Australia news live: Littleproud says ‘I don’t care’ if Coalition split costs him Nationals leadership; eight-year-old girl in critical condition after being hit by SUV in Sydney

Chalmers approaching super tax the wrong way, economist warns

Independent economist Saul Eslake has little sympathy for small businesses and farms that say they may be forced to move money out of their superannuation accounts to avoid a future tax increase, according to AAP.

The federal government is hoping to pass a bill to impose a 15% tax on super balances higher than $3m, which would affect about one in every 200 savers, according to the Australia Institute.

“That’s not what bloody super is for,” Eslake said:

Super has become a vehicle for rich people to avoid tax and it’s become a subsidy for bequests, not retirement income. I support the government’s objective … however, I think the government is going about it the wrong way.

The bill would tax unrealised gains, which is the growth in the value of an investment before it is sold.

Mr Eslake said it was “unfair”, as it means people would be taxed even if they had not earned income.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, insists calculating unrealised gains is not unique and says no one has proposed a better way of making this calculation after almost three years of consultation.

No more rain expected today but some flood warnings still in place

Jonathan How, from the Bureau of Meteorology, has just spoken to ABC News confirming (at least temporary) reprieve for New South Wales with the rain having eased.

We’re not expecting any more rainfall today, but there are still a number of minor moderate flood warnings, just very isolated flooding about the Hunter and the mid-north coast.

So reminding people to keep an eye on those river levels [that] still remain quite high in some areas; just wanting people to keep across those latest warnings.

We will see some showers developing across New South Wales on Monday afternoon into Tuesday. Nowhere near the totals that we saw over the last week, but we could see some pooling of water, especially given everything is so sodden and saturated.

Land shortages may affect home building over next five years

Following on from that last post, over the previous decade, Australian inflation has rarely been “just right”.

JP Morgan’s chief economist for Australia and New Zealand, Ben Jarman, warned the monthly inflation indicator could suggest “too much of a good thing” and drop below the target band.

However, quarterly trimmed mean inflation – the RBA’s preferred measure – was more likely to be sticky due to a strong jobs market, which meant core inflation could stay within the bank’s target into 2026, Jarman said.

Rate cuts could lead to a rebound in home construction, Housing Industry Association chief economist Tim Reardon said, as the Australian Bureau of Statistics prepares to release building approvals data on Friday.

While the sector is already showing signs of improved confidence with home building expected to increase across the next five years, long-term issues such as land shortages pose risks to affordability and reaching national supply targets. Reardon said:

Australia has the capacity to deliver, but it will take a coordinated response from all three tiers of government to overcome these constraints.

Retail trade figures for April are also due on Friday after the RBA flagged consumer spending had been softer than expected in recent months.

This will be the one of the last retail trade releases before the statistics bureau replaces the series with a broader household spending indicator.

– AAP

Price moves to help RBA plot course through uncertainty

The Reserve Bank could use fresh inflation insights to gauge the depth of further rate cuts as global uncertainty threatens Australia’s economic progress, AAP reports.

Consumer price data for April, to be released on Wednesday, will help guide the RBA on future changes after it reduced the cash rate to its lowest level in two years.

The decision showed the central bank was moving in a more dovish direction as Australia’s main inflation measure returned to its target range of two to three per cent, NAB economists Michelle Shi and Gareth Spence said.

The RBA on Tuesday cut the official cash rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.85%

NAB economists predict another three rate cuts in the second half of 2025, bringing the cash rate to a “broadly neutral” stance of 3.1 % by November.

But US tariff drama and the unpredictability of Donald Trump’s economic actions will continue to loom large over RBA meetings.

High levels of global uncertainty are likely to persist even as trade tensions ease between the US and China, the NAB economists warn.

Unless pushed, the RBA could take a more gradual path towards neutral while watching the inflation data over time.

The Insurance Council of Australia have reported more than 3,600 claims after severe flooding across the Mid North Coast, Hunter and Greater Sydney regions of New South Wales.

They say four in five claims are for personal property, with the remainder commercial and motor claims.

The council wants to remind those affected by recent severe weather that it is OK to begin clean-up without needing to wait for an assessor to visit their property. They say representatives from a range of insurers will be on the ground to meet with affected homeowners and businesses and discuss their personal claim and share advice on the claims process.

