Lunchtime News Briefing - 16 April 2025

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello from the Amplifying newsroom. I am Hayden Visera. The
second pre election debate is set to take place tonight
when the two leaders go up against each other on
key issues amongst Australians. Dr Andrew Hughes from the A
and U says it'll be an important.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
One should be fighting because this is it for the
two leaders. Voting starts in one week from today, so
they need to get their messages out there now. This
is their last chance to convince us of why they
should be elected.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
It's on from eight pm tonight. Jane Hume says the
Foreign Minister was blindsided by reports Russia asks Indonesia to
hold planes at one of its air force bases. Indonesian
officials have confirmed the reports are simply not true, but
the Shadow Finance Minister says the government seemed to have

(00:51):
been notified at the same time as the public.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
We've actually asked for a briefing from the Foreign Minister
and from the Defense Minister on this issue what it
was that they knew and when they knew it, because
let's face it, there are some serious national security implications
in this report. If Penywong didn't know about it before yesterday.
We want to understand.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Why voters have swung their support behind Labour's tax and
housing policies. New Resolve polling shows forty percent favor of
the federal government's personal income tax cuts, compared to thirty
four percent for the coalition's fuel excise cut. Twenty seven
percent support the opposition's mortgage tax brake proposal, while forty

(01:31):
percent back Labour's housing policy to allow first home buyers
to purchase with just a five percent deposits. Shadow Treasurer
Ed Cox has welcomed a backflip from the Act government
confirming it will waive stamp duty debts for separated homeowners.
The move is aimed at addressing unfairly penalized individuals under

(01:55):
the concession scheme. Some victims were fleeing domestic violent and
still faced debt collectors while waiting on appeals. The Local
Property Council has welcomed the Act's decision to remove third
party appeals on public housing, but wants to see the
reforms go further. Ashley Berry from the ACT branch says

(02:17):
current systems just aren't working and there's too many delays
across public housing, community housing and private developments.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
Our city is in the grip of a housing affordability
and supply crisis, and yet we are allowing vexatious planning
appeals to delay projects by month and even years.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
According to the latest ABS data, housing commencements in the
Act have fallen to their lowest level in decades. Meanwhile,
the ACT branch of the Education Union has slammed the
Coalition over a leaked video claiming THATLL abolish fee free TAFE.
Shadow Education Minister Sarah Henderson was captured slamming the scheme

(03:01):
in a now viral video, calling it a one point
five billion dollar expense and dismissing its impact. Angelo Burrows,
ACT President of the AEU, details how many free places
are available in Canberra alone.

Speaker 2 (03:17):
There's six hundred three takee places available each semester.

Speaker 4 (03:22):
This scheme has been running since twenty twenty three, so
thousands of students have benefited from.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
It, and we're being urged to digit the distractions when driving,
as new data from Roland's Safe Driving app found phones
are still stealing the spotlight from the road. The data
shows ACT drivers are using their mobile phones during one
in every seven trips. And that's the latest in news

(03:48):
so far, we'll have another update for you right here
later on this afternoon