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PM goes for care factor
Date
August 6, 2013

Mark Kenny

                               
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Kevin Rudd: "A kid's development doesn't just begin at nine and end at three". Photo: Getty Images



The $450 million plan designed to give frustrated parents longer to get to and from work was one of two big-spending promises unveiled by Mr Rudd, with another $200 million dedicated to propping up the beleaguered automotive sector, still reeling from Labor's sudden change to Fringe Benefits Tax treatment of private-use cars.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott was also focusing on cost-of-living pressures, travelling to a meatworks in the marginal Brisbane Labor seat of Blair to announce that his first act as prime minister would be to repeal the carbon tax. He said he had written to the head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to indicate it would be the top priority from day one of an Abbott-led government.


Kevin Rudd: "A kid's development doesn't just begin at nine and end at three". Photo: Getty Images
Both promises came on a day characterised by gaffes and over-reach with misrepresentations or outright lies abounding.

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Mr Abbott's message was partially compromised by the fact that the JBS meatworks chosen for his renewed war on the carbon tax had received $4.4 million in carbon price adjustment assistance.

In a sign of the first-day pressure, Mr Rudd's childcare promise was accompanied by a false claim that Mr Abbott had stated he was planning a $70 billion raid on federal spending.

''It is allocated,'' Mr Rudd said of his new childcare pledge. ''That is why we are investing in Australian families and what they need, as opposed to Mr Abbott who has said he will be in the business of ripping $70 billion out which means cuts to jobs, education and education services as well as cuts to health.''

Asked to show where Mr Abbott had made any such statement, Mr Rudd provided no evidence.

Mr Rudd said the new out-of-hours commitment would see grants of up to $200,000 paid to some 500 schools to offer more places, more flexible opening hours before and after school and during holiday times, and new programs such as organised sport, homework clubs and music tuition.

Declaring ''a kid's development doesn't just begin at nine and end at three,'' and that people's jobs didn't end with the school bell either, he said parents had been crying out for extra help such as out-of-hours education beginning at 7am and extending as late as 7pm.

Last month Fairfax Media revealed some areas of Sydney are facing a critical shortage in after-school care, with significant waiting lists at some schools.

The chairwoman of the National Out of School Hours Services Association, Robyn Monro Miller, said the funding would go a long way if spent wisely. ''We hope the investment will target the areas where the need is greatest,'' she said.

The $450 million fund would allow up to 500 schools to offer more flexible opening hours, more places and high-quality activities such as homework clubs, music lessons and supervised sport.

JIM@

1.5%: Abbott's big promise to cut company tax
Date
August 7, 2013
Mark Kenny

                               
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He means business: Tony Abbott. Photo: Ryan Osland

An Abbott-led Coalition government would cut company tax by 1.5 percentage points within two years taking the current 30 cents in the dollar rate down to 28.5 cents.

In a boon for business, which has long called for tax relief to increase incentives and create jobs, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will travel to Adelaide on Wednesday to unveil what, at $2.5 billion a year, is likely to be the biggest single spending promise of his 2013 election campaign bid.

That would give the country's 750,000 incorporated businesses liable for company tax their long sought-after reduction in costs.

The policy will attract immediate calls to demonstrate where the money is coming from.

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Former treasurer Wayne Swan held out hope of a similar reduction in company tax but eventually abandoned it in favour of direct subsidies to families such as the School Kids Bonus, damaging Labor's relationship with the big end of town.

Mr Abbott will argue the 1.5 point cut, lower than the 5 percentage points recently called for by the Business Council of Australia, is necessary to underpin investment, and energise the non-resources sector strained by high competition for labour, low consumer confidence, and a soaring dollar.

But the tax break, which would take effect from July 1, 2015, will make Mr Abbott's budget balancing act even harder, soaking up some $5 billion from the four-year forward estimates budget period.

The move will also put attention on Mr Abbott's other big initiative, already flagged but not given a commencement date, his controversial $4.3 billion paid parental leave scheme.

While the Coalition promised both policies at the 2010 election, it has since walked away from the company tax cut on affordability grounds, with Mr Abbott advising that a more modest company tax cut was his aspiration and the best business could hope for.

The lower company tax rate will allow Mr Abbott to argue that the top 3200 companies expected to be hit with the special paid parental leave 1.5 per cent company tax increase, will now not end up paying any more.

The paid parental leave scheme, criticised by Labor and business, has proved popular with female voters and feminist commentators who welcomed its full income maintenance of up to $75,000 over six months.

Mr Abbott said the lower company tax rate was vital for kickstarting growth and improving productivity.

"Lowering the company tax cut is part of our plan to build a strong, prosperous economy with more investment and more jobs.

''Our economic plan is: taxes down, productivity up, and growth up.''

He said the lower rate would dovetail with a suite of other productivity enhancing policies including scrapping both the carbon tax and the mining taxes from July 1 next year, and cutting company tax from July 1, 2015.

He said Labor had merely talked about cutting company tax but ''we will actually do it".

Extracts from the Coalition's policy document to be unveiled by Mr Abbott reveal it will cite former Treasury secretary and author of the Henry Taxation Review, Ken Henry, to support its case.

''As former Treasury Secretary and personal adviser to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Ken Henry, said at the government's own tax forum in late 2011: "If the company income tax were to be cut, the principal beneficiaries would be workers,'' it says. ''According to the Henry Review, cutting the company tax rate will ensure that the non-resource sectors of Australia's economy remains an attractive place to invest.''