CEO Andrew Hall said in a statement:

While clean-up is well and truly underway in many communities, safety is always the number one priority. Flood waters can bring debris and cause electrical damage, so we encourage locals to take extra precaution and follow advice of local authorities.

We’re looking forward to getting to Taree next week and helping people get back on their feet. I encourage any impacted policyholders to come along and speak with your insurer.

We’re also in discussion with the New South Wales Reconstruction Authority about having an insurer presence at local recovery centres across the mid-north Coast. We’ll communicate this information as soon as plans are in place.

Greens leader claims Albanese government ‘gearing up to approve’ North West Shelf gas project

The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, has claimed the Albanese government is “gearing up to approve an absolutely catastrophic gas project”.

As our environment editor Adam Morton reported earlier today, the federal government plans to decide on whether Australia’s biggest-emitting gas development can extend its life until 2070 by the end of the month.

Waters believes a decision has already been made:

Under the cover of the on-again/off-again Coalition drama, Labor is gearing up to approve an absolutely catastrophic gas project. Woodside’s North West Shelf is an untapped climate bomb. This approval would mean supercharged floods, fires and species extinctions.

Here’s a look at the detail behind this:

Decision looms on Australia’s biggest-emitting gas development

A decision is expected this this week from the new environment minister, Murray Watt, on whether Australia’s biggest-emitting gas development can extend its life until 2070.

Watt has confirmed he will make the call before the end of the month (the last day of May being next Saturday), which the Greens say will be his first test on climate in the new portfolio since he took over from Tanya Plibersek.

If you want to know what will he consider in making that decision and what’s at stake, our environment editor Adam Morton has your answers here:

A young girl is in critical condition after being hit by a car in Sydney’s north.

At about 10.40am this morning, emergency services were called to Hornsby Heights where they arrived to find an eight-year-old girl unconscious on the road after allegedly being hit by a Holden SUV, NSW police say.

The girl was treated by paramedics before being taken to the Children’s Hospital at Westmead in a critical condition.

The driver of the SUV was uninjured and taken to Hornsby hospital for mandatory testing.

A crime scene had been established and police have commenced an investigation into the incident. Inquiries are ongoing.

For those affected by the mid-north coast floods, the NSW government says food, accommodation and connections with social services are available at evacuation centres.

People who have lost their prescriptions or prescription medicines, or can’t access their GP, can visit their local community pharmacy for a replacement for most medicines, the government says.

Housing minister Rose Jackson said:

The priority right now is that flood impacted people have access to food and shelter. Both can be found at our evacuation centres in addition to connections to social services where required. They will also continue to be available at Recovery Assistance Points.

The NSW Government is committed to supporting people across the state when disasters hit, we work closely with emergency services and community leaders to understand what locals need and provide help to those impacted.

NSW floods: more roads to reopen and assistance grants to commence

The NSW government say it has a range of immediate support measures in place for flood-hit communities across the state, ensuring they can access food and shelter, medicine and animal welfare support.

The M1 has now reopened, with one lane in each direction. The government says after safety assessments more roads will begin to reopen, supporting resupply to communities and returning home.

Recovery assistance points and the first phase of the commonwealth and state government grants will open shortly, with more information due soon.

Minister for recovery Janelle Saffin said:

We’re working to roll out the support that people need through Evacuation Centres now and Recovery Centres as they open. This is about making sure that people get a helping hand in these challenging times.

One of the most important steps in early recovery is the initial clean up. That’s why the government is rolling out a plan to manage waste. Public Works, the EPA, and local Councils are working together to collect flood waste from homes and businesses.

Top female football coaches earn Matildas opportunity

Central Coast’s championship-winning mentor Emily Husband is one of three female coaches drafted into the Matildas’ coaching staff for upcoming games as Football Australia (FA) attempts to accelerate their development, AAP reports.

Husband, Western United A-League Women coach Kat Smith and Melbourne City veteran/goalkeeping coach Melissa Barbieri will be interim coach Tom Sermanni’s assistants for upcoming games against Argentina.

Husband, Smith, Barbieri and Catherine Cannuli, who is working with the Young Matildas, are part of a ‘Team of Coaches’ program intended to provide a pipeline for highly-rated coaches to reach football’s top levels.

