TUESDAY, JUNE 26
Bill Shorten’s asset-rich front benchers who have led attacks on the personal wealth of Malcolm Turnbull, will continue to have access to the benefits of negative gearing on dozens of investment properties under Labor’s plans to axe the lucrative tax break for new investors, The Australian reports.
As the opposition ramps up its class-war attack on “millionaires”, the paper, in an exclusive page one story today, revealed many of Labor’s frontbench are multi-millionaires, courtesy of bulging property portfolios.
Parliamentary records shown Labor’s 45 frontbenchers own or have an interest in a total of 105 properties, including 57 classified residences and up to 48 classified as investments, holiday houses or blocks of land.
Labor’s wealthy front benchers include deputy leader Tanya Plibersek who lists four properties in the register of pecuniary interests owned by her or her spouse including one in the Solvenian capital Ljubljiana.
The Opposition Leader has pledged to axe negative gearing while “grandfathering” arrangements for those already in the market in a move that would benefit senior members of his leadership team and add to their wealth.
#########
Prince William has begun the first official visit by a British royal to Israel and the Palestinian Territories, facing the challenge of navigating deep political and religious divides in a Holy Land once ruled by Britain, reports the ABC.
William, a 36-year-old grandson of Queen Elizabeth and second in line to the throne, will see religious sites, honour Holocaust victims and meet Jewish and Arab youths, and Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
A spokesman for the prince, acknowledging the “well-known” and “complex challenges” in the Middle East, said William’s tour, like other visits abroad by members of the British royal family, will be non-political.
But tradition and history will mark many of his stops in an area fought over for centuries and once administered by colonial Britain in the final days of its empire.
In Jerusalem, the holy city at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the prince will view its walled Old City from the Mount of Olives during his four-day trip.
William, who flew into Israel from Jordan, will also visit the Church of St. Mary Magdalene and the tomb of his great-grandmother, Princess Alice, who sheltered a Jewish family in Greece during World War 2.
William was not accompanied to the region by his wife, Kate, who gave birth to a son, Louis, in April. The couple have two other children, George, aged four, and Charlotte, two.
The visit comes just after Israel marked its 70th anniversary of independence and amid surges of violence along the Gaza border, including rocket attacks by Palestinian militants and Israeli air raids.
William will stay at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel. Once the headquarters of British authorities, it was bombed by Jewish militants in 1946. More than 90 people were killed.
Britain captured Palestine from the Ottoman empire in 1917 during World War One and administered the territory under international mandate until 1948, pulling out a day before Israel declared independence.
The trip is at the behest of the British government. Until now it had been British policy not to make an official royal visit until the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved.
#######
US President Donald Trump has taken aim at Harley-Davidson after the motorcycle maker said it would begin to shift the production of motorcycles headed for Europe overseas as it faces spiralling costs from European Union tariffs.
“Surprised that Harley-Davidson, of all companies, would be the first to wave the White Flag,” Mr Trump wrote on Twitter, reports the ABC.
“I fought hard for them and ultimately they will not pay tariffs selling into the EU.
“Taxes just a Harley excuse — be patient!”
Mr Trump vowed to make the iconic motorcycle maker great again when he took office last year, meeting company executives at the White House and thanking them, “for building things in America”.
But since then the company has been counting the costs of his trade policy.
Harley has warned consistently against tariffs, saying they would negatively impact sales.
Harley-Davidson sold almost 40,000 motorcycles in the European Union last year, generating revenue second only to the US sales, according to the Milwaukee-based company.
This news roundup is curated with stories from ABC News.
SheSociety is a site for the women of Australia to share our stories, our experiences, shared learnings and opportunities to connect.
Leave a Reply