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Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ve got some of our overnight and breaking stories for you before my colleague Emily Wind gets settled in for the day.
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Our exclusive top story today reveals that ports giant DP World has paid no tax in Australia despite generating revenue of more than $4.5bn over eight years. A new report by the union-backed lobby group Cictar says that DP World’s top Australian subsidiary may have “artificially reduced profits” to achieve the result. The ATO however says there can be “good commercial justification” for such cases.
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Almost 40% of voters think Australia should withdraw from the US alliance if Donald Trump regains the presidency next year (43% disagree with that idea), and 47% believe the Aukus submarine alliance locks Australia in to supporting the US in an armed conflict. The findings today are part of an opinion survey undertaken annually by the United States Studies Centre of voters in Australia, the US and Japan. It comes as former Labor foreign minister Gareth Evans urged Australia to lobby the US to promise “no first use” of nuclear weapons, warning that global arms control agreements “are now either dead or on life support”.
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Property prices have soared to record levels in several capital cities as limited supply and rising immigration more than made up for the dampening effect of higher interest rates. Two surveys show significant growth in Brisbane, Adelaide, and in Perth, where five areas have recorded annual gains of more than 15%, while prices in Sydney are 7.51% higher than a year ago.
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More than 50 homes have been destroyed by the massive fire near Tara in Queensland, where weary firefighters are working in strong winds and high temperatures. And residents have been warned to remain vigilant after several bushfires in northern NSW hit rural homes and spewed spot fires into an urban area. Tenterfield, about 15km south of the Queensland border, was the epicentre of NSW’s firefighting efforts yesterday after seven blazes ignited to the town’s north, west and south. There is hope that a cool change will move through the region in the coming days, bringing showers and storms from Friday. We will have the latest on the fire situation for you coming up in the blog.
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Key events
Weary firefighters have been warned it may be days before they get a reprieve as blazes continue to threaten homes across Queensland, Australian Associated Press reports.
Relief crews from Victoria and New Zealand will start arriving on Wednesday.
Strong winds and high temperatures ensured extreme conditions on Tuesday, with more than 1000 firefighters battling about 80 blazes across the state.
The major concern is a Tara fire west of Brisbane which has claimed a life, burned 20,000 hectares and destroyed 53 Queensland houses in the past week –more than the 2019 Black Summer disaster.
A fire in Dalveen, in the state’s south, prompted an emergency warning in the early hours of Wednesday for residents in the area between the New England Highway, Warwick Killarney Road and Cullendore Road to leave immediately.
A cool change is expected to move through the state over coming days, bringing showers and storms from Friday.
However QFES Deputy Commissioner Mike Wassing said:
“Last time we got some storms through we got approximately 10 new fires from lightning.
“It is probably two days before we get some sort of reprieve.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flew into Queensland on Tuesday to pledge support, with federal government funding available through the disaster recovery payment and allowance.
He expected 42,000 claims to be made.
The Queensland government also offered financial assistance to affected families and primary producers before pledging $1 million towards a bushfire appeal.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ve got some of our overnight and breaking stories for you before my colleague Emily Wind gets settled in for the day.
Our exclusive top story today reveals that ports giant DP World has paid no tax in Australia despite generating revenue of more than $4.5bn over eight years. A new report by the union-backed lobby group Cictar says that DP World’s top Australian subsidiary may have “artificially reduced profits” to achieve the result. The ATO however says there can be “good commercial justification” for such cases.
Almost 40% of voters think Australia should withdraw from the US alliance if Donald Trump regains the presidency next year (43% disagree with that idea), and 47% believe the Aukus submarine alliance locks Australia in to supporting the US in an armed conflict. The findings today are part of an opinion survey undertaken annually by the United States Studies Centre of voters in Australia, the US and Japan. It comes as former Labor foreign minister Gareth Evans urged Australia to lobby the US to promise “no first use” of nuclear weapons, warning that global arms control agreements “are now either dead or on life support”.
Property prices have soared to record levels in several capital cities as limited supply and rising immigration more than made up for the dampening effect of higher interest rates. Two surveys show significant growth in Brisbane, Adelaide, and in Perth, where five areas have recorded annual gains of more than 15%, while prices in Sydney are 7.51% higher than a year ago.
More than 50 homes have been destroyed by the massive fire near Tara in Queensland, where weary firefighters are working in strong winds and high temperatures. And residents have been warned to remain vigilant after several bushfires in northern NSW hit rural homes and spewed spot fires into an urban area. Tenterfield, about 15km south of the Queensland border, was the epicentre of NSW’s firefighting efforts yesterday after seven blazes ignited to the town’s north, west and south. There is hope that a cool change will move through the region in the coming days, bringing showers and storms from Friday. We will have the latest on the fire situation for you coming up in the blog.
