Evening News Bulletin 11 February 2024

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Peter Dutton vows to repeal workplace disconnect laws; 16 children in hospital with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning and in basketball, the Opals qualify for the Olympics.


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  •  Peter Dutton vows to repeal workplace disconnect laws
  • 16 children in hospital with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning
  • And in basketball, the Opals qualify for the Olympics
Opposition leader Peter Dutton says the Coalition would scrap Labor's workplace disconnect laws, if they win power.
 
The Albanese government's workplace reforms will soon see workers given the right to ignore unreasonable calls and emails outside of their restored shifts.

The legislation, which cleared parliament on Thursday, includes penalties for employers who breach the rules.

Mr Dutton told Sky News he will seek to repeal the changes at the next federal election.

"We will take a policy that's in our country's best interest that provides support to workers but that doesn't make it impossible, particularly to small businesses to employ staff because particularly when the economy turns down we want employers to err on the side of keeping those workers on and if Labor continues with the number of business closures that we've seen at record levels over the last 12 months, then there won't be those jobs available. The unemployment rate will go up which is exactly what the government predicts in their budget."

Labor has blamed the coalition for not allowing an amendment to the legislation before it passed to remove penalties.
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Sixteen children have been rushed to hospital after suffering from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning at an ice-skating rink in Adelaide's west.

Emergency services attended the arena just after three in the morning to test for harmful gases and found high levels of the odourless chemical in the air.

It's believed fumes leaking from the machine used to resurface the ice was responsible for the poisoning.

Everyone admitted to hospital are in a stable condition and are expected to make a full recovery.

Anyone who visited the ice rink last night is being advised to seek medical attention regardless of symptoms.
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Treasurer Jim Chalmers has ruled out changes to negative gearing and capital gains.

Property investors are under the spotlight as the tax reform debate shifts to wealthier Australians.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton are both under mounting pressure to revisit tax breaks on investment properties.

The Greens are proposing limiting negative gearing rules to a single investment property.

But Dr Chalmers told Sky News any changes are off the table.

"It's not something that we're proposing, not something that we are considering, not something that we are working up. We've got, I think, a very broad and very ambitious housing agenda and we've got a pretty full book when it comes to tax reform. And our focus is on legislating that, not just our cost-of-living tax cuts for middle Australia, but also changes to the PRRT changes to superannuation tax concessions. We've got a whole multinational tax agenda."
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Opposition Treasurer Angus Taylor has criticised the Albanese government over what he calls 'calculated lies' around changes to the stage-three tax cuts.

He says the Coalition won’t support changes to negative gearing because it doesn’t want to see more competition in the housing market coming from industry super funds and international investment funds.

The opposition treasurer says the Coalition will once again go to the election with a policy to allow people to dip into their super to buy a house but won’t discuss Coalition policies on capital gains tax changes or trusts.

Mr Taylor has told the A-B-C if elected, the opposition's first priority before implementing tax reform would be to gain public trust.

"The erosion of trust I've seen in recent years for leadership in every domain of Australian society is I think terrifying for the implications for our future. So, we've got to get that trust back. That's incumbent on you, on me, on everybody else."
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Candidates supported by the party of imprisoned Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan plan to establish a government, amidst uncertainty following a closely contested general election.

Both Mr Khan and his main rival, three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, declared victory on Friday, increasing uncertainty over who will form the next government.

Aleema Khan, Imran Khan's sister, has told SBS of the plight of her imprisoned brother.

"We need to hold fair and free elections. That's all he [[Imran Khan]] ever asked for. He has gone through a lot over the past nine months. He's in jail. He's got 202 cases on him. And him being incarcerated. They thought he is they dismantled his party, they removed his top tier leadership then they removed the secondary that threatened them. They put them into other parties. That was pre poll."
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And in basketball,

The Opals have qualified for the Olympics for the 10th time after defeating Germany 85-52 in Brazil.

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