The Australian
Josh Frydenberg will today declare an end to the debt and deficit disaster the
coalition inherited from Labor six years ago, with the budget revealing that
government net debt will be eliminated within a decade.
Scott Morrison has branded Labor's climate change policy economically reckless,
and declared it would impose a "massive tax" on a swathe of Australian
companies, including Coca-Cola Amatil, Telstra, Boral and Arnott's Biscuits.
Three women from a western Sydney family linked to an alleged terrorist arms-
smuggling network have been found in a refugee camp in Syria after fleeing the
attack on Islamic State's last patch of territory.
ABC chairwoman Ita Buttrose and her board are under pressure to carry out a
review of the sacking of managing director Michelle Guthrie and the fallout. The
recommendation comes from a parliamentary report into allegations of political
interference.
Scott Morrison has branded Labor's climate change policy economically reckless,
and declared it would impose a "massive tax" on a swathe of Australian
companies, including Coca-Cola Amatil, Telstra, Boral and Arnott's Biscuits.
The Sydney Morning Herald
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will carry the weight of the coalition's re-election
chances today when he hands down his first budget amid deteriorating economic
conditions and falling business confidence.
Roads and Maritime Services, the state's roads agency, will be brought inside
Transport for NSW as part of the Berejiklian government's administrative
overhaul after last week's election victory, which also includes a new head of
Planning.
The cost of Australia's ageing population will eclipse Medicare three years
earlier than expected, as baby boomers retire and the cost of the aged pension,
aged care and health balloons to more than $36 billion a year.
Labor is fending off calls to reveal the full cost of its new plan to cut
greenhouse gas emissions across manufacturing as industry groups predict a hit
to economic growth from the "challenging" target.
Two Sydney councillors have been referred to the state's corruption watchdog
over a Chinese trip they took with a developer, whose projects they helped to
push through without declaring any conflict of interest.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison's so-called "captain's pick" of Ita Buttrose as
ABC chairwoman has been criticised by an opposition and crossbench-dominated
Senate committee report, which calls for more transparency around government-
directed board appointments.
The Daily Telegraph
Household grocery bills are in line to soar with major food manufacturers
included in Bill Shorten's aggressive plan to make businesses pay to pollute.
Tax relief for millions of workers and the first surplus in more than a decade
are expected to headline a crucial pre-election budget tonight.
The architect of the Milperra Massacre has been praised for his role in rescuing
a man and his dog from a burning house. Scottish-born Comanchero founder Jock
Ross has gone from being the bikie gang's self-titled "Supreme Commander" to the
captain of the Spencer Rural Fire Service Brigade on the Central Coast.
The anti-vaxxer movement has taken a bizarre new turn with some pet owners
refusing to get their dogs vaccinated for a potentially fatal disease because
they falsely believe it could give their pooch autism.
The ALP's radical green plan for half of all new cars to be electric in just
over a decade's time would put "unprecedented demand" on the nation's
electricity grid and push it to "its operating limits", electricity experts say.
The Age
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will be carrying the weight of the coalition's re-
election chances today, as he hands down a "surprise-filled" first budget amid
deteriorating economic conditions and falling business confidence.
Private health insurers are calling on the federal government to halt Medicare
rebates for elective caesarean births before 39 weeks' gestation as part of a
crackdown on "low value" medical procedures, which they say is needed to slow
the rise in the cost of premiums.
The Financial Review
The centrepiece of Labor's plan to reduce carbon emissions - a baseline and
credit scheme for the nation's top 250 emitters - appears doomed, with the
coalition opposed to the entire policy and the Greens hostile towards several
elements, including letting companies offset emissions by buying international
carbon permits.
The Auditor-General will investigate government contracts worth $423 million
awarded to little-known company Paladin as part of a broad review of the
procurement practices of Home Affairs at immigration processing centres.
LNG, steel and cement producers are nervously facing what are expected to be
fraught and lengthy negotiations with a Labor government on their contribution
to Labor's proposed 45 per cent reduction in carbon emissions for industry by
2030.
