The government announces capital gains tax changes for small business... a Vodafone outage affects millions of Australians... and, at the World Cup, England and Ghana kick off their campaigns with wins
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TRANSCRIPT
The federal government has announced significant carve-outs to the capital gains tax reforms announced in the May budget.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says they have consulted with the sector to produce the changes that he says 2.7 million active small businesses will be eligible for.
"Today we're announcing that we'll increase the turnover threshold for existing small business 50 percent active asset CGT concession from $2 million to $10 million."
A consultation paper is due to be released this morning on capital gains tax discounts for start ups, which Treasurer Jim Chalmers says will aim to encourage innovation.
He says a change will also be considered for trusts.
"This would provide a 50 percent discount to early stage investors including founders, and employee share scheme participants of innovative startup businesses. We're also confirming that income from all types of testamentary trusts will be exempt from the minimum tax, with implementation details, including the details around integrity, to be included in further consultation."
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US and Iran have signed a 14 point memorandum of understanding that requires an immediate and permanent end to hostilities between the two countries - and in Lebanon.
Talks are yet to begin on a final deal that will resolve many other difficult issues - like the fate of Iran's nuclear program - but this memorandum provides for the ending of the US naval blockade, and a promise by Tehran to facilitate the safe passage of commercial vessels to the Sea of Oman.
Still, Iran's top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, says the Strait of Hormuz will not fully return to pre-war conditions.
FARSI THEN ENGLISH VO: "During the war, I wrote in a tweet that the Strait of Hormuz would never go back to the way it was before, and I still hold that view today. That does not mean, however, that we intend to disregard international law or established rules of navigation. On the contrary, our actions will remain fully within the bounds of international law."
The memorandum of understanding also says that the United States will develop a plan with at least $US300 billion ($A426 billion) for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran - something Donald Trump has continued to deny.
"They need investment because we did a trillion and a half, maybe two trillion dollars worth of damage, so somebody's going to have to help them out. There's no guarantee about helping them out, and could be their neighbours will help them out a little bit, I don't know... But we're not investing any money."
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Russia has been courting support from South East Asia, hosting the Russia-ASEAN summit in Kazan.
Some of ASEAN’s diverse member countries, including the Philippines, are seen to be aligned with the United States, while others have heavy trade and security engagements with China and Russia.
Several ASEAN members, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, have either imported Russian crude oil or expressed interest in purchasing it after global fuel prices soared in the wake of the war in Iran.
Addressing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Junior, Mr Putin has signalled growing cooperation between their two countries.
(Russian to English) "Clearly, we approach this milestone with a solid foundation of mutually beneficial cooperation built on good traditions, mutual respect, and consideration of each other's legitimate interests. Last year, our trade turnover exceeded half a billion dollars, and this is certainly far from the limit. There is potential for increasing supply volumes of both agricultural products and energy resources."
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Millions of Aussies have been left fuming after Vodafone's mobile network crashed this morning.
Outage-tracking website Downdetector says it received tens of thousands of reports of problems with Vodafone services before 10am.
The telco has confirmed the disruption.
Earlier, Vodafone's online network status checker was also failing, displaying a generic error message warning customers they might experience connection issues while the network was being improved.
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Opposition Leader Jess Wilson will give notice to the Victorian parliament's lower house today [[Thur 18 Jun]] that the coalition plans to move a motion of no confidence in the premier and her ministers.
Only one motion of no confidence can be moved each four-year term and can lead to the dissolution of parliament if passed, well before the scheduled state election on November 28.
The earliest the motion can be debated and voted on under the terms of Victoria's constitution act is July 28, when state parliament returns following a six-week break.
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There has been heavy criticism of Pauline Hanson's comments about the media and individual journalists during her first National Press Club address in Canberra.
The One Nation leader was highly critical of journalists in her speech, accusing the media of suppressing debate, not doing their jobs properly, and being determined to discredit the party in their coverage.
She also singled out Guardian journalist Sarah Martin during the Q and A portion of her appearance, responding to her question about daughter Lee's job with One Nation by calling her a trashy journalist and that she would be banned from future media events.
The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance says Senator Hanson's comments are an assault on press freedom, while Nationals MP Bridget McKenzie has told Channel 9 the leader's attitude could set a worrying precedent.
"You need to be able to face the media and the tough scrutiny... But I am concerned that One Nation also wants to pick and choose which media they take questions from. Who they like and don't like. That might be OK for Donald Trump to pick and choose which media he takes questions from, but it does not go well here in a democracy like Australia."
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At the World Cup, England captain Harry Kane is crediting coach Thomas Tuchel's half-time speech for England's tournament-opening victory.
After two goals from Kane in the first half, goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford in the second half lifted the Three Lions to a four goals to two win over Croatia in Dallas.
The game was tied at two-all at half-time.
Kane says Tuchel told the side to play with more freedom in the second half.
"He just told us to let the shackles off, calm down, what are we scared of? Let's just go. He kind of just said, what's the worst that can happen? We lose a match, first group game, we get on with it, we move on. Let's just go and show the world who we can be. And I think we've done exactly that in the second half."
In the other game in Group L, a very late goal from Ghana has given them a one-nil victory over Panama in Toronto.
Whilst, in the day's first game, the Democratic Republic of Congo has held Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal to a one-all draw in Houston.
