THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
An emergency rescue plan is being prepared in the wake of Australia’s financial catastrophe, with massive tax cuts on the cards.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has hinted that personal income tax cuts worth $20 billion could be brought forward to help the country cope with the devastating recession sparked by coronavirus.
Speaking with the ABC on Thursday morning, Mr Frydenberg indicated that the cuts, originally slated for mid-2022, will be needed much sooner.
They are expected to form a central part of the government’s fiscal response to the recession in the upcoming Budget.
“(The cuts) are one issue that we’re considering, because we did legislate the tax cuts after the last election,” Mr Frydenberg told the ABC.
“They were in three stages. And more money into people’s pockets means more spending, and more spending means more jobs.”
The income tax cuts for middle income workers would be worth up to $2565 per year.
The significant savings kick in for those earning between $50,000 and $90,000, who will have their total annual tax reduced by $1080.
Those with a taxable income between $90,000 and $100,000 will be reduced by $1215 and those earning between $100,000 and $120,000 save $1665.
From here the cuts increase to $2565 for Aussies earning between $120,000 and $200,000.
Meanwhile there have been 12 new cases overnight in NSW.
Three are locally acquired, including two in a South Western Sydney family and a case in Parkes, with no source identified at this point, one is linked to a previously reported case in South Eastern Sydney whose source is under investigation, three are returned travellers in hotel quarantine and five are linked to a known case or cluster, including three that are close contacts of previously reported cases linked to the August CBD cluster.
Among today’s new cases is a contact of a previously reported case in a student at St Pauls Catholic College Greystanes and a new case in Girraween Public School, bringing the total linked to the schools to 12.
Close contacts are isolating, and the schools have been cleaned and will re-open today. The source of the original infection has not been identified at this point.
Across the border, there have been two new cases of coronavirus in Queensland overnight, including a staff member at the Karinya Place aged care home at Laidley, west of Brisbane.
There is also a possible case at Airlie Beach in north Queensland that was detected by a COVID-19 sewerage program.
A fever clinic will be set up at Airlie Beach today to investigate further..
The ABC understands the person who tested positive at the aged care facility was a clinical manager and his close contacts, including the aged care home’s manager and a resident, have gone into self-isolation.
The facility became aware of the positive case yesterday afternoon and 44 residents and 13 staff have been tested so far.
Owner of the aged care facility, Carinity, said in a statement that the clinical manager did not work while experiencing symptoms.
Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said the risk to the aged care facility was low.
In Victoria, there were 113 new infections recorded in the past 24 hours and 15 deaths, 14 which are related to outbreaks in aged care facilities.
Today marks the first day since the peak on 5 August when Victoria’s seven-day average hasn’t fallen.
Acting Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng says that statistic doesn’t bother him too much.
“What we’re looking for is a long-term trend,” he said. “You know, when I started work here, we’re now seeing 700 cases a day, we’re down to an average of about a hundred cases a day.
“That’s substantially lower, but we need it to be a magnitude lower before we start taking the next steps.”
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A live export ship carrying 5,800 head of cattle and 43 crew members, including two Australians, is missing in waters off southwestern Japan.
Gulf Livestock 1 was on its way from New Zealand to China with 5,800 head of cattle when it sent out a distress signal.
Japan’s Coast Guard has told the ABC the freighter was carrying the foreign crew including two Australians, two New Zealanders and 39 Filipino when it disappeared on Wednesday.
Strong winds and torrential rain from Typhoon Maysak are hampering rescue efforts.
Authorities last night found one lifeboat and a Filipino crew member wearing a life vest drifting in the waters. The coast guard said his condition is not life threatening.
Officials have yet to locate the ship but the search is continuing.
The ship left New Zealand last month and was due to arrive in China next Friday.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK said the Panamanian-registered vessel called Gulf Livestock 1, which sent the distress call from somewhere to the west of Amami Oshima Island, was believed to be carrying 5,800 head of livestock
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A man who killed four children in a car crash in Sydney’s west will plead guilty to seven charges, including four for manslaughter.
Samuel Davidson, 30, is accused of having a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit when his four-wheel drive hit the children on a footpath at Oatlands in early February.
Siblings Antony, 13, Angelina, 12 and Sienna, 9, and their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, were going to a shop to buy ice cream and were killed at the scene.
Court documents revealed Mr Davidson had cocaine and MDMA in his system as well as alcohol.
Davidson today indicated he would plead guilty to four charges of manslaughter, and three other charges including dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.
He appeared in court via visual link wearing prison greens and simply answered “yes your magistrate” when asked about the plea.
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