The BCA's call for a 5 percentage point cut was regarded as an ambit claim and would drain $12 billion a year from the current company tax take of about $74 billion.

JIM@

Teacher charged with filming up girls' skirts
Date
August 8, 2013

Nick Ralston

                               
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Robert Emmett, left, leaves Sydney's Central Local Court after being granted bail on five counts of filming a person's private parts without consent. Photo: Ch 7 News

A Sydney high school teacher who is the son of a high profile legal family has been charged with filming up the skirts of females, including students at his own school.

Robert Emmett, the son of NSW Court of Appeal Judge Arthur Emmett and Federal Magistrate Sylvia Emmett, and the grandson of former Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court Laurence Street, was charged by police after several commuters allegedly witnessed him filming up the skirt of a woman on the train platform.

Mr Emmett, a mathematics teacher at St Andrew's Cathedral School in the city, was searched by police who found a mobile phone and tablet that allegedly showed ''several instances'' of girls and women being recorded inappropriately.

Among the alleged victims are year 9 students at the school where he teaches.

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The 36-year-old from Ashfield has been charged with five counts of filming a person's private parts without consent.

The Head of St Andrew's College, Dr John Collier, on Wednesday sent a letter to parents informing them of ''some disturbing news'' relating to a long term staff member.

Dr Collier said police, who visited the school on Wednesday and seized computers used by Mr Emmett, had advised him that most of the offences occurred outside the school.

However, he said there were allegations of one instance of a ‘‘largely unsuccessful’’ attempt to film three female students. The alleged footage showed ‘‘their legs’’ as well as their faces allowing them to be identified. The parents of the alleged victims have been informed and the school is offering counselling.

Mr Emmett appeared in Sydney's Central Local Court on Wednesday where he was granted strict conditional bail. The matter returns to court on September 18.

JIM@

Teacher charged with filming up girls' skirts
Date
August 8, 2013

Nick Ralston

                               
登录/注册后可看大图

Robert Emmett, left, leaves Sydney's Central Local Court after being granted bail on five counts of filming a person's private parts without consent. Photo: Ch 7 News

A Sydney high school teacher who is the son of a high profile legal family has been charged with filming up the skirts of females, including students at his own school.

Robert Emmett, the son of NSW Court of Appeal Judge Arthur Emmett and Federal Magistrate Sylvia Emmett, and the grandson of former Chief Justice of the NSW Supreme Court Laurence Street, was charged by police after several commuters allegedly witnessed him filming up the skirt of a woman on the train platform.

Mr Emmett, a mathematics teacher at St Andrew's Cathedral School in the city, was searched by police who found a mobile phone and tablet that allegedly showed ''several instances'' of girls and women being recorded inappropriately.

Among the alleged victims are year 9 students at the school where he teaches.

Advertisement
The 36-year-old from Ashfield has been charged with five counts of filming a person's private parts without consent.

The Head of St Andrew's College, Dr John Collier, on Wednesday sent a letter to parents informing them of ''some disturbing news'' relating to a long term staff member.

Dr Collier said police, who visited the school on Wednesday and seized computers used by Mr Emmett, had advised him that most of the offences occurred outside the school.

However, he said there were allegations of one instance of a ‘‘largely unsuccessful’’ attempt to film three female students. The alleged footage showed ‘‘their legs’’ as well as their faces allowing them to be identified. The parents of the alleged victims have been informed and the school is offering counselling.

Mr Emmett appeared in Sydney's Central Local Court on Wednesday where he was granted strict conditional bail. The matter returns to court on September 18.

JIM@

$1.8m bungalow close to beach wins over Gillard
Date
August 9, 2013


Antony Lawes

                               
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Happy Friday from Julia Gillard and Maxine McKew

                               
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All mod cons: The kitchen features a Caesar Stone bench.
Julia Gillard looks to be trading in her humble Melbourne brick-and-tile for a renovated bungalow in one of Adelaide's top beachside suburbs.

The former prime minister and her partner Tim Mathieson are believed to have paid about $1.8 million for the four-bedroom, renovated house, not far from the beach.

The house, on a 1284-square metre block, has a large pool, 12-person spa and a second, outdoor kitchen. The advertised price was between $1.85 million and $2.05 million.

                               
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Home beautiful: The outdoor area.
''All you need is a floaty kaftan to fit right into your new lifestyle of private relaxation and seamless entertaining,'' the online advertisement says.

Agent Phil Harris, the head of Harris Real Estate, the agency handling the sale, confirmed the house had sold but refused to say who had bought it or how much they had paid.

Nobody in Ms Gillard's office could be reached for comment, but Adelaide agents said Ms Gillard was definitely the buyer and that she had been looking at other properties in the area.

Peter Emes, from Century 21, said he had been told Ms Gillard was looking for houses in the area and had submitted another beachfront property to her office but was told it was ''too exposed''. ''I'm told by a source that she has definitely bought [it],'' he said.

Grant Threadgold, from Toop and Toop, said the vendor had told him personally last week that an unidentified buyer from Melbourne was doing ''due diligence'' on the house but had not inspected it. The price was believed to be $1.8 million, he said.

Another agent, Annette Bradshaw, last sold the house in 2001 for $490,000 before it was extensively renovated, and she described the style as a ''gentleman's residence''.

''It's an exceptionally lovely house,'' she said.

Agents say if the $1.8 million price is accurate it would be the highest price paid for a house in that suburb in the past year.

It's a step up from Ms Gillard's current home in Melbourne's Altona that she bought for $140,000 in 1998.