From 51m agoKey events51m agoEducation department awarded contracts to PwC after knowledge of unauthorised disclosures3h agoTrade minister to address the National Press Club4h agoGood morning4h agoMajor cities lead house price recovery4h agoWelcomeFilters BETAKey events (5)Senate (10)Labor (8)Australia (8)RBA (5)Philip Lowe (5)1m ago20.58 EDTCaitlin Cassidy
Shadow education minister Senator Sarah Henderson has raised the very punishing Hecs indexation rate in Senate estimates. Today, a 7.1% increase was applied to three million Australian’s student loans (yippee!)
This is crippling for so many Australians who are suffering from cost of living pressures. Already, mortgage brokers … are warning this will impact on Australians’ ability to secure a loan. It appears the minister has no solutions in sight … this is D-Day for three million Australians.”
Education department secretary Tony Cook said the education minister had instructed the department to speak to the ATO in relation to how, and when debts are indexed.
Meanwhile, fellow debt-holders across Twitter have woken to “D-Day” (myself included) and it feels thrillingly terrible.
HECS debt went up $2800 while I was asleep pic.twitter.com/KQNToIhewM
— jack james (@cockroachemoji) May 31, 2023
I just checked my HECS debt and it’s so depressing. It increased by $3,888.24 today. Appalling. The system is broken. Student debt should be wiped. Uni should be free for all. pic.twitter.com/Pko8141Gsw
— Shane Bazzi (@shanebazzi) May 31, 2023
8m ago20.51 EDT
Wentworth independent MP Allegra Spender wants the Fair Work Commission to get a wriggle on with the review of awards the government promised as part of the IR negotiations:
A key condition of the crossbench agreement to support the government’s IR laws was a Fair Work Commission review of awards.
Now we learn in estimates that rather than a matter of urgency, Fair Work Australia isn’t even aware if the minister has written to the commissioner.
Our awards system is badly outdated and urgently in need of simplification. The awards are too complex. It’s a drag on productivity that wastes time and resources and discourages businesses from expanding and taking on new employees. Businesses I know have hired two sets of auditors reviewing their payroll just to make sure they haven’t made an unintended mistake.
Updated at 20.59 EDT17m ago20.43 EDT
Daniel Andrews rebukes Catholic education sector over payroll tax campaign
Daniel Andrews has hit back at the state’s Catholic education sector which slammed his government for stripping its schools of a payroll tax exemption.
The reform, announced in last week’s state budget, means about 110 private schools will be required to pay tax on staff salaries, raising more than $420m over three years. On Wednesday the Catholic education commission (CECV) wrote to all state Labor MPs, saying the tax would impact hard-working, middle-class families and “damage” the…
2023-05-31 19:54:10
Original from www.theguardian.com
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