan,<\/a> dumping the proposal to target unrealised gains after sustained criticism.<\/p>\n In a statement, Keating \u2013 the architect of Australia\u2019s superannuation system and a critic of Chalmers\u2019 original proposal \u2013 described the revised plan as a \u201chuge policy achievement\u201d.<\/p>\n Speaking to the ABC\u2019s 7.30 last night, Chalmers said he takes Keating\u2019s feedback and views \u201cvery seriously\u201d:<\/p>\n As I finalised this package to take to the expenditure review committee, I probably spoke to him half a dozen times in the second half of last week alone.<\/p>\n He said the government had listened to feedback and found another way to deliver a fairer superannuation system:<\/p>\n It\u2019s really important we make these tax concessions more sustainable. It\u2019s really important that we take the sorts of difficult and necessary steps to safeguard the system into the future.<\/p>\n These are just responsible, pragmatic changes.<\/p>\n Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating described the revised plan as a \u2018huge policy achievement\u2019. Photograph: ABCShare<\/a>Welcome<\/p>\n Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I\u2019m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Nick Visser will take over.<\/p>\n The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says he spoke to former Labor prime minister Paul Keating \u2018half a dozen times\u2019 last week as he finalised the federal government\u2019s watered-down superannuation tax plan. More coming up.<\/p>\n As the last living Israeli hostages were released by Hamas overnight, Penny Wong has called the moment a \u201csingular achievement\u201d by Donald Trump. The foreign affairs minister called it an \u201cextraordinarily moving\u201d day and one of immense relief for people in Israel and Australia. More shortly.<\/p>\n And the cost of cybercrime to Australian businesses has soared over the past year, a new report estimates \u2013 more than doubling to an average of $200,000 for big companies. More on that soon too.<\/p>\n![\"Paul](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1610.jpg\")
Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating described the revised plan as a \u2018huge policy achievement\u2019. Photograph: ABCShare<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Natasha](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Natasha_May.png\")
Natasha May<\/p>\n![\"Krishani](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Krishani_Dhanji.png\")
Krishani Dhanji<\/p>\nAdeshola Ore<\/p>\n