TRANSCRIPT
- Real wages increase for the first time in three years
- Snowtown murders accomplice Mark Haydon will be released from prison
- In AFL, Captain Max Gawn is adamant the Melbourne Demons doesn't have have a drugs culture.
Real wages have increased in Australia for the first time in three years.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded a 4.2 per cent increase in the annual wage price index, outpacing CPI inflation by 0.1 percent.
Public sector salaries increased by 1.3 percent, the highest quarterly rise in 15 years, while the private sector saw a more modest boost of 0.9 percent.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says it's good news for Australians.
"Real wages growth is back in our economy, even sooner than we expected. This means that Australians are earning more, and because of our tax cuts they will keep more of what they earn. This real wages growth that we see in the new numbers today is very welcome, and it's very encouraging."
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Leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud says "its about time" Woolworths Group's chief executive Brad Banducci stepped down.
He will step down in September and be replaced by Amanda Bardwell, the managing director of the supermarket group's ecommerce arm.
His resignation comes amid mounting pressure on Australia's two largest supermarket chains over increasing food prices.
Mr Littleproud told Sky News there's more to be done to hold supermarket executives accountable for their impact on farmers and shoppers.
"These guys have led organisations that have lost any moral compass and any social licence to operate in this country. And it's now time for us as legislators to bring in big penalties and to charge the ACCC with the responsibility of investigating and penalising."
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Australia's Tax Commissioner says Australia has never seen a fraud like the TikTok tax scheme.
The Tax Office last week revealed $2 billion had been lost through 57,000 fradulent GST claims, through a scam that was widely shared on social media sites like TikTok.
Australian Tax Commissioner, Chris Jordan, says the size of the scheme was unprecedented.
"You never really thought 57,000 people would commit fraud in their own name, and their own address. It's bizarre. So it really shocked us that the community could have such an appetite to commit fraud and take money from government in that way."
Mr Jordan will end his tenure as Tax Commissioner next week, after 11 years in the job.
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A public health expert says more needs to be done to reduce gambling harm in Australia.
18,000 Australians have signed up to BetStop, the Federal Government's self-exclusion program, in the first six months.
BetStop prohibits gambling companies from accepting bets from registrants.
Professor of Public Health at Deakin University, Samantha Thomas, says the government needs to do more to stop harm occurring in the first place.
"This is not the great story that government is spinning. I think what this is actually showing us is that we have 1000s of people, and mainly young adults, who are having to self exclude themselves from these companies because they are experiencing some level of harm. What that suggests to us is that the government is not doing enough to regulate this industry and to prevent the harm from happening in the first place. The government really needs to do better with this."
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Snowtown murders accomplice Mark Haydon will be released from prison, 25 years after the bodies of eight victims were found in acid-filled barrels north of Adelaide.
South Australian parole board granted Haydon's parole saying he was well-behaved during his 18-year imprisonment.
Haydon was initially set to be released in May.
But SA parole board chair Frances Nelson said he would be released earlier to allow supervision.
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In AFL,
Captain Max Gawn is adamant the Melbourne Demons does not have a drugs culture.
It comes as the AFL club reels from the new anti-doping charges laid against teammate Joel Smith.
The league confirmed that Sports Integrity Australia (SIA) had charged Smith with three anti-doping rule violations over alleged "trafficking or attempted trafficking" of cocaine to third parties.
Gawn acknowledged the new charges were shocking, but the Demons captain staunchly defended his club.