There are currently no female head coaches within FA’s national teams.

General manager of women’s national teams Briana Harvey said:

Each of these coaches brings a unique perspective and deep experience from their leadership roles in the A-League Women, and their inclusion reflects our commitment to both strengthening our national team environment and supporting the ongoing development of Australian female coaching talent.

Providing professional development opportunities for women in high-performance settings is a vital part of building a more equitable and successful football system.

The NSW government says it doesn’t expect tomorrow’s fare-free day to make up for commuters’ headaches last week when an overhead wire failure delivered knock-on delays , but it wants people to know it expects better of the system.

Transport minister John Graham said:

We don’t expect a fare-free day to make up for last week’s inconvenience and we acknowledge that it strained the patience of an entire city.

More than a million people will benefit from free travel on the trains and metro on Monday. We want them to know the NSW Government also expects better of the system, and we are working to improve reliability and maintenance.

We have heard loud and clear the frustration of the commuting public.

A short and sharp independent review into maintenance, punctuality and customer communications will assist in understanding how we can do better as we continue to invest record amounts in maintenance and reliability.

On Monday, travel will be free on all Sydney trains, Airport Link and Sydney Metro services on the Opal network but will not extend to buses, ferries and light rail, which will charge fares as normal. Free travel will not apply to regional train services and coach ticketing, including TrainLink services.

David Littleproud says he doesn’t care if he loses his job over the messy Coalition split. The Nationals leader told Sky News this morning:

I’d rather go to [the party room] standing for something and if I have to lose my job for it, I don’t care.

This was a principled decision that the men and women of my party room made.

I’m proud of them … [proud of] the fact that we got we got an outcome in two or three days because of principles over politics.

– via AAP

Woodhouse said the windy conditions could make temperatures feel up to 10C colder than the actual temperature:

With those really strong winds, we are going to see a high degree of wind chill, so during the day, even though temperature might be saying it’s about 15 to 20 degrees, it’s going to feel more like 10 degrees. So very cold, very windy conditions, and at the moment, we are seeing that shift from from the rain and the flood situation that we’ve been experiencing over the last week to very windy conditions.

Gabrielle Woodhouse, from the Bureau of Meteorology, says the weather is in a “transition phase” across NSW, going between the rain and flood conditions of the last week to very windy conditions brought on by a very strong cold front:

We’re in a bit of a transition phase in terms of the weather and flood situation across New South Wales.

We are still seeing some catchments in flood warning at the moment for minor to moderate flooding, that includes at Long Jetty and at Boulder and up at Coutts Crossing.

But what we’re going to see going into the next couple of days is a very strong cold front move across New South Wales, and that’s going to bring very windy conditions to most areas.

So what we’re expecting is the severe weather warning that is current for the alpine area of New South Wales. That warning area is going to expand to include parts of south west New South Wales, as well as parts of the snowy mountains and the ACT for winds increasing on Monday.

The Warragamba Dam is spilling but the SES is not expecting the community to be affected. SES commissioner Mike Wassing said:

We have seen the spilling of the Warragamba Dam, and saying that I’m very comfortable the fact that with some of that spilling, our current intelligence and reporting indicates that there might be some minor inconvenience in terms of low lying areas, but fundamentally, we were not expecting or predicting any impact on communities below the dam associated with that spilling and with the current weather forecast.

The SES are now holding a press conference in Sydney about the flooding situation on the NSW mid north coast.

There have been a total 7,412 incidents during the floods, including 328 in the last 24 hours to 5am.

That includes 16 flood rescues in the last 24 hours.

NSW SES commissioner Mike Wassing said:

Most of those are rescuing people out of flood waters that they’ve driven into. I get why people want to get back on the road and get back into the communities where they can but again, my message is, do not go through flood waters. It is too easy for me to get stuck in those flood waters, and our resources are focused in other areas, and I don’t want my people or anything multi-services having to put their lives at risk for people just driving the flood waters. So I want to see zero flood rescues tomorrow is my aim, and I need people to and the community members to help me in achieving that aim.

Wassing said there are still 44 people in evacuation centres who will continue to receive support even as “most of that flash flooding is decreased.”