Australia news live: Julian Hill claims Labor has ‘won the debate’ on housing tax changes; homelessness soars in NSW | Australia news
Labor MP claims government ‘won debate’ on house tax changes
Luca Ittimani
A Labor MP has declared victory in the debate over the government’s tax reforms, making a bit of meta-commentary at the end of parliament’s fortnight.
Julian Hill He commented on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing on Thursday.
Tepe said:
I believe the government has won the argument on negative gearing. I believe we have won the debate on the capital gains tax on real estate.
And while we are winning the argument, we still have a way to go to eliminate the distortion that would otherwise arise. … I think we are winning the argument… Start-ups etc. We are still interested in .
But I firmly believe we have won the debate on property and giving young Australians a fair opportunity in the housing market.
important events
Labour’s share capital scheme buying aid approved 2,589 applications in five months
Luca Ittimani
Housing Australia officials have announced that 2,589 applications have been approved under Labour’s Help to Buy programme.
Alia AyoubThe executive leader of the purchasing assistance program told the Senate it received 5,323 applications from December 5, 2025 to April 30, 2026, and estimated that 2,589 of them had “found a home”.
Senator Andrew Bragg Ayoub asked why the plan was marked as “risk” in the portfolio budget statement and said:
We had a prediction that we would make 10,000 applications a year. However, the program started on December 5. If he had been working all year he would have received 10,000.
Ben Rimmer, The director general of the Treasury’s housing group said the operating cost of the scheme was $21 million, above forward estimates, while the money spent on purchasing housing shares was about $1.6 billion this year and $6.9 billion according to forward estimates. Rimmer said about the second figure:
At this point we don’t know whether this will be a cost or a benefit to the Commonwealth’s bottom line. If house prices continue to rise gradually over time, this will actually benefit the Commonwealth.
We previously reported that more than 312,000 people have benefited from the government’s 5% first home purchase guarantee scheme since 2022, including 251,000 under Labour. Approximately 51,000 of those accessing this program were permanent residents.
Some NSW pharmacists can now prescribe birth control pills
Women in regional areas who have been waiting weeks or months for a doctor’s appointment to get a pill prescription can now go to their local pharmacies, AAP reports.
NSW has become the latest state to expand access to contraception beyond the GP office, after introducing similar changes in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania.
Karen Carter, who has almost 35 years of experience, is one of 30 pharmacists who will be able to prescribe and supply the oral contraceptive pill to low-risk women aged 18 to 39 from Friday.
“It will be great for women who want to talk about birth control, but sometimes their shifts may not allow them all to attend the doctor’s surgery,” she told AAP.
“It just gives women an option.”
Carter completed a 12-month course offered through NSW Health to enable first-time prescribing.
This is part of a government initiative to expand treatment services available in pharmacies, including for uncomplicated urinary tract infections and common skin conditions.
Good morning, Nick Visser I’m here to take over Martin Farrer. Let’s see what Friday will show.
Homelessness in NSW has risen 75 per cent in the last six years, report finds
Homelessness is soaring in regional areas as advocates call for more funding to stop shifting and start solving the problem, Australia’s Associated Press reports.
The number of people sleeping rough in New South Wales has increased by 75% in six years, according to the Homelessness NSW report, based on the state’s street census data.
In metropolitan Sydney the number was virtually unchanged between 2020 and 2026, while in the Illawarra Shoalhaven and southern NSW region there was a 689% increase from 27 people to 213.
The region, which covers NSW’s northernmost and mid-north coast, has seen a rapid increase from 407 people in 2020 to 1024 in 2026, making it the state’s leading area for homelessness.
Homelessness chief executive Dominique Rowe said the state government’s funding for support services needed to be increased by 50% and a commitment to build 10,000 social homes a year until they accounted for 10% of all housing.
“Homelessness services are facing a situation where 92% of people who come through their doors are not getting the help they need,” he told AAP.
Labor MP claims government ‘won debate’ on house tax changes
Luca Ittimani
A Labor MP has declared victory in the debate over the government’s tax reforms, making a bit of meta-commentary at the end of parliament’s fortnight.
Julian Hill He commented on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing on Thursday.
Tepe said:
I believe the government has won the argument on negative gearing. I believe we have won the debate on the capital gains tax on real estate.
And while we are winning the argument, we still have a way to go to eliminate the distortion that would otherwise arise. … I think we are winning the argument… Start-ups etc. We are still interested in .
But I firmly believe we have won the debate on property and giving young Australians a fair opportunity in the housing market.
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I Martin Farrer with the best night stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.
After a week of intense scrutiny over Labour’s tax reforms, MP Julian Hill told the ABC he thought the government had won the debate on giving young people a chance in the housing market.
The number of people sleeping rough in New South Wales has increased by 75% in six years, according to the Homelessness NSW report based on the state’s street census data.
